Fiala Stays En Fuego

Not a bad way for Kevin Fiala to follow up a hat trick.  In a new rivalry developing between the Kings and Oilers, Fiala scored two goals and two assists with four shots.  That brings Fiala to 10 points in his last five games with his shot rate jumping up quite a bit lately.  The new line shuffle seems to be working, and the new Los Angeles All-Star has been fantastic in his first year with the Kings.  It’s a fantastic stat line across the board that has Fiala comfortably as a top 50 player with upside from there.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

Samuel Ersson – 28 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Sabres.  Ersson has been playing very well with the Flyers.  You can ride him as a hot schmotato streamer since Torts does inflate goalie value, but know that it’s very high risk.

Travis Konecny – Two assists with three shots and two PIM.  Konecny has been an absolute monster all season.  Propls to him for thriving in a difficult situation.

Joel Farabee – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Firmly in the middling streamer category.

Martin Jones – 21 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Canadiens.  The GAA is below average, and the save percentage is poor, but the wins are outstanding for Jones.  That’s reason to hold, even as a bottom end one.

Vince Dunn – Goal and an assist with six shots.  Huge heater from Dunn who is looking like a solid #3 in 12’ers right now.

Eeli Tolvanen – Goal and an assist with three shots.  He’s been a nice fit in Seattle.  I’ve always liked Tolvanen’s offensive talent, so I’m bumping him up to solid streamer.

Matty Beniers – Goal and an assist with five shots.  Five game goal streak for Beniers has solidified him as a bottom end hold.

Yanni Gourde – Two assists with a shot.  Extremely valuable player in real life, but Gourde is only a middling streamer in fantasy.

Juuse Saros – 38 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Senators.  And just like that, Saros is back to a .921 save percentage.  That buy low window has closed.

Filip Forsberg – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Forsberg is well behind last season’s totals, but he’s still been quite good.  I think he’s back to being around the 50th overall range than in the 30’s, but we can’t rule out a massive second half with his talent.

Evan Bouchard – Two assists with a shot and two PIM.  It’s been a very ugly year for Bouchard.   He’s starting to get PP2 time, which is with McDavid so there is some value, but I’m just monitoring him in 12’ers, not holding.

Adrian Kempe – Two goals and an assist with eight shots.  I have Kempe in the elite streamer range.  I’m not really considering holding, but he has been solid lately on PP1 and the first line.

Drew Doughty – Two assists with two shots.  At this point, Doughty is quite boring as a bottom end hold.

Viktor Arvidsson – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Arvidsson is back up to an elite streamer playing at a 65+ point pace.

Tuesday’s Games

Jordan Eberle – Goal and an assist with a shot.  Eberle is pushing towards an elite streamer as the top line is playing better lately.

Justin Schultz – Goal and an assist.  Schultz remains on the fringe depending on what you’re looking for.

Andre Burakovsky – Two assists with a shot and two PIM.  Burakovsky is an elite streamer.  If you want a balanced stat line, I see the case for having him a bottom end hold, but I’m not quite there.

Alex Tuch – Two goals on four shots.  The top line for the Sabres continues to crush with Jeff Skinner having two assists with two shots and two PIM.  It’s remarkable how well they’ve played so far this season.

Rasmus Dahlin – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Dahlin is firmly in the Norris discussion, and he’s still only 22 years old.  Bonkers.

Dylan Cozens – Two assists with two shots.  Cozens is still hovering right around a point per game solidifying himself as a hold without question.

Mark Scheifele – Goal and an assist with four shots.  The return of Cole Perfetti (two assists, two shots) should help Scheifele get on a run.

Nikolaj Ehlers – Goal and an assist with five shots.  Boy, have I missed watching Ehlers play.  He’s such a fun player with his dynamic speed and playmaking ability.

Moritz Seider – Four assists with three shots and two PIM.  It’s been a very tough year for Seider, who is on the fringe for me in 12’ers.  The upside is there without a doubt, but it’s been very ugly for half the season now.

Lucas Raymond – Goal and two assists with two shots.  It’s been a very frustrating year for Raymond as well, who is only in the middling streamer range for me.

Dawson Mercer – Two goals and an assist.  Mercer is in the middling streamer range in his second season.  Very bullish long term though.

Nico Hischier – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Hischier has had the breakout offensively that we’ve been waiting for.  He should smash his previous career highs.

Sebastian Aho – Goal and an assist.  Aho is as consistent as they come.  Year in and year out, right around a point per game.  The goals are down a bit right now due to a lower shooting percentage, but he’ll be just fine.

Sam Steel – Two assists.  Steel is still on the first line, but he’s off PP1 with Zuccarello returning, so Steel is a middling streamer.

Adam Fox -Goal and an assist with six shots.  Fox has been as good as any defenseman in real life so far, and good enough to be a solid #1 in fantasy.

K’Andre Miller – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Miller is approaching a reasonable option in hits leagues.  He’s already set a career high in points.

Evgeni Malkin – Two goals and two assists with six shots.  Malkin is getting closer to a point per game and three shots per.  Just stay healthy!

Jason Zucker – Goal and an assist.  Middling streamer.

Ty Smith – Two assists with a shot.  Smith is on PP1 which makes him a great short term option.

Patrik Laine – Two assists with two shots.  We’re eight games without a goal from Laine, who is getting closer to the fringe now.  The shot rate does remain excellent.

Nikita Kucherov – Two goals and two assists with four shots.  Kucherov continues to be up there with the best in the league offensively.  Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman each had two assists, as Columbus has no match for top tier talent.

Jake Oettinger – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 2-1 SO win over the Isles.  Oettinger barely outdueled Ilya Sorokin (25/26) in this game.  Both are right there for tier one in dynasties.

Andrew Mangiapane – Goal and an assist with two shots.  This season has been a disaster from Mangiapane in pretty much all facets.  He’s a middling streamer at best.

Jordan Kyrou – Goal and two assists with seven shots. I’m infatuated with this new top line in St. Louis,  as Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas each had a goal and an assist.  St. Louis may be struggling, but this line won’t.

Kevin Labanc – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM.  The minutes are down even though he’s getting first line time.  Bottom end streamer.

Jakob Chychrun – Two assists with five shots.  Hard to get better from Chychrun since he returned.  He’s been a bottom end #1, and I’d expect a #2 going forward.

Shayne Gostisbehere – Two assists with four shots.  The plus-minus isn’t that bad so Ghost Bear is easily a hold now.

Kurtis MacDermid – Two assists with a shot and five PIM.  I can’t believe MacDermid actually had two points in a game.  And there’s your annual MacDermid update!

J.T. Compher – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM, getting massive minutes.  He’s an elite streamer for the time being.

Mikko Rantanen – Goal and an assist with six shots and two PIM.  It’s crazy that Rantanen is easily having the best season of his career, but he is.  There’s no doubt he’s a top ten player at this point.

Matthew Tkachuk – Two goals on seven shots.  Florida has disappointed immensely, but Tkachuk is far from the reason why.  He’s an animal.

Brandon Montour – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM.  Montour is a solid #2 at this point.

Sam Bennett – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM.  Solid streamer.

Aleksander Barkov – Goal and an assist with three shots.  It hasn’t been Barkov’s best work, but we can’t rule out a monster second half of the season.  The shooting percentage should regress to the mean.

Three Point Challenge:  We will do Thursday games per usual.  You can’t take McDavid, Draisaitl, Pastrnak, Robertson, Thompson, Kucherov, Karlsson, M. Tkachuk, Connor, or Rantanen. I’ll go with Aho against the Blue Jackets.