Two division rivals exploded on Saturday, both winning in dominant 9-2 fashion. Not too often nowadays that you see two 9-2 scores. For Toronto, a 9-2 win against the Ducks certainly wasn’t expected, but isn’t actually shocking either. On the other hand, Florida blowing Tampa Bay out 9-2 after falling behind in the first 30 seconds of the game qualifies as jaw dropping. Florida is arguably the best team in the league right now, dominating in multiple ways. Matthew Tkachuk is fully back, scoring two goals and two assists with ten PIM in the victory, giving him 13 points in the last five games. Carter Verhaeghe scored two goals and an assist with six shots and two PIM against his former team. He’s back on the point of the top unit and with Barkov, making him a top 50 player. Sam Bennett had two goals and two assists iwth three shots and ten PIM. Bennett is firmly on the fringe right now as long as he’s with Tkachuk. For Toronto, Auston Matthews had a hat trick and two assists with four shots as he scores goals at an unprecedented rate. Bobby McMann had two goals and an assist with four shots, although I’m still not buying in with his workload. He’s bumping up to decent streamer for the time being. Also, if you need short term defensemen help, Timothy Liljegren is on PP1 and dished three assists with Rielly still suspended. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Game
Pyotr Kochetkov – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 5-1 win over the Desert Dogs. Kochetkov has turned his season around in a big way. Andersen did practice for the first time recently, but this is Kochetkov’s crease barring something extraordinary. He should be a #2 the rest of the way with upside of being a bottom end #1.
Martin Necas – Two assists with a shot. Not loving his usage right now, but I still lean towards bottom end hold for Necas. It’s approaching the fringe though.
Jack Drury – Two assists with two shots. Drury is a bottom end streamer at best. I do expect better in the future, but I don’t see a ton of offensive upside here.
Saturday’s Games
Pierre-Luc Dubois – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. I’ve ran out of all patience with Dubois, so he’ll probably go on a heater. I can’t get past solid streamer at this point, and even that is probably too high.
Brandt Clarke – Goal and an assist with three shots and four PIM. Can the Kings just unleash Clarke please? Sure, the defense isn’t there yet, but very few players are capable of doing what he can from the blue line. I’m all in for dynasties, and I would still hold him in redraft 12’ers because of that upside.
James van Riemsdyk – Two goals and an assist with five shots. Solid streamer for being on PP1. His line changes constantly which moves his short term value quite a bit.
Trent Frederic – Goal and an assist with two shots and five PIM. Frederic has been way better than anticipated, and brings real value for deep leagues. He’s a middling streamer for 12’ers at best though.
Evan Bouchard – Two goals on five shots. After a long stretch of poor shots, Bouchard is really pumping them on net lately. He’s on pace for 20+60 and almost three shots per game. Pretty, pretty good.
Corey Perry – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. For God knows what reason, Perry is skating with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (2A, 2 PIM) right now. That puts him as an elite streamer immediately.
Matt Duchene – Goal and two assists with three shots. Duchene is over a point per game now, and while some of it is an unsustainable shooting percentage, part of it is that he’s been damn good. Easy hold everywhere. I’m fascinated by what happens with him in the offseason.
Mason Marchment – Goal and an assist with three shots. Nine game point streak for Marchment, who is on the fringe.
Thomas Harley – Goal and an assist with four shots. Harley’s breakout has happened earlier than expected. He’s already a solid #3 in fantasy and it should get better down the line.
Tim Stutzle – Goal and an assist with two shots. Very disappointing season for Stutzle, but he’s still at a point per game. That shows what his floor is already.
Connor Bedard – Goal and an assist with five shots. Safe to say that Bedard is just fine after the broken jaw.
Philipp Kurashev – Two assists with a shot. Kurashev has a five game point streak, but even playing with Bedard, my interest is minimal, especially if your league has plus-minus.
Henri Jokiharju – Goal and an assist with two shots. Jokiharju is one of those defensemen who doesn’t have a real strength to his game, but also no weaknesses. Not really any fantasy value though.
Tage Thompson – Two assists with five shots. I know he had five shots on goal, but Tage continues to pass up great shooting chances. I’m still holding everywhere, but as a Sabres fan who painfully watches their games, it’s not just bad luck that he’s struggling.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – 30 saves on 32 shots in the 3-2 OT win over the Wild. Thankfully his late scratch due to injury on Thursday was minor at best.
James Reimer – 38 save shutout in the 5-0 win over the Flames. Reimer has barely played with how well Lyon is rolling, and he’s a high upside, high risk stream when he does get the nod.
Patrick Kane – Goal and an assist, both on the power play. Realistically, Kane couldn’t be doing any better. Easy hold everywhere.
Moritz Seider – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Seider’s rookie season feels like an eternity ago. The offensive has gotten worse. That said, he’s a boring hold everywhere.
Lucas Raymond – Goal and an assist. The points are very good, but the shot rate is poor and Raymond is getting killed at even strength. He’s a solid streamer bordering on an elite one, but his flaws keep him from the fringe.
Brandon Montour – Goal and two assists with five shots and ten PIM. This is the Montour we came to love last season. The role is there for him to have a monster finish. I’m not expecting it, but I’m definitely holding.
Gustav Forsling – Goal and an assist with two shots. Forsling has been the best defensive defenseman in the league, and with how good he’s been, he’s on pace for 41 points by virtue of being in the other team’s end most of the game. He’s +38, and is a positive contributor in all non-points categories. His value changes a lot depending on format, but he’s an easy hold everywhere.
Ryan Strome – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. Strome has been hot lately, but his offensive has fallen off the cliff since leaving the Rangers, specifically losing Panarin on his wing. Middling streamer.
Ryan O’Reilly – Goal and an assist, as did Filip Forsberg. These two have found great chemistry in RoR’s first season in Smashville. He’s closer to the fringe now, although I’m still in the bottom end hold category. Forsberg just needs to stay healthy to have a good chance at 40+40.
Anthony Mantha – Goal and an assist. I talked about Mantha last week, and nothing has changed. It’s nice to see him playing quality hockey again.
Aliaksei Protas – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. And there’s your biannual Protas update!
Joel Armia – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Nothing to see here in fantasy despite a good shot rate for a 4th liner.
Owen Tippett – Two goals on ten shots. Tippett was all over the place in the outdoor game, and what’s great for his fantasy value is that Tippett is with Travis Konecny (2A, 2 PIM) right now. Tippett is pushing towards four shots per game and should top 30 goals. The assists are poor, so I have him on the fringe depending on team needs.
Nico Hischier – Two goals and an assist with five shots. With twelve points in the last eight games, Hischier appears to be firmly back.
Ondrej Palat – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Palat is running on the first line right now, but it’s hard to get him past a middling streamer.
Mark Scheifele – Goal and three assists with four shots and two PIM. Kudos to Scheifele for fulling buy in this season. While the goals are a bit lower than we’re accustomed to, he’s at a point per game and his overall game is much better.
Gabriel Vilardi – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Vilardi was cold before this game, going pointless in the previous six. I’m still extremely bullish on Vilardi, but he’s more fringe than clear hold now.
Kyle Connor – Two assists with a shot. The assists have randomly dried up for Connor this season which has hurt his value quite a bit. That said, he’s still one of the best goal scorers in the league.
Spencer Martin – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 3-1 win over the Golden Knights. Martin is insurance for Carolina, and I wouldn’t expect him to get many more starts this season.
Seth Jarvis – Goal and an assist with two shots. Jarvis is having his breakout this season. He’s on the fringe, but I’m all in for dynasties. Really, the only downside is that Rod the Bod doesn’t give huge minutes to his best players.
Erik Gudbranson – Two assists with a shot. Lol, no.
Johnny Gaudreau – Two assists with four shots. Still not really interested in Gaudreau for 12’ers.
Yegor Chinakhov – Two assists with three shots. Chinakhov is getting top six minutes now, as he should with how bad Columbus is. He’s intriguing in the long term, but Chinakhov is a middling streamer for now.
Anthony Duclair – Two goals on three shots. Not that interested right now, but Duclair’s value could spike if he’s moved at the deadline.
Fabian Zetterlund – Goal and an assist with two PIM. Zetterlund has performed fairly well for the Sharks with 15 goals in 54 games. He should be a solid middle sixer long term, but for now, I just don’t want to use Sharks players.
Calen Addison – Two assists with a shot. I was a huge believer in Addison’s talent as a PPQB. Maybe it’s still there, but he’s just not doing enough in San Jose to be on the fantasy radar right now.
Sunday’s Games
Noah Dobson – Three assists with three shots. Dobson has been a monster this season, pushing over a point per game. He’s a clear #1 in all formats.
Brock Nelson – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s not the most exciting player, but here we are, with Nelson probably going to score 35 goals for the third straight season. Easy hold.
Vincent Trocheck – Two goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM. The Rangers top PP unit won this game for them, scoring three times after being down 4-1. With Chytil missing most of the season, Trocheck was locked in on Artemi Panarin‘s (1+2, 4 SOG) wing almost the entire time, solidifying his value as a top end skater again.
Adam Fox – Two assists with four shots. Fox has been his usual self, except the shot rate is abysmal. It’s the only thing keeping him from being a tier one defenseman.
Alexis Lafreniere – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. He’s a solid streamer, but it’s hard to see more with how the Rangers distribute their power play time, and with good reason.
Adrian Kempe – Two goals on five shots. Kempe has been cold, but he stepped up to win this game for the Kings. Easy hold everywhere.
Cam Talbot – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 2-1 win over the Penguins. It’s been a tale of two seasons for Talbot, and I’d be lying to you if I said I know what the Kings will do. I know it’s been awful lately, but I think we would have signed up for 2.6/.910 before the season as a #3. I expected better, I was the high man on Talbot, but that’s more than enough to pay off his draft slot. I’m still stubbornly holding.
Matt Dumba – Goal and an assist. Dumba is pumping a ton of shots on net, but he has a whole eight points in 50 games. Nothing we can do with that.
Matias Maccelli – Two assists. Bottom end streamer until the shot rate approaches respectability.
Jack Johnson – Goal and an assist. JMFJ! And there’s your annual update!
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and an assist with nine shots and two PIM. MacKinnon has a point in every home game this season. How absurd is that? Twenty-six games and counting.
Bowen Byram – Two assists with two shots. This season has been a big struggle for Byram. That said, he does have six points in his last three games. If you want to gamble at the bottom of your roster, Byram is a desirable target. I do think there’s a non-zero chance he gets traded, which could boost his value as well.
Three Point Challenge: We will do Tuesday’s games per usual. You can’t select Kucherov, MacKinnon, McDavid, Pastrnak, Pettersson, Panarin, Matthews, Nylander, Rantanen, or Miller. I’ll go with Jack Hughes against the Capitals.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Wednesday recapping the action from the next two nights. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
