Injuries are a part of the game, but always terrible to see. Unfortunately, a Razzball favorite went down on Monday night. Brendan Gallagher broke his thumb and is out multiple weeks. If you have an IR spot, definitely stash him, but if you don’t, you can sadly let him go. So who gets the boost in Montreal? Jesperi Kotkaniemi moved to the wing and took Gallagher’s spot which boosts him up to a solid streamer from a middling one. Eric Staal scored the overtime winner in his Canadiens debut and is now centering Toffoli and Drouin. He looked completely shot in Buffalo, but maybe the trade plus the easier division rejuvenate him. Let’s see how he looks over the next couple games before we use him. I also really like what I’ve seen from Josh Anderson lately who is playing more minutes. The assists are brutal, but the goals and shots should be quite good. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Monday Night’s Games:
Ryan Hartman – Goal and two assists playing over 20 minutes. Hartman earned more playing time, but his overall numbers are still mediocre. He’s a bottom end streamer for now, although the power play time is encouraging.
Marcus Johansson – Goal and an assist with three shots. Bottom end streamer at best with his shot rate.
Nick Bjugstad – Goal and an assist with a fight. The minutes are so low that it’ll take a lot for him to gain fantasy value.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and an assist with two shots. His overall numbers are absolutely preposterous. He’s the #3 skater which comes as no surprise at all.
Andre Burakovsky – Goal and an assist. I wish the minutes were more consistent, but Burakovsky is an elite streamer regardless. He’s just a bit behind average in shots or PIM for me to hold him.
Ivan Provorov – Two assists with two shots. Provorov has seven points in the past eight games to start to turn his season around. More importantly, the shots are really piling up. He’s looking more like a #3 again than a fringe hold.
Ryan Dzingel – Goal and an assist. I assume the Senators will be trying to trade him so they’ll be giving him big minutes over the next week. Dzingel is a viable deep league streamer.
Connor Brown – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM playing over 21 minutes. Brown has a goal in four straight games which is the best stretch of his career. He’s already 27 so I don’t see a ton of upside, but he’s usable in deep leagues as he’s on a 40-45 point pace.
Pierre-Luc Dubois – Two goals on three shots with two PIM. While he hasn’t set the world on fire, Dubois still has 16 points in 24 games with Winnipeg. I’m being stubborn holding, but it’s fringy.
Nikolaj Ehlers – Two assists with three shots. I can’t help but be excited about Ehlers finally putting it together for (almost) a full season. I still see a top 50 player with ease here long term.
Andrew Copp – Two assists with three shots. Copp is a middling streamer with upside. The PP2 time helps a lot, but he’s still stuck on the third line for now.
Robin Lehner – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 6-1 win over the Blues. Lehner has been fantastic since returning from injury. MAF is starting to fall off a bit so I’m hoping that Lehner starts to get a majority of starts, but I’m not counting on it. Start him in every game, even against Colorado.
William Carrier – Goal and an assist. He’s a quality fourth liner, but that does nothing to boost Carrier’s fantasy value, which is nil.
Keegan Kolesar – Two assists with a shot. Kolesar looks like a decent player, but again, nothing for fantasy. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Alec Martinez – Two goals on five shots. Martinez has been solid enough across the board that he’s an easy hold in all formats. It’s not exciting, but it’ll get the job done.
Mikael Backlund – Two goals on five shots. Backlund has been fine, but Calgary has really been falling apart. He’s a solid streamer, but I can’t see Backlund approaching hold status.
Elias Lindholm – Two assists with two shots. Lindholm remains a bottom end hold once again.
Auston Matthews – Two goals on four shots. All your goals are belong to Matthews!
William Nylander – Two assists with two shots. He’s on a lesser pace than last season which is surprising given the division and Toronto’s success. Hold him, but keep expectations in check.
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with three shots. His goal was kicked into the net by Hanifin, but they all count the same! Tavares has been fine, but it’s clear he’s starting his decline now.
Michael Bunting – Hat trick on six shots. Bunting is a 25 year old who has barely played in the NHL but is getting time with Conor Garland (2A) and Schmaltz right now. He’s a decent streamer for now, but don’t expect anything long term. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Jakob Chychrun – Two assists with four shots. Can’t stop, won’t stop!
Alex Goligoski – Two assists with a shot. Gogo has been piling up the assists lately, but I’m not buying it at all. Leave him on the waiver wire.
Tuesday’s Games:
Casey Mittelstadt – Goal and an assist. He’s on a four game point streak as Mittelstadt finally looks like the player the Sabres hoped for. He’s a solid streamer right now.
Rasmus Dahlin – Goal and an assist. Dahlin looks like his usual self once again now that Kreuger is gone. It may a bit bold because of the plus-minus, but Dahlin is worth considering again.
Pavel Zacha – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s making progress in year five, but Zacha is only a bottom end streamer.
Jesper Bratt – Goal and an assist with two shots. Bratt has got his season back on track with nine points in the past ten. He’s a middling streamer as the Devils should be playing plenty of high scoring games going forward.
Aleksander Barkov – Two goals on four shots with two PIM. Both goals were assisted by Carter Verhaeghe. As much as I liked Barkov, I never expected him to become this dominant offensively. He’s on another level right now. Verhaeghe continues to be the surprise of the season.
Sebastian Aho – Three assists with three shots and two PIM. Congrats to Chet for picking Aho in the Three Point Challenge! That’s a nice way to snap his cold streak.
Jordan Staal – Two goals on three shots. Elite streamer, but still prefer to not hold Staal.
Vincent Trocheck – Goal and an assist. Ignoring an injury in the middle, Trocheck is in the midst of an eleven game point streak. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Semyon Varlamov – 29 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Capitals. Nice revenge game from Varly, who has played at a #1 level all season. Here’s to hoping his volume stays high enough for this to be maintained.
Vitek Vanecek – 38 saves on 39 shots as the tough luck loser. Vanecek has been quite good given that he was thrusted into the lineup after being a preseason emergency option. He probably should be held in all formats.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and three assists with two shots. He’s been an animal on a per-game basis, to the point where he’d be rivaling the Edmonton duo if he played every game. Props to Veritas for picking him in the Three Point Challenge!
Adam Fox – Goal and two assists. To say he’s on a tear would be an understatement. Fox is playing his way into the Norris conversation. The Rangers scored eight goals with nine guys scoring 2+ points, but it doesn’t really change how I feel about any of their guys.
Kris Letang – Two assists with four shots. With ten points in his past ten games, Letang looks like himself again.
Mark Jankowski – Two assists. Still no.
Mike Matheson – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. He has points in four straight games, but I can’t take Matheson seriously for fantasy. Easy pass.
Brad Marchand – Goal and three assists with two shots. That’s his second four point game in the past three games for Marchand. More importantly, it’s my fourth correct pick in the Three Point challenge!
Patrice Bergeron – Hat trick on five shots. And just like that, Bergeron’s numbers are outstanding once again. Even at 35 years old, he’s shown little sign of slowing down.
Jakub Voracek – Goal and an assist with four shots. The shot rate still isn’t great, but it’s better than it was. Regardless, the assists are so good that Voracek should probably be held in all leagues.
Pat Maroon – Two assists. Pure fourth liner, pure pass.
Max Domi – Goal and an assist with two shots. Like almost all of the Blue Jackets roster, Domi is a mess right now. Easy pass right now.
Jack Roslovic – Goal and an assist. Roslovic has fallen off quite a bit, resulting in a scratch in one game. He’s a middling streamer at best, mostly because I don’t want anything to do with Columbus at the moment.
Roman Josi – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. He hasn’t been as good as usual, but Josi is also having some poor luck. With how well Nashville has been playing on the whole, it wouldn’t be surprised if Josi takes off soon.
Blake Comeau – Two assists with a shot. And there’s your annual Comeau update!
Patrick Kane – Goal and an assist with four shots, as did Alex DeBrincat. If Chicago wants to shock everyone and get into the playoffs, these two are going to need to go on a massive tear, just like they did to open the season.
David Backes – Goal and an assist with two shots. I’m glad that Backes is back in the NHL getting playing time. He was under-appreciated for a while in St. Louis as one of the best two way forwards. His fantasy relevant days are behind him.
Nic Deslauriers – Goal and an assist with four shots. Nothing to see here.
Three Point Challenge: We will do Thursday games per usual. I now have 4 correct picks, Veritas moves into second with two, and Chet joins the group with one pick. You can not select McDavid, Draisaitl, Kane, Marner, Matthews, Scheifele, Marner, MacKinnon, Crosby, or Rantanen. I’ll go with Barzal against the Flyers.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Friday 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!
UPDATE: Not feeling well, and there’s not a lot that happened the last two days anyways besides the Palmieri trade, which helps him out but not tremendously when he’s stuck in the bottom six. Going to hold off on a post until Monday when I will recap the action from the weekend and then spend the entire afternoon breaking down every NHL trade that takes place at the deadline. Be sure to check out that live blog for instant analysis!
