The Penguins have been on quite a tear lately, and it’s not just their All-Stars. Over the weekend, Jake Guentzel destroyed the Ducks and Kings. In the Penguins comeback against the Ducks, Guentzel had a hat trick on seven shots with two penalty minutes, before scoring two more goals on six shots against the Kings. That brings Guentzel to 23 goals, which is already a career high. The shot rate has taken a big jump as well, although we can’t expect him to shoot 19% all season. Regardless, Guentzel has settled into being a top 100 player who is a clear hold in all formats. As long as he continues to play with Crosby, things will be just fine. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Games:
Rasmus Dahlin – Two assists with three shots. Not the most exciting fantasy stat line, but Dahlin has been decent in his rookie campaign. Easy hold.
Michael Ferland – Goal and two assists with two shots. He’s back with Teuvo Teravainen (2A) and Sebastian Aho (2G) which makes Ferland an elite streamer.
Kyle Connor – Goal and two assists with three shots. Connor has slowed down a bit but he’s an easy hold. Expect him to get back rolling sooner than later.
Blake Wheeler – Goal and an assist with seven shots. Goals are starting to come in for Wheeler, which is no surprise given his extremely low shooting percentage.
Michael Frolik – Goal and two assists. His agent complained about Frolik’s role publicly, and now he has 4+4 in his last 7 games back on the second line. I would put him back in the solid streamer category.
Evgeni Malkin – Goal and three assists with four shots. Malkin has been surprisingly bad at even strength, which has resulted in a -13 rating. That said, he’s killing it on the power play and is over a point per game. The shot rate has also dropped, so while Malkin is still a beast, we are seeing some signs of decline.
Phil Kessel – Goal and two assists with four shots. Kessel’s shot rate has also dropped, but he’s still crushing. He’s on pace to top last season’s 58 assists.
Tanner Pearson – Two goals. He’s an okay streamer as long as he’s with Kessel and Malkin.
Ryan Getzlaf – Goal and an assist with five shots. This was the first game that Getzlaf had a point or more in almost a month. Times are tough for the Ducks right now. He’s still a hold but it’s not great.
Adam Henrique – Two assists. Bottom end streamer at best.
Saturday’s Games
Nico Hischier – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. It’s not the big breakout we hoped for from Hischier, but he’s been solid enough to be held all year.
James van Riemsdyk – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. He was banged up in the game and is considered 50-50 for Monday night’s game. Keep an eye on it if you’re playing DFS.
Sean Couturier – Goal and an assist with four shots. I’m still hopeful that we see a strong second half from Couturier.
Alexandar Georgiev – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 2-1 win over the Islanders. Georgiev isn’t good and the Rangers are playing poorly in front of him. Easy pass.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and two assists with three shots. 75 points in 45 games. 23 points in his last 9. It’s just ridiculous.
Steven Stamkos – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. Between Kucherov and Point, Stamkos has been a bit overshadowed, but he’s been his usual strong self.
Victor Hedman – Two assists with two shots. This season has been a bit disappointing for Hedman, but I’m expecting a big second half. The situation remains perfect for success.
Carey Price – 28 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Avalanche. Price has been very inconsistent and I expect that to continue.
Phillip Danault – Two assists with a shot. His role has increased but I still don’t care that much for Danault. He’s a fine streamer, but the lack of shots keeps him at that level.
Sean Kuraly – Goal and two assists with two shots. Nothing to see here.
Kasperi Kapanen – Two assists. He had been ice cold before this, and he’s back to being a strong streamer rather than a hold.
Joonas Korpisalo – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Capitals. He’s getting wins, but Korpisalo has below a .900 sv%. Easy pass outside of the best of matchups.
Tyler Bertuzzi – Hat trick on five shots. Bertuzzi is a middling streamer while he’s on the top line. The shot rate is poor, but everything else is decent enough.
Dylan Larkin – Three assists with four shots. He’s going to get damn close to my preseason prediction of 80+ points. Larkin has been fantastic. Great PIM, among the best shot rates in the league, and 18+26 in 47 games.
Thomas Vanek – Two goals on five shots with two PIM. Bottom end streamer at this point of his career. Perhaps that can be increased if he’s moved at the deadline.
Jonathan Ericsson – Two assists. And there’s your annual Ericsson update!
Gustav Nyquist – Two assists with two shots. He’s become an easy hold again for the first time in four seasons. He is a prime trade candidate at the deadline, but he has input on where he goes. I’m not sure he can go into a much better spot than he is in currently, but it shouldn’t change too much.
Max Pacioretty – Two assists with a shot. Patches is right on the fringe now. I lean towards streaming instead of holding, but you can go either way.
Alex Tuch – Goal and an assist with seven shots. Tuch has matched last season’s totals in 38 less games. He’s been piling up assists lately and remains an easy hold.
Patrick Kane – Goal and an assist with three shots. Been a monster all season.
Erik Gustafsson – Two assists with a shot. He’s the clear #1D in Chicago right now and has a point in eight straight games. Easy hold in all formats.
Alex DeBrincat – Two goals on five shots. Four game goal streak for DeBrincat has him on pace to score 40. The upside in the future is immense.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Two goals on three shots. He’s been among the most disappointing players in the league this season. I can’t help but think Tarasenko will turn it around in the second half. Five points in the last five games is a good start.
Oskar Sundqvist – Two assists with two shots. Sundqvist received rare power play time in this game. I wouldn’t use him at this point, but it’s worth monitoring for deep leagues.
Jordan Binnington – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 3-1 win over the Stars. I wrote extensively about Binnigton on Friday; you can read it here.
Alex Galchenyuk – Two assists. Gally played only 12 minutes in this game, so while the two points are obviously good, it solidifies my belief that he’s a streamer. Still right on the fringe though.
Jordan Oesterle – Goal and an assist with three shots. Easy pass.
Conor Garland – Two goals on five shots. That’s six goals in the past four games for Garland. He’s an elite streamer while he’s a hot schmotato.
Martin Jones – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 4-1 win over the Senators. That’s seven straight wins for Jones but he hasn’t been great throughout that entire stretch. He’s a decent #2, even if he gets back up to his usual .915 sv%, which is far from certain.
Brent Burns – Goal and an assist with four shots. Burns has been a monster for the last month plus. The goals are starting to come in as expected, so we could definitely see Burns finish the season with the most points by a defenseman.
Jeff Carter – Goal and two assists with two shots. Carter has fallen off a cliff this season. He’s a decent streamer. Maybe that’ll get better if he’s traded, but I have my doubts.
Anze Kopitar – Two goals on three shots and two PIM playing over 24 minutes. Kopitar has nine points in his last ten and if the minutes are that high, we can definitely see a bounce back.
Jake Muzzin – Two assists with a shot. There’s plenty of value in deep leagues, but he’s not worth owning in 12’ers unless your league has extra categories.
Sunday’s Games
Filip Forsberg – Two goals on three shots. An unheralded superstar, Forsberg has picked up right where he left off before his injury.
Roman Josi – Two assists with two shots. It’s not the best season for Josi in terms of points, but the shot rate is truly amazing. The shooting percentage is the lowest of his career as well which makes him a nice trade target.
Sebastian Aho – Hat trick and an assist with six shots. Superman that Aho! He’s playing at a superstar level, no doubt about it. It was another game where the opposition had no answer for the top line.
Michael Ferland – Two assists with two shots and seven PIM. Elite streamer as discussed above.
Teuvo Teravainen – Two assists with two shots. His points come in bunches but the overall totals are quite strong.
Carter Rowney – Three assists with a shot. He’s a AAAA player who has 17 SOG in 26 games. Next. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Daniel Sprong – Two assists with two shots. I still believe in Sprong long term, and with the Ducks quickly falling off, I’d like to see him get more ice time down the stretch. He’s been solid since going to Anaheim, but he’s only a bottom end streamer in his current role.
Bryan Little – Goal and an assist with three shots. A five game point streak for Little gets him to being a middling streamer. Hard for him to be more than that even with his quality linemates.
Mats Zuccarello – Two goals on four shots playing over 23 minutes. Zucc has had a really tough season, and he acknowledged that it was because of his pending free agency and probable trade. I could see him making a big impact on a new team assuming he’s traded, but for now he’s a middling streamer.
Nick Foligno – Two goals and two PIM. He’s a nice yawnstipating player for deep leagues, but in standard leagues, Foligno is an okay streamer. Decent enough at everything but not great in any category.
Cam Atkinson – Goal and an assist with four shots. Atkinson is on pace to set career highs in every category across the board. The shot rate is pushing four per game, the assists are much better than ever, etc. He’s a top 50 player at the moment.
Ryan Murray – Two assists with a shot. He’s on pace for around 40 assists, but gives nothing else outside of a good plus-minus. Don’t see much use outside of the deepest of leagues.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and an assist with three shots. Remember when people were worried about his production outside of Chicago? It’s funny looking back at it. He’s a truly elite winger and going to get a massive deal this offseason.
Casey Cizikas – Goal and an assist with two shots and four PIM. The fourth line scored two goals for the Isles in this one as Cal Clutterbuck also had a goal and an assist with two shots while Matt Martin dished two assists. Cizikas is on pace for 40 points now which is just remarkable. I still wouldn’t use him in fantasy, but it’s a big reason why the Isles are in a playoff spot at the moment.
Thomas Greiss – 38 saves on 39 shots in the 5-1 win over Tampa. For now, it seems like Lehner is the 1A to Greiss’ 1B. That can change quickly. but for now I’d stream Greiss in most matchups.
Jacob Markstrom – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 5-1 win over the Panthers. Markstrom has surprisingly won over half of his starts. His other numbers are below average, so I’d consider him a near-desperation option.
Loui Eriksson – Goal and two assists with two shots. Eriksson is a guy that teenagers don’t realize how good he once was. He was damn good in Dallas and Boston, but he fell off quickly once he went to Vancouver. Now, he’s an easy pass in fantasy.
Jay Beagle – Goal and an assist. That contract was a disaster the moment Beagle signed it. What Vancouver was thinking, I have no clue. And there’s your Beagle update!
Mark Giordano – Two goals and an assist with four shots, +5. The Flames ravished the Coyotes on Sunday, and pretty much everyone got in on the action. I don’t think it changes the value of anyone on their team, so I’m just going to highlight Gio. He’s above a point per game, he’s +36(!!!) on the season, everything is phenomenal. And somehow he’s not in the All-Star game. It’s a joke that every team needs a player and there’s only 12 spots on the team, but even still, Gio should have made it. He’s the Norris front runner at the moment.
Mike Smith – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 7-1 win over the Coyotes. Nice easy win for Smith. He’s the clear backup at this point as he’s still below 3.00/.900. I’d only use him in the best matchups.
Monday Streamers:
Tage Thompson (0.0%) – Playing with Eichel and Skinner makes him a great option, especially on a small slate. Solid matchup with the Oilers as well.
Ty Rattie (1.6%) – He’s back with McDavid and RNH. Enough said.
Jakub Vrana (1.6%) – Vrana has been playing well over the last two weeks. He’s settled into the LW2 spot with Backstrom and Oshie which makes him a strong option.
That’s all for now guys. With six games on the slate tonight, I may have a post that goes up on Tuesday morning; it depends on how much action there is in the games. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
