As far as feel good stories go, Troy Grosenick is near the top of the list for the season. Grosenick, a 31 year old with only two previous NHL games in 2014, was forced into action for the Kings on Wednesday following Cal Petersen going on the COVID list. To say Grosenick rose to the moment would be an understatement. He saved 33 of 34 shots that he faced in the 5-1 win over the Ducks. You have to love a journeyman coming in and having success. All of a sudden, Grosenick could get some starts in the near term. If you’re in a deep league and desperate for starts, you can roll the dice on him. With LA’s next six games against Colorado, St. Louis, and Vegas, it’s definitely a gamble, but the Kings have been a massive surprise so maybe Grosenick will be the next guy to keep them afloat. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Wednesday’s Games:
Philipp Grubauer – 13 saves on 14 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Coyotes. Easy game for Grubauer. The credit in this game goes to Antti Raanta stopping 44 of 46 shots to steal a point for the Desert Dogs. While Kuemper is out, Raanta should probably be held.
Dylan Coghlan – Hat trick on five shots. From no career goals to three! Even with Pietrangelo out, I don’t see any fantasy value here in the short term. Long term, there could be something here. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Joel Eriksson Ek – Two goals on four shots. Eriksson Ek has finally taken the jump I hoped from him as a prospect. He deserves serious Selke consideration and has played his way into a borderline hold in fantasy. He’s been good enough that I would lean hold.
Leon Draisaitl – Hat trick and two assists with six shots. Another five point game for Draisaitl, who is now playing wing with McDavid. Somehow, a top five fantasy player has managed to boost his value.
Tyson Barrie – Three assists with four shots. After a disastrous start, Barrie has played at a #1D level like I projected before the season started.
Connor McDavid – Goal and two assists with four shots. Business as usual for McJesus.
Darnell Nurse – Goal and an assist with four shots. Nurse has managed to take a big step forward offensively despite not being on the first power play unit. He’s a sure fire #2D.
Mike Smith – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 7-1 win over the Senators. Smith has been a huge surprise since his return from injury making him a solid #2 goalie, at least for the time being.
Adrian Kempe – Two goals on six shots and two PIM. Kempe has found another level to his game. While he’s on this massive tear, he’s worth holding.
Carey Price – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 5-1 win over the Canucks. Four great starts in a row for Price to get his overall stats back to a level of respectability. Still not a fan.
Tyler Toffoli – Two assists with three shots. What, no goal against the Canucks? After all of the revenge games so far this year? Either way, Toffoli has been an animal all season and looks like a top 50 player.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. Kotkaniemi is now centering Toffoli and Gallagher which makes him an elite streamer. I watched this game in entirety and Kotkaniemi was incredible in the first period. The upside long term is fairly high.
Thursday’s Games:
Evgeni Malkin – Goal and an assist with two shots. After a brutal start, Geno is starting to round into form. The shot rate is still very disappointing, but at least the points are coming in.
Jaroslav Halak – 27 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Rangers. Halak’s numbers are excellent as usual. No matter the opponent, Halak is worth streaming. Depending on your format, he could be a hold, but the volume won’t be there barring an injury to Rask.
Brad Marchand – Three assists with two PIM. Marchand had a quick three points in this game and then he sat a lot on the bench with the game out of hand. He’s been outstanding as always.
Patrice Bergeron – Goal and an assist. He’s slowed down a bit, but Bergeron is still at a point per game. Even at 35, there’s been very little signs of him slowing down.
David Krejci – Goal and an assist with two shots. This was the first goal of the season for Krejci. He’s a decent streamer if you need assists, but that’s it.
James Reimer – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 5-1 win over the Predators. Reimer has won 12 of 14 starts despite having mediocre numbers. He’s been a #2 goalie and worth holding, but be aware that Mrazek should be back shortly.
Dougie Hamilton – Goal and an assist with two PIM. Dougie is due to get hot in terms of the goals department. He’s already on a seven game point streak so I’m expecting a big second half.
Jake Bean – Two assists with three shots. Bean has a lot of long term upside, but his current role caps his ceiling. He could break out in a big way next season if Dougie leaves, but for now, he’s waiver fodder.
Morgan Geekie – Two goals. Nothing to see here while Geekie is on the fourth line.
Andrei Svechnikov – Two assists with three shots. I had big expectations for Svechnikov this season, and while he hasn’t reached that level in terms of goals, his overall stat line is still excellent. It does annoy me a bit that he’s not playing 20 minutes per game at this point, but Carolina being so good is keeping his minutes down.
Ryan Pulock – Two assists with three shots. Somehow, Pulock still doesn’t have a goal this season. The shot rate has dropped, but even with two per game, that is horrible luck. Pulock is firmly on the fringe.
Nic Dowd – Two goals on three shots. And there’s your annual Nic Dowd update!
Kevin Hayes – Two assists. Hayes has cooled down a bit as Vigneault continues to shuffle lines, but he’s still an easy hold.
Travis Konecny – Goal and an assist with two shots and four PIM. Konecny is moving back towards bottom end hold despite the drop in shot rate. With the rest of the month consisting of a lot of games with the Rangers and Sabres, the Flyers should be scoring plenty.
Nikolaj Ehlers – Two goals and an assist. It feels like Ehlers doesn’t get the credit he deserves for playing as well as he does. He’s one of the best even strength forwards out there.
Morgan Rielly – Two assists with two shots. Rielly is piling up the assists, but his overall numbers are a bit disappointing considering the success that Toronto is having.
Auston Matthews – Goal and an assist with five shots, as did Mitch Marner, playing over 24 minutes. A team like Winnipeg is almost always going to struggle against Toronto, mainly their top line. Nothing has been able to slow these two down all season.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Two assists with five shots. Huberdeau has proven that his 92 point season two years ago wasn’t a fluke at all. He’s topped that pace each of the past two seasons. The shots are finally starting to improve again giving Huberdeau a chance to be a top 25 player.
Oliver Bjorkstrand – Two goals and an assist with five shots. The minutes are starting to go back up to where they should be. I would lean towards holding him, but I’m admittedly a Bjorkstrand stan.
Max Domi – Goal and an assist with four shots. Domi has been a big bust in Columbus to this point. He’s stuck being a bottom end streamer.
Patrik Laine – Goal and an assist with two shots. After a strong start, Laine found a cold patch as he was pointless in the previous seven games. The shot rate has also fallen off a cliff. I’d really like if Torts was fired for the fantasy value of the Columbus players, but I’m not sure if that’s going to happen any time soon. We don’t have much choice but to ride it out and hope for the best.
Ondrej Palat – Goal and two assists with four shots. Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point each had a goal and an assist with four shots. Despite Tampa having a surprise to Detroit, the top guys on Tampa had a good game. Palat has played better than anyone could have expected having a point per game.
Anthony Mantha – Goal and two assists with two shots. Mantha is a solid streamer, but it could change quickly. He has tremendous upside, whether he rounds into form for Detroit, or the Red Wings move him elsewhere.
Filip Hronek – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. If your league doesn’t have plus-minus, Hronek could be a nice asset. If it does, then you probably have to leave him on the wire. There’s some nice long term upside though.
Filip Zadina – Two assists with a shot. Zadina is finally starting to find a groove offensively. He’s a bottom end streamer for now.
Patrick Kane – Two assists with two shots. Congrats to Kane on 1,000 career games!
Adam Boqvist – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Boqvist is piling up assists, but the rest of his numbers are so bad that it’s hard to use him in fantasy. He’s still only 20 years old so the future is bright.
Josh Leivo – Two goals, both assisted by Sam Bennett and Derek Ryan. I have to admit that I always liked Leivo as an offensive only player. He performed well for Vancouver last season in that role. Calgary hasn’t given him much of a chance with the top guys making him useless in fantasy, but if he does get the chance, he could be a decent streamer. Same goes with Bennett, although I think he needs a change of scenery. Ryan has no value anymore.
Jacob Markstrom – 17 saves on 18 shots in the 2-1 win over Montreal. Nice performance by the Flames taking advantage of the back-to-back for Montreal let Markstrom have a rare easy game. I may have been a little high on Markstrom going into the season, but he should be a top end #2 at the least.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping all of the action from the weekend. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
