It was typical Team Canada to leave Thomas Harley off their team in the first place for an aging Doughty, but at the end of the day, Harley ended up playing and playing extremely well. He’s carried that over to the Stars, where he’s filling the void left by Heiskanen’s injury and then some. Harley had a goal and an assist with two shots on Tuesday, giving him three straight multi-point games, and bringing him to 14 points in 11 games since Heiskanen went down. The shot rate is holding him back a bit, but Harley has a real chance to be a borderline top ten defenseman the rest of the way. He’s been doing well at even strength all season, and the Stars power play is starting to get going. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Monday’s Games
Jake Sanderson – Three assists with three shots. He’s done poorly at even strength, but we also could be looking at a 60 point season from the 22 year old. Hard to complain about that.
Shane Pinto – Two goals on three shots. Pinto has six goals in his last eight games and is getting big minutes. Solid to elite streamer range.
Pierre-Luc Dubois – Goal and two assists with five shots and two PIM. It’s nice to see this PLD back again after a dreadful season in L.A. He has ten points in his last seven games and is starting to shoot the puck more again. He’s on the fringe.
Connor McMichael – Goal and an assist with five shots. McMichael is also on the fringe, although I’ve been holding him pretty much all season in a 10 man league so that shows you which way I lean towards.
Aleksander Barkov – Two goals on four shots. The shot rate going down a notch hasn’t helped. but Barkov is still on his usual pace of just over a point per gamae.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 2-1 win over the Lightning. I covered Bob on Monday in my recap of the Jones/Knight trade.
Igor Shesterkin – 21 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Rangers. If you can figure out this Rangers team, good for you because I have no chance. I still think they end up sneaking into the playoffs.
J.T. Miller – Goal and an assist with two shots, bringing him to 7+7 in 11 games on Tour Two with the Rangers. Obviously the shooting will regress, but it’s nice to see this Miller back again.
J.J. Peterka – Two assists with six shots and two PIM. Counting his two point night on Tuesday (spoiler alert), Peterka has a six game point streak going. HE was on the fringe already and this is enough to bump him to a hold despite the embarrassment that is the Sabres.
Nick Suzuki – Goal and three assists with four shots. Since the Four Nations break, Suzuki has thirteen points in five games. Is that good? Seems good.
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with two PIM. It may look clunky at times, but Tavares continues to bounce back after he looked like he dropped a step last season.
Teuvo Teravainen – Two assists with two shots. Unbelievably, Teravainen has 35 points in his last 28 games. It doesn’t come without weaknesses, both in shots and plus-minus, so it comes down to team needs.
Spencer Knight – 41 saves on 42 shots in the 5-1 win over the Kings. Talk about a debut for your new team. Knight is extremely talented so here’s to hoping he puts it together in Chicago. In dynasties, I’m in, but in redrafts, he’s a very risky streamer.
Tuesday’s Games
Macklin Celebrini – Goal on three shots. I usually don’t write about someone who only had one point, but wow. I was at the game and Celebrini was the best player on the ice with Dahlin on the other side. He had two posts and had another roll off his stick, or he’d have had a first period hat trick. He’s already playing at a superstar level.
Tyler Toffoli – Goal and an assist with four shots. Toffoli has seven goals in his last ten games and the shot rate to go with it. He’s on the fringe for teams that need goals and shots.
Zach Werenski – Two goals on four shots. You know you’re having an insane season when you’re neck and neck with Makar for the #1 overall defenseman.
Victor Hedman – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Jake Guentzel had 2+1 with seven shots, while Nikita Kucherov had 1+2 with seven shots. Safe to stay the Tampa stars weren’t happy with their winning streak ending. Hedman has creeped back into a top 5 defenseman, while Kuch is right there with MacKinnon and Draisaitl for #1 forward. Guentzel hasn’t found the level I expected, but he’s still a top 20 forward.
Nazem Kadri – Goal and an assist with three shots. The Flames are in a weird spot where almost all of their forwards have some use, but none are clear holds. Kadri is the closest depending on team needs and format.
Frederik Andersen – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 2-1 win over the Red Wings. Just stay healthy!
Steven Stamkos – Goal and two assists with four shots and two PIM. Ryan O’Reilly had two goals and an assist. I already have no idea what to do with Predators guys for next season’s rankings. It’s been the year from hell for them, which I kind of want to disregard, but they’re also quite old. I never would have imagined it going this bad for Stamkos.
David Pastrnak – Two assists with four shots. Remember how poorly Pasta started in the goals department. Sure feels like an eternity ago.
Brock Nelson – Goal and an assist. If you want to see an emotional interview, check out Nelson after this game. Wow.
Josh Morrissey – Goal and an assist with four shots. It is still crazy to me that Morrissey went from generic bottom end hold for years to a clear top 10 defenseman for three years running.
Roope Hintz – Goal and two assists with four shots. Is eleven points in three games good? Good lord, what a heater.
Luke Hughes – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Dougie Hamilton left the game in the first period due to injury and did not return. Hughes’ value would skyrocket if Hamilton misses extended time, although the PP is weakened without his brother.
Artturi Lehkonen – Two goals on five shots. It’s been a while since we had a season with this big of a discrepancy in goals vs. assists. Vatrano had a good one last season, but over 82 games, Lehkonen is playing at a 43+18 pace. It’s good enough across the board to be an easy hold.
Scott Wedgewood – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 4-1 win over the Pens. Wedgewood is worth streaming every time he plays, as sparingly as it is. 2.23/.916 in 10 games with the Avs is no joke.
Jackson LaCombe – Three assists with a shot, +5. It is incredible how good LaCombe has been this season. The Ducks are extremely good with him on the ice and garbage when he isn’t. He’s a clear hold in fantasy and it appears that he’s the hidden gem of their rebuild.
Cutter Gauthier – Three assists with three shots. It hasn’t happened for Gauthier this season, but he’s still only 21 years old. The shot rate is trending in the right direction which gives hope for the sophomore season jump.
Mason McTavish – Two goals. McTavish has come back from the break a new man, with six points in five games. The talent is undeniable and I can’t help but think a monster season comes at some point. Whether it’s next year or not, who knows. For now, he’s a solid streamer.
Mats Zuccarello – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s obviously fallen off without Kaprizov, but Zucc is still on the fringe with a slight lean towards holding.
Three Point Challenge: We will do the Three Point Challenge for Thursday’s games. You can’t select MacKinnon, Kucherov, McDavid, Draisaitl, Marner, Pastrnak, Connor, Rantanen, Eichel, Bratt, or J. Hughes. Give me Hagel against the Sabres.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Friday afternoon with a live trade deadline blog. I will probably start around 11 am and go through the deadline listing every trade and giving instant feedback on all moves. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
Roope for 3
3/4: necas vs PIT
3/6: keller @ DET for 3 pt thurs