The Bruins split up their first line recently and there’s been one massive winner: Danton Heinen. Heinen had a great rookie season in 2017-18 with 47 points in 77 games. He’s struggled mightily this season but Heinen has taken off since moving onto a line with Marchand and Bergeron. Heinen had a goal and two assists with three shots against the Blackhawks on Tuesday. That gives him three goals and three assists in the past four games, with at least three shots on goal in every game. If you’re in a 16+ teamer, Heinen should be owned no matter the format. Even in 12’ers, I am good with holding onto Heinen while he’s hot and the Bruins have three games in four nights starting on Friday. At the least, he’s moved up to elite streamer status as he’s as hot of a schmotato as they come. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Matt Murray – 50 saves on 51 shots in the 4-1 win over the Flyers. This season has been a disaster for Murray but he showed what he’s capable of on Monday. There’s upside here for a strong last two months.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and two assists with three shots. It feels like he destroys the Flyers every time he plays them, not that it’s much different from the rest of the league.
Kris Letang – Goal and an assist with two shots. Incredible all-around season from Letang.
Evgeni Malkin – Assist with four shots and ten PIM. Malkin was very fortunate to only get a one game suspension for swinging his stick at Raffl’s head. Regardless, you won’t get anything from him tonight.
Kyle Clifford – Two assists with a shot. His seven goals ties a career high. Next!
Austin Wagner – Two goals. Nothing to see here.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Two goals on two assists with three shots and two PIM. This is Kuznetsov’s stats from Monday only as the Caps were shutout Tuesday. The goals are down a fair amount for Kuz but he’s still been strong across the board.
Alex Ovechkin – Goal and two assists with eight shots. This is the best season we’ve seen from Ovechkin in years. So much for a Stanley Cup hangover.
T.J. Oshie – Two assists with two shots. He’s not exciting but Oshie still needs to be held in all formats.
Evander Kane – Two goals on five shots with four PIM. In his past ten games, Kane has 10 goals, 5 assists, 30 PIM and 51 SOG. Is that good? Kane remains undervalued every season and I don’t understand it. Career highs across the board appear to be a certainty.
Brent Burns – Two assists with two shots. The goals aren’t what they were 2-3 years ago but Burns is on pace to get 70+ assists while maintaining an elite shot rate.
Duncan Keith – Goal and an assist. Keith was +3 in a 6-3 loss which is almost impossible to do. I’d only use him in deep leagues at this point.
Brad Marchand – Goal and three assists with three shots and two penalty minutes. Monster across the board and on the ice.
Patrice Bergeron – Two assists with three shots. He should be talked about with the best players in the league. Such a beast all over the ice.
David Krejci – Two goals and an assist. Krejci is right on the fringe depending what you’re looking for. It’s worth noting that second lines continue to ravish the Blackhawks as Jake DeBrusk also had a goal and two assists. Second lines against Chicago make for a nice GPP stack most nights.
Jack Eichel – Two assists with a shot. Even when he’s not at his best over a full game, Eichel is to the point where he has 4-5 dynamic shifts a game that will almost certainly result in a goal or more. If he has a year with some shooting percentage luck, 100 points won’t be out of the question down the line.
Linus Ullmark – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 3-1 win over the Islanders. Nice to see Ullmark have another strong game, although this was more about the Sabres defensively than Ullmark playing amazing. He’s the 1A to Hutton’s 1B right now and with the next three games very winnable, Ullmark is a nice option.
Tyler Seguin – Two goals and an assist with four shots. He’s rapidly approaching a point per game while dominating at even strength. Maybe the owner and president will keep their mouths shut for a while.
Alex Radulov – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. It’s a shame Radulov was hurt because he’s a true stud in all six categories.
Anton Khudobin – 30 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Panthers. Bishop shouldn’t be out too long, and while I like Khudobin in most matchups, Thursday against Tampa is definitely not one of them.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 20 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Capitals. Perhaps I’m just being stubborn but I’m still a believer in Bob. At least the wins have been very good.
Curtis McElhinney – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 4-1 win over the Senators. He’s been hit or miss but on the whole, McElhinney has been very good. Easy hold in all leagues.
Michael Ferland – Goal and two assists. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Hurricanes would trade Ferland but now, they might keep him as their own rental of sorts. He’s a solid streamer and even better in hits leagues.
Teuvo Teravainen – Two goals on five shots. He’s finding another level to his game this season that I wasn’t sure he had. Seventy points seems like a lock.
Justin Williams – Goal and an assist with five shots. Still a decent streamer at this point in his career.
Elias Lindholm – Three assists with two shots. This was a game for the studs as Johnny Gaudreau dished two assists while Sean Monahan scored twice. We know what to do with these guys.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and three assists with three shots. Like I said, a game for the studs. Kucherov already has 88 points. So absurd.
Brayden Point – Goal and two assists with two shots. I did not see this type of season coming from Point. He already has 72 points after getting 66 out of nowhere last season. He’s the key to Tampa prevailing come playoff time.
Steven Stamkos – Goal and an assist with two shots. He keep chugging along putting up all of the points.
Yanni Gourde – Goal and an assist with two shots. Gourde is closer to a middling streamer at this point.
Alex Pietrangelo – Two goals and an assist with three shots, +6!!! Seven points in the last eight for Pietrangelo as he’s starting to show signs of life. I would consider him again in 12’ers if you need help on the blue line.
Ivan Barbashev – Two goals and an assist with four shots. I don’t care if he shoots 25% if he’s never going to shoot. 34 shots in 53 games isn’t going to get it done.
Nick Jensen – Two assists. Nice player in real life but doesn’t do much in fantasy.
Luke Glendening – Goal and an assist with three shots. There’s no reason that Glendening should be playing this many minutes for Detroit. Give some kids the minutes at this point.
Ryan Johansen – Two assists with three shots. He could set a career high in points this season which would obviously be great. The shot rate and drop off in PIM are not.
Mika Zibanejad – Two goals, both assisted by Mats Zuccarello. Zibanejad played 23 minutes while Zucc played over 24! Talk about trying to boost Zucc’s trade value. I think he’s a bottom end hold for now, although he’s right on the fringe. Zibanejad is producing close to a top 50 player.
Mark Scheifele – Two goals and an assist with six shots. Scheifele looks like he’ll be a borderline first round pick next season with his shot rate reaching respectable levels.
Joe Morrow – Goal and an assist with two shots. And there’s your annual Morrow update!
Claude Giroux – Goal and two assists with eight shots and four PIM over two games. He’s doing his best to carry the Flyers back into the playoffs; he’s gotten them back into the race already.
James van Riemsdyk – Two goals in two games. I’d put JVR in the elite streamer category for now.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Three assists with ten shots and two PIM over two games. He was also -4. That’s seven points in the last six for Ghost Bear. If you want to gamble on the upside, I have no problem grabbing him, but he’s far from a guarantee.
Jared Spurgeon – Goal and two assists with three shots. Those of you who grabbed Spurgeon right when Dumba went down (as yours truly recommended) have been reaping the benefits.
Luke Kunin – Two goals on four shots. I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from Kunin lately, as he has seven points in the past five games. He’s an above average streamer who is temporarily at an elite level while he’s a hot schmotato.
Auston Matthews – Goal and two assists with four shots. He hasn’t been having big games lately until Tuesday, but Matthews has been strong nonetheless.
John Tavares – Two assists with two shots. Tavares on the other hand has been piling up multi-point games like it’s his job. Well, it sort of is, but he’s doing it more often than can be expected!
Nazem Kadri – Two goals on three shots. Kadri would be so much better for fantasy on a different team where he’d be pushing 20 minutes a game instead of 15. That said, he’s still on the fringe.
Kasperi Kapanen – Two goals on four shots with two PIM. He’s back with Matthews again making Kapanen a strong streamer.
Alexander Kerfoot – Goal and an assist. Disappointing season for Kerfoot after his rookie campaign. He seems destined to be a bottom end to middling streamer.
Niklas Hjarlmarsson – Two assists. And there’s your annual Hammer update!
Richard Panik – Goal and an assist with two shots. Don’t really care for Panik at this point in fantasy.
Derek Stepan – Two assists. It’s been a tough season for Stepan. He’s barely usable now, if at all.
Nick Cousins – Goal and an assist. He’s on a nice little heater but nothing is sustainable about it.
Vinnie Hinostroza – Two assists. Lot of points from guys on the Desert Dogs tonight. Hinstroza is the best of the bunch but he’s still only a bottom end streamer.
That’s all for now guys. With only two games tonight, I’ll be back on Friday with notes on the past two nights. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
