Add another goalie to the list of guys who struggled in the opening month only to turn it around. Braden Holtby, the consensus #1 goaltender going into the season, showed us why this weekend with two big performances. Holtby saved 27 shots in Friday’s 4-1 win over the Penguins and followed it up with 29 saves in the 2-1 SO win over the Oilers. Just like that, his save percentage is back to its normal level. Sure, the goals against average is still a little high, but goals are up around the league and it’s not out of the realm of possibility it goes back down. With the massive win total as well, expect Holtby to get back to the #1 goalie by season’s end. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Games:
Mark Stone – Two goals on six shots. Stone is really boosting his shot rate to the point where he can easily be a top 50 player. He’s been incredible to open the year with 12+7 in 16 games with a whopping +15 rating.
Erik Karlsson – Two assists with two shots. Also had the same stat line on Saturday. The shot rate is down a little but 16 assists in 11 games makes up for it.
Alexander Kerfoot – Goal and an assist with three shots. Duchene’s departure looks like it will elevate Kerfoot into solid streamer status.
Roberto Luongo – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 4-1 win over the Sabres. In the five starts before this, the lowest amount of shots Luongo faced was 36. There’s no way his goals against average is going to be close to neutral. Start at your own risk.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Three assists with five shots. Two empty netters really boosted the Panthers top line on Friday but it all counts the same for fantasy! Huberdeau has been sensational as that top line can not be stopped at the moment.
Evgenii Dadonov – Goal and an assist with five shots. One of my bold calls was ranking Dadonov in the top 100 and it’s paid dividends in the early going. Also, he needs to decide between Evgenii and Evgeny.
Aleksander Barkov – Goal and an assist with two shots, +4. See Huberdeau, Jonathan.
Robin Lehner – 27 saves on 29 shots taking the loss. Now the Sabres are showing signs defensively but they’re inept offensively. Either way, Lehner’s save percentage is starting to creep back up.
James van Riemsdyk – Two goals on seven shots with two PIM. JVR is another guy who doesn’t get enough credit for how good he is. Great all-around player and fantasy asset.
Mitch Marner – Two assists with a shot. He’s starting to break out again (see Saturday) and if he was cut in your league, I’d grab him immediately. I would also throw out some trades to see if you could still buy low.
John Carlson – Goal and an assist with two shots playing almost 29 minutes. Carlson should be a #1D going forward, at least until Niskanen returns. The shot rate is outstanding, he’s actually getting PIM and the assists are piling up.
Cam Ward – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 3-1 win over Columbus. Ward has been solid overall in his four starts but it’s clearly Darling’s crease.
Jordan Staal – Two goals on three shots. Per usual, he’s a middling streamer.
Teuvo Teravainen – Two assists. I’m not giving up on him yet, he just turned 23, but Teravainen is a bottom end streamer in 12’ers until the shot rate jumps up. It needs to be at least at 2.5 per game to consider holding him given that he’s a near blank in PIM (0 so far this year).
Ben Bishop – 14 save shutout in the 5-0 win over the Islanders. Doesn’t get any easier than that. Solid start for Bishop in Dallas, not great in any category but not a negative anywhere either.
John Klingberg – Goal and two assists with three shots. Quick, who leads defenseman in points? Yes, that’d be Klingberg. I’m sure Karlsson will past him soon enough since he’s only one point behind having missed five games but regardless, Klingberg has bounced back extremely well from last year’s down season.
Esa Lindell – Goal and an assist with two shots. Nice player who I would definitely own in 14’ers or deeper that include the extra stats. For normal 12’ers, it’s starting to get closer if the minutes go up a bit.
Maxime Legace – 27 saves on 29 shots in the 5-2 win over the Jets. Still the easiest fade ever, do not consider it.
William Karlsson – Two goals on four shots for some streamer success! Keep using him while he’s rolling.
Reilly Smith – Two assists. Man, Florida really screwed the pooch letting Smith and Marchessault both go to Vegas. Smith is also an elite streamer and can vault to a hold if the points continue or the shot rate simply increases.
David Perron – Goal and an assist with two shots. Another Vegas forward streamer although Perron is closest to holding given his PIM contribution.
Luca Sbisa – Goal and an assist with two PIM. Not enough here outside of deep leagues where he’s provided great blocks and solid assists. Below one shot per game is ugly though.
Deryk Engelland – Two assists with a shot. And there’s your annual update on Eng(el)land!
Saturday’s Games:
Rick Nash – Two goals on five shots. Nash is starting to come on with 8 points in his last 7 games. He’s at least an elite streamer but wouldn’t mind holding him if you need the shots.
Mats Zuccarello – Two assists with five shots. As usual, it’s assist heavy but still worth owning.
Henrik Lundqvist – 27 saves on 29 shots in the 4-2 win over the Oilers. The Rangers are piling up the wins right now so at least Hank is helping everyone there. Hopefully the numbers start to come around but I feel good about the wins going forward.
Mike Hoffman – Two goals. Eight game point streak for Hoffman who is hitting all of the categories as expected.
Erik Johnson – Two assists with three shots. The shot rate is excellent and the penalty minutes are there so there is some potential. However, leave him on the waiver wire for now.
Alexander Kerfoot – Goal and an assist with two PIM. Three straight multi-point games for Kerfoot solidifies his streamer status. There can be something solid here long term if the shot rate increases.
Sven Andrighetto – Goal and an assist. Another guy who is a solid streamer.
Curtis McElhinney – 38 saves on 39 shots in the 4-1 win over the Bruins. He’s rarely going to play and I have no faith in him when he does.
Morgan Rielly – Goal and an assist with three shots. We’re finally seeing the long overdue breakout for Rielly this season. He should turn out to be a plus contributor everywhere but penalty minutes.
Mitch Marner – Goal and an assist with six shots. See Marner above.
Torey Krug – Assist with nine shots. Seven game point streak for Krug who has erased his horrible start to the season. One more big game in terms of shot rate and he’s back to normal levels.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 2-1 SO win over the Red Wings. If it’s not Holtby finishing as the #1, I would bet on Bob.
Jimmy Howard – 31 saves on 32 shots in the loss. Howard has been much better than anyone could have expected with a whopping .931 save percentage. If I could sell high, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
Devan Dubnyk – 32 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Flyers. The Dubnyk we’ve been accustomed to is back with back-to-back shutouts.
Jason Zucker – Goal on three shots. He’s scored six goals in the past three games which happens to be six straight Wild goals. That’s one off the all-time record for most consecutive team goals scored by one player. Clear hold right now.
Brian Elliott – 26 saves on 27 shots as the tough luck loser. He’s a clear hold right now but don’t expect Elliott to be anything special.
Alex DeBrincat – Two goals and an assist. Love him in dynasties; he’s a middling streamer right now.
Richard Panik – Two assists. This snapped a massive cold streak for Panik. He’s still worth streaming but nothing more.
Gustav Forsling – Goal and an assist with four shots. I wouldn’t be shocked if the 21 year old developed into something but for now, Forsling is waiver wire fodder.
Brock McGinn – Two goals on five shots with two PIM. He’s been surprisingly decent in the early going but the underlying numbers scream fluke; don’t use him.
Derek Ryan – Two assists with a shot. Ryan is a great story sticking in the NHL at 29 years old but there’s little fantasy value here.
Max Pacioretty – Goal and an assist with nine shots. Patches has been terrific after another slow start, especially in the shot department. He has a ridiculous 85 SOG in 18 games so far so he’s actually a bit unlucky to have only 7 goals.
Charlie Lindgren – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Sabres. He’s definitely worth owning right now while he’s rolling.
Cory Schneider – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 2-1 win over the Panthers. Who would have thought the Devils would be this up and down team? It’s hurting Schneider in GAA but he’s been strong in the other two categories.
Anders Lee – Goal and an assist with three shots. Lee has been an absolute beast with 9+8 and 12 PIM already. This is why Lee was a slam dunk top 100 player.
Nick Leddy – Two assists with four shots. Leddy now has 11 points in the past 10 games making him a slam dunk hold.
Phil Kessel – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. Kessel has been a monster in all categories as he sits as the #3 overall forward behind the Tampa duo. The PIM certainly isn’t sustainable but everything else is.
Kris Letang – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. The plus-minus remains a disaster but everything else looks fine; the goals will come.
Kyle Turris – Goal and an assist with two shots in his Predators debut. We covered Turris and the rest of those impacted on the trade extensively in the latest podcast.
Craig Smith – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM playing over 22 minutes. Cliff notes version of what I said on the podcast: Smith could become an elite streamer again if things click with Turris and Forsberg.
Filip Forsberg – Two assists with a shot. Love me some Forsberg.
Aaron Dell – 41 save shutout in the 5-0 win over the Canucks. He barely plays but Dell is worth streaming when he does get the nod.
Tomas Hertl – Goal and two assists. I still feel like he should be better but Hertl is only a streamer for now.
Logan Couture – Two goals on five shots. Couture has been terrific with 10 goals in 15 games. Certainly better than the football team he and yours truly root for. Woof.
Chris Tierney – Two goals on three shots. It’s hard to find a rarer two goal combo than a short handed empty netter followed up by a short handed penalty shot, both in the last minute of a game. Tierney isn’t fantasy relevant at this point.
Blake Wheeler – Two assists with two PIM. Nothing can stop Wheeler at the moment.
Mark Scheifele – Goal and an assist with two shots. The penalty minutes disappeared for some reason but things are rolling for the Jets top line.
Patrik Laine – Goal and an assist with three shots. After a slow start, Laine has scored a goal in five straight games.
Steve Mason – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 4-1 win over the Coyotes. His dreadful start opened the door for Hellboy and he’s firmly grasped control of the job. Mason is a hard pass right now even as a streamer.
Sunday’s Games
Miles Wood – Hat trick and an assist with seven shots. Wood almost doubled his totals on the season with this game. Wood has played himself into streamer status for the penalty minutes and being okay enough in scoring.
Nico Hischier – Goal and two assists. The minutes aren’t great right now but he’s still worth holding.
Andy Greene – Goal and an assist with four shots. The minutes are outstanding but Greene simply isn’t good enough to be used in any format.
Taylor Hall – Goal and an assist with five shots. Hall looks terrific right now and I think the goals can actually get better.
Jan Rutta – Goal and two assists with three shots. I need to watch some more of the Blackhawks to get a better read on Rutta. The minutes are climbing so there could be something here.
Patrick Kane – Goal and an assist with six shots. Kane has been solid so far sitting right near a point per game. I feel like he hasn’t been talked about at all to this point since he hasn’t had a big game so far.
Nick Schmaltz – Two assists with two shots playing over 22 minutes. I wouldn’t stream him yet given his previous cold streak but if these minutes last, he certainly could be in play.
Laurent Brossoit – 18 saves on 19 shots in the 2-1 SO loss to the Capitals. I have no faith in Brossoit going forward. None, nil, zilch.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 2-1 win over the Ducks. He’s been nothing short of spectacular so far. I think he’ll regress some but Vasilevskiy is here to stay as an elite option.
Martin Jones – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 2-1 win over the Kings. I’ve been very impressed with Jones’ consistency as he’s had only one poor game in the last 10. I don’t think this save percentage is quite sustainable but the goals against average looks to be the truth.
That’s all for now guys. As far as streamers go for Monday, with only two games on the slate, simply use the best players available. My next set of daily notes will be on Wednesday with a podcast hopefully coming out Tuesday afternoon. Feel free to make a pick for the Three Point Challenge on this post if you’d like or you can do it on the podcast post when it launches. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Thanks for reading, take care!
