It’s remarkable that Boston started off the season 19-0-3 at home, securing a point in all 22 games. That streak ended on Thursday with the red hot Kraken in town. Earning their 7th straight win, Seattle won 3-0, with Martin Jones posting a 27 save shutout. The numbers for Jones aren’t great, a 2.68 GAA that is decent and a .898 sv% which is quite the negative. However, in spite of those numbers, Jones has won 20 games, having started 27. When only Ullmark and Hellebuyck have more wins than you, that’s quite the value boost. That is an incredible win rate, and why he has to be held everywhere. It’s probably only #3 worthy, although you can make a case he’s a #2 and certainly has #2 upside. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Travis Konecny – Hat trick on seven shots. What a season from Konecny, who has been a top 15 skater. Sure, the shooting percentage is a bit high, but a lot of it is sustainable.
Scott Laughton – Goal and two assists with two shots. Laughton has been solid so far. He’s back to a middling streamer.
Owen Tippett – Goal and an assist with six shots. Tippett is also in the middling streamer range.
Matt Murray – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 2-1 win over Nashville. Murray has been a #1 when he has been available. I don’t see much concern given how well the team is playing in front of him.
John Tavares – Goal and two assists with ten shots and two PIM over two games. Auston Matthews is day to day, so expect Tavares’ minutes to go up in the short term, along with William Nylander (2A, 8 SOG).
Quinton Byfield – Goal and an assist. Since his recall, Byfield has been on the wing on the first line. He’s a bottom end streamer for now because of the shot rate, but Byfield has undeniable upside.
Timo Meier – Goal and an assist with four shots. Meier has been even better than last season, playing at a 45 goal pace with well over 350 shots.
Klim Kostin – Two goals on six shots. Kostin is on the first line right now. He’s an elite streamer if your league includes hits, and solid streamer otherwise.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Goal and an assist with six shots. Just a monster season from RNH, who already has 50 points.
Max Comtois – Two assists with two shots. This season has been a disaster for Comtois. If I was running a team, I’d look to trade for him and hope he’s a second team guy. For fantasy, there’s nothing here right now.
Victor Olofsson – Goal and an assist with six shots. I’m still in disbelief that Olofsson has 16 goals given his overall level of play this season. The shot rate is up a lot lately, which boosts him to a solid streamer.
Nikolaj Ehlers – Two assists with a shot. Ehlers has looked excellent after a long time off. Love to see it, as does Kyle Connor, who had a goal and an assist with three shots on the other wing.
Ville Husso – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 4-1 win over the Leafs. Husso looks more like a #3 now than a #2, which is disappointing. Detroit has taken quite the step back defensively lately.
Lucas Raymond – Goal and two assists. He’s caught fire back on Dylan Larkin‘s wing (2A) with two consecutive three point games. Raymond is still on the second unit so it’s solid streamer right now.
Juuso Parssinen – Goal and an assist with two shots. Five game point streak for Parssinen centering the first line, but it’s middling streamer at best because of the poor shot rate.
Jonathan Drouin – Three assists. Drouin has 0 goals in 26 games. Pass.
Kirby Dach – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Dach has fallen off quite a but lately so it’s back down to middling streamer territory.
Cole Caufield – Two goals on four shots. 25 goals in 42 games is excellent stuff. Nine assists, not so much. I’m holding Caufield still, but it’s not as slam dunk as it would appear. It’s as bad of a stat line as someone with 25 goals can realistically have.
Igor Shesterkin – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Stars. It feels like Igor has disappointed, and he’s still the #5 overall goalie to this point. That’s why he’s the #1; his floor.
Adam Fox – Goal and an assist with two shots. Elite stat line across the board outside of hits. Fox has been a monster.
Quinn Hughes – Goal and two assists. Hughes continues to crush assists and PPP, but the lack of contributions elsewhere has him more of an elite #2 for me.
J.T. Miller – Goal and an assist with four shots. Miller was loving life playing with Elias Pettersson (1+1, 8 SOG) but now he’s thriving with Horvat. Miller is an easy hold, although I don’t see a path to approaching last season’s huge totals.
Alex Killorn – Goal and an assist. He’s on the second line at the moment making Killorn a solid streamer for his all-around contributions.
Brett Pesce – Two goals on six shots. Seemingly out of nowhere, Pesce has nine points in his last nine games. I’m bumping him up to the fringe while he’s this hot.
Filip Gustavsson – 19 saves on 20 shots in the 3-1 win over the Islanders. Why is he still available in over 50% of leagues? He has a 2.17/.925!
Kirill Kaprizov – Goal and an assist with five shots. Nice to see him working his magic with Mats Zuccarello (2A, 2 SOG, 2 PIM) per usual.
Dan Vladar – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 4-1 win over the Blues. I feel comfortable streaming Vladar every time he starts outside of the very worst matchups.
Dillon Dube – Two goals on four shots, both assisted by Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli. I was really hoping for more from Dube this season, but like most of Calgary offensively, it just hasn’t happened. I have him as a solid streamer while he’s on the first line, but I don’t really see a path to improving beyond that.
Nathan MacKinnon – Two assists with eight shots. The team is struggling right now, but MacKinnon seems to be on the warpath. He has 8+ shots in three of his six games since returning, along with seven points.
Alex DeBrincat – Goal and an assist with five shots. Unsurprisingly, DeBrincat’s shots are starting to turn into more goals. He’s still having bad luck based on his previous shooting percentages.
Claude Giroux – Two assists with four shots. Giroux has solidified himself as a bottom end hold.
Jake Sanderson – Two assists with a shot. He hasn’t had the breakout as a rookie like was hoped, but I still love Sanderson as a long term fantasy prospect. For now, he’s a deep league only guy.
Dylan Guenther – Goal and an assist with five shots. I hope to see Guenther get big minutes going forward, but for now, he’s only a bottom end streamer.
Keegan Kolesar – Two assists with a shot and five PIM. In a deep league with hits, there’s streaming appeal. Otherwise, absolutely not.
I’m stuck traveling and have very little time over the next couple days, and there is a massive slate on Monday and Tuesday, so I’m going to ask that everyone keeps the comments and questions coming, and I’ll have my next set of daily notes up by Wednesday at the latest. Apologies for the delay.
