To say James van Riemsdyk had a decent two games would be an understatement. The Charlie Conway look-alike scored five goals over the last two nights, scoring a hat trick against the Stars on eight shots before scoring two goals and an assist against the Sabres. That brings JVR to 31 goals and 16 assists on the season with just under three shots per game. Obviously he’s owned in virtually all leagues at this point, but I wanted to start off with him because he doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He’s played at a 27+ goal pace for six straight seasons now and the two goals last night gave him a new career high. I’m not sure Toronto will be to keep the impending UFA past this season, but one thing is for certain: JVR is about to get paid handsomely. Look for him to maintain his value no matter where he ends up, meaning someone who is a top 75-100 player. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Tyler Seguin – Goal and two assists with six shots. I’m not sure there are five guys playing better than Seguin right now. He’s been an absolute beast over the last month plus.
Jamie Benn – Goal and an assist with five shots. It’s not exciting but Benn is as steady as they come in all categories.
Frederik Andersen – 17 saves on 20 shots in 30:25 before leaving Wednesday’s game injured. Toronto has no reason to rush Andersen back, so he might be missing some extended time even if it’s not serious. I wouldn’t cut him yet unless you need immediate help, but it should be on the table very soon. Curtis McElhinney is worth adding if you need the starts.
Tyler Bozak – Goal and two assists with eight shots over two games. He’s been better lately but Bozak is still a bottom end streamer at best.
Mitch Marner – Three assists with five shots and four PIM. That brings Marner up to 60 points, one less than last season. And to think about how poorly this year began.
Patrick Marleau – Two goals and an assist with four shots over two games. Marleau is a middling streamer for the goals. He’s not giving much else though.
Evan Rodrigues – Two assists with four shots. ERod is a decent streamer in deeper leagues right now with solid minutes and PP time.
Chris Kreider – Goal and three assists with three shots. It’s a shame his season was cut drastically short because of the blood clot scare. I’m probably holding him for his all-around contribution but it’s close.
Neal Pionk – Three assists with two shots playing over 26 minutes. The 22 year old is getting massive minutes and is piling up assists lately with 8 in his last 8. AAGNOF! I like his long-term upside but I’d leave him for deep leagues right now.
Mika Zibanejad – Two goals on nine shots with two PIM. His season took a turn for the worse in the middle but Zibanejad now has eight points in his last five games. If you need shots at all, I’d hold him. Otherwise, Ziba is an elite streamer.
Patric Hornqvist – Two goals and an assist with fifteen shots and two penalty minutes over two games. In his last 10 games, Hornqvist has 54 shots on goal. He needs to be held everywhere.
Evgeni Malkin – Goal and an assist with three shots over two games. Two points in two games almost feels disappointing.
Kris Letang – Three assists with four shots. It hasn’t been his best year but Letang has completely turned around his plus-minus and has given his standard PIM and SOG goodness.
Bryan Rust – Two goals and an assist with seven shots. Rust remains a solid streamer.
Alex Galchenyuk – Two assists with two shots. He’s heating up a bit but I still prefer to stream Gally than hold.
Logan Couture – Goal and two assists. Couture is in great shape for his first 30 goal season in 6 years. Just a solid season from a proud member of #BillsMafia
Mikkel Boedker – Two assists with two shots. At least he hasn’t been a complete dumpster fire this season. I still wouldn’t use him outside of the deepest of leagues.
Tomas Hertl – Two goals on four shots. Hertl has fallen off quite a bit over the last month or two so I’d only stream him in good matchups at this point.
Oscar Klefbom – Goal and an assist with two shots. As far as disappointing defensemen go, Klefbom is near the top of the list for this season. Like the majority of his teammates, he looked prime for improvement and instead found a way to get much worse.
Connor McDavid – Two assists. Normal for McJesus.
Brandon Montour – Two goals on four shots. Montour has the upside to be a no-brainer hold, but for now he’s bottom end at best. I’d lean towards leaving him on the wire but it’s super close. Let it come down to team needs.
Jason Chimera – Goal and an assist with two shots. And there’s your annual Jason Chimera update!
John Gibson – 32 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Canucks. For Gibson, we just need him to stay healthy. In general, Vancouver is a disaster right now with their injuries. I would stream any goalie that starts against the Canucks for the rest of the season.
Nico Hischier – Goal and an assist with four shots. The Devils managed to put up an eight ball on Vegas so I’m not going to go through everyone that had a good game since it doesn’t change anything. Hischier has a good chance at 50 points as a rookie. That’s a very strong season despite other rookies having massive opening seasons. Hischier looks like he’ll be a 65+ point player next season already.
Erik Haula – Two goals on seven shots. Everyone talks about Wild Bill’s insane goal scoring but Haula now has 27 goals after his previous career high was 15. Just crazy.
Colin Miller – Goal and an assist with three shots. Miller is decent enough across the board that he should be held in 12’ers.
Philipp Grubauer – 35 saves on 38 shots in the 7-3 win over the Islanders. Grubauer has been so good that I’d own him in almost all formats. In dynasties, I would try to trade for him. I can see him moving in the offseason and being great as a #1. He is actually #1 in the league in goals saved compared to expected goals.
Nicklas Backstrom – Goal and two assists with two shots. Ranking Backs next year is going to be tough. If he’s a 60 point guy, he’s outside of the top 50 for me. Last year, he had 86 points. Is he starting to fall off or was this just a down year? It’s going to take some offseason digging.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Three assists with a shot. Very nice bounce back from Kuznetsov. If he could get the shot rate up, he could be a top 20 player. As it is now, he’s probably in the 30 range.
Dmitry Orlov – Goal and two assists with two shots. I really thought Orlov was going to have a nice season with the increased workload, but Trotz decided to keep him in a defensive role. Sigh.
Cam Atkinson – Hat trick on six shots. Atkinson has finally come back into last year’s form. No brainer hold in all formats.
David Savard – Two assists. Since Seth Jones (assist) avoided serious injury, I’m not using Savard.
Artemi Panarin – Two assists with three shots. Panarin has 14 points in his last 10 games and has at least three shots on goal in each of his last nine games. Dude is rockin’ and a rollin’.
Andrew MacDonald – Goal and an assist with two shots. MacDonald is, umm, not good.
Travis Konecny – Two assists with a shot. He’s slowed down enough that I prefer to stream Konecny than hold him.
James Reimer – 46 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Bruins. Massive win for Reimer and the Panthers, but it’s Luongo’s job going forward. I’d stream Reimer in all matchups though.
Evgenii Dadonov – Two assists with a shot. Very strong season for the Russian.
Nick Bjugstad – Goal and an assist with two PIM. Bjugstad has been crushing for six weeks now. I’ve been holding him and I don’t think it’s close.
Nathan MacKinnon – Two goals and an assist with three shots. This is getting ridiculous. His linemates were just as good as Mikko Rantanen had two goals and two assists while Gabriel Landeskog dished three assists. Just amazing.
Semyon Varlamov – 44 saves on 45 shots in the 4-1 win over the Blues. It’s a step above desperation although there is big potential downside for Varly in any given start.
Kyle Connor – Two goals on five shots. I’m dropping Connor to super elite streamer instead of hold because the extra categories haven’t been good for a while.
Jack Roslovic – Goal and an assist with two shots. I wouldn’t use Roslovic now but he’s going to be damn good eventually.
Bryan Little – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s a strong streamer until Scheifele returns, which could be very soon.
Jacob Trouba – Two assists with four shots. Frustrating offensive year for Trouba who should be used in deeper leagues only.
Anze Kopitar – Goal and three assists with two shots. Firmly deserves to be in the Hart discussion. I’ve been pumping his tires for months, and he’s been past by a couple others, but Kopitar should be talked about.
Drew Doughty – Three assists with a shot. Super strong and steady all season.
Dustin Brown – Goal and an assist with four shots. Again, Kopitar deserves so much credit for getting Brown back to this level.
Kyle Turris – Goal and two assists with two shots and two PIM. Nothing like a sweet revenge game. He’s on fire right now so you can go either way with Turris.
Craig Smith – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Elite streamer who can be a hold if you need the shots.
Kevin Fiala – Goal and an assist with six shots. What an incredible season for Fiala following that ugly leg break in the playoffs last season. Same boat as Smith.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the weekend’s action. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Enjoy your weekend, take care!
