It’s no surprise that Nazem Kadri is the big winner of the trade deadline. The surprise is how big of a winner that he is. Kadri has played on the wing with MacKinnon and Necas instead of centering his own line, and it doesn’t get better than that. Kadri had a goalon two shots on Thursday in the win over the Kraken. His 19:26 in a blowout win is the lowest TOI he’s played so far. There’s a real chance that Kadri will be a top 50 player for the rest of the season if he stays in this spot, despite being available in 15% of leagues. I assume your league’s trade deadline has passed, but if it hasn’t and you’re making a push, Kadri is a top target.
Apologies for not having a post on Monday. The servers for the site were down for two days longer than anticipated so I wasn’t able to write anything on the site. We should be fine going forward and back to my regular schedule. Let’s take a look at what else happened the last two nights:
Samuel Ersson – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 4-1 win over the Capitals. Ersson has been brutal this season. Not interested outside of desperation.
Owen Tippett – Goal and an assist with six shots. Tippett is a solid streamer bordering on elite.
Noah Cates – Two assists. Cates has been fine, but that doesn’t get him past being a bottom end streamer.
Ivan Demidov – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. From a points perspective, nobody can complain about what Demidov is doing. For him to turn into a fantasy superstar, the shot rate will need to go up, and I assume it will. Just imagine what he’ll look like with a real top six center next to him (no offense to Kapanen).
Drake Batherson – Two goals on four shots with six hits and two PIM. Both goals were assisted by Tim Stutzle. This has been the best saeson for Batherson since the shortened COVID season. Clear hold everywhere.
Charlie Lindgren – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 2-1 win over the Sabres. This was only the second game Lindgren had above a .900 sv% in his last ten starts, and even in that game, he allowed four goals. Very little interest.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Blue Jackets. Bob is as high risk, high reward as you can get in the fantasy hockey world these days.
Sam Reinhart – Goal and an assist with three shots. Reinhart isn’t too far off his pace from last season. Considering all of the injuries the team has suffered around him, he’s had a fine season.
Justin Viel – Two assists with eleven PIM. Viel is a fringe NHL’er that doesn’t provide any fantasy value. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Matthew Knies – Goal and three assists. The playmaking for Knies has found another level this season. The goals are down simply by his shooting percentage getitng back to a normal number. He’s still only 23, but a 70ish point player who averages around two shots per game seems like who Knies will be. Plenty of value in that.
Matias Maccelli – Goal and two assists. After a horrendous start, Maccelli is showing signs of life. He has six goals and four assists in his last ten games. His role could increase as well if Auston Matthews is out for an extended period of time after a horrible knee from Gudas. Maccelli is a solid streamer with upside.
John Tavares – Goal and an assist, as did William Nylander. Tavares is your generic bottom end hold at this point in his career.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 4-1 win over the Red Wings. After a few brutal games from Tampa Bay defensively, it was nice to see them lock a game down. Unless, of course, you’re a Sabres fan like me.
Jake Guentzel – Two goals on five shots.  Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov each had two assists. Guentzel is the most boring superstar there is, and that’s a compliment. “Here’s your 35-40 goals and 40ish assists” every year. He does already have 40 assists, but you get the point.
Gage Goncalves – Two goals on five shots. He played with Point and Kucherov in this game, and got the minutes to go with that. If that holds, Goncalves has elite streamer upside.
John Beecher – Two goals on four shots. And there’s your annual Beecher update!
Jesper Bratt – Two assists with a shot. Crazy to see this big of a dropoff for Bratt. I’m still holding, and I’m fairly likely to just ignore it next season and expect a bounce back.
Jack Hughes – Goal and an assist with five shots, as did Luke Hughes. It’s always only a matter of health for Jack. Luke has done enough to be a hold again. With the Devils out of it, they have every reason to give him massive minutes to work on his game.
Jordan Binnington – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 3-1 win over the Hurricanes. Pretty funny that the Blues are getting quality goaltending now after they buried the team’s season. Use Binnington at your own risk. Hofer does seem to be the 1A at the moment too.
Jimmy Snuggerud – Two goals on three shots. Snuggerud has a goal and multiple points in four straight games. It looks like the 21 year old is turning a corner. He’s an elite streamer who could end up being a hold down the stretch.
Dylan Holloway – Two assists with two shots. Same deal as Snuggerud, although we’ve seen it with Holloway before during last season.
Michael Misa – Goal and an assist as did his linemates Tyler Toffoli and William Eklund. We’re still probably a couple years away from Misa taking the big step, but it’s nice to see him flash on a regular basis now. Middling streamer because of the poor shot rate.
David Pastrnak – Goal and an assist with four shots and ten PIM. Pasta’s drop in goals is mostly beacuse of his shot rate continuing to go down. It’s still an elite shot rate, but not true superstar level now. He has a good chance to set a career high in assists though. Pasta is still in the top 10, but closer to 10 than before.
Quinn Hughes – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. The shots are down from the Canucks, but Hughes is averaging well over an assist per game with the Wild right now. It’s one of those things where it’s not quite what we want, but it’s so good in a different way that we just accept it.
Alexis Lafreniere – Goal and an assist. All of a sudden, Laf is putting up a ton of points, especially at even strength. In his last ten games, he has 15 points. If that isn’t clear enough, Laf is an automatic hold everywhere.
Vincent Trocheck – Two assists with a shot. I’m still surprised he wasn’t traded, but it might have been the best for Trocheck’s fantasy value. He’s been great.
Gabe Perreault – Goal and an assist. Perreault looks great on the first line with Laf and Trocheck, and on PP1. I’m a big fan long term. For now, he’s a solid streamer.
Ty Kartye – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s on a hot streak since going to the Rangers, but I’m not buying it at all.
Braden Schneider – Two assists. Schneider has never panned out as expected. Next to no fantasy value.
Jason Robertson – Two goals and two assists with three shots. The top guys on Dallas destroyed the Oilers on Thursday. Edmonton’s playoff spot is getting more and more tenuous. There’s a good chance we get a second Robertson 100 point season. He’s been a borderline top five forward.
Matt Duchene – Goal and an assist. Even with a poor shot rate, I would be holding Duchene everywhere. With the injuries Dallas is currently suffering from, that top power play time for Duchene gives him a nice boost.
Tyler Bertuzzi – Goal and an assist, as did Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard. Bertuzzi continues to defy the odds with his shooting percentage. He’s on the fringe depending on your league format. It looks like the break help Nazar reset. He’s back to a solid streamer. Business as usual for Bedard.
Scott Wedgewood – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 5-1 win over the Kraken. Anyone who drafted a league right before the season started and took Wedgewood with Blackwood missing the start of the year got a league winner. Wedgewood has bene nothing short of incredible from start to finish.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and three assists with four shots. Any case against MacKinnon winning the Hart should be disregarded. And yes, I don’t care if Celebrini makes the playoffs.
Devon Toews – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. It’s honestly shocking that Toews hasn’t stumbled into more points this season. Whether you hold him or not comes down to team needs.
Martin Necas – Goal and an assist. He won’t quite be a first round pick in 12’ers next season, but Necas sure as hell solidified himself as a second rounder.
Ryan Shea – Two assists with a shot. I don’t think Shea has done enough to be relevant in 12’ers, but he is worth consideration in anything deeper.
Pavel Dorofeyev – Two goals and an assist with three shots and four PIM. He’s starting to turn into one of the most prolific goal scorers in the league. Dorofeyev is a throw back, averaging more goals than assists every season. He’s a clear top 75 player bordering on top 50.
Jack Eichel – Goal and an assist with two shots. It’ll take a big finish, but Eichel has a chance for his first 100 point season.
Mitch Marner – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. He’s taken a much bigger step back this season than expected, but Marner is still above a point per game. We just need to temper expectations going forward.
Braeden Bowman – Two assists with two shots. The former undrafted player has established himself as an every day NHL’er. For now, he’s a bottom end to middling streamer, but at 22 years old, there’s some upside down the line. I don’t see a first liner, but I don’t think this is his ceiling by any means.
Tyson Jost – Two goals on four shots with two PIM. And there’s your annual Jost update!
Marco Rossi – Goal and two assists with four PIM. It’s no surprise that Rossi has been struggling away from Kaprizov and on the worst team in the league. I do think he can still be a long term 2C, but the rest of this season could easily be the nadir of his fantasy value.
Brock Boeser – Goal and an assist with four shots. Just a brutal season from Boeser. Bottom end streamer.
Filip Hronek – Goal and an assist. It’s far from exciting, but Hronek has been plenty serviceable for the Canucks, especially since Hughes left. Clear hold in all foramts.
That’s all for now guys. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. I’ll be back on Monday with a recap of the action over the weekend. I will have my last hold/stream list of the season next Friday, with MarmosDad taking Wednesday per usual. Thanks for reading, take care!
After getting blown up again last night, I think it’s time to give up on the Hellebuyck experiment. Thought a matchup with the Rangers would be a breeze.