Before we start, I just wanted to highlight two posts that came out on Monday much later than scheduled because of technical difficulties with the website. Jules’ weekly streaming post can be read here, while I also updated my hold/stream list. Now back to the scheduled daily notes…
It looks worse because of their record, but in reality, Carolina is playing very close to the same level as last season. The difference is that their goaltending has been dreadful for the better part of three months, and that’s from all three goalies. Thankfully, when they needed it most as Andersen was out with blood clots and Raanta completely lost his game, Pyotr Kochetkov has rounded back into form. On Tuesday, Kochetkov saved 28 of 29 shots in the Carolina 6-1 win over the Rangers. Going back to Kochetkov’s last ten starts, he’s allowed only one goal five times, and has only one game allowing more than three. Kochetkov has a 2.00 GAA in that stretch so it’s no surprise to see Carolina back in second place in the division. There’s a very reasonable chance they finish atop the division again. Kochetkov is still owned in less than 50% of leagues, and that doesn’t make any sense to me. He’s a top five goalie for the last month and should be owned in all leagues. Let’s take a look at what else happened on Tuesday night:
Linus Ullmark – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 4-1 win over Columbus. While Ullmark isn’t at last season’s level, if that was your expectation, that’s your own fault. He’s been a borderline #1 despite a mediocre GAA and lower volume because of how good the wins are.
James van Riemsdyk – Goal and two assists with two shots. JVR has had a decent bounce back in Boston, but he’s still in the middling streamer range.
Brady Skjei – Three assists with two shots. Revenge game! Skjei is doing enough to be held on the bottom of rosters. He should set a new career high in points, which he did as a rookie seven years ago and two seasons ago with 39.
Andrei Svechnikov – Two goals on three shots. That’s five straight multi-point games for Svechnikov, who is showing off that upside we always knew he had. Svech is back to a point per game.
Jack Drury – Goal and an assist. I like Drury’s game long term, but he’s stuck in a small role for Carolina. Bottom end streamer at best.
Tristan Jarry – Four saves on seven shots before getting pulled 13 minutes in. Woof. The first goal from Wilson was extremely soft and didn’t get a lot better. He deserves the benefit of the doubt after a good start to the season, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see Alex Nedeljkovic (14/15) play a bit more.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and an assist, as did Rickard Rakell and Jake Guentzel. The telling thing here is that Rakell was on the first line and played over 22 minutes. He’s in elite streamer range now and could easily push into being a hold.
Rasmus Sandin – Two assists with a shot. Sandin has not carried over last season’s success to this year at all. There’s not much here outside of a deep league option for blocks.
Jacob Markstrom – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 3-1 win over the Wild. It’s been a bit better for Markstrom, to the point where I would be holding him in 12’ers without too much thought.
MacKenzie Weegar – Two assists with three shots. Weegar has quietly had a very good season. In banger leagues, he’s an absolute monster, but even in standard, he’s close to a 50 point pace with good shots for a defenseman and solid PIM.
Victor Hedman – Two assists with four shots. With Tampa forced to play with five defenseman for a game, Hedman was a monster. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and it’s a one game occurrence for fantasy purposes, but Hedman is still above a point per game on the season now.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. It’s not McDavid’s pace from last season, but Kuch could have the second best offensive season of the last decade.
Vladislav Namestikov – Three assists. He’s on the second line right now, but the shot rate is so poor that it’s hard to have Names as more than a bottom end streamer.
Morgan Barron – Goal and an assist with two shots. Barron is useful in a depth role for the Jets, but that does very little for us in fantasy.
Juuse Saros – 21 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Blackhawks. Saros is still struggling overall, but I can’t help but think he’s going to turn it around in the second half.
Ryan O’Reilly – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. RoR is on the fringe, although I lean towards holding.
Gustav Nyquist – Goal and an assist with two shots. Nyquist is on a hot streak and seemed locked into the RW1 role next to RoR and Forsberg. He’s an elite streamer at the moment.
Nick Suzuki – Goal and an assist with two shots. I don’t have too much to say about Suzuki. He’s a really good player who would be better if the team around him was better. As is, he’s a bottom end hold.
Jordan Harris – Goal and an assist. Harris has shown no offense in the NHL over his 95 career games.
Wyatt Johnston – Goal and an assist. Johnston hasn’t had the breakout that I expected. He’s been fine, and I still like him plenty long term, but he’s a middling streamer for now.
Mason Marchment – Two assists with a shot. Marchment is a solid streamer bordering on an elite one while he’s on fire.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 4-1 win over the Coyotes. Bob has been very good the entire season and is a bottom end #1 at this point.
Carter Verhaeghe – Goal and an assist with three shots. It kills me that Florida leaves Verhaeghe off the top power play unit for extended stretches. He’s there now, but come on, the guy scored over 40 goals last season and barely got a sniff of the top unit last season or this one. He’d be a top 50 player without hesitation if he stayed on the top unit.
Brock Nelson – Goal and an assist. A new career high in shot rate by a wide margin gives Nelson a great chance of topping 35 goals for the third consecutive season. He’ll need a big second half to approach last season’s assist total, however.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and two assists with seven shots and two PIM. The entire PP1 for Colorado had at least two points, with MacKinnon and Cale Makar getting three each, Makar dishing all assists. The notable thing here is Jonathan Drouin. Drouin had a goal and an assist playing over 21 minutes. He’s currently on the top line and has ten points in his last ten games. That’s enough to put him in elite streamer range despite a poor shot rate.
Travis Konecny – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. Konecny has shown that last season wasn’t a fluke. He’s a fantasy superstar, especially if your league doesn’t include hits.
Joel Farabee – Two assists with three shots. Farabee looked like a potential fantasy stud before struggling the last two seasons. He’s back on track and currently is on the first line. Farabee is a solid streamer with upside.
Connor McDavid – Goal and four assists with two shots and two PIM. The first line destroyed Philly, with Zach Hyman scoring a goal and two assists with six shots, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice and added an assist. Would anyone bet against McDavid still leading the league in points by the end of the season? RNH is back over a point per game while Hyman has a real chance of being a top 10 forward.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Two goals on three shots. Tarasenko is up to an elite streamer, but not quite a hold level for me. The shot rate is a career low.
Claude Giroux – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s not exciting, but Giroux keeps chugging along just under a point per game. Nice value at the bottom of the roster for all teams.
Pius Suter – Two goals and an assist with five shots. Suter is on the fourth line in Vancouver so it’s hard to use him in fantasy.
J.T. Miller – Goal and an assist with two shots. That brings Miller to a cool 50 points already. I expect some regression, but Miller has a good chance at getting 100 points for the first time.
Elias Pettersson – Two goals on five shots. The shot rate is starting to climb back up which is the key to Pettersson being a top 20 skater again. He’s about to get all of the money.
Lucas Raymond – Three assists with two PIM. Raymond is a solid streamer, but he’s not getting PP1 time so I can’t see him becoming a hold.
David Perron – Two goals on three shots. Perron is back with Larkin, but he’s also lost his PP1 spot. His play has really dropped off this season, so Perron is a middling streamer.
Daniel Sprong – Goal and an assist with six shots. I’d love to see a team play Sprong 17 minutes and see how well he does. I’m fairly convinced that he could push 30 goals. As is, Sprong’s also a middling streamer.
Mario Ferraro – Two assists with two shots. Ferraro blocks all the shots because he’s stuck in his own zone most of the time, hence the horrible plus-minus. I can’t imagine using him besides a Sunday streamer for blocks.
Martin Jones – 31 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Kings. A sneaky revenge game, Jones is all the Leafs have right now. He’s must own in the short term because of how good the Leafs are.
William Nylander – Two goals on six shots. Nylander is up to 50 points having the best season of his career. He’s in his prime right now and is about to get all of the money. Nylander is a top 10 player in fantasy so far this season, and I wouldn’t expect much of a drop off.
Tyler Bertuzzi – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Bertuzzi has really struggled to this point. He could turn it around in the second half of the season, but for now, he’s a middling streamer at best.
Three Point Challenge: We will do Thursday’s games. You can’t select Kucherov, MacKinnon, McDavid, Panarin, Pastrnak, Nylander, Miller, Rantanen, Q. Hughes, Pettersson, or Reinhart. I’ll go with Fiala against the Red Wings.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Friday recapping the action from the last two nights. Be sure to check out the posts from Tuesday linked in the intro and JKJ’s streaming post that will be out on Thursday. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
