I don’t think most people know that Travis Konecny led the Flyers in both goals and points last season. He’s on his way to a repeat in the early going. Konecny had a hat trick against the Penguins on Friday night which also dishing an assist. One hat came on the ice in celebration… from Gritty! Konecny also saw Jakub Voracek (2A) tear a reporter to shreds in the post-game press conference (check out the video if you want a laugh). It’ll be interesting to see who centers Konecny for the next couple weeks (more on that later), but either way, Konecny has a real chance of being a point per game player this season. Let’s take a look at what happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Games:
Tom Wilson – Goal and an assist. One shot in three games is a bit concerning, but I’m assuming Wilson will fix that sooner than later. We know what we’re getting from him at this point.
Vitek Vanecek – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 2-1 win over the Sabres. Vanecek’s first start went extremely well. He was an AHL All-Star twice so there’s some hope here, but I still expect Samsonov to dominate the starts.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and two assists with five shots. The Avs absolutely destroyed the Blues with all of their studs putting up at least two points. I’m not going to go through them all, just some notable things. Nice to see MacKinnon dominate after a rough opener.
Samuel Girard – Two assists with seven shots and two PIM. If I need defensemen help, I would add Girard. The only thing holding him back in the past was his shot rate and it seems like he’s making a concerted effort to shoot the puck more this season.
Devon Toews – Goal and an assist. Nice to see Toews get on the score sheet. The Avs seem intent on having him play with Makar so I think Toews will stay a bottom end hold.
Philipp Grubauer – 21 save shutout. He earned that shutout with the Avs giving up two breakaways in the last two minutes. I thought Grubauer was extremely underrated going into this season so I’m glad to see him get back on track right away.
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with four shots. Strong start from Tavares, although it seems like Keefe wants to keep him in the 16-18 minute range to avoid wearing Tavares down.
Brady Tkachuk – Goal and two assists with five shots and five hits. With how the rest of the division plays defensively, I think Tkachuk can take a big step forward offensively. The opportunity will certainly be there.
Nikita Zaitsev – Two assists. The ice time has been there for Zaitsev, and he has a history of strong blocks and hits. With that in mind, he could be a decent value in deep leagues.
Josh Norris – Two assists. He’s playing on the first line making Norris a solid streamer.
Drake Batherson – Two assists with five shots. Batherson is the third member of the first line, and I prefer him over Norris. He’s produced in his opportunities over the past couple years and the increase in workload and teammate quality could make Batherson a nice surprise.
Sean Couturier – Left the game early in the first period. He’s out at least two weeks with a rib injury. I’m not sure if it’ll be Claude Giroux (2A) moving back to center for the first line, or possibly Nolan Patrick. If it’s Patrick, he’s going to be an elite streamer. He’s been a forgotten top prospect because of the time he missed, but he’s looked great in their first two games.
Tristan Jarry – 3 saves on 6 shots in 11:30 before getting pulled. I don’t have any Jarry stock this season, but if I did, I’d be at about an 8 out of 10 on the panic meter. He couldn’t have started the season worse.
James van Riemsdyk – Two assists with three shots. Solid streamer, but I’ll need to see more to bump JVR past that.
Alex DeBrincat – Goal and an assist with two shots. The role is locked in priming DeBrincat for a big bounceback.
Steven Stamkos – Goal and an assist with four shots. Just stay healthy!
Blake Coleman – Goal and an assist with five shots. While going to Tampa was great for Coleman in real life, it put a damper on his fantasy value. The minutes simply aren’t going to be there for him to be relevant outside of deep leagues or a hits streamer. That said, he could be a nice target in dynasties if you aren’t in contention as they surely won’t be able to afford him next season, and Coleman will get a bigger role wherever he ends up.
Ondrej Palat – Goal and an assist. Palat is right on the fringe and comes down to team needs. He’s a lock to get first line minutes and top power play which is obviously great, but the shot rate is a bit worrisome.
Barclay Goodrow – Two assists with two PIM. The lesser version of Coleman, but the same things apply for fantasy.
Yanni Gourde – Goal and an assist with three shots. Yep, same story again. Coleman, Goodrow and Gourde make up quite the third line but it’s not going to yield consistent fantasy results.
Saturday’s Games
MacKenzie Blackwood – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Bruins. Great start from Blackwood against a tough Bruins team. I’m interested to see how he looks against the Rangers on Tuesday, a team that plays far more open offensively. Either way, it’s looking like he’ll be a nice second goalie that you could have drafted as your third.
Timo Meier – Goal and two assists with four shots. I was bullish on the top players on the Sharks because of how Boughner utilizes his players and the majority of them have got off to encouraging starts, Meier included.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Three assists with two shots, but is out for at least the next two games. Jakob Chychrun (goal, 3 SOG) gets a nice boost in the short term.
Phil Kessel – Two goals on three shots. Nice start from Phil, but I’m not looking to own him with four games in a row against Vegas on deck.
Derick Brassard – Two assists. I have a hard time seeing Brassard being relevant in any fantasy league this season.
Andrei Svechnikov – Goal and an assist with three shots. A goal in both games is the start we were hoping for against Detroit. I’m still all in on the massive season.
Dylan Larkin – Two goals on three shots. I’m really excited to see what Larkin does this season. Does he go back to 2018-19 level or does he stay around last season? My guess is more towards the former, but it’s up in the air.
Filip Zadina – Two assists with a shot. I’m keeping an eye on Zadina, but he’ll have to play more than 13 minutes before I strongly consider using him anywhere.
Tomas Tatar – Two goals. Brendan Gallagher and Phillip Danault each had two assists. Their minutes were low in this game, but the game was essentially over by the halfway point. The first two are obvious holds while Danault remains a top streamer.
Jeff Petry – Two goals on five shots with three hits and two blocks. Petry has been underrated in fantasy circles since he moved to Montreal and he looks primed for a strong season with the improved teammates and softer division.
Carey Price – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 5-1 win over the Oilers. Nice bounceback from Price after having a rough game against Toronto. I’m still lower on him than consensus.
Pavel Buchnevich – Two goals and an assist with five shots playing over 20 minutes. As long as he’s on the top line, Buch should be a solid streamer. There’s upside for better as it seems like he’s been around forever, but he’s still only 25.
Artemi Panarin – Two goals on three shots. Business as usual for the bread man.
Alexandar Georgiev – 23 save shutout in the 5-0 win over the Islanders. I’m a fan of Georgiev’s, but it’s clearly Igor’s crease. Long term, I think he ends up being a #1 elsewhere like Raanta and Talbot before him.
Mitch Marner – Goal and two assists with two shots and four PIM. The top line won the game for Toronto as Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist with six shots, while Joe Thornton also had a goal and an assist with three shots. Marner played almost 24 minutes, while Matthews played 22 and Thornton 14. This is why I’m not using Thornton in fantasy right now.
Michael Del Zotto – Two assists with three shots. Del Zotto hasn’t been fantasy relevant in seven years and I’m not expecting a change now.
Alexander Texier – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. I’m a big fan of Texier long term, but he’s only a middling streamer for now unless he moves up the lineup.
Juuse Saros – 42 saves on 44 shots in the 5-2 win over the Blue Jackets. I usually don’t mention goalies who allow two plus goals, but Saros was dominant in this game. I’m feeling better about Saros going forward than I was going into the season. There’s bottom end #1 potential here.
Ryan Suter – Goal and an assist with six shots. I’m more encouraged by the shots than the points to be honest. With six more games against the California teams to open the season, the Wild players could get off to a strong start.
Jordan Greenway – Two assists with two shots. Greenway played over 18 minutes, but he’s not getting power play time yet. He’s another player to monitor going forward.
Jeff Carter – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. While I’m not looking to use Carter in their next four games against the Avalanche and Blues, Carter has shown enough early that he’s back in elite streamer territory.
Jacob Markstrom – 32 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Canucks. An early revenge game! Weird scheduling quirk for Calgary as they play tomorrow night, but then don’t play again until next Sunday.
Matthew Tkachuk – Goal and an assist with five shots. If Tkachuk gets his shot rate to an elite level, we could be looking at a top 20 player.
Mark Stone – Two assists with a shot. In the first two games, when Stone was on the ice, Vegas had an 84% expected goals. Absolute insanity.
Marc-Andre Fleury – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Ducks. With all of the weak teams in their division, MAF should be among the best streaming goalies in the league.
Sunday’s Games:
Alex Ovechkin – Goal and an assist with six shots. Typical Ovechkin in this game, who even had bad luck with a shot that hit two posts but failed to go in. Double doink!
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Nice to see Kuznetsov get back on track as he was struggling in the opening series against the Sabres.
Duncan Keith – Two assists with a shot. He’s been a minus in every game and with how bad their team is, I wouldn’t be owning Keith.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Goal and two assists with two PIM. Great start for the Panthers which is to be expected against Chicago.
Patric Hornqvist – Goal and an assist with three shots in his Panthers debut. He was playing with Huberdeau which makes Hornqvist an interesting option. The minutes were low, but I want to see where they are in their next game. There’s a chance Hornqvist moves back to an elite streamer level.
Eetu Luostarinen – Goal and an assist with three shots. A part of the Trocheck trade, Luostarinen isn’t getting power play time so I don’t have much interest outside of dynasties.
Monday Streamers:
Mikhail Grigorenko – He’s currently playing on Columbus’ first line and gets an early matchup with Detroit.
Nolan Patrick – As mentioned above, he could center the first line. Either way, Patrick is in a nice spot against the Sabres.
Dillon Dube – He’s playing with Tkachuk and Backlund right now along with the second PP unit.
Tuesday Streamers (I’m going to start including streamers for two days ahead, but not going into detail since things can change. If I have a post the next day, then I will explain why I like those guys or don’t like them and add new ones):
Pavel Buchnevich, Grigorenko again (get that back to back!), Paul Stastny
Three Point Challenge: It’s been so long I forgot about the Three Point Challenge! Make a pick in the comments section below for a player to get three points on Monday night. It can’t be anyone in the Top 10 in points. From now, we will use last season’s top 10, so that means no Draisaitl, McDavid, Panarin, Pastrnak, MacKinnon, Marchand, Kucherov, P. Kane, Matthews, Huberdeau, or Eichel. I’m going to take Mitch Marner tonight.
That’s all for now guys. I might have a post on Tuesday recapping tonight’s games, but not 100%. If I don’t, then I’ll have a big post on Wednesday. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
