The Canucks have been showing signs of life lately, especially offensively. Right now, there’s no better cure for early season woes than going against the Ducks. On Thursday, Vancouver scored eight goals, and their big offseason acquisition led the way. Andrei Kuzmenko had a hat trick and an assist, giving him eight points in his last four games. He’s found great chemistry with Pettersson (more on him later) and Kuzmenko has kept his spot on the first power play unit. He’s on the fringe, but for now, I would definitely hold while he’s this hot. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Evgeni Malkin – Two assists with two PIM. Malkin is crushing across the board and will continue to do so, assuming he stays healthy.
Victor Olofsson – Two goals on three shots. That’s eight goals for Olofsson already. I lean towards holding him given the quality shot rate.
Tage Thompson – Goal and an assist with two shots. Thompson is playing as well as any center in hockey that’s not on the Oilers. What a week with 11 points in his last three games.
Jeff Skinner – Two assists with a shot. Three straight multi-point games for Skinner has him up to a point per game and means he should probably be held right now.
Rasmus Dahlin – Two assists with five shots playing almost 30 minutes. The Sabres cut down to 4D in the third period after a horrible mistake by Fitzgerald, and Dahlin dominated. He’s had one game the entire season without a point. It’s true superstar status.
Owen Power – Two assists with four shots. This is the type of game I’ve been waiting for from Power. The assist on Olofsson’s first goal was a thing of beauty. He’s on the fringe, but I’ve been holding for the upside.
Travis Konecny – Two assists with three shots and eighteen penalty minutes. This is probably the best Konecny has looked in his career. At the least, it’s been three years since he had this type of workload and produced. Easy hold everywhere right now.
John Tavares – Hat trick and an assist with five shots and two PIM. He only played 13 minutes in this game, but it didn’t matter. Tavares is off to a fantastic start, especially in the shots department.
Auston Matthews – Goal and an assist with eight shots and two PIM. It’s simply a matter of time before Matthews goes on a big goal scoring run.
Mitch Marner – Two assists, as did Morgan Rielly. Both of them are shooting the puck a lot less, but the assists are piling up. I’m not worried about either of them.
Ville Husso – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 3-1 win over the Capitals. Husso has had two terrible games allowing five goals in both, and then four excellent games with a shutout or one goal against. It works out to elite numbers for now, but expect the ups and downs to continue.
Andrew Copp – Goal and an assist, as did Dylan Larkin. Copp’s offense hasn’t come around yet in Detroit, especially in comparison to with the Rangers. He’s a middling streamer for now.
Mark Stone – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s great to see Stone looking healthy again. He’s had at least three shots in five straight games, which does wonders for his value. Stone is a no doubt hold.
Tim Stutzle – Two goals on five shots. It’s been a very slow start from Stutzle, whose shot rate is drastically down so far. He’s still an easy hold for the upside, and I expect him to get back on track sooner than later.
Claude Giroux – Two goals on five shots. Giroux is a bottom end hold.
Brady Tkachuk – Three assists with two shots and two PIM. Brady is pushing towards being a top 20 player even in non-hits leagues. Ottawa is disappointing compared to their increased expectations, but it’s not because of their top six.
Kappo Kakko – Two assists with a shot. He’s an absolute monster possession wise, but his finishing ability is really lacking. Obviously generating quality chances is key, and Kakko seems locked into the top line, but that doesn’t do much in fantasy. He’s a bottom end streamer for now.
Nick Foligno – Two assists. And there’s your annual Foligno update!
Taylor Hall – Two assists with four shots. Hall has been quite good with Pastrnak this season. It’s still on the fringe, but he’s good enough at everything that I lean towards holding.
Hampus Lindholm – Goal and an assist with two shots. Lindholm has never had an offensive stretch like this. Don’t expect it to last, but enjoy it while it does.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Goal and an assist with five shots. The Blues are an absolute trainwreck right now. It seems like forever ago that they were 3-0 shutting out the Oilers and now they’ve lost six ugly games in a row. That said, Tarasenko is still at a point per game and three shots per game so there’s nothing to worry about on his end.
Brock Nelson – Goal and an assist with three shots. Massive heater for Nelson, who I talked about on Wednesday. He’s the top Isles center at this point.
Anders Lee – Goal and an assist with three shots and five PIM. A nice Gordie Howe hat trick for the captain. Lee is still available in 40% of leagues and that should not be the case.
Noah Dobson – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Dobson hasn’t lit the world on fire, but he’s been just fine. I expect him to settle as a #2D.
Nick Suzuki – Goal and an assist with five shots. Cole Caufield had two assists with four shots. As much as I like their talent, I didn’t expect these two to play this well given the matchups they have to face. Montreal fans have to be thrilled.
Kyle Connor – Goal and an assist with six shots. I doubt you’d be able to buy low, but Connor will certainly turn it around given his shot rate being one of the best in the league.
Pierre-Luc Dubois – Goal and an assist with three shots. Solid start from Dubois across the board. I expect it to get better as I like the way the second line looks right now.
Martin Jones – 22 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Wild. Seattle is playing pretty good hockey at the moment, and Jones has been passable. I have him a step above desperation.
Alex Wennberg – Two goals on three shots. Wennberg is getting solid minutes, but he’s a bottom end streamer because of his poor shot rate.
Daniel Sprong -Two assists with three shots. Sprong is producing at an elite level, but his minutes are so low when he’s in the lineup. I’d like to see what he could do given a consistent 15 minutes, but as is, he’s not really usable.
Arvid Soderblom – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Blackhawks. Soderblom has actually been good in his three games this season. Chicago has looked much better than I expected, but I still have very little interest in using their goalies. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Kevin Lankinen – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 4-1 win over the Flames. I’ve liked Lankinen in the past and thought Chicago’s porous defense that sunk his numbers. I’d stream him in good matchups for now, but I can see him being used in most matchups eventually.
Filip Forsberg – Goal and an assist, as did Matt Duchene. Nashville has been struggling, and most of their damage is coming from the power play, but both Forsberg and Duchene are at a point per game or better, so not much to worry about here. Look for them to continue their success against the Canucks Saturday.
Miles Wood – Two goals and an assist with eight shots. Wood is back on the streaming radar for his combination of shots and penalty minutes.
Tyson Barrie – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Bouchard is starting to get some more PP1 time, but Barrie had an assist there tonight, which obviously is key to his fantasy value.
Connor McDavid – Goal and an assist with four shots. I really hope McDavid makes a run at the Rocket Richard this year. Let’s see him go for 60+90 or something absolutely bonkers.
Elias Pettersson – Goal and four assists with eight shots. I was all in on Pettersson this season, as noted in my bold predictions, and the assists are through the roof. The goals have been very good, but I think it could get even better.
Bo Horvat – Two goals and an assist with six shots. That’s three straight multi-goal games for Horvat, who is up to 10 goals on the season already. You love to see it.
Quinn Hughes – Two assists with two shots. Quinn Hughes doing Quinn Hughes things!
Troy Terry – Goal and two assists. Terry has been dominant so far establishing himself as Anaheim’s best player.
John Klingberg – Two assists with a shot. It’s been a rough start for Klingberg in Anaheim, especially at even strength. Both of his assists in this game were on the power play, but it’s hard to hold him given the plus-minus. It’s almost a long term play based on a trade, which seems inevitable.
Ryan Strome – Goal and an assist. He’s a middling streamer now, a far cry from his Rangers value.
Trevor Zegras – Goal and an assist with six shots. I’m enjoying this version of Zegras that is more of a shooter. We know that the assists will come given his playmaking ability.
Jamie Benn – Goal and two assists with five shots. Benn is on a great run lately. That said, I still only have him as a solid streamer. The minutes are too low to expect more.
Jason Robertson – Two goals, both assisted by Roope Hintz. The top line continues to crush, which comes as no surprise.
Matias Maccelli – Two assists. Maccelli has seven assists already, but somehow he has only four shots on goal in ten games. Good lord. That’s a level I didn’t even know was possible.
Erik Karlsson – Goal and two assists with six shots. This is remarkable. Karlsson played over 32 minutes in this game. He looks as good as he did in his prime in Ottawa. He has twelve points in his last four games, with 5+ shots in every game. Obviously he won’t keep this up, but I’d love for him to stay healthy and dominate for extended stretches.
Matthew Tkachuk – Three assists with ten shots. Tkachuk has been everything Florida has hoped for so far. He’s taking 5.5 shots per game so if anything, he’s been unlucky to have 16 points in 11 games.
Carter Verhaeghe – Goal and an assist with four shots. Verhaeghe is currently playing with Tkachuk and Barkov which is enough to make him a hold for the time being.
Anton Lundell – Two assists with four shots. He’s on PP1 right now which makes Lundell an elite streamer.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back Monday recapping the weekend’s action. Don’t forget MarmosDad will have a DFS piece coming on Saturday. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
