Mad Man Montour

It’s not every day that we see a hat trick from a defenseman, but we got one on Tuesday night.  The Kraken destroyed the Canadiens from the get go, and Brandon Montour really dug their grave.  Seattle’s big free agent acquisition had a natural hat trick on four shots, adding an assist and two PIM in the 8-2 beatdown.  I was fairly bullish on Montour going into the season, and he’s delivered nine points in ten games so far, with over three shots per game.  The main reason I wasn’t all in on Montour, as you can see in my preseason rankings, is that I was unsure on how Disco Dan would set everything up for Seattle.  Well, Dunn ended up getting hurt right away and ended up on LTIR, alleviating any concerns.  Montour should be an elite #2 in 12’ers for the time being, with the upside of being a #1.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the two nights:

Aleksander Barkov – Goal and an assist with two shots in his return from injury.  Safe to say that there’s no concerns with Barkov.  Big bump to Carter Verhaeghe (1+1, 6 SOG, 2 PIM) now that Barkov is back as well.

Sam Reinhart – Goal and an assist with four shots.  My affection for Reinhart has not wavered despite my favorite team giving him away for peanuts.  He’s a star through and through.

Sam Bennett – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM.  Bennett is on the fringe depending on team needs.  With Bennett a pending UFA, it will be interesting to see if Florida tries to get a deal done, or they plan on bumping Lundell up and filling the bottom six with a new face.

Connor McDavid – Left the game injured after his first shift, ruled out for Edmonton’s next game.  Woof.  Here’s to hoping it’s nothing long term.

Sean Monahan – Two goals on three shots.  I can’t explain it, but the Monahan line has arguably been the best in hockey so far.  He has to be held in all formats for the time being.

Cole Sillinger – Goal and two assists with two shots.  Not on that line, but Sillinger is up to a solid streamer.

Kirill Marchenko – Two assists.  Marchenko has never had 20 assists in a season, yet has seven in eight games so far.  SAfe to same his game is rounding off.  He should also be held in most formats.

Adam Fantilli – Goal and an assist.  Middling streamer status, although it wouldn’t surprise me if Fantilli is on the fringe by the end of the season.

Elvis Merzlikins – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 6-1 win over the Oilers.  Elvis has transitioned to the backup role, and this was his first good start in three this year.  For now, he belongs on the waiver wire.

John Tavares – Hat trick on seven shots.  Taveres is pushing four shots per game in the early going.  I was expecting a stat line close to last season, but we could see a bit of a bounce back.

Max Pacioretty – Three assists with a shot.  The minutes have been very low so far, but Max did get 15 in this one.  He’s a middling streamer for now, but that could change quickly.

William Nylander – Goal and two assists with two shots.  Nylander was back with Taveres in this one, and it really worked out.  Where Nylander plays has more of an impact on Tavares than Nylander himself.

Kyle Connor – Two goals and two assists with seven shots.  It was the first loss of the season for Winnipeg, but their big guns went off.  Josh Morrissey dished three assists, while Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi each had a goal and an assist with two shots.  Connor has had a point in every game so far.  He’s in his prime right now, and it’s showing.

Steven Stamkos – Two assists with six shots.  His replacement, Jake Guentzel, also had two assists but with four shots.  It’s been a brutal start for Stammer, but the shot rate is there.  I’m more likely to buy low than sell.  It feels like Guentzel hasn’t done much, but he’s sitting at a point per game with over three shots per game.  That’s his Tampa floor and why I ranked him so aggressively.

Ian Cole – Two assists with two shots.  Solid blocks for deep leagues and nothing else.

Vladislav Kolyachonok – Two assists.  Gonna take me a long time to remember how to spell Kolyachonok, that’s for sure!  He has three shots in ten games if you’re wondering how interested I am.

Matias Maccelli – Two goals on three shots.  It’s been a rough start for Maccelli before this game.  He’s a middling streamer at best.

Ryan Donato – Two goals and an assist with four shots.  Really would like to see what Donato could do with more opportunity.  I think we’re in line for a Sprong season from the previous two years, where his minutes keep him as a bottom end streamer.

Jason Dickinson – Two assists with a shot.  Good defensive center in real life, but that does nothing in fantasy.  Deep league faceoff guy only.

Ross Colton – Out “a while” after blocking a shot.  Tough beat after Colton’s strong play.  Drouin is close to returning, but if he remains out, Nikolai Kovalenko could get a short term boost.

Adin Hill – 16 save shutout in the 5-0 win over the Flames.  Even with this game, it’s been an ugly start for Hill.  I think it’s more likely than not that Vegas tightens things up, so I’m buying Hill going forward.

Keegan Kolesar – Two goals and an assist with four shots.  Absolutely not.

Nic Roy – Goal and two assists with four shots.  Roy is another guy I’d like to see elsewhere with more opportunity.  In Vegas, he’s a bottom end to middling streamer.

Cole Schwindt – Two assists.  Even lower than his linemates above.

Martin Necas – Goal and an assist.  The torrid starts continues.  I’m loving the way he’s playing right now, and Rod is rewarding Necas with a more respectable minutes total.  Could we finally be getting that superstar Necas season?

Brock Boeser – Goal and an assist, as did Quinn Hughes.  J.T. Miller had two assists and two PIM.  All three are over a point per game already, getting off to a hot start despite the Canucks being 4-4, granted three of the losses were in overtime.

Frederik Gaudreau – Two goals and an assist with four shots.  A stealthy revenge game, these were Gaudreau’s first points of the season.  No thanks.

Kirill Kaprizov – Goal and two assists with seven shots playing over 24 minutes.  I don’t do midseason rankings because I personally don’t see the value in them, but Kaprizov would be in the in the tier behind McDavid and MacKinnon now.  Props to Saints for picking him for three points!

Sidney Crosby – Three assists with three shots.  I have zero concern about Crosby’s start.

Rickard Rakell – Two goals on five shots.  That brings Rakell up to six goals on the season.  If Malkin actually stays on the wing with Crosby and Rakell, Rakell can get to the fringe pretty quickly.  For now, he’s a solid streamer.

Linus Ullmark – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 8-1 win over the Blues.  Pretty much a perfect game for the Sens.  This was Ullmark’s first good start since the opener, granted he’s been hurt for a couple weeks.  I still think he’ll end up a top end #2 and there’s more upside than downside, assuming health.

Tim Stutzle – Two goals and two assists with four shots and two PIM.  Stutzle has 14 points already, with only one game with zero points.  The shot rate is rough right now, but nobody can complain with this point rate.

Adam Gaudette – Two goals on five shots.  Solid play from Gaudette in the bottom six, but no fantasy value.

Claude Giroux – Two assists with two shots.  Probably should be held right now with how en fuego Giroux is.  The second line is working very well, with Drake Batherson also getting two assists.

Brady Tkachuk – Two goals on seven shots with four PIM.  This looks like it could be the season that Tkachuk goes from a second round player to a first rounder.

Lukas Dostal – 40 saves on 41 shots in the 3-1 win over the Isles.  Dostal has been the best goalie in the league so far by GSAA.  I said plenty preseason that Dostal was a top ten dynasty goalie, but he’s already becoming extremely fantasy relevant.  Clear hold everywhere.

Frank Vatrano – Goal and an assist with four shots and four PIM.  This is the first goal of the season for Vatrano.  While he’s not a slam dunk hold, the shot rate is there, so positive regression is definitely coming.

Mason McTavish – Two assists.  I was quite bullish on McTavish in the preseason, but the early signs aren’t good.  He’s on the fringe at best.

Chandler Stephenson – Four assists with a shot.  I just can’t take Stephenson seriously for fantasy when he has six shots on goal in ten games, even with eight points.

Jaden Schwartz – Goal and two assists with two shots.  Middling streamer with no real upside unless the shot rate increases.

Jamie Oleksiak – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Deep league only guy.

Oliver Bjorkstrand – Goal and an assist with two shots.  The minutes are way down with Disco Dan in charge.  Sucks to see, because I think Bjorkstrand could do real damage, but he’s stuck in the bottom end streamer range now.

Samuel Ersson – 23 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Bruins.  I think this says more about the current Bruins.  Ersson has been a disaster so far and has never had a .900 save percentage.  Hard pass outside of deep leagues where you need start volume.

Aliaksei Protas – Goal and two assists with three shots.  Protas is up to a middling streamer now that he’s on the first line, despite getting no power play time.

Alex Ovechkin – Two goals on five shots with two PIM.  Solid start to the season for Ovie, who is getting closer and closer to Gretzky.

Dylan Strome – Two assists with a shot and two PIM.  Strome has eleven points in nine games, making him a clear as day hold.

Rasmus Sandin – Two assists with a shot playing over 24 minutes.  Last season was a disappointing season from Sandin, but we could see a bounce back.  For now, he belongs on the waiver wire, although Jakob Chychrun left the game injured.  If he misses time, Sandin should be owned in all deep leagues.

Jake Walman – Goal and five assists with five shots and four PIM over two games.  Well then.  Detroit gave up a pick to dump Walman for reasons unknown.  Walman is worth owning in all formats.  He’s a plus across the board right now.

Mikael Granlund – Goal and two assists with three shots over two games.  Granlund is getting one of the biggest workloads in the league for a forward.  He should be owned everywhere.

Tyler Toffoli – Two goals and an assist with twelve shots and two PIM over two games.  Toffoli is on the fringe, although I lean more towards holding right now.

Alex Wennberg – Goal and two assists with seven shots over two games.  Middling streamer.

Fabian Zetterlund – Three goals on six shots over two games.  Solid streamer.

Three Point Challenge:  We will do the Three Point Challenge with this Thursday’s games.  For those of you that are new here, you pick a player to get three points in one of the games on Thursday.  You can’t pick somebody who is Top 10 in the league in points.  For the first 4-6 weeks, we will use last season’s top ten, so you can’t pick Kucherov, MacKinnon, McDavid, Panarin, Pastrnak, Matthews, Draisaitl, Rantanen, Miller, or Nylander.  I have two correct picks, with Saints getting on the board with Kaprizov last night.  I will go with Bedard against the Sharks.