Brad Marchand was trending in the wrong direction last season, but a trade to Florida rejuvenated his career. Now, he’s on a massive tear and reached a career milestone earlier than expected. Marchand dished two assists on Thursday night, extending his point streak to nine games and more importantly, reached 1,000 points for his career. That brings him to a whopping 11+9 in 16 games with almost three shots per game. Am I going to bet against Marchand falling off? No. I think even when Tkachuk returns, Marchand keeps his spot on the first power play unit, and we see Marchand push towards his first point per game season in four years. Let’s take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
Rasmus Sandin – Goal and an assist with five shots. Sandin is a very good player in real life, but it doesn’t really translate to fantasy. He’s only a deep league option.
Sam Reinhart – Two goals and an assist. It’s nice to see Reinhart’s shot rate back into elite range. He has eight goals in his last nine games and is well on his way to a fifth straight 30+ goal season (would be six if not for the shortened COVID year).
Anton Lundell – Three assists. Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and two assists with three shots as the other part of the line with Marchand. Lundell is a bottom end hold for me right now, although it’s probably worthy of the fringe. Luostarinen has ten points in his last ten games and is an elite streamer while he’s a hot schmotato.
Drew Doughty – Two assists. Not interested outside of deep leagues with blocks.
Quinton Byfield – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s been getting killed so far, but his underlyings are pretty decent. Byfield has eight points in his last seven games and is still a clear hold for me.
John Tavares – Two goals on four shots with two PIM. Both goals were assisted by Matthew Knies. It is comical how good the top guys have been for Toronto and how horrific everyone else has been for the Leafs.
David Pastrnak – Goal and an assist with three shots, as did Morgan Geekie. I’m still not really buying these Bruins, but I’m buying this duo, that’s for sure.
Tim Stutzle – Two goals and an assist with three shots. It’s great to see goal scorer Stutzle back after two years of very disappointing goal scoring.
Claude Giroux – Goal and an assist with two shots, as did Dylan Cozens. Giroux is on PP1 right now putting him in solid streamer territory. Cozens is still getting lots of power play points and still getting caved at even strength.
Casey DeSmith – 24 save shutout in the 7-0 win over the Stars. We’re getting some monster Stars performances. DeSmith is worth streaming in almost all matchups.
Radek Faksa – Three assists. And there’s your annual Faksa update!
Jason Robertson – Two goals and an assist with seven shots. Mikko Rantanen had two assists with three shots. Robertson has been very unlucky so far, so it’s nice to see him have some good fortune. I’m buying all the Robertson stock I can get.
Colin Blackwell – Goal and an assist. We’ve seen Blackwell have some fantasy relevance in New York and Seattle, but the Stars are too good for that to happen.
Alex DeBrincat – Two goals and an assist with six shots and two PIM. The top guys for the Red Wings killed the Ducks, with Patrick Kane, Dylan Larkin, and Moritz Seider each having two points. As good as the Ducks are going offensively right now, they are a mess defensively. DeBrincat’s shot rate being at this level is outstanding. I’d also buy him if possible.
Evan Bouchard – Three assists with four shots. Leon Draisaitl had two goals and Connor McDavid had two assists. Bouchard is up to 13 points in his last 10 games, and the shot rate is up recently, with 22 SOG in his last seven games. Back to basics for all of these superstars.
Charlie Coyle – Goal and two assists with two shots. Coyle has a four point game two weeks ago, but he had only one point in six games between these 3+ point explosions. He’s rebuilt deep league value, but Coyle is only a middling streamer in 12’ers.
Mathieu Olivier – Two goals and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Same story for Olivier as Coyle. Olivier has eight points on the season and seven are in two games! He’s a monster for hits and PIM so stream Olivier accordingly.
Dustin Wolf – 16 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Sharks. The Flames are a disaster, so it’s going to be up and down for Wolf. If your team isn’t good in a dynasty, try to get him in a trade for the long term.
Mark Scheifele – Goal and an assist with two shots. The Jets are a mess offensively right now, but it sure isn’t Scheifele’s fault.
Vince Dunn – Goal and two assists with two PIM. Dunn is back into his usual range of being a #3 in 12’ers with #2 upside. I wish he’d get a little more ice time.
Jordan Eberle – Two goals on three shots. Eberle has looked surprisingly decent in his age 35 season. He’s a solid streamer again.
Mason Marchment – Two assists. Marchment has been quite the disappointment offensively so far. He’s down in bottom end streamer range.
Matty Beniers – Two assists playing over 24 minutes. Benier’s workload is insane right now, but it’s hard to get him beyond middling streamer range with 25 SOG in 17 games, and only 11 points in 17 games.
Jonathan Drouin – Two assists with a shot. Drouin has been donig great work for the Isles, proving he hasn’t just mooching off MacKinnon. He’s been better in real life than fantasy, so he’s in middling to solid streamer range.
Bo Horvat – Two assists with two shots. Horvat is playing the best hockey of his career. He’s the type of guys that could end up being on Team Canada’s fourth line, at least based on his reputation. Horvat has been a top ten forward so far.
Matthew Schaefer – Goal and an assist with four shots. It is incredible how good Schaefer is already. I completely whiffed on this one for this season. You don’t see many 18 year olds doing this, let alone a defenseman.
Tage Thompson – Goal and an assist with five shots. This was the first game in a while that Thompson stood out in a good way, at least in spurts. The shot rate is excellent still, so we just have to hope he turns a corner and gets back to usual tage.
Martin Necas – Two goals and two assists. Necas is pushing towards being a top five forward on the season. I don’t expect that to sustain, but that’s why he was ranked as a top 25 player. It’s excellent across the board.
Gavin Brindley – Goal and an assist with two shots. He was on the second line with Val Nichushkin out for approximately one week. Brindley has some nice wheels and loves to take shots. He does have six points in his last six games, but he’s still only a bottom end streamer.
That’s all for now guys. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
