Here’s what I said about Jonathan Marchessault in my season preview of the Florida Panthers: “Jared McCann and Jonathan Marchessault are the two Panthers I can see taking a late flier on in deep leagues… Marchessault scored 18 points in 45 games for Tampa Bay last season despite averaging only 12 minutes of ice time per game. When Tampa was hit with injuries, Marchessault filled in admirably. If Florida was hit by the injury bug, I could see both of these guys becoming relevant in 12’ers; for now they are potential waiting for their chance.” And that’s me quoting me! Well, Florida did get struck by the injury bug and while McCann didn’t provide much value this season, Marchessault certainly did. The return of their two best players hasn’t hurt Marchessault at all. In fact, it’s helped him on the power play. He recorded his first career hat trick in the 7-0 win over the Blackhawk, which also included four shots and four PIM. That brings Marchessault’s totals to 28+20 with 34 PIM and 2.5 shots per game in 67 GP. Not bad for a guy the Panthers signed for $750k for this season and next. The Panthers have an interesting offseason ahead to determine how their forward core is going to look next season. Regardless, I think Marchessault is worry of a late round pick next season. I don’t think there’s more upside than what he’s doing this season but there’s no complaints with a 34+25 per 82 games when he’s not hurting you elsewhere. I expect the Panthers to be back in the playoffs next season with Marchessault providing some nice depth behind the big guns. Let’s take a look at what else happened this weekend around the league:
Friday’s Games:
Joshua Ho-Sang – Assist and a shot. Keep streaming him for the rest of this season and look to take a late round flier on him next season. The potential is huge.
John Tavares – Two assists with four shots. His days of being a first round pick are probably in the past but he should still be a second rounder with relative ease.
Jaroslav Halak – 37 saves on 40 shots in his return to the NHL, a 4-3 shootout win in Pittsburgh. It took you long enough Garth Snow!
Bryan Rust – Four shots in his return from injury. He played on the first line with Jake Guentzel still out due to the concussion so Rust is a decent streamer.
Cameron Gaunce – Goal and an assist with three shots. The former second round pick has been decent since his call-up. That said, I don’t think there’s much here given that he’s already 27 years old.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and an assist with three shots. The more time goes by, the more I’m tempted to rank him even higher than 6th overall next season. Only 87 and 97 average more points per game and Kucherov is crushing every category.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Red Wings. I have a feeling he’s going to be ranked as a #1 goalie next season because of the upside. I’m not saying that’s wrong, simply that there is some downside. He could be a guy I actually target in the middle rounds; a lot depends on what they do this offseason.
Adam Cracknell – Hat trick on five shots. Of all the unlikely hat tricks this season, this one probably takes the cake. After years of bouncing back and forth between NHL teams and their minor league affiliates, good for Cracknell sticking with the Stars all season.
Remi Elie – Two assists with a shot. He’s a decent under-the-radar deep league target next season, especially if he can get a top six role.
Jason Spezza – Three assists with two shots. The points this year are still fine but the shot rate really dropped off. There’s no chance he’ll be in my top 100 and possibly not even the top 150.
Josh Morrissey – Goal on two shots. He might still be a year away from being a year away but I do like Morrissey for deep leagues next season.
Jakob Silfverberg – Goal and an assist with nine shots and two PIM. He slowed down after a massive start but he’s maintained an excellent shot rate. It’s bottom end but decent enough everywhere.
Jonathan Bernier – 17 saves on 18 shots in the 3-1 win over the Jets. Keep rolling him until John Gibson returns while the team is winning.
Saturday’s Games:
Sergei Bobrovsky – 36 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Flyers. Man, Bob just owns his former team. It’s looking more and more likely that the Vezina is his.
Brock Boeser – Goal on four shots in his NHL debut. Boeser, a former first round pick, signed immediately after North Dakota lost in the NCAA tournament and scores a goal the next day for the Canucks. There is a ton of offensive upside here making him a personal favorite for dynasties.
Bo Horvat – Two assists with two shots. Very nice third season for Dr. Bo who should be a hold all of next season as he starts to come into his own.
Frederik Andersen – 14 saves on 16 shots in the first period against the Sabres before leaving with an upper body injury. Hopefully the news comes out tomorrow about the timetable but the Maple Leafs are screwed if he’s missing extended action.
Jack Eichel – Two goals and an assist with four shots. In non-breaking news, he’s really good at the game we love.
Tyler Ennis – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Decent short term streamer while he’s on the first line. The Sabres do have a back to back to start this week so I’ll be using him (spoiler alert!).
Evander Kane – Goal on eight shots. Evander Kane doing Evander Kane things!
Dmitry Kulikov – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. This game equaled his season output if you were wondering how horrible his first year in Buffalo has gone.
Ryan O’Reilly – Goal and an assist with four shots. Another quality year from RoR that was cut a bit short due to injury (this year was a fluke appendectomy). He’s a very nice pick around the 100th overall mark especially if you need STP.
Kyle Okposo – Two assists with two shots and two PIM in his return. Same story as RoR without the appendectomy.
Robin Lehner – 32 saves on 34 shots in the 5-2 win over Toronto. Assuming the Sabres address their defensive woes in the offseason, I’m going to be a big fan of Lehner next year.
Andrei Markov – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Meh, Markov is incredibly yawnstipating but needs to be owned for the assists.
Carey Price – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 3-1 win over the Senators. Price has been just about what everyone expected this year. I see no reason to expect otherwise next year.
Sebastian Aho – Two goals with two PIM. It’s been an excellent finish to the season for Aho who is must-own down the stretch. Remember, Carolina has 9 games the last 2 weeks of the season.
Eddie Lack – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 3-1 win over the Devils. He’s played very well the last few weeks so if you need someone down the stretch, Lack is an okay option to get you starts.
Riley Nash – Two goals. I wrote the other day that it was his annual update and then he scores two goals! I still don’t see anything here.
Anton Khudobin – 18 saves on 19 shots in the 2-1 win over the Islanders. Tuukka Rask was out for this game but is expected to practice Monday so don’t grab Khudobin.
Brian Elliott – 29 saves on 31 shots in the 3-2 OT win over the Blues. It’s been a roller coaster ride but Elliott ended up being a #2 goalie this season just as most projected him to be.
Johnny Gaudreau – Two assists with a shot. It’s been better down the stretch but he’s still going to finish around where I had him. I still expect to be lower on him again.
Kevin Shattenkirk – Two assists with four shots. The very encouraging thing to me is that Shattenkirk’s shot rate has gone up drastically since going to Washington. Whether it stays high or regresses on his new team next season will determine his value.
Daniel Winnik – Two goals on four shots. He’s been decent this season given his role but that role prevents him from fantasy relevance.
Braden Holtby – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 4-1 win over the Coyotes. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t expect anything less against the Desert Dogs.
James Reimer – 25 save shutout in the 7-0 win over the Blackhawks. His save percentage sits at .920 which is excellent. Hopefully he’s the Panthers #1 next season because I’m going to be on Reimer if that happens.
Aleksander Barkov – Goal and two assists with two shots. It’s scary that he’s still only 21. Again, the low PIM and mediocre shot rate cap his fantasy ceiling but it’s still top 50 worthy.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Goal and three assists with five shots. It’s a damn shame he was injured because Huberdeau has been a monster in his 23 games this year. He’s a tier behind Barkov but still a top 100 guy without question.
Vincent Trocheck – Two assists with two shots and four PIM. His points are right in line with last season but the big jump in shot rate bodes well for future success.
Viktor Arvidsson – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. My nominee for waiver wire pickup of the season, Arvidsson has become a true stud across the board. I don’t see any reason to expect a regression so he could find his way in my top 100 next year.
Craig Smith – Three assists as did Colin Wilson. Both of them are bottom end streamers.
Colton Sissons – Two goals on four shots with four PIM. He has 8 goals this season and 5 were in 2 games. He also has two assists total so yeah, nothing to see here.
James Neal – Two goals. His season has been disappointing given that his numbers are worse across the board but there’s still plenty of value here.
Sven Andrighetto – Goal on his only shot. Color me intrigued on Andrighetto next season assuming he stays in their top six. At the least, I see a solid streamer.
Drake Caggiula – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. I like his offensive upside but the role isn’t there right now for fantasy purposes.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Goal and an assist with two shots. This has been a brutal year for RNH and he’s on the fringe of being draft worthy next year.
Andrej Sekera – Two assists. He’s bottom end but Sekera is still worth owning.
Laurent Brossoit – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 4-1 win over the Avalanche. He barely plays so I have no idea if he’s any good. Prince Cam gets all of the starts so I’m not sure we even see Brossoit again this year.
Antti Raanta – 30 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Kings. What a steal Raanta is for the Rangers at $1 million next season. It’s only cover for the King but Raanta is worth streaming every time he plays.
Mika Zibanejad – Two assists as did Mats Zuccarello. It’s a shame Zibanejad was hurt because he has had a nice season in New York. Both of these guys will be outside of my top 100 but make sense as glue guys in the middle rounds.
Sunday’s Games:
Gustav Nyquist – Two assists with three shots. This was the first game of a back-to-back-to-back for the Red Wings so stream their guys right now!
Tyler Seguin – Goal on six shots. He’s limped down the stretch to the point where there’s some doubt whether or not he goes in the first round next season. It’ll probably be right around the wheel.
Kari Lehtonen – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Devils. He’s been really good for the past week but I still have zero faith in him. I could see using him in the final week when they play the Coyotes and Avalanche but I wouldn’t use him otherwise.
Claude Giroux – Two assists with a shot. Brutal year for Giroux and I’m not sure how much it bounces back. It’s still top 100 worthy but nowhere near the top 50 anymore.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. On the other side of things, I can definitely see Ghost bounce back next year. The sophomore slump happened but he’s going to continue to improve defensively which should give him more minutes.
Jordan Weal – Goal and an assist with three shots. Here is a guy I like taking the chance on in deep leagues next year. The opportunity is there for a top six role.
Patric Hornqvist – Goal and an assist. He’s a great guy in the middle rounds if you’re short on shots and plus-minus.
Mathieu Perreault – Goal and an assist with three shots. Keep streaming him as Perreault is crushing it on the power play.
Blake Wheeler – Two assists with four shots. Another monster year for Wheeler who looks like he’ll get back to 70 points. It’s excellent across the board and makes sense as a third round pick next season no matter who your first two picks were.
Michael Hutchinson – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 2-1 win over the Canucks. Do I care about him at all? The answer is a resounding no. Sorry Hutchinson family!
Mika Zibanejad – Two assists with two shots. See Zibanejad, Mika above.
Patrick Eaves – Two goals on four shots. As good as he’s been this year, and he’s been great, I suspect Eaves is going to get overpaid in the offseason. Where he goes will largely determine his value.
Cam Fowler – Two assists with a shot. He’s slowed down after the great start but Fowler has been fine this year. He’s okay as your #4 next season.
Ryan Getzlaf – Four assists with a shot. Getzlaf looked like he lost a step and all of a sudden he’s tied for second in the league in assists. I’m going to talk with Reid about Getzlaf on the next podcast because he’s a very tricky case for next year.
Ryan Kesler – Goal and an assist with three shots. Amazingly, after his amazing start his numbers are almost identical to last season. I expected a regression that didn’t happen mostly because his minutes are insane. I still think I’ll be lower on him than most again. Call me stubborn!
Monday Streamers:
Teuvo Teravainen (12.2%) – The minutes are up, he’s playing extremely well and you set yourself up to get a ton of volume from him going forward.
Andreas Athanasiou (5.0%) – He slowed down a bit before scoring the game winner on Sunday. Again, you get the volume grabbing him now and his games against Carolina could be high scoring.
Tyler Ennis (1.1%) – Ennis has three assists in the last three games and remains in a good spot playing on the top line.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Tuesday morning with daily notes since there’s actually a decent slate on Monday night. There will also be a podcast that drops Tuesday afternoon. As always, feel free to ask any questions or comments below. You can also leave podcast suggestions as well; in fact I encourage it. Thanks for reading, take care!
