McTavish Madness

Mason McTavish had an ADP of 250 this season.  I had him ranked at 176th overall.  While I wasn’t fully convinced he would make a huge leap in his sophomore season, his upside is so high that I thought he was a worthwhile gamble towards the end of your drafts.  It’s paid massive dividends in the early going, and McTavish had his best game to date on Monday.  He scored two goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM, including the shorthanded winner with 13 seconds left in the game.  McTavish now has 5+6 in 11 games with a good shot rate, plus-minus and PIM.  McTavish is still available in almost 70% of leagues, which is blasphemous.  I’ve been holding onto him since the draft in a ten man league, and think it’s become clear that he needs to be held everywhere.  In dynasties, he’s a top 50 keeper.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

Aleksander Barkov – Goal and an assist, as did Sam Reinhart.  The duo have been outstanding in the opening month of the season, especially Reinhart.  If Reinhart’s shot rate comes anywhere close to staying at this level, it gives him the chance to be a top 50 player.

Pavel Zacha – Goal and an assist with four shots in over 21 minutes.  That’s a four game point streak for Zacha.  He’s firmly on the fringe.

Charlie McAvoy – Suspended for four games after a hit to the head of OEL.  It’s a standard suspension for the NHL, but I really wish it was longer.  It was an awful hit.  There was no attempt to play the puck, he hit OEL straight to the head, and it was very late.  Maybe this can get Lindholm going.

Stefan Noesen – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Bottom end streamer for PPP.

Michael Bunting – Goal and an assist.  Solid streamer, but the shot rate keeps him from being a hold.  The hits have also completely dried up for those in hits leagues.

Pavel Mintyukov – Two assists with a shot.  Solid start to the career for the former 10th overall pick.  He looks to be a great source of hits and blocks so for those in deep leagues, he’s worth considering now.  There’s not quite enough in non-banger leagues yet, but there’s a lot of long term upside.

Evgeni Malkin – Goal and an assist with five shots.  While Pittsburgh has started off poorly, Malkin hasn’t in fantasy, scoring 11 points in 9 games.  He’s still giving up more than he’s getting though which hurts those in leagues with +/- .

Erik Karlsson – Goal and an assist with four shots and three blocks playing over 30 minutes.  Ridiculous workload for Karlsson, even with the Ducks taking a ton of penalties. Hopefully a game like this gets him going after a slow start.

Jaden Schwartz – Two assists with six shots playing over 22 minutes.  Massive workload for Schwartz, who has six points in the last four games.  He’s an elite streamer at the moment.

Jared McCann – Goal and an assist with six shots.  Great to see McCann’s shot rate up significantly so far.

Kailer Yamamoto – Goal and an assist with two shots. The minutes aren’t there for Yamamoto to be more than a bottom end streamer.

Brandon Hagel – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Hagel is on the fringe, but with a lean towards holding.  He just has a knack for scoring goals.

Tanner Jeannot – Goal and a assist with four shots.  The 24 goals in his rookie season look to be a massive outlier.  Jeannot is a fine streamer for hits and not being a total zero on offense, but that’s it.

Alex Barre-Boulet – Goal and an assist with five shots.  ABB’s minutes are starting to go up, and he’s getting some chances on the first line from time to time.  That makes him a solid streamer and a great DFS punt.

J.T. Compher – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM.  I have very little interest in Compher now that he can’t mooch off the top talent in Colorado.

Jake Walman – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Solid player in real life, but Walman is only a deep league option because of his elite blocks.

Bo Horvat – Goal and an assist with five shots.  Horvat has been fantastic, taking over four shots per game.  That’s one way to balance out last season’s crazy shooting percentage.

Noah Dobson – Two assists with three shots.  Post-hype breakout in progress.

Artemi Panarin – Goal and two assists with two shots.  Of course I miss Panarin by one game for the three point challenge.

K’Andre Miller – Two assists with two shots.  Miller is getting plenty of assists, but he’s well under one shot per game.  Woof.  I couldn’t hold him unless my league doesn’t have SOG as a category.

Cole Perfetti – Two assists with three shots.  I had high hopes for Perfetti, but Bowness is giving his line very low minutes for reasons I can’t understand.  He’s stuck as a middling streamer.

Roope Hintz – Goal and an assist.  It’s been a somewhat slow start for Hintz and the rest of his linemates.  Jason Robertson also had a goal and an assist in this game, but his shot rate is under three per game after pushing four per game last season.  That said, I’m not overly concerned, they’re both superstars.

Evgenii Dadonov – Goal and an assist with two shots.  The minutes are poor right now so Dadonov is off my streaming radar.

Jamie Benn – Two assists with a shot.  Benn is on the fringe for me.  I didn’t buy his resurgence last season, and the shots are quite poor so far.

Connor Ingram – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 8-1 win over the Blackhawks.  He gave up a goal in the first 30 seconds, but then Ingram shut them down.  That said, this says more about Chicago than anything.  Zero interest on my end.

Michael Carcone – Hat trick and an assist with seven shots.  Carcone is an interesting case.  He’s absolutely torn up the AHL in Tuscon before, and when he’s been given a chance in the NHL, he’s performed.  Now, he’s delivering with this opportunity. It’s deep league only for now, but he’s worth monitoring.  Welcome to the Razzball Database!

Jack McBain – Two goals and two assists with six shots and five PIM.  McBain should have been in a second fight to get a double Gordie Howe hat trick.  The six shots match his total from the first seven games.  Bottom end streamer at best.

Alex Kerfoot – Three assists with a shot.  These were his first three points of the season.  Kerfoot is averaging one shot per game.  Easy pass.

Sean Durzi – Goal and an assist with three shots.  He needs to be held everywhere.

Travis Boyd – Two assists with two shots.  Boyd has had fantasy value in the past, but he’s been passed by too many youngsters to carry value anymore.

Liam O’Brien – Goal and an assist with seven PIM.  You know it was a rough game when you let O’Brien to get two points on you.  He’s only good for PIM.

Cam Talbot – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 4-1 win over Toronto.  Easy hold everywhere.

Quinton Byfield – Two assists with two shots.  You can see the flashes from Byfield, but it’s hard to see him as more than a middling streamer still.

Elias Pettersson – Hat trick on five shots.  “The shot rate is down quite a bit, which explains the two goals, but he has eleven assists in eight games already.  I’m sure the goals will start flowing.”  And that’s me quoting me from two days ago.  That’s sixteen points in nine games for Pettersson.

Quinn Hughes – Three assists with five shots.  What a start for Hughes.  His chance in philosophy in regards to shooting the puck has completely transformed his game for fantasy.  He’s a borderline top 5 defenseman now.

Anthony Beauvillier – Two assists with a shot.  Beauvillier’s role is too small to be more than a bottom end streamer, but I guarantee that at some point this season, he’ll be in the top six, in which case he’ll be a solid streamer.