There was a lot of craziness around the NHL on President’s Day, but nothing topped the game in Minnesota. At one point late in the second period, the Canucks looked in complete control up 5-2. Two minutes and seventeen seconds of game time later, Minnesota was up 6-5. And if that wasn’t enough, there were still six more goals! The Wild beat the Canucks 10-7, and to wash it down, they played a paltry 6-3 game on Tuesday, a loss to the Jets. Nothing like 13-13 aggregate over two nights. On Monday, it was all of the stars for the Wild, as those four goals in a 2:17 span were all on the power play, three of which were 5 on 3. Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov had three goals and three assists… each! Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy had a goal and three assists… each! On Tuesday, Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, while Marco Rossi had two goals on five shots. Both goalies were shelled, and right now, it’s hard to trust either of them. For the moment, the Wild look like a four star team, Faber is a clear hold, and Brodin is on the fringe. Rossi is a solid streamer, and gamble if you’d like on their goalies. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Monday’s Games
Troy Terry – Goal and two assists. The Sabres had no answer for Anaheim’s top line, as Mason McTavish dished three assists, while Frank Vatrano scored two goals on five shots. Terry has been over a point per game over his last 25 games, which puts him on the fringe with a slight lean towards hold. McTavish depends on your league format, but I can tell you already I’m going to be all in for next season. Vatrano is in the same boat as McTavish. If you don’t have plus-minus, I’d hold both. Otherwise, it’s close.
Dylan Cozens – Two assists with two shots. He’s showing signs of breaking out finally. Solid streamer.
Mitch Marner – Three assists with three shots. Marner is playing at a 100 point pace but never gets mentioned for how good he’s been. He can blame Auston Matthews for that, as he scored his 49th of the season.
Charlie McAvoy – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. More of the same for McAvoy. Now that he’s at two shots on goals per game, he’s a bottom end #1.
Jesper Boqvist – Goal and an assist with two shots. And there’s your annual Boqvist update!
J.T. Miller – Hat trick and an assist with four shots and two PIM. All of the hat tricks on Monday. Three in one game is insanity. Miller has been a top ten player.
Pius Suter – Three assists with two shots. He’s with Miller and Brock Boeser (1+1) right now, making Suter a solid streamer bordering on elite.
Lucas Raymond – Goal and an assist with four shots. It feels like every night lately, I’m writing about Raymond. He’s on the fringe.
Jared McCann – Two goals on six shots. After a poor start, McCann has really turned it around. He has twelve points in the last ten games (6+6) and with a rising shot rate, I’m leaning towards holding McCann again.
Will Borgen – Two assists with two shots. Very solid in real life (I’d love him on the Sabres, damn expansion draft). For fantasy, there’s just not much here.
Leon Draisaitl – Goal and two assists. It hasn’t been his best season, yet Draisiatl is the #7 overall forward. And that’s why he is who he is.
Evan Bouchard – Three assists with two shots. Bouchard is rolling right now with nine points in the last four games. I ranked him above consensus, and I was still below his current output.
Evander Kane – Two goals on three shots and two PIM. Kane is relatively in line with last season’s performance, although it’s a bit worse in the shots department. Regardless, he’s a clear hold.
Connor McDavid – Two assists with a shot. Everyone is sweating Matthews getting 70 goals, I’m pulling for McDavid getting 100 assists.
Nick Bjugstad – Two goals on four shots and two PIM. Middling streamer. I have to wonder if Bjugstad goes on the trade block despite having another year on his deal.
Clayton Keller – Goal and an assist with two shots. Keller hasn’t been this bad at even strength in his whole career. I’m still holding because a point per game and three shots per game is nothing to sneeze at, but it is a bit ugly right now in plus-minus.
Logan Thompson – 29 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Sharks. It was an easy matchup, but it was nice to see Thompson get back on track. Despite Hill being back, I lean towards holding Thompson in most formats.
Alec Martinez – Three assists with two shots. Martinez is a shot block monster, but that’s the only value he provides.
Mason Morelli – Goal and an assist with three shots. Not a bad NHL debut. Morelli is 28 years old and doesn’t project to carry much, if any, fantasy value. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Sean Monahan – Hat trick with four shots and two PIM. Monahan has been on the second line and first PP unit, which is a better role than I expected, specifically on the power play. That these coaches screw Ehlers over and over again blows my mind. Regardless, Monahan is on the fringe now.
Kyle Connor – Two assists with two shots. And this wasn’t his best game over these two nights… spoiler alert!
Gabriel Vilardi – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. Vilardi also had a better game on Tuesday. Safe to say that he’s back in form.
Nazem Kadri – Two goals and an assist with five shots. Kadri has bounced back in a big way this season, becoming a clear hold in all formats again.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Goal and an assist. Solid streamer, but still can’t get past that.
Rasmus Andersson – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Andersson is a monster in real life, and is a solid #3 in fantasy.
Andrew Mangiapane – Goal and an assist with three shots. There’s some deep league value again, but I can’t get him past a middling streamer right now. Maybe if he’s traded, but I don’t see that happening.
Mathieu Joseph – Two goals on four shots. He’s playing with Tim Stutzle (1+1) and Giroux right now. That makes Joseph a solid streamer.
Artem Zub – Two assists with two shots. Zub has become a huge asset in hits/blocks leagues. If you don’t have the extra categories, I’d use him in 14’ers or deeper.
Connor Bedard – Goal and two assists. I know I’m going to have a hard time ranking Bedard next season. Does he just go right in the top 20? Top 30?
Nick Foligno – Goal and an assist, as did Tyler Johnson. Both of these vets are on PP1 right now, and Foligno is also on L1. Foligno has some hits/PIM value in deep leagues since he’s stumbling into enough points. Johnson is a bottom end streamer.
Sebastian Aho – Goal and an assist, as did Martin Necas. They’re on separate lines right now, but the production has been good top to bottom from Carolina. Necas is really on a tear so I’m leaning towards holding him again while he’s hot.
Seth Jarvis – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Even though Jarvis is on the third line, he’s getting plenty of minutes between Rod’s distribution at even strength plus his PP1 role. Bottom end hold.
Tuesday’s Games
Thomas Chabot – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s been a bit disappointing in the points department, but Chabot has been better across the board. It could get better if Chychrun is moved too. Regardless, he’s an easy hold.
Brandon Montour – Goal and an assist with three shots. Safe to say that Montour is back.
Alex Ovechkin – Two goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM. Nine game point streak for Ovie, including eight goals in his last eight. Great to see him salvaging his season.
Dylan Strome – Goal and two assists with two shots. Eleven points in Strome’s last nine, and the shot rate is up quite a bit. With how hot Ovie is, I have Strome on the fringe in the short term while he’s a hot schmotato.
Connor McMichael – Two goals on three shots. I was a big believer as a prospect, but we haven’t seen much from McMichael yet. He’s a bottom end streamer for now.
Brock Nelson – Goal and an assist with eight shots. Mathew Barzal also had a goal and an assist as the Isles won a rare overtime game. Both of these guys are playing above expectations and none of it looks unsustainable.
Adam Pelech – Goal and an assist with three shots. This was Pelech’s first goal of the season, if you needed proof that his real life value greatly exceeds his fantasy value.
Igor Shesterkin – 41 saves on 42 shots in the 3-1 win over the Stars. Igor was completely locked in. I’m certainly buying in on a big finish.
Kyle Connor – Goal and two assists. Vilardi had two goals and an assist. Vilardi looks like a hold again in all formats. Connor is back to right around a point per game after seven points in his last three. He’s primed to finish strong.
Nino Niederreiter – Goal and an assist. Nino has dropped out of the top six making him a bottom end streamer.-
Adam Lowry – Two assists with two shots. Not interested outside of deep leagues.
Dylan DeMelo – Two assists with two shots. DeMelo is quietly having a very good defensive season for the Jets, but that doesn’t help us for fantasy.
Josh Morrissey – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. While Morrissey isn’t even close to last season’s huge performance, he’s established himself as a #2 in 12’ers.
Alexandar Georgiev – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 3-1 win over the Canucks. It’s been disappointing for Georgiev outside of wins, but at least the wins are boosting his value, as is the volume.
Ryan Johansen – Two goals. Johansen has been dropped to the third line as he hasn’t worked out. I’m expecting a second line center to join Colorado as well, so he’s a bottom end streamer at best.
Ryan McDonagh – Two assists with a shot. Not much to see from McDonagh at this point in his career.
Roman Josi – Two assists with three shots. Josi has already matched last season’s assist total with eleven games to spare. He’s still over three shots per game and should get 15+ goals again. Fantasy monster.
Cam Talbot – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 5-1 win over the Blue Jackets. Two monster games in a row for Talbot. The L.A. schedule is pretty spread out, giving Talbot a chance to get on a run again and regain control of the crease. I was stubborn and held him throughout his horrible six weeks, but if someone let him go in your league, get him.
Pierre-Luc Dubois – Two goals on three shots. Was there a bigger lock than Dubois actually showing up in a game against a former team? So predictable from him. He’s a solid streamer now that he has six points in his last six since the All-Star break.
Quinton Byfield – Goal and an assist with four shots. Goal of the year candidate from Byfield. He’s rolling right now despite being on the third line. It’s actually helped his shot rate, and while staying on PP1, he’s on the fringe.
Drew Doughty – Goal and an assist with four shots. There is nothing exciting about Doughty’s stat line, but it’s enough to be a #3 because there are no real weaknesses. The shooting percentage is completely unsustainable though.
Three Point Challenge: We will do Thursday’s games per usual. You can’t select Kucherov, MacKinnon, Pastrnak, McDavid, Panarin, Matthews, Miller, Pettersson, Nylander, or Rantanen. I’ll go with Crosby against the Canadiens.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Friday recapping the action from the next two nights. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
