We were early on the Igor Shesterkin bandwagon when we found out in 2019 that he was going to come over to the Rangers that season. His numbers were insane in Russia and none of it looked fluky. He’s been fantastic ever since, carrying flawed Rangers teams to elite levels. This season, he finally had a rough patch, although it was largely influenced by the play in front of him. The Rangers are bouncing back, and Igor is at the forefront. Shesterkin saved 33 of 34 shots in the 6-1 win over the Flyers, after having shutouts in his previous two starts. His save percentage has crossed the .915 mark now, and he’s third in the league in GSAA. Hellebuyck has done enough to say that he’s the top goalie in the world right now, but I’m still taking Igor second, and wouldn’t be surprised to see that flip at any point soon. Given that the Rangers are in the thick of a playoff race, expect massive volume and Shesterkin to be a top five goalie the rest of the way in a worst case scenario. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Wednesday’s Games
Jake Allen – 16 saves on 16 shots in 37 minutes of relief. Jacob Markstrom left the game injured and it looks like he’s going to miss a few weeks. Allen is must own everywhere in the meantime.
Nico Hischier – Goal and two assists with three shots. He really cooled off after a torrid start, but I expect Hischier to end up finishing close to a point per game once again.
Dougie Hamilton – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Dougie’s presumed demise over L. Hughes and Nemec was far too premature. Even with a slightly disappointing points total, he’s a top ten fantasy defenseman. I will say that long term, a trade could help him maintain this fantasy value for a longer duration.
Timo Meier – Two assists with two shots. I feel like I haven’t talked much about Meier this season. He’s just sort of in that spot where he’s clearly a hold, but it’s not exciting.
Dawson Mercer – Two goals on three shots. I doubt they move him, but a trade would really do wonders for Mercer’s fantasy value.
Adam Fantilli – Hat trick on four shots on Wednesday against the Leafs. He added two assists with two shots against the Hurricanes on Thursday. Fantilli has twelve points in his last ten games. It looks like he’s starting to turn the corner. Fantilli is an elite streamer now and I suspect that by the end of the season or early next, he’ll be a hold for the next decade plus.
Luca Del Bel Belluz – Goal and two assists with five shots over two games. He’s done pretty well since he went into the lineup, but I’m still not buying any fantasy value.
Elvis Merzlikins – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 5-1 win over Toronto. The wins are good enough to put Elvis on the fringe. He finally has the GAA at 2.99! The save percentage is still rough.
Vladislav Namestnikov – Two assists with a shot. There’s a little deep league value, but he’s a bottom end streamer at best in 12’ers. It’s a spot for the Jets to upgrade.
Josh Morrissey – Two assists with four shots. Morrissey’s numbers are good enough across the board that he’s the #5 overall defenseman, even though it only looks great in assists.
Jonathan Drouin – Two assists playing over 23 minutes. The points are great with Drouin sitting at a point per game. The shot rate is rough, but it’s probably enough to hold? It’s more fringy in roto for sure.
Darcy Kuemper – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 2-1 win over the Panthers. I wrote in my goalie rankings how much I liked Kuemper, and that I would have included him in my bold predictions but I already did that with Talbot last season. Kuemper is a clear #1 in 12’ers now, even better than expected.
Thursday’s Games
Reilly Smith – Goal and an assist. Smith hasn’t bounced back from a disappointing season in Pittsburgh the way the Rangers had hoped. He’s a bottom end streamer.
Adam Fox – Goal and an assist with four shots. Three multi-point games in a row has Fox pushing towards the top ten defensemen on the season.
Filip Chytil – Goal and an assist with four shots. Middling streamer.
K’Andre Miller – Goal and an assist with two shots. Miller has been awful, no way around it. Zero interest.
Seth Jarvis – Two goal and two assists with five shots. Jarvis has taken incremental steps forward this season, which has him pushing towards being a top 100 fantasy player.
Sebastian Aho – Goal and two assists with seven shots. Aho has been right around what we expect.
Martin Necas – Two assists with four shots. Necas has fallen to a much more reasonable level than leading the league in points. As is, he’s definitely a top 50 player, but I don’t see him as a top 25 guy.
Jackson Blake – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Blake is scoring at a decent clip for his role, but he doesn’t carry much fantasy value. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Kirby Dach – Goal and an assist with two PIM. The injuries have really derailed Dach’s career. I can’t see much happening the rest of the season, but I’m rooting for him.
Dylan Larkin – Goal and an assist with nine shots. Larkin is really thriving under McLellan. He’s fallen just short of a point per game three previous seasons. This could be the one.
Moritz Seider – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Seider is around the 20th best defenseman in non-banger leagues which does exceed my expectations. His value obviously skyrockets in leagues with the extra categories.
Joonas Korpisalo – 29 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Sens. Swayman suffered an upper body injury against the Devils so look for Korpisalo to get all the run in the meantime. He’s a very high risk, high reward option.
David Pastrnak – Goal and an assist with four shots. Pasta has 14 points over his last six games. Seems good.
Karel Vejmelka – 26 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Wild. He had a couple rough games before this one, but Vejmelka is still an easy hold everywhere.
Barrett Hayton – Two goals on four shots. Nice little hot streak for Hayton. I’ll bump him up to a solid streamer for now.
Nick DeSimone – Two assists. DeSimone has bounced around but has mostly been in the AHL. Nothing here for fantasy, although shutout to DeSimone for being from Buffalo like yours truly.
Mark Stone – Goal and an assist with two shots. Just stay healthy!
Brock Boeser – Goal and an assist with three shots. The shot rate being down puts Boeser on the fringe, although I’m still leaning bottom end hold for the upside.
Zach Hyman – Two goals and an assist with six shots. Despite the absence of McDavid, the power play thrived with Leon Draisaitl scoring a goal and two assists, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins finished with a goal and an assist. I’ve stubbornly held onto Hyman and don’t expect to drop him at any point. RNH is on the fringe depending on team needs.
Mattias Samuelsson – Goal and an assist with two shots. Samuelsson is atrocious. The worst move of the pile of horrible Kevyn Adams moves is arguably rushing to give Samuelsson an extension for no reason.
Nazem Kadri – Goal and two assists, as did Jonathan Huberdeau. Both of them are on the fringe. The plus-minus is rough but I generally prefer holding Kadri for hitting all of the stats. I lean towards elite streamer for Huberdeau.
Jakob Pelletier – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Long term, I really like Pelletier’s upside, but he’s a middling streamer for now.
Charlie Lindgren – 22 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Kraken. Thompson has stolen the #1 job, but Lindgren is worth streaming every start just because of how well the Caps are playing.
John Gibson – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 5-1 win over the Pens. Is this the year that Gibson is finally traded? Who the hell knows. He’s been very good this season despite the poor team in front of him so my money would be on yes. That would do wonders for his fantasy value.
Alex Killorn – Two goals on five shots. And there’s your annual Killorn update!
Jacob Trouba – Two assists with two shots, +5. His offense has completely crated, this game notwithstanding. He’s still a PIM/hits/blocks monster.
Mason McTavish – Two goals on four shots. I really was expecting a McTavish breakthrough this year, but he’s been a massive disappointment. It could turn back to last season’s level when he was on the fringe with a lean towards hold, but for now, McTavish is a middling streamer.
Troy Terry – Two assists. Terry remains on the fringe. I do have a slight lean towards hold.
Brady Skjei – Three assists with two shots. I thought Skjei could benefit in fantasy from the change to Nashville, but instead, he’s fallen off a cliff.
Filip Forsberg – Two goals on six shots. Bad beat for you guys who picked Forsberg for three as he had two early in the second.
Tommy Novak – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s going to take more than a couple good games for Novak to get back into my good graces.
Zachary L’Heureux – Two assists with four shots and five PIM. The former first round pick looks like he’s going to be a PIM / hits darling. He should turn into a middle sixer in time, so L’Heureux is a very nice dynasty play. For now, he’s an end of the week streamer for hits and PIM.
Mikael Granlund – Three assists with two shots and two PIM. Granlund is starting to get hot right as I put him back on the fringe. He’ll be one of the tougher calls for Monday’s post.
Mario Ferraro – Goal and an assist with two shots. Even Ferraro’s massive block total has dropped this season. Nothing to see here.
Nikolai Kovalenko – Two assists. Kovalenko should turn into a nice bottom sixer, but that doesn’t do much for fantasy. Neither does ten shots on goals in 14 games as a Shark.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday with an updated hold/stream list for everyone. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
