It’s no secret that the Ducks are a mess right now. I said in a post last week that they’re the worst team in the league at the moment, but last night’s game took the cake. Getting shutout by the Senators is as low as it gets. Sure, Anders Nilsson played great stopping 45 shots, but a lot of them were low quality like the team taking them. This isn’t a post about Nilsson, he’s barely usable. This is a reminder that you should stream against the Ducks every time you get. Anaheim plays against plenty of bad teams this month (Vancouver 2x, Edmonton, Chicago) yet I still wouldn’t hesitate to use any of their goaltenders. Take advantage of the Ducks every opportunity that you get. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with four shots. Tavares has been a monster; he’s on pace to set a new career high in goals with ease.
Zach Hyman – Goal and an assist with four shots. Hyman remains the same solid streamer he always is when he’s on a good line.
Mitch Marner – Two assists with three shots. His offseason as an RFA is going to be fascinating.
Magnus Paajarvi – Two goals on ten shots over two games. He has one assist in 52 games. And there’s your annual Paajarvi update!
Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Two assists with two shots over two games. He’s had value in the past but we’re a long way from that now.
Matt Duchene – Three goals on eight shots over two games. Duchene is finally get back to the level he was at early on in Colorado. A trade shouldn’t impact his value too much given the quality of teams that are trying to acquire him.
Mark Stone – Goal and two assists with eight shots over two games. With Stone on the ice, the Senators are an elite team. When he’s off, they’re almost AHL caliber. Pretty remarkable.
Cody Ceci – Two assists with three shots. And there’s your annual Ceci update!
Chris Tierney – Two assists with two shots. Decent streamer but more towards the bottom end.
Brad Marchand – Two assists with a shot. Marchand is destroying it across the board despite a career low shooting percentage (still not a low one, just low for him).
Pavel Buchnevich – Two assists with two shots. He’s still only 23 and I’m a sucker for his potential. Buchnevich is a bottom end streamer for now but I still believe in dynasties.
Teuvo Teravainen – Two goals and an assist. His overall numbers aren’t exciting but they’re plenty good enough to be a hold in all formats.
Jordan Martinook – Two assists. Nothing to see here.
Sebastian Aho – Two assists with four shots. Aho has been better than I ever expected and I was high on him. And he’s still only 21. Sky’s the limit.
Andrei Svechnikov – Two assists with four shots. I’m ready for Svechnikov to be getting more minutes. It probably won’t happen this season with how well the Canes are playing, but he’s going to be a stud eventually.
Jeff Skinner – Two goals on six shots with two PIM. After making a big mistake costing a goal to open the game, Skinner played extremely well. Revenge game!
Rasmus Ristolainen – Two assists with four shots. The plus-minus is still rough but Risto is a good bet to top 50 points.
Sam Reinhart – Two assists with two shots. Reinhart is working his way into the discussion for most underrated player in the league. Both of his assists last night were spectacular.
Thomas Greiss – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 2-1 SO win over the Devils. Both Islanders goalies are automatic starts in every game at this point.
Cory Schneider – 27 saves on 28 shots as the tough luck loser. Nice to see Schneider actually have a good game. Even with this game, he’s at 4.11/.866. That’s all.
Claude Giroux – Two assists with two shots. Nice to see Giroux avoid major regression following last season’s 102 point performance.
Gabriel Landeskog – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. The Avs have been a mess for the last two months but Landeskog hasn’t been part of it. He already has a career high in goals and it’s only a matter of time until he sets one in points.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Two goals and an assist with four shots. I talked about him as a buy low candidate a week ago. That’s probably out of the window now.
Alex Ovechkin – Two assists with seven shots. Congrats to the Great Eight on setting the record for most points in the NHL by a Russian player.
Matt Niskanen – Goal and an assist with two shots. Niskanen has really fallen off this season to the point that I wouldn’t even use him in a deep league.
Kris Letang – Two assists with five shots. Letang has been his usual-self crushing all of the categories across the board.
Mike Matheson – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. I really liked Matheson going into the season but it hasn’t panned out. Next season is year four, usually a year defensemen break out offensively, but I’m not counting on it.
Aleksander Barkov – Two assists. He’s still cruising right at a point per game.
William Karlsson – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s been a tougher year than expected for Karlsson. He’s a streamer at this point, albeit an elite one.
Jonathan Marchessault – Two goals on four shots. It’s also been disappointing for Marchessault, but I’m still holding him. That shot rate is outstanding.
Dylan Larkin – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. My prediciton of Larkin getting 80 points looks like it will come down to the wire. Add in strong PIM and an elite shot rate and Larkin is pushing top 30 status.
Michael Rasmussen – Goal and an assist with seven shots in his return from injury. I didn’t love him in his draft year but he is only 19 years old. I’m not using him now but I’m watching him for the rest of the season.
Phillip Danault – Goal and three assists with two shots. I’m bumping Danault to above average streamer. It’s hard to go higher when his shot rate is well below two per game.
Jonathan Drouin – Two goals and two assists with nine shots and two PIM. Nine points in the last three games for Drouin. He’s solidified himself as an easy hold.
Shea Weber – Goal and an assist with six shots. Weber has been a monster all season; just stay healthy!
Brendan Gallagher – Two assists with four shots. Another easy hold for me. I’ve always been a Gallagher fan but 30 goals and close to four shots per game is a no-brainer for me.
Jordan Binnington – 32 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Lightning. Binnington is on fire right now. I’d hold him while he’s a hot schmotato because there’s no reason to think Binnington can’t be the goalie for the rest of the season.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 38 saves on 39 shots as the tough luck loser. Still the #1 goalie and it’s not close.
Viktor Arvidsson – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s been absolutely amazing this season when healthy. 22+8 in 32 games is no joke.
Ryan Johansen – Goal and an assist with three shots. Don’t love the guy but he’s still contributing across the board besides shots.
Zach Kassian – Goal and an assist. He played with Connor McDavid (2A, SOG) in this game which makes Kassian a streamer by default. He’s an elite option in deep leagues given his contributions to the other categories.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Two assists with a shot. Very strong season from RNH as he’s approaching a new career high in points already.
Josh Leivo – Goal and two assists with four shots. There’s some upside here if Leivo gets minutes down the stretch. He’s a bottom end streamer for now but there could be more.
Dylan Strome – Three assists with two shots. He’s close to a point per game since Chicago acquired him. Props to anyone who had patience with him in dynasties as he’s still only 21 for another month.
Alex DeBrincat – Two goals on five shots. Seven game point streak for DeBrincat who has a shot at scoring 40 goals this season. One of my favorite dynasty players going into the season looks even better than expected.
Brent Burns – Goal and two assists with three shots and two PIM. Burns has played his way into the Norris discussion with his play over the last month. Easily the #1 defenseman for fantasy again.
Evander Kane – Two goals and an assist with eight shots and two PIM. Kane has played like a top 20 forward this season with his elite PIM and shots to go along with 45 points in 55 games.
Tomas Hertl – Two goals and an assist with two PIM. Hertl is on a massive tear with 8+5 in the last 13 games. He’s just shy of a point per game now, and while he doesn’t contribute much to the extra categories, it’s still been an excellent season for him.
Joonas Donskoi – Two assists with a shot. Decent streamer as always.
T.J. Brodie – Goal and an assist. Bottom end hold who is quite yawnstipating.
Jordan Oesterle – Goal and an assist. He somehow has a three game point streak and he’s playing fairly big minutes. Oesterle is worth watching for deep leagues.
Boone Jenner – Goal and an assist with two PIM. Jenner is picking it up lately but he’s still only a bottom end streamer.
Josh Anderson – Goal and an assist with three shots. I love him in hits leagues but Anderson has worked his way onto the fringe in standard leagues. Sure, the assists are bad, but he’s a big plus in plus-minus, PIM and SOG. Anderson is an elite streamer for now who can be held depending on team needs.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the weekend’s action. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
