No Signs of Slowing From Stone

Vegas has started off the season extremely well at 6-2-1, and it’s no surprise that their best forward (sorry Eichel) is at the forefront.  Mark Stone continued his torrid pace over the weekend, dishing two assists against his old team, before scoring a goal and two assists with three shots against the Sharks.  That brings Stone to a whopping 4+13 in nine games, a point total that actually leads the entire NHL.  Obviously that won’t last, but there have been seasons where Stone was above a point per game.  Getting to play with Jack Eichel (1+3 over two games) has both rolling, and their incredible playmaking has Ivan Barbashev (2+1) mooching at a level that has Barbashev on the fringe.  The Vegas schedule is a bit light in games coming up which isn’t ideal when they’re rolling, but at least they should be well rested to try and maintain this elite level of play.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:

Friday’s Games

Stuart Skinner – 27 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Penguins.  The Oilers absolutely skunked the Penguins, putting 50 shots on goal.  With Columbus on deck, it’s a good opportunity for Skinner to get on a roll.

Viktor Arvidsson – Three assists with four shots.  Arvidsson seems to be locked in on Draisaitl’s wing as long as Draisaitl isn’t taking shifts with McDavid.  Arvidsson is back on PP2, but there’s still enough here to be an elite streamer.

Mattias Ekholm – Goal and an assist with six shots.  Clear hold everywhere right now.

Evan Bouchard – Goal and an assist.  After a slow start, Bouchard is back into the form we’re accustomed to.

Gustav Nyquist – Goal and an assist.  Nyquist losing his PP1 spot with the arrival of Stamkos and Marchessault has him stuck as a middling streamer.

Alexandre Carrier – Two assists with a shot.  Decent start to the season, but I don’t see Carrier contributing much to be on the fantasy radar.

Kyle Palmieri – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Solid start for Palmieri, who is still on PP1 and the second line.  He’s a solid streamer who could play his way onto the fringe.

Brock Nelson – Goal and an assist.  Nelson remains the most underrated player in the league for me.

Jesper Bratt – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM.  Five game point streak for Bratt, who already has ten assists in twelve games.  I have no doubts that the goals were come.

Adam Gaudette – Two goals.  Nothing to see here.

Claude Giroux – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Giroux is on quite the heater right now (more to come on Sunday), playing his way back onto the fringe.

Drake Batherson – Goal and an assist.  Pretty good case for holding Batherson in all formats right now.  The shot rate is slightly low, but one big game can fix that, and he has ten points in eight games.

Alex Pietrangelo – Three assists with four shots.  This assist rate is unsustainable for Pietrangelo, and being under two shots per game isn’t ideal.  I’d probably try to sell high if I could.

Tanner Pearson – Two assists.  The minutes and shot rate aren’t there right now so despite the quality start for Pearson, I’m not buying it unless his role changes.

Saturday’s Games

Moritz Seider – Two assists with three shots.  I’m probably the biggest Seider hater in non-banger leagues, and right now, he’s sitting right in line with my low expectations.  The hits and blocks are preposterous though, giving massive value there depending on the format.

Lucas Raymond – Goal and an assist with two shots.  The shooting percentage has regressed too far, but 31 goals was going to be hard to repeat with two shots on goal per game.  The assists are coming in strong though.

Tage Thompson – Two goals and an assist with six shots.  Safe to say that TAGE is back.  He has 7+4 with over three shots per game right now.  Here’s to hoping he can stay healthy.

Rasmus Dahlin – Three assists with a shot.  Dahlin looks to be past his preseason injury as his best two games of the season were his last two.  I look forward to seeing him against the Panthers on Monday, who are getting Aleksander Barkov back.

Marcus Foligno – Two goals on three shots.  Nothing to see besides a hits streamer.

Joel Eriksson Ek – Goal and an assist with three shots.  JEEK has been fantastic to open the season, much like the Wild as a whole.

Kirill Kaprizov – Two assists with three shots.  Five straight multi-point games for Kirill, who is playing at a Hart level.  The minutes are through the roof right now.

Sean Couturier – Hat trick and two assists with five shots, +5.  As good as the Wild have been, they had no answer for the new Philadelphia first line of Couturier, Travis Konecny (1+4, 4 SOG) and Matvei Michkov (1+1).  I’m not rushing to pick up Couturier, but this does put him back in the range of a top streamer.  The other two are clear as day holds in all formats.

Nick Seeler – Goal and an assist, as did Rasmus Ristolainen.  Hard pass on both.

Owen Tippett – Two assists with three shots.  Tippett looks to be moving past his rough start with five points in the last three games.

Joel Edmundson – Two goals on three shots.  The minutes are pretty big right now for Edmundson, but he’s a hits/blocks guy in deep leagues.   The offense is not going to be there.

Adrian Kempe – Two assists with two shots.  The shot rate is down for Kempe, but at this point, I’m not concerned.

Brandt Clarke – Goal and an assist.  He hasn’t been lighting the world on fire, but Clarke does have seven points in nine games.  It’s assist heavy, but he has to be held everywhere.

Andrei Vasilevskiy – 32 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Capitals.  Despite aging and having surgeries last year, the Lightning are giving Vasilevskiy a massive workload.  It probably would have been smart to get a real backup goalie, but for fantasy, that does give Vasilevskiy a big floor because of the massive win total.

Jonathan Quick – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 2-1 win over the Ducks.  He won’t play much, but I’d stream Quick every start he gets.  It looks like he’s going to mostly get very soft matchups, which is even better.

Mike Matheson – Two assists with two PIM.  Despite Montreal fans complaining, Matheson is still on PP1 piling up assists.  His shot rate has evaporated which I can’t explain, but he still needs to be held everywhere.

Joel Armia – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Jake Evans also had 1+1 playing over 16 minutes, but I’m still not really interested in either, even in deep leagues.

Nick Suzuki – Two assists with two shots.  Fantastic start to the season for Suzuki that continues on Sunday (spoiler alert!)

Kirby Dach – Goal and an assist with four shots.  His first goal back from the ACL tear, Dach has been okay so far.  He’s certainly not a hold outside of deep leagues, but he’s worth monitoring.

Nino Niederreiter – Two assists with three shots and two PIM.  Adam Lowry also had two assists, while Mason Appleton had a goal and an assist.  The third line for Winnipeg has been a real force in their perfect start.  I still prefer Nino the most of the three, although the low minutes are frustrating.

Kyle Connor – Goal and an assist with five shots.  A shorthanded goal and power play assist saw Connor continue his point streak.

Neal Pionk – Two assists with three shots and two PIM.  Insane heater for Pionk, who needs to be held everywhere while he’s rolling.

Andrei Kuzmenko – Two assists.  Middling streamer for Kuzmenko, who looks to be getting back to his rookie form, but the shot rate is dreadful.

Auston Matthews – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Mitch Marner dished three assists with four shots.  It hasn’t been the best start for Matthews, although I’m sure the shooting percentage will regress with this absurd shot rate.  It’s the same deal for Marner, who has only one goal on 24 shots, but he’s averaging an assist per game.

Brad Marchand – Goal and an assist with four shots, as did David Pastrnak.  First goal of the season for Marchand, who for the first time in a decade is getting caved at even strength.  We’re obviously holding, but it is a bit worrisome.

Matthew Tkachuk – Two goals and an assist with six shots.  I have no idea how he wasn’t penalized on one of the goals, but it’s great to see Tkachuk look back.

Anton Lundell – Two assists with two shots and two PIM.  Lundell played over 21 minutes, but I’m interested to see how much he plays on Monday in Barkov’s return.  That will greatly shape his fantasy value.

Maxim Tsypalkov – Two assists with a shot.  Tsypalkov looks firmly in the top six, but the shot rate is pretty dreadful.  For now, he’s a middling streamer.  Welcome to the Razzball Database!

Brady Skjei – Two assists with two shots.  While it’s been a slow start, I’m still bullish on Skjei.  He’s over three shots per game, an insane number for a defenseman, and no matter what pair he’s on, Skjei is clearly getting over 20 minutes.

Pat Maroon – Two assists.  Just no.

Matt Duchene – Two goals on three shots.  Dallas and Duchene has really been a match made in heaven.  The shot rate is going to need to increase because nobody is shooting 40%, but he’s a clear hold everywhere.

Miro Heiskanen – Two assists with three shots and two PIM.  Ugly offensive start for Heiskanen, but I have zero concern.

Frederik Andersen – 18 saves on 19 shots in the 4-1 win over the Kraken.  The Canes are such a monster defensively.  Andersen simply needs to stay healthy.

Seth Jarvis – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Solid start to the season for Jarvis.  Carolina guys are going unnoticed because they’ve only played seven games so far.

Pavel Dorofeyev – Goal and two assists with nine shots.  Dorofeyev is the fifth wheel on PP1 right now, putting him as a solid streamer.

Tomas Hertl – Two assists with three shots.  It will be interesting to see how the minutes shake out now that William Karlsson (1+1, 3 SOG) is back in the fold.  I’m holding Hertl for now, but I can see that changing.

Brett Howden – Two goals on three shots.  Howden is currently on the second line with Hertl and Dorofeyev, but I’m not using him outside of the deepest of leagues.

Evgeni Malkin – Goal and two assists with two shots.  The Penguins are really struggling, but Malkin is far from the problem.  He’s up to 14 points in 10 games, although the shot rate is a bit concerning.

Anthony Beauvillier – Goal and an assist.  Beauvillier isn’t getting power play time so it’s hard to see him as more than a bottom end streamer.

Sunday’s Games

Leon Draisaitl – Two goals and an assist with seven shots.  It’s great to see Draisaitl back in the three shots per game range in the early going.

Evan Bouchard – Goal and an assist with three shots.  It looks like Bouchard has turned the corner.

Connor McDavid – Two assists with four shots.  Slow start for McDavid, so it’s only a matter of time until McDavid goes on some absurd heater.

Mattias Ekholm – Two assists with a shot.  Fantastic start for Ekholm, giving him a real chance at being a top 20 defenseman with his even strength dominance.

Andrew Copp – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM.  Copp has four goals already, but has only eleven shots on goal in nine games.  No thanks.

Patrick Kane – Two assists with a shot.  Slow start for Kane, whose shot rate is quite concerning.  For now, I’m holding, but it’s getting pretty fringy.

Brendan Gallagher – Goal and an assist.  It’s even a stretch to get Gallagher deep league relevant.

Travis Sanheim – Two goals and an assist with three shots.  Five points in the last four games for Sanheim, who is pushing three shots per game.  He’s on the fringe for 12’ers.

Nick Suzuki – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM.  Pretty easy schedule coming up for Suzuki to continue his torrid pace.

Ryan Strome – Goal and an assist with two shots.  There’s some good deep league value here, but Strome is only a bottom end streamer for 12’ers.

Stefan Noesen – Two goals on four shots.  I’m still not believing this from Noesen, but I have to bump him up to a solid streamer while he stays this hot.

Dougie Hamilton – Two assists with five shots.  Six points in the last six games for Hamilton, who has an absurd 44 shots in 12 games.  I would definitely try to acquire Hamilton if someone is worried about him having only six points in twelve games.

Jonas Siegenthaler – Two assists with two shots.  He’s been a defensive monster this season, but that doesn’t help us for fantasy.  Siegenthaler is a deep league hits/blocks guy.

Dawson Mercer – Two assists with a shot.  Mercer is on the top line right now, but he hasn’t been able to string any performances together.  He’s a middling streamer with undeniable upside.

Claude Giroux – Two goals on seven shots.  Both came in the dying minutes, but they all count the same.  Six game point streak for Giroux, who as mentioned above, is on the fringe.

Nick Cousins – Goal and an assist.  Deep league option at best.

Brady Tkachuk – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Elite start to the season for Tkachuk, which can’t be a surprise for anyone.

Casey Mittelstadt – Three assists with three shots.  Wonderful start to the season from Mittelstadt, making him an easy hold everywhere.

Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and an assist with five shots.  Typical MacKinnon performance.

Samuel Girard – Two assists.  With The Deputy having only three shots on goal in nine games, I don’t see how he can be used in fantasy.

Three Point Challenge:  We will bring back the Three Point Challenge with this Tuesday’s games.  For those of you that are new here, you pick a player to get three points in one of the games on Tuesday.  You can’t pick somebody who is Top 10 in the league in points.  For the first 4-6 weeks, we will use last season’s top ten, so you can’t pick Kucherov, MacKinnon, McDavid, Panarin, Pastrnak, Matthews, Draisaitl, Rantanen, Miller, or Nylander.  I’m the only one on the board with two correct picks.  I will go with Boldy against the Penguins for three points.