There’s nothing else that T.J. Oshie has to prove on the ice. He’s won the Stanley Cup and was one of the best players on his team. He became an Olympic hero for his performance in 2014. Oshie is about to play in his 1000th NHL game. This season has been a struggle for Oshie, but he’s really turned it around lately, culminating in his best game of the season. Against his old team, Oshie scored a hat trick on five shots. This isn’t just a little blip on the radar either. Oshie has a point in six of his last seven games, and the very encouraging thing is his shot rate has been excellent. Even at his peak, he was never a plus in shot rate, but in his last nine games, Oshie has 30 SOG. It’s an even better rate if we go to a shorter sample. He’s found chemistry with Patches and Strome, and the Capitals surprisingly continue to hang around the playoff picture. While he’s playing this well, Oshie is in elite streamer territory. The schedule is about to get very difficult, but they do get another game with St. Louis before that happens. Let’s take a look at what else happened the last two nights:
Michael Rasmussen – Goal and an assist with four shots. The former top ten pick has never developed offensively. Rasmussen is playing at a 40 point pace which doesn’t do us much outside of deep leagues. I don’t have any interest in streaming.
Olli Maatta – Two assists with three shots. Nothing to see here for fantasy.
Cole Caufield – Two goals and an assist with six shots over two games. That give Caufield a goal in four consecutive games, solidifying his bottom end hold status.
Sean Monahan – Three assists with two shots over two games. I keep seeing Monahan mentioned as a Colorado target, and it doesn’t make any sense to me. Johansen has been terrible, and Monahan is of a similar status. Anyways, he’s a middling streamer, and I think it’s more likely his value decreases following a trade than increases.
Nathan Walker – Two goals. The Australian has spent most of the season in the AHL and will be a fourth liner while he’s up. No thanks.
Max Pacioretty – Two assists with five shots. I mentioned Patches above, along with Dylan Strome (1+1, 2 SOG). I’ve been stashing Patches on my bench in a roto league to see if he gets anywhere near where he used to be. I wouldn’t hold him in H2H yet, but he’s a solid streamer. Same goes for Strome, although I prefer Patches over him.
John Carlson – Two assists with a shot. Obviously we’re holding Carlson and just hoping for the best. Every time it looks like he’s turning the corner, he cools back off. It might be wise to assume he’ll be in the 50 point range instead of what we’re accustomed to.
Ryan Johnson – Two assists with a shot. Johnson has been fantastic as a rookie for the Sabres. The problem is their coach is too dumb to see what’s in front of him and is scratching him far too often. Johnson is never going to do much offensively and that means I don’t see much fantasy value, although he has potential to be a very good modern defensive defenseman. Those guys sometimes have seasons where they stumble into 40 points, but right now, the Sabres are too weak offensively. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – 19 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Blackhawks. While the volume wasn’t there, UPL made some big saves in this one. He’s been the best goalie in the league over the last three weeks and should be held while he’s hot.
Victor Hedman – Goal and three assists with four shots. And just like that, Hedman is over a point per game on the season. Last season’s struggles look to be the outlier.
Nikita Kucherov – Three assists with five shots. Even by Kucherov’s standards, this is an insane season. He’s up to 75 points already.
Brayden Point – Goal and two assists with five shots. Congrats to Ashtray for picking Point for three points! Of course I picked the wrong Tampa guy, sigh.
Anthony Cirelli – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Both of Cirelli’s goals were on the power play. While the first goal was with the top unit, it was only because Paul was in the penalty box. While he’s on the second unit, Cirelli is a bottom end streamer.
Jacob Middleton – Goal and two assists with two shots. Middleton is a monster with hits and blocks, and with Jared Spurgeon out for the season, that shouldn’t change. Use him accordingly.
Marco Rossi – Goal and an assist with three shots. While this season has been close to a disaster for the Wild, Rossi getting his career back on track is a big positive. I’m a big fan long term, and for now, he’s a solid streamer.
Samuel Ersson – 14 saves on 15 shots in the 5-1 win over the Stars. I didn’t see of this game, and I wish I did. How the Stars were dominated this badly by Philly is beyond me. Ersson is a borderline hold now and at the least, he’s worth streaming every start.
Owen Tippett – Two goals on five shots. Tippett is on the fringe depending on team needs. The shot rate is absolutely insane right now.
Morgan Frost – Two assists with a shot. For now, he’s in Torts’ good graces, but who knows if it’ll last? Frost is stuck as a bottom end streamer.
Tim Stutzle – Goal and two assists with two shots and two PIM. Even though Ottawa is out of it, I’m expecting a big finish from Stutzle. His shooting percentage has to regress.
Parker Kelly – Goal and an assist with three shots. Nothing to see here.
Brady Tkachuk – Goal and an assist with six shots. Tkachuk is playing at a 40 goal, 175 PIM, 350 shot pace. Absolutely ridiculous.
Artem Zub – Two assists with a shot. Zub is the exact type of case I was talking about with Ryan Johnson above. I’m not really buying it, but at the same time, he’s been good across the board besides with shots, so there’s a lot of deep league value.
David Pastrnak – Hat trick on eight shots. Pasta is firmly in the Hart conversation with his performance this season. He’s the #2 overall forward for fantasy so far behind MacKinnon.
Charlie Coyle – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Coyle is on the fringe as long as he’s playing with Pasta.
Jake DeBrusk – Goal and an assist with two shots. DeBrusk is bottom end while he’s on the second line and PP2.
Leon Draisaitl – Goal and three assists with four shots. That’s twelve in a row for the Oilers, what a run. Leon has 15 points in his last 10 games and the shot rate is going back up. After this game, he’s playing at a 100 point pace, a clear step back, but it just shows how high his floor is.
Evander Kane – Two assists with two shots. Kane is playing with a hurt hand, so it’s worth monitoring to see if he misses time. As long as he’s with Draisaitl, I’m still holding.
Warren Foegele – Two goals on five shots with twelve PIM. Foegele is clicking with Draisaitl right now, making him a solid streamer and a great DFS punt.
Zach Hyman – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Nothing can stop the top Oilers right now, Hyman included.
Auston Matthews – Hat trick and an assist with five shots. All the hat tricks on Thursday! Even by Matthews’ high standards, his shooting percentage has to regress a tad. That said, are you going to bet against him scoring 65+ goals? I don’t want to.
William Nylander – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. He’s gone a bit cold in the goals department, but Nylander wasn’t going to quite keep up that pace. Regardless, he’s been fantastic all season and is a clear top 20 guy.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Two assists with a shot. I really like how the new Calgary first line is playing, and apparently Huska does too, as they all played 20+ minutes. Huberdeau’s shot rate is so poor that I can’t get him past a solid streamer.
Logan Thompson – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 5-1 win over the Rangers. Thompson is firmly back on track with four top end starts in the past five.
Ivan Barbashev – Two goals on three shots. Bottom end streamer through and through.
Mark Stone – Two assists with two shots. Just stay healthy!
Jonathan Marchessault – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Elite streamer, but Marchessault’s small step back is enough to knock him off being a hold.
Nic Roy – Two assists with a shot. Not enough here for fantasy.
Brett Howden – Goal and an assist with four shots. And there’s your annual Howden update!
Thatcher Demko – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 2-1 win over the Coyotes. The fantastic season from Demko continues. He’s a great bet to remain a top five goalie in the second half of the season.
Ryan O’Reilly – Goal and an assist with five shots. The man from Oz is clearly a hold in all formats now.
Juuse Saros – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 2-1 win over the Kings. I have to say, I like Nashville more than most people. Their actual record is 25-20 so naturally, they should stumble into more loser points. The main reason I like them is that Saros hasn’t even been that good yet. I’m not betting against him having a big second half.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the action from the weekend. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
