Ovechking Continues to Impress

My love for Alex Ovechkin is no secret for the readers who frequent these parts.  The best goal scorer of all time continues to torment the opposition as he’s in the midst of one of the best starts of his career.  Ovechkin had a goal and two assists with six shots against the Sabres on Monday.  Through twelve games, Ovechkin has a ridiculous 11+10 with 60 shots on goals.  That’s five shots per game, which he’s had that or more in seven straight games.  The Great Eight is playing his best hockey at even strength in years at age 36.  Don’t take Alex Ovechkin for granted!  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

Monday’s Games:

Evgeny Kuznetsov – Three assists with a shot.  Kuznetsov played over 25 minutes in this game as he’s consistently buzzed all over the ice.  I’ve done a complete 180 on Kuznetsov as he’s revived his game.

Tom Wilson – Two goals on four shots.  The third wheel on the top line, we know what Wilson is going to give us at this point.  Solid player who is better in fantasy than real life.

Patric Hornqvist – Goal and an assist with six shots.  All of the moves by Florida have left Hornqvist in a smaller role than last season.  He’s more top end streamer than hold now.

Chris Kreider – Goal and an assist with three shots.  His goals vs. expected goals have the biggest gap in the entire NHL as Kreider has massively overachieved so far.  That said, the Rangers top line will always score more than expected, so I’m not expecting major regression.  Kreider has the role I dreamed of for him going into the season, which I didn’t expect him to get.  He should be a top 100 player again.

Mika Zibanejad – Two assists with a shot.  The shots are a little more up and down than we’re used to, but things are just fine for Mika.

Artemi Panarin – Two assists.  I really don’t understand the massive drop in shot rate for Panarin.  It’s been less than a month so I’m not panicking, but I’m not overly concerned.

Jonathan Quick – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 5-1 win over the Leafs.  Quick has started off extremely well while he splits with Petersen.  I’m not really buying in, but you can hold if you want to risk it with the hot hand.

Phillip Danault – Two goals and an assist with seven shots.  Danault being over two shots per game is a massive surprise.  He’s used in a defensive role, but he’s still a middling streamer as his speedy wingers can counter fast in Andreas Athanasiou (1+1, 3 SOG) and Alex Iafallo (2A, 2 SOG).

Tuesday’s Games:

David Pastrnak – Two assists with six shots and two PIM.  You couldn’t get a third point for me for the challenge?  That’s not right!

Charlie McAvoy – Two assists with a shot and four PIM.  McAvoy has been solid across the board besides in shots, which hasn’t had a big boost despite massive minutes.  That’s going to cap his ceiling a bit going forward.  It’s hard to see him ever being a top 10 D with that shot rate.

Artturi Lehkonen – Two assists.  Lehkonen had only one assist in the first 13 games and less than 1.5 shots per game.  Easy pass.

Owen Tippett – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Tippett has an elite shot, but is under two per game on the season.  He’s getting second line minutes which alone makes him relevant on Tampa, but he’s still only a bottom end streamer for me.

Carter Verhaeghe – Two assists with two shots.  I still have Verhaeghe on the fringe, but a small lean towards hold.  That shot rate really needs to get up for him to have any prayer of sniffing last season’s 30+ goal pace.

Ty Smith – Goal and two assists with three shots.  Smith was good at points last season, but he had 0 points in 7 games before this.  I’m not to a point where I’d use him in fantasy.

P.K. Subban – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Washed former star remains washed.

Andreas Johnsson – Two goals with two PIM.  He’s shown some signs of returning to his Toronto level, but I still have Johnsson as a bottom end streamer.

Jonas Siegenthaler – Two assists.  And there’s your annual Seigenthaler update!

Nico Hischier – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Hischier has failed to meet the #1 overall pick standards.  He’s on the fringe at the moment.

Dawson Mercer – Two assists.  Like him long term, but a middling streamer for now.

Frederik Andersen – 17 saves on 18 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Lightning.  A ridiculous call got Carolina their only goal which sent the game to OT, but Andersen owners won’t care.  He’s been one of the best goalies in the league to this point.

Vladislav Namestnikov – Two goals on four shots.  Names surprisingly has seven goals this season already… on 19 shots.  Clearly the regression fairies are coming.

Michael Rasmussen – Two assists with a shot and two PIM.  The former top ten pick hasn’t put the offense together to this point in his career.  Very little fantasy value here.

Pavel Buchnevich – Goal and an assist, as did Jordan Kyrou.  Kyrou has been fantastic, and I’m going to be stubborn on Buchnevich.  Big fan of the player and he has the role to succeed.  The shots are there as are the minutes so it’s only a matter of time until he breaks out.

Jeff Carter – Two goals on seven shots with two PIM.  Both goals were assisted by Jake Guentzel.  As long as Carter is on the first line, he’s a no brainer hold.

Adin Hill – 37 saves on 38 shots in the 4-1 win over the Flames.  After the Jones debacle for the last few years, especially with Dubnyk last season, it’s refreshing to see the Sharks occasionally get good goaltending.  Reimer has been better than Hill, but Hill still has some value.  I’d stream him in decent matchups.

Brent Burns – Two assists with a shot.  I’m all for this Burns revival.

Troy Terry – Goal and an assist with four shots playing over 22 minutes.  The Terry breakout is real.  Easy hold in all formats.

Jamie Drysdale – Two assists with a shot.  I’m on the fringe with Drysdale, but I lean towards not holding.  He’s not doing well at evens which is a big concern.

Brock Boeser – Two assists with four shots.  Boeser has been pretty good to start the season, although I’d like to see the shot rate get back around three per game so he can reach his full fantasy potential.

Quinn Hughes – Two assists with three shots and two PIM.  Excellent start to the season for Hughes as he’s over a point per game piling up the assists.  The shot rate is even okay for a defenseman.

Alex Pietrangelo – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Safe to say that Pietrangelo has found his game again.

Reilly Smith – Two goals on five shots.  Shockingly, Smith is well over three shots per game right now after never being over 2.5 before.  That puts him on the fringe, although I lean towards elite streamer.

Jonathan Marchessault – Two assists with two shots.  Some of those Smith shots are coming out of Marchessault’s total, but he’s still been solid.  It’s not as strong of a hold as usual, but I’m still holding.

Shea Theodore – Two assists with three shots.  Four game point streak for Theodore who also looks to have found his game again.

William Carrier – Two assists.  Vegas is using Carrier more than really want to right now, but he still doesn’t have any fantasy relevance.

Three Point Challenge:  For those that are new or need a refresher, you pick one player to score three points in a game but they can’t be in the top ten in points.  We’re going with Thursday’s games, and with the Top 10 from last season for the time being. That means you can’t take McDavid, Draisaitl, Marchand, Marner, Kane, Matthews, Rantanen, MacKinnon, Scheifele, or Crosby. Fungazi remains the only one on the leaderboard. I’ll go with Pastrnak again against the Oilers.