At this point, it’s about time we recognize that Artemi Panarin isn’t just riding Patrick Kane‘s coattails. On Wednesday, the rookie vaulted himself into a tie for 5th in the league in points, scoring a hat trick to lead the Blackhawks to a 5-3 victory against the Rangers. It was a 3-3 game with 3 minutes left until Panarin scored to take the lead and then he sealed it with an empty netter. He now has 22 goals and 35 assists with solid numbers in the other categories. As long as voters don’t punish him for being 24 years old, Panarin should run away with the Calder. He’s gone from a late round flier this year to a slam dunk top 50 asset going forward that’s probably closer to the top 25 than 50. Here’s what else I saw around the league the last two nights:
Teuvo Teravainen – Two assists with four shots. You can wait a couple days until the Blackhawks play again but with the opportunity Teravainen has with Marian Hossa out (he played over 18 minutes), Teravainen should be streamed at the least.
Mats Zuccarello – Goal and two assists with three shots in two games. Zuccarello absolutely owns the Leafs throughout his career and that continued on Thursday. The Rangers are starting to score again and it’s starting with their top 6.
Derek Stepan – Goal and an assist with eleven shots. The buy low opportunity is probably gone but Stepan is showing why he was on the U.S. Olympic team 2 years ago. He’s been outstanding the last few weeks.
J.T. Miller – Four assists with two shots. Miller has played so well that he’s worked his way into the discussion for a spot on the North American team in the World Cup this summer. Everyone who follows my posts knows I’m a big fan by now.
Derick Brassard – Three goals on six shots. He’s reached a career high in goals already and is key for this Rangers team to get back to where they’ve been in the playoffs the last two years. Look for a big second half.
Keith Yandle – Two assists, two shots and four PIM. I was going to say sell high now that Ryan McDonagh is back but McDonagh left after the first period after taking a headshot from Leo Komarov. Horrible for McD after coming back from a concussion. Ride Yandle again while you can, including in daily leagues.
Antti Raanta – 35 saves on 37 shots in the win over Toronto. He stole the game for the Rangers with some incredible saves in the first two periods. Stream him when he starts.
Lars Eller – Goal on three shots with two PIM. He received a big boost with David Desharnais, who was in a walking boot the other day so Eller is on my streaming radar for the short term (spoiler alert!)
Sven Andrighetto – Assist with two shots. He’s been bumped up to the top six lately so he’s another guy worth consideration for streaming.
Semyon Varlamov – 32 saves on 34 shots in the 3-2 win over the Habs. And there’s your most recent update on the “Who knows what the hell you’re going to get from Varlamov!?”
Jarome Iginla – Two goals on three shots with two PIM. He probably should be held although it’s pretty bottom end because of the horrible plus-minus.
Matt Duchene – Two assists with a shot. Duchene has been thriving after a horrible first month and finally looks like the guy who scored 70 points 2 years ago again.
T.J Brodie – Two assists with three shots. He’s playing insane minutes right now with Dennis Wideman suspended and Kris Russell out so Brodie can be picked up for the time being.
Alex Ovechkin – Two goals on ten shots. All your shots are belong to Ovechkin!
Justin Williams – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. He already doing very well but Williams was bumped up to the first line for part of the game so things could get even better.
Frans Nielsen – Goal on four shots. He’s quietly been very solid on the second line behind John Tavares (goal on two shots).
Henrik Zetterberg – Goal on six shots. Despite the Red Wings getting killed, the first line showed a ton of flash offensively; look for them to keep producing going forward.
Pavel Datsyuk – Assist and four shots. Same as Zetterberg except he’s already hotter than a pistol.
Phil Kessel – Two goals on four shots. He was bumped up to the first line on Thursday and delivered. Kessel looked like a threat the whole game; hopefully he can produce for his owners down the stretch to make up for failing to live up to his draft value.
Matt Cullen – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s on the second line right now with Evgeni Malkin out so Cullen can be streamed in the meantime.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and an assist with two shots. 33 points in the 22 games for Crosby. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Chris Kunitz – Two assists with two shots. With Crosby in this form, Kunitz should be held everywhere.
Patric Hornqvist – Two assists with four shots. The bump down to the second line didn’t hurt Hornqvist one bit. While he hasn’t lived up to expectations, it’s mostly because his shooting percentage went to crap this year.
P.A. Parenteau – Goal on four shots playing over 22 minutes. He’s a decent option right now in 12’ers with the minutes he’s getting plus the PIM boost he provides.
Erik Karlsson – Two assists with a shot and two PIM, 7 blocked shots as well. Nothing else to say about this guy anymore besides how spectacular he is.
Mark Stone – Goal on two shots. After a hot start and a miserable stretch afterwards, Stone is heating up again. He’s still only 23 years old, things are fine here.
Cody Ceci -Goal on two shots with two PIM. Really starting to be intrigued by Ceci going forward. If only he can get on the first power play unit and mooch easy points, he’d be in great position to contribute next year.
Andrew Ladd – Two goals on six shots with five PIM. The Jets were getting smoked by the Lightning only to storm back, led by their captain. He’s had a big dropoff this year and it will be interesting to see what happens with him at the trade deadline.
Mark Scheifele – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Love him in dynasties; if not for his injury, there’s been consistent progression every season and he’s still 22 years old.
Ryan Callahan – Two assists with three shots. Meh, he’s still on the first line but Cally doesn’t really provide anything at this point outside of shots and hits if your league counts them.
Alex Killorn – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s a solid streamer as long as he’s in the top 6.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal on four shots. Kid is a beast and also still 22 years old.
Martin Jones – 19 saves on 20 shots in the 2-1 shootout win over the Panthers. Jones’ record is absolutely incredible on the road this season getting to 17-5-2 with 2.24 GAA and .923 sv%. He’s still a top end #2 and maybe even low end #1.
Logan Couture – Goal on three shots. With the Sharks down a goal in the third, Couture was bumped up to the wing on the first line with the two Joes and delivered with a goal. His value will be there no matter what line he’s on but it’d be nice for his owners if he stuck on the first line.
Jaromir Jagr – Goal on his only shot. We salute you, Mr. Jagr.
Al Montoya – 17 saves on 18 shots in the loss. He got a rare second consecutive start and played well again. Montoya should be streamed whenever he starts with how well he’s played this year.
Vincent Trocheck – Assist with two shots and two PIM. He’s been on the first line with Aleksander Barkov out and since he was right on the fence of being a hold before, Trocheck is clearly a hold right now.
Drew Doughty – Assist with three shots playing over 35 minutes. Pretty ridiculous playing that much although he was absolutely undressed by Vladimir Tarasenko (six shots).
Jaden Schwartz – OT winner on his only shot. The shots have been horrible since he’s returned but at least Schwartz is still producing.
Robby Fabbri – Goal on four shots. I talked about him a lot lately but it’s worth reiterating that I love Fabbri in dynasties.
Brian Elliott – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 2-1 win over the Kings. Man, Elliott has been the best goalie in the league over the last month and stopped the Blues slump and pushed them firmly into third in the Central. Keep riding it while you can.
Pekka Rinne – 29 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Bruins. If you can sell him after this start, do it. Just like Varlamov and Tuukka Rask (22 saves on 24 shots), you have no clue what you’re going to get on a game to game basis.
Mike Ribiero – Two assists with a shot. You know what you’re getting from Ribiero; top end assists and PIM and nothing else.
Filip Forsberg – Goal and an assist with two shots. The shots haven’t been as good lately but I still would love to acquire Forsberg in dynasties. The next step wasn’t taken this year but he’s still 21 years old.
Mikko Koivu – Goal and three assists with a shot in 2 games. Koivu is another one of those veterans who is having a great season after it looked like he’d keep declining.
Jason Pominville – Two goals and an assist with four shots and two PIM. If he’s available in your league, I think I would take the shot on Pominville. He’s starting to look good again. The Wild do not play until Sunday so you can wait to make the move.
Mikael Granlund – Two goals and two assists with six shots. At one point, Granlund was considered the best player not in the NHL. He’s never fully panned out but you see these flashes that makes you want to believe it can still come. He turns 24 next week so it’s not impossible.
Matt Dumba – Two goals and two assists with six shots. I love Dumba’s chances to breakout next season and he’s starting to show signs now. I can make the case to grab him in 12’ers right now as he’s performing on the PP and taking well over 2 shots per game lately.
Thomas Vanek – Two goals and two assists with four shots. Despite being scratched for the one game, he clearly should be owned everywhere right now.
Charlie Coyle – Two goals on eight shots. Love Coyle right now and he’s a clear must own in 10’ers and deeper. The shots aren’t consistent but with the minutes he’s getting, they should start to be.
Benoit Pouliot – Assist with two shots. Own him now!
Connor McDavid – Goal on four shots. Kid is ridiculous, plain and simple. He’s going to go in the first round of 12’ers next year.
Jason Spezza – Two assists in his return. Get him back in your lineup immediately.
Jamie Benn – Goal and an assist with two shots. Shockingly, the first line was killed at even strength by the Coyotes but it doesn’t help that Antti Niemi was a sieve.
Tyler Seguin – Goal and an assist with eight shots and two PIM. He’s really heating up and Seguin gets his old team on Saturday. I’d bet on him getting at least two points in that game.
Martin Hanzal – Goal and two assists with four shots and six PIM. Quite the line for Hanzal who’s centering the young guns for Arizona right now. He’s a must-own right now.
Max Domi – Two goals and an assist with seven shots. Domi keeps having these monster games and then disappearing for stretches. When he inevitably finds some consistency, Domi is going to be special.
Anthony Duclair – Three assists and two shots. His numbers are really rounding into form right now and it’s only the shots holding him back. The Coyotes are going to be outstanding sooner than later.
Ryan Getzlaf – Goal and an assist with two shots. That’s points in 7 straight, 11 of 12 and 16 of 18 for Getzlaf. This is the superstar we all expected this year. The Ducks are coming on hard and their big guys are leading the way.
Sami Vatanen – Goal and an assist with three shots. Talked about him the other day so I won’t repeat myself but basically Vatanen’s upside is so high (as shown last year pre-injury) that you have to hold him.
Rickard Rakell – Goal and an assist with three shots. Right on the edge of hold vs. stream for me and you could go either way.
Daniel Sedin – Two assists with two shots on goal. Can’t slow the Cyborgs down!
Sven Baertschi – Goal on three shots. Mmm, I love me some Sven. I can definitely see myself driving the bandwagon next season.
Friday Streamers: Surprisingly there are only 5 games on the slate for tonight so be sure to start your weekend off right with some quality streaming. Here are my top 3 options of the night:
Ryan Strome (18.6%) – Strome has 5 points in his last 6 games while he’s been on the first line. As long as the opportunity is there, Strome has produced over the last 1.5 seasons.
Sam Reinhart (7.0%) – Going back to the well with Rhino. He gets a nice matchup against the Blue Jackets and he he’s scored 5 goals in his last 7 games.
Lars Eller (0.4%) – Solid matchup against the Flyers and as mentioned above, finally getting top 6 minutes with a great winger like Max Pacioretty.
That’s all for now guys. Be sure to check out Matt’s latest article with a thorough look at goaltenders that came out yesterday; there’s some quality stuff there. I’ll be back on Monday recapping all of the weekend’s action. As always, feel free to ask me any questions and leave any comments below. I hope everyone has a great weekend; take care!
