Vancouver has managed to blow multi-goal leads in each of their first four games. Pretty remarkable stuff that already has Boudreau on the hot seat. The good news is that there’s still been some offensive bright spots for the Canucks, and Elias Pettersson is leading the way. Pettersson had five points over the last two nights, totaling two goals, three assists, and six shots in the two games. That brings Pettersson to 3+3 in four games, along with 3.5 shots per game. That’s a good start to one of my bold predictions of the season, which is that Pettersson will score 45+ goals this year. Time will tell if that pans out, but I have no doubt that Pettersson can be a top 25 player despite the low penalty minutes. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Monday’s Games
Sam Bennett -Goal and an assist with five shots. It was nice to see Bennett back to his roots and taking a ton of shots. I still have him as a bottom end hold.
Gustav Forsling – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM playing over 28 minutes. Aaron Ekblad left the game due to injury. We’ll see the severity tomorrow, but Forsling could blow up if Ekblad misses any time. I was the high man on Forsling already, but getting on Florida’s PP1 would make him a #2 fantasy defenseman.
Colin White – Goal and an assist with three shots. White’s minutes will have to increase to get back to where he was in the past with Ottawa.
Jake DeBrusk – Two goals and an assist with five shots. DeBrusk is thriving on the first line and is a borderline hold at this point. I’m inclined to hold him while he’s a hot schmotato.
Patrice Bergeron – Goal and an assist. He’ll be back under Tuesday’s games (spoiler alert!) but Boston’s offense hasn’t been a problem without Marchand.
Connor Clifton – Two assists with two shots. Cilfton is must own right now in hits and blocks because the minutes are insane right now and he’s at 2+ hits and 2 blocks per game.
Anze Kopitar – Goal and an assist with three shots. Adrian Kempe had the same, while Kevin Fiala had two assists with two shots and two PIM. The Los Angeles top line is on another level right now.
Phillip Danault – Two goals on four shots playing over 22 minutes. Danault is a solid streamer, but I’m not looking to hold him outside of faceoff wins.
David Perron – Two goals and an assist with six shots and two PIM. Perron has been fabulous in Detroit and while the minutes are a little low, I can see that changing. He’s shocking available in about 30% of leagues and that should not be the case.
Dominik Kubalik – Two assists with three shots playing 19 minutes. With Bertuzzi out, Kubalik is in the top six and is an elite streamer.
Olli Maatta – Two assists with a shot. Maatta is getting quality minutes and stumbling into points right now. I’d keep him to deep leagues, but that’s more value than I expected from him this year.
Evgeni Malkin – Two goals on six shots, both assisted by Bryan Rust. Both of them have had a point in all three games this year. Here’s to hoping they stay healthy because they’re going to crush other second lines.
Nick Suzuki – Goal and an assist with eight shots. Suzuki looks great even going against other top lines. I wasn’t that interested in Suzuki going into the year, but now I am.
Kaiden Guhle – Two assists with three shots. Guhle has been quite good in a defensive role for Montreal, which doesn’t really help us in fantasy. The hits and blocks are strong for streaming though. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Troy Terry – Two assists with three shots. There’s been some ugly moments for the Ducks thus far, but Terry has been the one bright spot. I guess he could prove last year wasn’t really a fluke.
Pavol Regenda – Two assists. Nice to see Regenda get his first career points, but I don’t see anything here for fantasy. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Mika Zibanejad -Two goals and two assists on nine shots. Zibanejad has been out of this world, like most of the stars on the Rangers. It’s great to see Zibanejad absolutely crushing again.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and three assists with four shots. Is ten points in four games good? The Rangers power play is as good as any in the league right now.
Adam Fox – Three assists with a shot. Fox is going to pile up the points per usual.
Vincent Trocheck – Goal and an assist with five shots. Trocheck has registered at least four shots on goal in every game so far which is great to see. If there was any doubt about Trocheck being a hold, that’s been erased.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Goal and an assist. Gostisbehere has a point in every game so far and is averaging three shots per game, but is also -4. If your league doesn’t include plus-minus, Ghost is an auto hold, but if it does, it’s up in the air.
Quinn Hughes – Two assists with three shots. It’s no surprise than Hughes is averaging an assist per game in the early going. He’s also had at least two shots in every game, which is great to see.
Alex Ovechkin – Two goals and two assists with four shots. That’s a quick way to erase a slow start. I have no worries about The Great Eight.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Three assists with three shots and two PIM. It was great to see Kuznetsov go off, but now he’s suspended for their next game, and to be frank, he’s lucky it’s only one game.
John Carlson – Goal and an assist with three shots. These were Carlson’s first points of the season, but he’s been driving play outside of the opener against Boston. Nothing to worry about.
Marcus Johansson – Two assists with a shot. He’s on PP1 at the moment which makes him an okay streamer in the deepest of leagues.
Dylan Strome – Goal and an assist with three shots. Strome is in a great streaming spot against Ottawa with Kuznetsov out.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and two assists with seven shots. MacKinnon has started on fire with multi-points in every game to open the season. Please stay healthy!
Valeri Nichushkin – Goal and two assists with three shots. Big Val has been excellent to start with 4 goals in 3 games, but none of them at even strength. Landeskog’s return is going to help that eventually, but for now, he’s a bit dependent on the PP.
Samuel Girard – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. Girard is on the third pair right now which puts him on the fringe in 12’ers.
Cale Makar – Two assists with two shots. No goals in three games? What a bum. Sarcasm. He’ll probably score tonight against the Jets now.
Calen Addison – Three assists with five shots. Addison looks fantastic on the power play right now. He was my favorite late defenseman pick in drafts right now and Addison is paying it off in the early going.
Kirill Kaprizov – Two goals on five shots. Kirill is randomly -8 as the Wild can’t get a save from either goalie so far, but it’s nice to see the top guys producing offensively.
Mason Marchment – Two assists with a shot. Amazing start from Marchment who is clearly a hold now.
Jake Oettinger – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 4-1 win over the Jets. Oettinger has been the best goalie in the opening week, allowing only one goal in each of their first three games. You love to see it.
Frederik Andersen – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 5-1 win over the Hurricanes. Andersen’s success is solely determined by his health. If he’s healthy, his downside is a bottom end #1.
Sebastian Aho – Goal and two assists with three shots. Aho’s ceiling and floor have been established at this point, and they’re so close together that tall people have a tough time walking down that hallway.
Andrei Svechnikov – Two goals and an assist with six shots. Great start for Svech, who has a point in each of the first three games. Now give him the minutes he deserves Brind’Amour!
Stefan Noesen – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Noesen was randomly on PP1 with Kase out, but I’m not interested in streaming him anywhere.
Tuesday’s Games
Eric Comrie – 46 saves on 48 shots in the 4-2 win over the Oilers. Comrie was as good as his numbers indicate, stopping over a dozen high danger chances. He’s played so little in the NHL that we don’t know what he is, but Comrie has been great when he’s played. I’m holding him where I have him hoping for the best.
Jakob Silfverberg – Two goals on three shots. Silfverberg used to be fantasy relevant, but I don’t see that happening again. And there’s your biannual Silfverberg update!
Jesper Bratt – Two assists with two shots. Bratt was incredible in this game completely dominating the puck with whoever his linemates were. Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes each had two points playing over 20 minutes to lead the New Jersey comeback. These are the three Devils forwards worth holding.
Patrice Bergeron – Goal and two assists, as did David Pastrnak. These two have been incredible, especially Pasta. Pasta looks like he could be a top ten player again.
Tim Stutzle – Goal and two assists, as did Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson. It’s interesting that Stutzle and Norris have flipped spots early in the season. That gives Stutzle a decent boost, although I was already very high on him, while it knocks Norris down quite a bit for me. I’m even more worried about his shot value with DeBrincat on his wing now.
Carter Hart – 36 saves on 38 shots in the 3-2 win over the Lightning. Like in the other big upset of the day, Hart was fantastic against Tampa. He’s 3-0 in the early going allowing only two goals in each game. The early Torts bump is real, and I’d be a bit more liberal starting him for the time being.
Steven Stamkos – Two power play goals on five shots with two PIM, both assisted by Nikita Kucherov. Stammer has scored in every game so far, quickly approaching 500 goals and 1,000 assists. Obviously Tampa isn’t going to panic with a slow start at 1-3, but their schedule isn’t forgiving over the next week.
Bo Horvat – Two goals on five shots. Dr. Bo has been solid so far despite his linemates struggling.
Johnny Gaudreau – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s been a fine start for Gaudreau, nothing noteworthy one way or the other. Four of the next five games will have Columbus as a pretty big underdog which isn’t ideal.
Boone Jenner – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Jenner is on the fringe of standard leagues, but he’s an easy hold with all the extra categories as he’s piling up hits and blocks in the early going.
Vladislav Gavrikov – Goal and an assist with two shots. Gavrikov is all defense, no offense, so I wouldn’t consider him in any format.
Jakub Voracek – Two assists with a shot. He’s an easy pass right now with the minutes much lower than in the past.
Evgeny Svechnikov – Goal and an assist with four shots. The older Svech’s career has been slowed down by injuries, but with how bad the Sharks are, perhaps he’ll get the opportunity to right the ship. For now, he’s just worth monitoring.
Oliver Wahlstrom – Two goals on six shots. For once, I’d like to see what Wahlstrom would do with regular minutes. He has four points in two games, but he played 14 minutes in this game. Granted, that was 5 minutes more than the previous game. I’d still stream Wahlstrom against the Devils on Thursday.
Noah Dobson – Two assists with five shots. Dobson has been fantastic. It’s well within Dobson’s range of outcomes that he ends up as a top ten defenseman this season.
Brock Nelson – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Nelson has an assist in every game so far this season, but his shot rate hasn’t been there. I lean towards elite streamer but it could definitely flip back.
Adam Pelech – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Pelech is one of the best examples of someone who is good in real life, but has very little fantasy value.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Two assists with a shot. Two shots in three games is ugly, and I’m a little concerned Huberdeau ends up closer to two per game than three, but the points will no doubt be elite.
Matt Roy – Two goals on six shots. Roy has never provided much offense, and I don’t see that changing. His hits and blocks are solid though for deep league streaming.
Gabriel Vilardi – Goal and an assist with three shots. Vilardi’s start is one of the best stories in the league after all of his back issues. I don’t expect him to stay a hold all season, but I don’t mind it while he’s on fire.
Mikael Granlund – Two assists playing over 22 minutes. He’s great in assists, but his shot rate is so dreadful that I lean towards streaming instead of holding.
Three Point Challenge: Unfortunately for me, Pettersson’s three point game was Monday and not Tuesday. I also didn’t catch Y2B picking Panarin on Monday, so while I’ll give him props here for that correct pick, it doesn’t count in the standings. We will do Thursday’s games now, and you can’t select McDavid, Gaudreau, Huberdeau, Draisaitl, Kaprizov, Matthews, Stamkos, M. Tkachuk, Miller, or Marner. I’ll go with Forsberg against the Blue Jackets.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Friday recapping the action from the next two nights. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
