We’re down to the last few weeks of the season, and whether you play in a roto league or H2H league, it’s time to be aggressive with your moves. The 150th best player could easily be better than the 50th over a small sample. so we want to be getting volume from our players. This is especially true in net where variance swamps everything. Carey Price suffered a concussion on Monday and is ruled out for at least a week, if not more. Jake Allen has fallen off a bit lately, but his overall numbers are still quite strong. He’s available in over 80% of leagues which doesn’t make any sense. If you need any goaltending help, go get him now. With Montreal having a back to back with Calgary on the weekend, the expectation is that Cayden Primeau starts one of the games. He’s been solid in Laval this season so if you’re in a deep league, I’m fine with streaming Primeau given Calgary’s struggles. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Monday’s Games
Alex Killorn – Goal and an assist with two shots and five PIM. Killorn has been in a bit of a rough patch putting him firmly on the fringe. Completely depends on team needs as Killorn is decent at everything, but not great at anything.
Frank Vatrano – Two goals on seven shots. Frank the Tank is putting on almost three shots per game. However, he has only six assists on the season and the ice time isn’t great, but he’s still a solid streamer.
Anthony Duclair – Two assists with two shots. Duclair remains in the elite streamer range.
Luke Glendening – Two goals. No. Just no.
Alex Biega – Two assists. Credit to Biega for getting into over 200 games in his career with Vancouver and now Detroit, as it looked like he was going to be a career AHL’er in Buffalo and then Vancouver. Nothing here for fantasy though.
Roope Hintz – Goal and an assist with four shots. Hintz is playing at a 95 point pace over 82 games and it seems like nobody is talking about it. If the shot rate goes up, how high is the ceiling? He’ll probably be on the fringe of my top 50 next season.
Miro Heiskanen – Two assists with two shots. This season really couldn’t have gone worse for Heiskanen, but I’m still buying in long term. He’s still only 21 and there’s a real chance that Klingberg gets moved in the offseason. I feel like both should be great as is, but for whatever reason, it hasn’t happened.
Mikael Granlund – Two assists with two shots playing over 23 minutes. To say that Hynes is counting on Granlund and Calle Jarnkrok (1+1, 4 SOG) right now is an understatement. Luke Kunin was the third part of this line and he also had two points, but only played 12 minutes. These two are both middling streamers solely because of the minutes and that Nashville has held over Chicago this year.
Connor Brown – Two goals with two PIM. What a run by Brown with nine goals in the past ten. I probably wouldn’t hold, but he’s still an elite streamer.
Josh Norris – Goal and an assist. Nice run from Norris with eight points in the past five, and eleven in the past ten. The shot rate is quite poor so he’s a strong streamer, but not an elite one.
Mike Smith – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 4-1 win over the Canadiens. Maybe the regression fairies won’t find Smith this year. Maybe it’ll happen in the playoffs, maybe it’ll happen right now. Who knows, but enjoy it while it lasts.
Connor McDavid – Goal and two assists with two shots. Game was tied late, that McJesus took over. He’s other worldly.
Jesse Puljujarvi – Goal and an assist. I had higher hopes for Puljujarvi this season, but he’s basically playing at a 20+15 pace. Maybe he’ll be trusted more next season, but he’s only a bottom end streamer for now.
Nick Bonino – Two assists with two shots. I still can’t buy into Bonino at all.
Matt Dumba – Two assists with a shot. It hasn’t been Dumba’s best by any stretch this season. I’ll be buying him next season though because my expectation is that he’s out of Minnesota in a bigger role elsewhere. I’m still holding ROS, but it’s fringy.
Kevin Fiala – Goal and an assist. Fiala has been a big disappointment for me, but he’s still on pace for about 30+30 in a full season. That’s not a complete disaster, but hopefully he finishes on an incredible tear like last season. Eleven points in the past ten helps.
Mark Stone – Two goals, both assisted by Shea Theodore and Max Pacioretty. The top guys on Vegas were dominant and honestly, unlucky to only get the two goals. They’re on a massive tear, especially Stone, who has multi-points in five straight.
Tuesday’s Games
Tuukka Rask – 32 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Sabres. Rask stood on his head the entire game. Boston looks primed for a big finish with Rask manning the crease.
Semyon Varlamov – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 6-1 win over the Rangers. Varlamov has been a top 10 goalie all season despite missing the elite volume. He’s looking at a career high in GAA and the sv% isn’t far behind.
Anthony Beauvillier – Goal and three assists with two PIM. The consistency hasn’t been there at all this season for Beauvillier. He’s a solid streamer, but I had higher hopes.
Josh Bailey – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Bailey is only a bottom end streamer because of his shot rate. It’s been that way since Tavares left.
Jordan Eberle – Goal and an assist with three shots. Eberle remains an elite streamer.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Goal and an assist. Pageau was a borderline hold last season in Ottawa, but going to the Islanders zapped his value. He’s settled into being a bottom end streamer.
Will Butcher – Three assists with four shots. The Devils went into the third period down 6-0 and only ended up losing 7-6. They are the first team ever to win the third period by 5+ goals and lose a game. Butcher isn’t of much interest to me; he’s been passed by others in the organization.
Bryan Rust – Goal and an assist with three shots. Everyone on the top line had two points. Rust remains underrated in my eyes in both real life and fantasy. He’s an easy hold.
Alex Nedeljkovic – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 4-1 win over the Lightning. Nedeljkovic looks every bit of the real deal. He’s an auto stream every time out, if not a hold. Here’s to hoping he gets the top job in Carolina next season because I’d have him as a top 10 goalie.
Nino Niederreiter – Goal and an assist with two shots. Nino has fallen off a bit to go right onto the fringe. It comes down to team needs whether to hold or not.
Spencer Knight – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 5-1 win over the Blue Jackets. Excellent NHL debut from Knight who is arguably the best goaltending prospect in hockey. He should be the backup next season with Driedger a pending UFA, and eventually, he’ll be the #1 in Florida. I’m not sure how many more starts he gets this season, one or two max, but for dynasties, there’s a ton to like. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Jonathan Huberdeau – Goal and two assists with four shots. The new line of Huberdeau with Anthony Duclair (three assists, two shots, two PIM) and Sam Bennett (two goals on four shots) is killing it at the moment. Huberdeau is the most unheralded superstar that is. Duclair remains an elite streamer who could be held how he’s playing right now. Bennett should be held in hits leagues, and is an elite streamer otherwise.
Jason Robertson – Goal and an assist with three shots. Robertson has been fabulous, even in games where Hintz doesn’t play. I underestimated his long term potential as his rookie season blows my expectations out of the water. What a debut.
Jason Dickinson – Two assists. Easy pass.
John Tavares – Two goals on four shots, both assisted by William Nylander. Despite the Leafs losing two in a row to the COVID-ridden Canucks, these two have been excellent.
Quinn Hughes – Goal and two assists with three shots. This season has been a big disappointment for Hughes, yet he’d still be on pace for 60 points over a full season. Shows what kind of player Hughes is. Long term, this season doesn’t discourage me at all.
Brandon Sutter – Two goals on three shots. Not a chance.
J.T. Miller – Two assists with two shots. Miller has also fallen off quite a bit, but I’m still holding without much thought.
Tanner Pearson – Two goals. Congrats to Pearson on the contract extension. He’s only a bottom end streamer.
Brock Boeser – Two assists with a shot. The shot rate dropped a bit this season for Boeser which is discouraging. That said, he’s still playing around a 35+40 pace so it’s hard to complain.
Andreas Athanasiou – Goal and two assists with four shots. His 30 goal season looks like a complete outlier, but AA has had a decent bounceback season this year. He’s a bottom end streamer in general, but with a bunch of games against the Ducks in the short term, he’s closer to a top end streamer.
Blake Lizotte – Goal and two assists with two PIM. Don’t really see a ton of appeal in Lizotte right now.
Carl Grundstrom – Goal and an assist with three shots. Hell no.
Cal Petersen – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 4-1 win over the Ducks. The Kings have four in a row against the Ducks coming up, so if Petersen is available in your league, grab him now.
Three Point Challenge: We will do Thursday’s games per usual. I now have 4 correct picks, Veritas remains in second with two with Eli Man Penguin Boy, and Chet joins the group with one pick. You can not select McDavid, Draisaitl, Kane, Marner, Matthews, Scheifele, Marchand, MacKinnon, Panarin, Crosby, Stone or Rantanen. Five way tie for 8th leads to 12 ineligible players. I’ll go with Hintz against Detroit. If he doesn’t play, give me Zibanejad against Philly instead.
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!
