Igor Shesterkin has been long anointed as “the next one.” It turns out he’s even better than I expected, and I have him at +1200 to win the Vezina. Shesterkin saved 36 of 37 shots in the 4-1 win over the Capitals on Thursday, losing his shutout with one minute left to an Ovechkin flubbed deflection. Let’s face the facts. The Rangers are the good bad team. Yes, the power play is great, but they’re a below average even strength team being propped up by how good Shesterkin. He’s certainly the best goalie in dynasties, and for this season, it’s a two man tier of Shesterkin and Vasilevskiy. If NHL players were in the Olympics, one of these guys would have been stuck backing up, probably Igor. Pretty absurd. Regardless, I’m not a first round pick goalie guy, but starting next season, I wouldn’t be surprised if Igor stays in that territory for the next 5+ years. Let’s take a look at the last two nights:
Wednesday’s Games
Samuel Montembault – 32 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Sabres. Montembault has been surprisingly decent, and Montreal is much better with St. Louis at the helm. Montembault is a step above desperation now.
Nick Suzuki – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Suzuki is bordering on a hold again with all the minutes he’s receiving.
Cole Caufield – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. Caufield has blown up the last 10 days. He’s an elite streamer who you can hold as a spec add if you want.
Gabriel Landeskog – Two goals on five shots. Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar had two assists each. No MacKinnon, no problem for the Colorado studs.
Alex Newhook – Two assists with four shots. Newhook has been very good this season. Newhook could take Kadri’s spot next season which would be massive for his upside. Big fan in dynasties.
Moritz Seider – Two assists, as did Dylan Larkin. I’m all in on Seider in dynasties. Larkin has blown up as we’ve been waiting for in the last five years.
Mark Scheifele – Goal and an assist with four shots. Scheifele has erased his slow start fairly quickly.
Neal Pionk – Two assists. The second assist was on PP1 which is a big shift for Pionk’s value. If he’s PP1, hold. If he’s not, don’t. It’s that simple.
Jamie Benn – Goal and two assists with two shots. I still only have him as a middling streamer.
Tyler Seguin – Goal and an assist with three shots. Seguin has really turned things around after an awful start to the season. He’s an elite streamer now.
Leon Draisaitl – Three assists with a shot and two PIM. Connor McDavid scored two goals on five shots while Zach Hyman had a goal and an assist. I don’t want to lump Hyman in with the other two, but the point is the minutes are incredible with the coaching change. Hyman is finally getting the role I expected in preseason. I think Hyman will be a top 50 player ROS fairly easily.
Corey Perry – Goal and an assist, as did Pat Maroon. The fourth line has some good games, but they’re both only bottom end streamers.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and an assist with four shots. Kuch fully belongs in the conversation for best player in the league. I feel like his injuries have dropped him out of the talk for no reason.
Mikhail Sergachev -Two assists. Sergachev has picked it up as of late to solidify himself as a hold again.
Viktor Arvidsson – Two goals on four shots. I’m a huge fan of Arvidsson’s game. I’ve been stubborn and held him all season because of the crazy shot volume. I still am now.
Trevor Moore – Two assists with two shots. Middling streamer as long as he’s on the second line.
Thursday’s Games
Mika Zibanejad – Goal and an assist with three shots. Season turn around complete.
Alexis Lafreniere – Goal and an assist. I’m not quitting on Laf long term, but he’s only a bottom end streamer with slight upside from there.
Nico Daws – 37 saves on 38 shots in the 6-1 win over the Pens. I still have no interest in Daws despite this game. Welcome to the Razzball Databases!
Jesper Bratt – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists with two shots, while Jack Hughes dished three assists. I’m holding all three of these guys.
Auston Matthews – Two goals, both assisted by Mitch Marner. Safe to say that Matthews is the best goal scorer in the world at this point.
Petr Mrazek – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 3-1 win over the Wild. It’s going to take more than one game for me to change my opinion on Mrazek’s awful season.
Jakub Voracek – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Elite streamer if you need assists.
Oliver Bjorkstrand – Goal and an assist with two shots. Huge fan of Bjorkstrand, but the minutes are really low right now. That keeps him as a solid streamer.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Goal and an assist with three shots. Aleksander Barkov had two assists. Even when the team disappoints, the Florida studs do not.
Jake Oettinger – 19 saves on 20 shots in the 2-1 SO win over Nashville, making Juuse Saros the tough luck loser. Saros remains a borderline top 5 goalie while Oettinger is a slam dunk hold now.
Thatcher Demko – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 7-1 win over the Flames. The Canucks ended the Calgary win streak abruptly. Demko remains a #1 goalie for fantasy.
J.T. Miller – Two goals and two assists with three shots. Elias Pettersson had two goals and an assist with three shots. Bo Horvat scored twice, while Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes each had two assists. I’m holding Pettersson without doubt now. Miller and Hughes are in the same boat. Horvat and Boeser are on the fringe, but I still like both a lot.
Jake DeBrusk – Two goals on four shots. His role is bigger right now, but DeBrusk is still only a bottom end streamer. A trade would almost certainly help him.
Charlie McAvoy – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. McAvoy is on the fringe of being a #1 D or not. Either way, it’s pretty good.
Zach Parise – Goal and an assist with three shots. Parise is only a bottom end streamer at this point of his career, but props to him for his 400th career goal.
Mathew Barzal – Two assists with four shots. Barzal remains an easy hold even though he hasn’t taken off as everyone expected.
Tomas Hertl – Two assists with two shots. We’ll see if he’s traded, but staying in San Jose is probably best for his value. Definitely a hold.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday with a post, either a weekend update or a new hold/stream list. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
