While he’s not getting the attention that he received in Vegas’ inaugural season, Jonathan Marchessault has quietly had a terrific campaign. His best game came on Wednesday, where Marchessault had two goals, two assists, and five shots leading Vegas to a 5-2 victory over the Sharks. This let Vegas become the first team to clinch the playoffs this season, something that has been a formality for months already. Marchessault now had 13 goals and 22 assists in 46 games, along with a +12 rating, 37 PIM, and 147 shots. In other words, he’s a plus across the board with elite PIM and a strong shot rate. At 30 years old, Marchessault has shown no signs of slowing down. He’s getting easier matchups now which is helping him thrive on the second line. He looks every bit of a top 100 player going forward, with the upside of being top 50 if he has some shooting luck in a season like he did in his one season in Florida. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Wednesday’s Games
Mikael Granlund – Goal and an assist with three shots. The minutes are through the roof for Granlund at the moment making him an elite streamer.
Brandon Hagel – Goal and two assists. He’s playing on the first line at the moment, but it’s inconsistent. I’m looking to use him more in deep leagues.
Vinnie Hinostroza – Goal and an assist with two shots. Chicago is giving Hinostroza a big opportunity to succeed, one that he hasn’t received in the past two seasons. He’s a solid streamer while he’s playing with Kane.
Pius Suter – Goal and an assist. He’s also playing with Kane making Suter a middling streamer by default. You could argue for him being higher which I wouldn’t have a ton of push back on.
Kirby Dach – Two assists with two shots. I like Dach plenty long term, but right now, it’s more of a bottom end streamer. He still doesn’t have his game back completely, which is understandable after the long time off.
Cam Talbot – 39 saves on 40 shots in the 4-1 win over the Coyotes. Minnesota has been outshot in 19 straight games, but they’ve managed to go 11-5-3, mostly thanks to great goaltending. Talbot has been excellent, thankfully for me because I ranked him aggressively enough to target him as my #3 goalie everywhere. Even where he’s my #2, it’s been great.
Nico Sturm – Goal and an assist. I like what I’ve seen from Sturm, but the role is too small to be fantasy relevant.
Shea Theodore – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Theodore is playing as well as any defenseman in the NHL right now. I ranked him very high this season (in the top 7) and I can tell you now that he’ll be higher than that next season.
Mattias Janmark – Goal and an assist with two shots. Janmark is currently on the second line and first PP unit with Smith out of the lineup. I’m not sure it lasts past Smith’s return, but he’s an elite streamer at the moment. With the next three Vegas games against the Sharks and Ducks, plus Colorado breathing down their throats, I think we see Vegas continue to make a big push. That makes me like Janmark even more.
Josh Anderson – Two goals on five shots. Anderson would have had a hat trick, but he took his time on an empty net and then his stick exploded right before time expired. Either way, he was dominant in this one. Whether you hold him or not comes down to team needs,
Tomas Tatar – Two assists with a shot. The minutes aren’t great, partially because that line is being counted on less without Gallagher. I lean towards a strong streamer, not quite elite because of the shot rate.
Jeff Petry – Two assists with a shot. He hasn’t scored a goal in a while, but I’m still holding Petry without much hesitation.
Connor McDavid – Goal and two assists with three shots and two PIM. He played over 27 minutes in this game that didn’t even go to overtime! Draisaitl played 27 minutes on the nose while RNH was over 26. Absolutely insane usage by Tippett for a regular season game that didn’t have a big impact on the Oilers. We love it for fantasy though.
Thursday’s Games
Jeremy Swayman – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 5-1 win over the Sabres. Swayman is worth streaming every time he starts while the Bruins are playing this well.
Brad Marchand – Goal and an assist, as did David Pastrnak. Marchand had 13 goals in his past 14 now while Pastrnak is rounding back into form. There’s no reason to expect that to stop, especially with more Sabres games on the horizon.
Matt Grzelcyk – Goal and an assist. The goal was soft as butter from Tokarski, but they all count the same. Grzcelyk is a bottom end hold as he’s a plus across the board, albeit a small one basically everywhere.
Andre Burakovsky – Two goals on three shots. With Rantanen out, Burakovsky moved onto the top line. Nathan MacKinnon dished three assists while Gabriel Landeskog had two. Burakovsky is must own while he’s in this spot.
Jaden Schwartz – Two goals. Schwartz has had quite the disappointing season, but the upside remains. He’s a solid streamer, but that could change for the better in a hurry.
Tyler Bozak – Two assists with two shots. Five game point streak for Bozy, but I have a hard time caring about him for fantasy. Bottom end streamer only.
Ilya Samsonov – 26 save shutout in the 1-0 SO win over the Islanders. Semyon Varlamov also had a shutout, but unfortunately for him, it wasn’t enough. The wins have been elite for Samsonov, even if his overall play has been subpar. That makes him a #2.
James van Riemsdyk – Two goals on five shots. JVR only played 12 minutes in this one, but he did his damage on the power play. JVR is firmly on the fringe now because of his dropping playing time. With the Devils coming up after the Rangers, I’m inclined to hold, but it’s not automatic.
Ivan Provorov – Two assists with five shots. Provorov remains in the bottom end hold category.
Tristan Jarry – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 5-1 win over the Devils. I grouped Jarry with Samsonov in my preseason rankings, and they’re still together at this point of the season.
Kasperi Kapanen – Goal and an assist with two shots in his return. Good news: Kapanen had two points in his return. Bad news: he was on the fourth line. I don’t think it’ll last, but that keeps him in the middling streamer category for now. Obviously that can change quickly.
Blake Coleman – Two goals on four shots. Monthly reminder that I will be buying Coleman next season when he moves to a new team in a bigger role, for those of you in deep dynasties.
Curtis McElhinney – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 3-1 win over Columbus. McElhinney is terrible, but Columbus is a complete dumpster fire now. I’d only use him in good matchups e.g. Detroit coming up on a back to back.
Martin Necas – Three assists with a shot. It took a look longer than I expected after Necas was drafted for him to blow up, but that was because he spent more time in the minors than anticipated. He’s not far off a point per game at 22, and the shot rate is at least over two per game now. If that takes another jump in year three, watch out.
Sebastian Aho – Two goals on four shots and two PIM. Aho hasn’t been talked about much this season, but his point total is right in line with last season’s, he’s just trading some goals for assists. The shot rate dropping a bit isn’t ideal, but he’s still a fantasy stalwart.
Aleksander Barkov – Two goals on six shots and two PIM. I sound like a broken record, but as much as I like Barkov, I did not think he had this type of jump in him offensively. The shot rate is through the roof which changes the entire equation for him. He’s a top 25 player now.
Mitch Marner – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Auston Matthews had a goal and two assists with seven shots. Nobody is stopping these two right now, especially in that division. Nick Foligno made his debut for the Leafs and played on this line, dishing an assist and adding a shot. He’s an elite streamer while in that spot, although I prefer Burakovsky over him if you have the choice.
Mark Scheifele – Goal and an assist with three shots. Five straight seasons of Scheifele being at or above a point per game, with this one being the best. The shot rate is up lately which is great to see.
Andrew Copp – Goal and an assist. Copp is an elite streamer who can be a hold depending on team needs.
Tanner Kero – Two assists with a shot. Kero is getting his first NHL games in three seasons. And there’s your Kero update!
Jakub Vrana – Four goals on six shots. I’d like to apologize to Vrana as I already wrote the intro for today before he scored four goals, or I’d have started with him. There’s no denying Vrana’s talent; he was great last season in Washington. He’s still only 25 and the team should improve around him. He’s a strong streamer who is elite in good matchups, and I’m still buying in dynasties.
Filip Zadina – Two assists. He showed some nice chemistry with Vrana in this one which is encouraging. This season has been a bit disappointing for Zadina, but he’s still only 20. I’m still a believer long term.
Matt Murray – 31 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Canucks. I still won’t use Murray despite playing three strong games in a row. The downside is just too high, especially come fantasy playoffs time.
Drake Batherson – Goal and an assist with two shots. Batherson isn’t far off a 30 goal pace in his first full season. I’d like to see the shot rate go up because it would make his ceiling a lot higher long term. For now, he’s an elite streamer.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the action from the weekend. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
