As someone who is a big believer in Jason Robertson and had him ranked 32nd overall, a bit ahead of consensus, I did not see this coming. Robertson scored a hat trick on Thursday versus the Ducks, bringing him to 22+17 in 24 games. Is that good? Then you see Robertson is averaging under 18 minutes per game and realize that given a normal superstar workload, it would be even better! He’s been absolutely incredible to this point and if the season ended today, he’d be the Hart Trophy winner. Is it going to last like this? Probably not. But he’s clearly a top 10 player at this point, which is insane considering that two seasons ago, he was a second round pick rookie. Whatever scout led Dallas to picking Robertson deserves all of the money. Let’s see what else happened over the last two nights:
Wednesday’s Games
Dylan Cozens – Two goals on five shots. My original plan was to lead with Cozens, and I still arguably should have. He had an even bigger game on Thursday (spoiler alert!) and is a clear hold in all formats now.
Rasmus Dahlin – Two assists with four PIM. Dahlin is an absolute monster. As good as other defensemen are, nobody hits all of the categories like him. He’s on pace for 29+68 with 120 PIM, 275 shots, and elite hits and blocks. The guy we have been waiting for has arrived.
Oskar Sundqvist – Two goals on three shots. Sundqvist remains on PP1 over more talented players which leaves him as a middling streamer. His shot rate caps his ceiling there.
Andrew Copp -Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Going to Detroit zapped his fantasy value. He’s a bottom end streamer.
Filip Hronek – Two assists with five shots. Absolutely insane heater from Hronek who is firmly in the #3 range now pushing towards a #2.
Jaroslav Halak – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 3-1 win over Ottawa. This was Halak’s first good start of the season, so it’s going to take a few more before I consider him for streaming again.
Ryan Lindgren – Three assists with a shot. And there’s Lindgren’s one big game of the season!
Ilya Samsonov – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 3-1 win over the Sharks in his return to the lineup. Nice to see Samsonov pick up where he left off.
Alex Kerfoot – Two assists with two shots. Kerfoot’s value continues to slide. Bottom end streamer at best.
Leon Draisaitl – Two goals and an assist with six shots. Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist with nine shots. Leon played 26 minutes and McJesus played 27. Is that really necessary against a terrible Chicago team? Good lord.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Goal and an assist with five shots and eight PIM. Talk about a unique stat line! Even on L2, RNH is a clear hold with his PP role.
Brett Kulak – Two assists with a shot. And there’s your annual Kulak update!
Mattias Janmark – Goal and an assist with two shots. Janmark moved on the second line but I need to see some consistent production before considering him again.
Max Domi – Two goals on five shots. Domi is a solid streamer for the points / PIM combo. Just be aware that the +/- could be ugly.
MacKenzie Entwistle – Goal and an assist with two PIM. Those two points match his first 21 games and he has 15 shots on goal this season. Moving on…
Thursday’s Games
Nathan MacKinnon – Two goals and three assists with eight shots and two PIM. To quote Charlie Sheen, “what an absolute warlock!” MacKinnon has 33 points in 21 games and somehow is getting overshadowed by other players. He’s a monster.
J.T. Compher – Two goals and two assists with three shots. Is it a revenge game if you were in the organization but never actually played with them? Regardless, Compher is a middling streamer while he’s on PP1 with Rodrigues out.
Tage Thompson – Goal and two assists with four shots and two PIM. I’ve ran out of superlatives to give Tage.
Dylan Cozens – Goal and two assists. He’s really rounding into form, and as a Sabres fan, I love to see it.
Jeff Skinner – Two assists with five shots. Skinner is blowing his previous point pace out of the water so far. I’d like to shout out Ralph Krueger for putting Skinner on the fourth line and scratching him. Good effort there.
Ryan Johansen – Two goals and an assist with three shots. These games still happen from time to time for Johansen, but his overall value continues to tank. Middling streamer at best.
Erik Haula – Two assists with a shot. Haula is back to being a middling streamer.
Jack Hughes – Two assists with a shot as well. Despite the lack of PIM, my top 20 ranking of Hughes is looking pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 4-1 win over the Flyers. He hasn’t been his usual self, but I have no concerns over Vasilevskiy.
Ian Cole – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. No. Just no.
Corey Perry – Two assists with three shots. His minutes are in the tank and he’s down to bottom end streamer territory.
Nick Paul – Two goals and two PIM. The minutes are quite nice centering the second line. With ten points in the last nine games, Paul is in the solid streamer range.
Jack Eichel – Goal and an assist with seven shots. Eichel is back to superstar status in real life and in fantasy. He’s somewhere around 25th overall.
Brock McGinn – Goal and an assist. Easy pass.
Kasperi Kapanen – Goal and an assist with three shots. Easier pass. I’d like to see Kapanen moved in a one for one swap for someone else who needs a change of scenery.
Jake Guentzel – Goal and an assist with five shots. Guentzel has caught some heat to be back on his usual elite pace.
Jordan Martinook – Hat trick on five shots with two PIM. And our new leader from random hat trick of the season goes to Martinook! He was pointless in his previous seven games if you need to know where his fantasy value lies.
Brent Burns – Goal and an assist with two shots. Burns hasn’t lit the world on fire, but he’s been solid in Carolina. With some better shooting luck, he’d be a #2 as I expected.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Two assists with a shot. He’s disappointed so far, but as his linemates get going (Pavel Buchnevich had 1+1), I expect Tarasenko to improve. I’m still holding even though he’s on the bottom end.
Kirill Kaprizov – Goal and two assists with three shots. I’ll like to thank Kirill the Thrill for putting me on the board in the Three Point Challenge!
Mats Zuccarello – Goal and an assist with three shots. Even after a cold patch, the Norwegian Hobbit is sitting at a point per game and needs to be held.
Jon Merrill – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. He’s a nice defensive player in real life, but Merrill has little to no fantasy value.
Joel Eriksson Ek – Goal and an assist with five shots. Nice little heater from JEEK has solidified him as a bottom end hold due to his shot rate, although it’s close to the fringe.
Jake Oettinger – 31 save shutout in the 5-0 win over the Ducks. There’s no doubt about Oettinger being a #1 fantasy goalie and there’s a good case for him being in the top 5.
Miro Heiskanen – Three assists with four shots. It’s nice to see Heiskanen finally being let loose offensively and him producing the points that come with it.
Roope Hintz – Two assists with two shots. Nice to see Hintz get back going after a mini cold patch.
Jake Allen – 45 saves on 46 shots in the 2-1 win over the Flames. Monster game from Allen, but his overall numbers still keep him in the desperation tier.
Sean Monahan – Two assists. Revenge game in Monahan’s emotional return to Calgary. He’s had a nice turn around but it’s still bottom end streamer territory.
Alex Ovechkin – Two assists with five shots. Nice run from Ovie who has two points in four of his last five games.
Conor Sheary – Goal and an assist with three shots. Sheary is only a bottom end streamer even while on Ovechkin’s line.
Andre Burakovsky – Two assists with three shots. Clear hold at this point. So happy to see Burakovsky finally get the big workload and deliver.
Vince Dunn – Two assists with a shot. Even with a weak shot rate, Dunn is an easy hold in all formats.
Matthew Tkachuk – Goal and two assists with three shots. Somehow, it continues to get better than his incredible 2021-22 season.
Sam Bennett – Two goals on four shots. Anton Lundell was injured early in this game. If he misses some time, Bennett is going to be even better. He’s already on the fringe depending on team needs; you can easily make the case to hold him.
Spencer Knight – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 5-1 win over the Canucks. One can’t help but wonder what it will take for Knight to start getting bigger volume.
Anze Kopitar – Two goals on three shots. Kopitar is right on the fringe depending on team needs and league format.
Kevin Fiala – Goal and an assist with three shots. Fiala is back on the top line and producing like we expected when he went to Los Angeles this offseason.
Mattias Maccelli – Goal and an assist. I still can’t bump him above bottom end streamer when he’s under a shot per game.
Dylan Guenther – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. I like what Guenther has shown, but he’s about to be shipped off to the WJC so his fantasy value in the short term is nearly nothing.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the action from the weekend. Be sure to check out MarmosDad’s DFS piece for Saturday that will be out late Friday or early Saturday morning! I’d appreciate it a lot if you guys gave it a read and gave him some feedback / asked him some hockey questions. As always, feel free to ask me questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
