To say the start of the season for Dallas has been disappointing is an understatement. It looked like it was going to continue being 3-0 late in the second against Minnesota. To quote Lee Corso, “not so far my friend!” The Wild scored six goals over the last 21 minutes of the game to win 6-3, and they were led by Alexander Radulov. Radulov entered the game with only 1+3 in 13 games, and he managed to match those four points in this one. Radulov had three goals and an assist with a whopping 10 shots on goal. This game might have blown the chance to buy low on Dallas players, but I would still attempt to do so given the opportunity. These guys are too talented to not have strong seasons, Radulov included. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Conor Garland – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s been extremely effective so far, but Garland can only be a middling streamer when he’s never above 15 minutes per game.
Jeff Skinner – Goal and an assist with three shots. Any concern about Skinner’s production playing separately from Eichel has been alleviated.
Carter Hutton – 42 saves on 44 shots losing in the shootout. Hutton has been outstanding and while he’s in a timeshare, he’s on the better side of it and should be owned everywhere.
Alex Edler – Three assists with a shot and two PIM. If I’m in a league that doesn’t include hits and blocks, I would try to sell high on Edler. With Hughes taking over the top PP (and justifiably so), his offense is going to come down a bit. That said, he’s still a great source of shots, PIM, and hits and blocks if you play with those categories.
Elias Pettersson – Three assists with four shots. His points are coming in bunches, but Pettersson’s averaging an assist a game. However, his shot rate will have to jump in order to reach true elite status for fantasy hockey,
Michael Ferland – Two assists. Decent streamer, especially in hits leagues.
J.T. Miller – Two goals on four shots. He’s fit in seamlessly in Vancouver making the trade look completely reasonable. Miller is must own in all formats.
Josh Leivo – Goal and an assist with four shots. Leivo is a decent streamer who I like quite a bit in deep leagues.
David Krejci – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM in his return from injury. Krejci is a solid streamer but I’m not bumping him back to a hold right away.
Chris Wagner – Goal and an assist with three shots. And there’s your annual Chris Wagner update!
Tuukka Rask – 16 saves on 17 shots in the 5-1 win over the Sharks. What Boston is doing defensively right now is remarkable. Life is easy for Rask and Halak.
Petr Mrazek – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 2-1 win over the Flames. Mrazek’s numbers have been solid as expected. He’s a strong #2 with the chance for better.
Andrei Svechnikov – Two goals on four shots. Look at this beauty. After a slow stretch, Svech is back up to a point per game and three shots per.
LACROSSE GOAL ALERT
Andrei Svechnikov with an unreal goal to tie the game in the third period.
Wow. pic.twitter.com/TCTTBFWkcO
— Brett Finger (@brettfinger) October 30, 2019
Sidney Crosby – Goal and two assists with six shots and two PIM. The Pens had seven goals by seven different players, but three had three points: Crosby, Dominik Simon and Dominik Kahun. My interest in the secondary guys on Pittsburgh has dwindled as they have gotten healthier. Simon is still a strong streamer while he’s with Crobsy, but Kahun is bottom end at best.
Matt Murray – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 7-1 win over the Flyers. Murray has been excellent despite a porous defense in front of him. It’s only one month, but he’s looked like the #1 people had hoped for.
Brian Elliott – 22 saves on 28 shots in two periods before being pulled. The Flyers are a disaster at the moment, both goaltenders included. I do expect Hart to get things straightened out, while Elliott will be a desperation play.
Alex Ovechkin – Two goals and two assists with ten shots and two PIM. The Great Eight did it again. He’s at five shots per game right now and is well past a point per game. It’s one of the best starts Ovechkin has ever had.
John Carlson – Two goals on seven shots. Speaking of best starts, Carlson is having the best start by a defenseman in decades. 7+16 in 14 games is just stupid.
Nicklas Backstrom – Three assists with a shot. They were all secondary assists, but they count the same! Backstrom has piled up the assists as expected, and the goals will come once his shooting percentage gets to normal levels.
Auston Matthews – Two goals and an assist with five shots. Just a matter of staying healthy for Matthews because on a per-game basis, he’s incredible.
Dylan Larkin – Goal and an assist with seven shots and two PIM. Larkin is getting back on track, especially in terms of shot rate. I have no doubt he’ll be right around a point per game come the end of the season.
Jimmy Howard – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 3-1 win over the Oilers. Howard is a desperation play in quality matchups at best.
Ryan Strome – Goal and an assist with two shots playing over 22 minutes. Mika Zibanejad is day to day putting Strome on the first line. That makes him an elite streamer for the time being.
Alexandar Georgiev – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 4-1 win over the Lightning. His save percentage is strong again but I still view Georgiev as usable only in good matchups, this result notwithstanding.
Pekka Rinne – 20 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Blackhawks. Doesn’t get much easier than this as Nashville thoroughly dominated Chicago. Nashville has gotten back to their roots defensively which makes Rinne a major beneficiary.
Nick Bonino – Hat trick on nine shots. I don’t want to completely dismiss Bonino’s hot start, but I take very little from it. He’s not going to be a 55+ point guy all of a sudden. You can stream him while he’s hot if you’d like, but I’m not using him.
Rocco Grimaldi – Three assists with two shots. Same story as Bonino except even more so.
Craig Smith – Two assists with five shots. He’s off to a slow start but Smith is usually a bottom end streamer because of a quality shot rate. I’m not using him yet, but I assume he gets back to that level.
Robin Lehner – 48 saves on 51 shots. Lehner was absolutely phenomenal in this game despite allowing three goals. He’s clearly been the best option in Chicago so far.
Gabriel Landeskog – Out indefinitely, which Bednar said is more than week-to-week. Brutal news for Colorado again. Nazem Kadri is moving to the first line on the wing, as will Joonas Donskoi. Kadri is must-own everywhere already, while Donskoi is an elite streamer who could be even better if he performs well with MacKinnon.
Eric Staal – Goal and an assist with two shots, as did Jason Zucker. Both of these guys are finally showing signs of life. I lean towards both being bottom end holds, but I’m fine with cutting bait for someone else on the waiver wire that you see as an improvement.
Joe Pavelski – Goal and two assists with four shots and two PIM. Despite this game, I’m not buying into a bounce back from Pavelski. Maybe I’m wrong, but unlike the other three Stars forwards, he just looks bad.
Tyler Seguin – Goal and two assists with five shots, +4. He’ll be fine, no doubt about that.
Miro Heiskanen – Two assists with five shots playing almost 27 minutes. While I love Hieskanen long term, I didn’t like him this season because of Klingberg’s role on PP1. Now, I’m starting to think there’s a chance Miro takes over the first unit given Klingberg’s struggles. Far from ag uarantee, but it’s in play now.
Nikolaj Ehlers – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Ehlers was buzzing all game long despite a weakened second line given Laine’s absence. I’m loving Ehlers’ aggressiveness shooting the puck. There’s a chance for a top 50 season here.
Bryan Little – Goal and an assist with five shots. Little is a solid streamer as long as he’s the second center in the Peg.
Josh Mahura – Three assists with a shot. Mahura has the tools to be a future PPQB and given the injuries on the Anaheim blueline, he received PP time last night in his first game of the season. I like him in deep dynasties. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Cam Fowler – Goal and an assist with two shots. As mentioned above, the Ducks blue line is gutted at the moment. I’ve never been a big Fowler guy for fantasy, but he’s an easy hold at the moment.
Three Point Challenge: For those who aren’t familiar, for each Tuesday and Thursday of the season, you can make a pick in the comments section. That player needs to get 3+ points for you to win. You cannot take a player in the top 10 in points in the league. For the first month to six weeks of the season, we will use last season’s top 10 in points. That means no McDavid, Kucherov, Kane, Draisaitl, Crosby, Marchand, Gaudreau, MacKinnon, Stamkos, or Barkov. For this week, we are going to do Friday’s games because of only two games on Halloween. You can make your pick in this post or on Friday morning’s post. For Friday, I am going to take Taylor Hall against the Flyers.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Friday recapping the action from the next two nights. Feel free to ask any questions, give any comments, or leave any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
