Has Sam Reinhart lived up to being the second overall pick in his draft? Definitely not. Is the book closed on him becoming a very good player? I don’t think so. Reinhart has shown flashes this season but his quality of linemate has been quite poor. Last game, Reinhart moved to the first line with Jack Eichel and Evander Kane. This move paid dividends on Tuesday night where Reinhart scored a goal and two assists with four shots playing 18:36 in the 5-4 OT loss to the Penguins. What does this mean going forward? Well, Reinhart becomes an elite streamer and potential hold as long as he’s playing with Eichel and Kane. Subjectively, I think Reinhart has been much stronger on the puck this year and if not for Eichel missing a glorious chance and another point blank save, Reinhart could have easily reached 4-5 points in this game. Obviously we can’t expect that on a nightly basis but there’s no reason Reinhart can’t play around a 25+35 pace going forward. Here’s to hoping Phil Housley does what’s right and keeps him there. Let’s take a look at what else happened around the league the past two nights:
Teuvo Teravainen – Hat trick and an assist on four shots. I was going to lead off with Teravainen but I don’t think his value has changed as much as Reinhart’s has. Teravainen is also an elite streamer very similar to Reinhart (poor PIM, mediocre shots or worse in TT’s case). He’s lacking consistency at the moment but the upside makes him a great streamer and GPP play in DFS.
Jordan Staal – Four assists. Same amount of points and assists as Teravainen although he lacks the upside. However, the shot rate is higher and the hits and faceoffs are strong for those with those categories. Staal remains a solid streamer.
Sebastian Aho – Goal and two assists. This should be the first of many goals for Aho with his shot rate. Look for him to get rolling; he makes for a nice trade target.
Scott Darling – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 5-1 win over Dallas. With how well the Canes are dominating the puck, I’m still a big fan of Darling this year. The goals against average is already great and he’s only allowed one goal in three of his past four starts. I think he starts to put it together now.
Alex Steen – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s been an okay start for Steen but I am encouraged at the bounce back in shot rate. He’s a solid streamer but I’m not holding in 12’ers.
Paul Stastny – Two assists. He’s on the second line now putting him right on the fringe. The goals are drying up (0 in past 9) and the plus-minus is falling off a cliff.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Two goals on five shots. The top line for the Blues keeps killing it with Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz also registering two points. Who would have thought all three of these guys would be top ten in the league in scoring?
Mike Smith – 7 saves on 9 shots in the first period of the 7-4 win over the Blues. Smith left the game with an injury and there’s been no update to this point. If you need starts in the short term, Eddie Lack is your guy.
Mark Jankowski – Two goals and an assist with five shots. I joked when Jankowski was drafted by the Flames in 2012, he was two years away from being two years away. Turns out that was right! He’s really stood out when watching the Flames making him an interesting flier in deep leagues and dynasties. For standard 12’ers, he’s a bottom end streamer for now.
Johnny Gaudreau – Goal and an assist with four shots. Gaudreau being just outside the top 10 overall forwards in the player rater this year shows why you have to take him late third round at the earliest. He has 24 points in 17 games but the other stats simply won’t be good enough to ever justify a second round pick. That said, damn this kid is freaking good.
Matthew Tkachuk – Two assists with two shots. My love for him knows no bounds. Except that his younger brother might be better than him so things could get weird.
Sam Bennett – Goal and an assist. I don’t think anyone has burned me as bad as Bennett has since I started writing at Razzball. The scary thing is that he’s still only 21 so like Reinhart, there is still hope. Unlike Reinhart, his fantasy value is minimal at the moment.
Alexander Radulov – Goal and two assists with seven shots and two PIM over two games. That brings his point streak to nine games. Hotter than a pistol!
Jamie Benn – Two goals and an assist with ten shots. Benn has been his usual six category stud self to this point and there’s no reason to expect a change.
Keith Yandle – Two assists and a shot playing almost 28 minutes. The poster boy of AAGNOF has had a slow start in the points department but solid PIM, a great plus-minus and decent enough shots makes Yandle a clear hold.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Two goals on six shots. No slowing down the top line for Florida right now at even strength or the power play.
Aleksander Barkov – Goal and an assist with three shots. I can’t remember a forward playing more minutes in a regular season game than Barkov did last night. 28:55!? That’s absolutely insane. Sorry he only scored two points Reid.
P.S. I’m not sorry
Jack Eichel – Goal and an assist with five shots. Just a hunch but I think we see Eichel get on a tear with Reinhart moving up to his line.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and an assist with five shots. You couldn’t get me one more point damnit!? I’m sure he’s going to turn it around.
Phil Kessel – Goal and an assist with three shots. Get the man some Primanti Bros.!
Patric Hornqvist – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. He’s right on the fringe at the moment depending on your team needs. The shot rate is elite and the PIM are nice but not being in the top six certainly hurts.
Conor Sheary – Two goals on four shots. He’s constantly moving up and down the lineup but it was nice to see from a fantasy perspective that he started OT with Crosby. I’d probably lean hold still but I have no problem leaving him for streaming.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Canadiens. Since we already know how good Bob is and I don’t need to go on about it, I think Prop Joe said it best at the 14 second mark of this clip:
RIP Robert Chew. Also The Wire is the best show of all time and it’s not even up for debate.
T.J. Oshie – Two goals and two PIM. Surprisingly this was his first penalty of the season. He’s separated from the top line but he’s still producing so keep rolling Oshie.
John Carlson – Two assists with a shot. If you have Carlson in fantasy, you have to be happy with his early production.
Mattias Ekholm – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s fine in deeper leagues with hits and blocks added but it’s fringe in standard 12’ers. There might not be a player in the league with a bigger gap between his real life ability and fantasy value than Ekholm.
Colton Sissons – Two assists with two shots. The playoff hero has seen his role diminish with a healthy forward group so leave him on the waiver wire.
Kevin Fiala – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. First goal of the season for Fiala puts him back on the streaming radar with his 8 assists but he’s a lower tier choice there.
Connor Hellebuyck – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 4-1 win over the Coyotes. Looks like I was a year early on Hellboy but this breakout is a thing of beauty. The Jets and Hellebuyck are completely real.
Adam Lowry – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s an okay option in deep leagues for his hits, faceoffs and blocks but he’s irrelevant in anything short of 16 teams.
Devan Dubnyk – 30 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Flyers. Thank you Dubnyk for reviving a bunch of fantasy teams in the goaltending department. Three straight shutouts for Dubnyk has him and the Wild rolling again as I’ve predicted for a while now. Look for Minnesota and Dubnyk to keep building.
Eric Staal – Goal and an assist with two shots. Staal has been great again in all categories.
Jason Zucker – Goal on two shots. We talked about Zucker extensively on the latest podcast.
Connor McDavid – Two goals and an assist. I’m not going to go through every Oilers player who had a nice game on Tuesday because it doesn’t serve much purpose. Vegas is a mess right now and it’s only going to get worse with Maxime Legace leaving the game. They have to get a goalie immediately. Anyways, McJesus did McJesus things tonight and should do so going forward.
Oscar Klefbom – Goal and an assist with three shots. I think Klefbom makes for a nice buy low candidate.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Two goals. He’s playing some of the best hockey of his life. I’d probably hold RNH right now.
Henrik Sedin – Goal and an assist. He has almost no value at this point in his career with low minutes. Henrik is well under one shot per game which is insane.
Wednesday Streamers:
Only three games on the slate make options limited. Michael Ferland, Jankowski and Jaromir Jagr are all in play for Calgary. Lack is also a great streamer assuming he gets the nod. With Anaheim being a mess and Marchand out, someone will play on the first line but it’s unclear who at the moment. That should be out in the morning and that person instantly becomes viable. Otherwise, it’s the usual targets for NYR, CHI, and ANA.
That’s all for now guys. With only a three game slate, I’ll be back on Friday recapping the action from tonight and Thursday. I’ll include Thursday streamers in this post on Wednesday night. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Thanks for reading, take care!
