Sabres Saying “Tuch Yeah!”

For almost two whole months now, the Sabres have been taking the league by storm, having the best record in that time frame.  On Thursday, the Sabres have their third five game win streak since December (if you count their ten game win streak as two five game streaks), beating the Kings 4-1.  Alex Tuch led the charge for the team, scoring a hat trick on seven shots.  Tuch moved back onto the top line with Thompson recently, and he’s been delivering.  In his last ten games, Tuch has eight goals, and even without PP1 time, Tuch is a clear hold in all formats.  I’m fascinated to see what happens with Tuch come the trade deadline, and not just because I’m a Sabres fan.  I assume the team will keep him even if he doesn’t have an extension signed, and there’s no doubt that the Brinks Truck is getting backed up for Tuch one way or another.  I’d be hesitant to give him the eight figure salary he wants, assuming it’s long term, but it’s also hard for the Sabres to just walk away.  Either way, things continue to look up in Buffalo for the first time in a decade.  Let’s take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:

Jack Quinn – Three assists with a shot.  Quinn has nine points in his last seven games, putting him in solid to elite streamer range while he’s a hot schmotato.

Ryan McLeod – Two assists with a shot.  Way better in real life than fantasy.  Middling streamer because the shot rate is so poor.

Alex Lyon – 37 saves on 38 shots earning his 10th straight win, a Sabres franchise record.  With UPL out until the break, Lyon should get the majority of the work.  If he wasn’t must own already, he is now.

Andrei Vasilevskiy – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 4-1 win over the Jets.  Vasilevskiy is back to being the #1 overall goalie again.  Can he end up on the goalie Mount Rushmore when his career is done?  I think he will be.

Yanni Gourde – Goal and two assists with two shots.  Gourde’s line is incredible defensively, but the offense has dried up over the years.  He’s a bottom end streamer at best.

Darren Raddysh – Goal and two assists with five shots.  The fairly tale season continues.  Absolutely insane performance, with Raddysh sitting over a point per game on the season.

Zemgus Girgensons – Two assists.  And there’s your annual Girgensons update!

Frank Nazar – Two assists with a shot and two PIM.  He hasn’t been scoring much lately, but Chicago has had a brutal schedule.  With Nazar on a line with Bedard, he’s an elite streamer.

Anthony Mantha – Goal and two assists with three shots.  Huge resurgence from Mantha this season, who is having his best year this decade.  He’s a solid streamer bordering on elite while he’s on this tear.

Noel Acciari – Two assists with four shots.  Nice depth player, but that doesn’t matter for fantasy.

Ryan Shea – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Shea had a very good start to the season, then went ice cold, and now has a point in four straight games.  I’m not really interested outside of deep leagues.

Connor Dewar – Two goals.  Dewar shockingly has 13 goals already, but I don’t really see any fantasy value.

Blake Lizotte – Two assists.  Same as Acciari.

Ben Kindel – Goal and an assist with a shot and four PIM.  I’m becoming a huge Kindel fan for dynasties.  His limited role at the moment keeps him as a middling streamer, but I see huge upside long term.

Ilya Sorokin – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 2-1 win over the Rangers.  It’s nice to see Sorokin back at the elite level he was at before the previous two seasons.

Nick Suzuki – Two goals and an assist with four shots.  The Avalanche are cooled off at the moment, and the Canadiens took advantage.  Suzuki continues to pile up points.

Ivan Demidov – Two assists with two shots.  Oliver Kapanen also had two assists, while Juraj Slafkovsky had a goal and an assist with four shots.  The sky is really the limit for Demidov.  Let alone him getting better with age, imagine Demidov getting 20% more ice time, or even greater than 20%.

Kailer Yamamoto – Two goals and an assist with five shots.  Yamamoto looked on track to be a player that was always in the lineup with some upside after a 20 goal season in 2021-22, but he has fallen into a fringe NHL’er.  He is well under a shot per game and the fantasy value he has is wildly unsustainable.

Michael Carcone – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Bottom end streamer.

Jack McBain – Two assists with a shot.  Also a bottom end streamer.

Shayne Gostisbehere – Two goals and an assist with three shots in his return to the lineup.  Carolina being down 4-2 with two minutes left and winning in regulation is absolutely bonkers.  Get Ghost back in your lineup immediately.

Andrei Svechnikov – Two goals and an assist with four shots and two PIM.  Are we finally getting the Svech we anticipated for years?  It’s starting to look like it.

Travis Konecny – Goal and an assist with five shots.  Konency’s recent surge with seven goals in his last seven games has Konecny back to his usual level.  The shot rate is still down a ton from his peak, but Konecny is clearly a top 100 player and probably top 75.

Casey Mittelstadt – Goal and two assists, as did Fraser Minten.  Mittelstadt is only a bottom end streamer because of the dreadful shot rate.  Minten is playing very well as a rookie.  He’s more in the middling streamer range.

Andrew Peeke – Two assists with a shot and two PIM.  And there’s your annual Peeke update!

Jonathan Aspirot – Two assists.  Aspirot is new to the league this season as a 26 year old rookie.  He has three points in his last two games after three points in his first 31 games, and he’s under a shot per game.  No thanks.  Welcome to the Razzball Database!

Jakob Chychrun – Three assists with a shot.  Clearly a top five defenseman at this point.

Dylan Strome – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Strome is back to the level he was at before last season’s point per game performance.  That puts him close to the fringe, but a bottom end hold.

Alex DeBrincat – Two goals and an assist with five shots.  A third 40 goal season for DeBrincat seems like a formality at this point.  The monster shot rate makes this performance mostly sustainable.

Filip Gustavsson – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 4-1 win over the Flames.  It’s been a rough January for Gustavsson, but overall, the numbers are still great.

Kirill Kaprizov – Goal and an assist with three shots.  This was the sixth multi-point game for Kaprizov in his last seven outings.  Pretty, pretty good.

Matthew Tkachuk – Two goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM playing over 23 minutes in a game that ended in regulation.  Safe to say the rust and shackles are off.

Sam Reinhart – Goal and an assist with three shots.  The epitome of a quiet superstar.

Jordan Kyrou – Goal and two assists with three shots.  Brutal season overall for Kyrou.  There’s no denying the upside with 30+ goals in each of the previous three seasons.  For now, he’s an elite streamer.  He’s another guy who could end up moved by the deadline.

Justin Faulk – Two assists with four shots.  Firmly on the fringe.

Pavel Buchnevich – Two assists with two shots.  Hard to imagine a worse possible year for the Buch.  Middling streamer at best now.

Leon Draisaitl – Goal and two assists, as did Evan Bouchard.  Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist as the Oilers stole the game from the Sharks.  Normally, this comeback would be the talk of the night, but the Hurricanes claimed that.  As good and surprising the Sharks have been, games like today remind you how much work they need defensively.

Shane Wright – Two goals with two PIM.  It kills me that Seattle refuses to give Wright top six minutes regularly just so Stephenson can get his face caved in.  Wright is being mentioned in trade talks and I would be all over that if I was a GM in the league.

Brandon Montour – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Montour really hits all of the categories well.  It’s hilarious to think about him being the #1 overall fantasy defenseman for an entire season completely out of nowhere.

Jared McCann – Goal and an assist.  It’s just a matter of health for McCann, who looks fantastic.

Mavrik Bourque – Two goals on four shots.  Long term, there’s a ton of upside here.  Now, Bourque is only a bottom end streamer.

Jamie Benn – Two assists with a shot.  Benn’s workload is extremely limited now.  Bottom end streamer.

Mitch Marner – Goal and an assist wiht two shots.  It’s been far from Marner’s best offensive work this season.  He probably should have a couple more goals, but point per game is what he deserves at the moment, a far cry from his usual 100 point pace.

Keegan Kolesar – Goal and an assist with two shots.  And there’s your annual Kolesar update!

Nikita Tolopilo – 32 save shutout in the 2-0 win over Lukas Dostal (24/25) and the Ducks.  Tolopilo did have to miss three minutes of the game, but returned.  I have zero interest in using him, as the Canucks are the worst team in the league right now.