I’ve been aggressive ranking Matthew Tkachuk for years, but I never expected this type of offense from him. Tkachuk had a hat trick on Tuesday, bringing his season totals up to 37+55 in 73 games. He has a chance for 100 points, he’s +49, the PIM are strong, and his shot rate is over three per game. Tkachuk is pretty much having a Marchand-esque season. That’s the Marchand who has been a top five player for the past 4-5 years. Now, I’m not quite going there with Tkachuk for next season. Gaudreau could leave and this is an outlier in terms of past performance. That said, he’s firmly in the first round pick discussion because he smashes every category. I can’t wait to see what he does in the playoffs. Let’s take a look at what else happened the last two nights:
Dylan Samberg – Two assists with two shots. The former second round pick got a good opportunity with Scheifele out and delivered. Unfortunately, their game on Wednesday was postponed because of a snow storm. Samberg should have a spot on the team next season, but his upside is fairly capped with Scheifele and Dubois ahead of him. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Morgan Barron – Goal and an assist with four shots. Nothing to see here.
Alex Tuch – Two assists with a shot. Tuch has more points this season than last year in Vegas despite playing 12 fewer games. He’s thriving with the bigger opportunity and should be a nice mid-round pick next year.
Victor Olofsson – Two assists with a shot. It’s a tale of two season for Olofsson, who has been on fire for a month. He’s an elite streamer for the rest of the year.
Rasmus Asplund – Goal and an assist. Asplund has very little offense which does us little in fantasy.
Rasmus Dahlin – Goal and an assist with three shots. Dominant game for Dahlin who has a new career high in goals and tied for a career high in assists. He’s starting to come into his own and we could see a huge breakout next season.
Morgan Rielly – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Rielly has a new career high in assists, PIM, and his shot rate is great. He’s a solid #2D again.
David Perron – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Perron has been fantastic over the last couple months. There’s no reason to expect him to slow down the rest of the way.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Two goals on five shots. It’s so nice to see Tarasenko on the ice all season.
Torey Krug – Goal and an assist with five shots. Revenge game! It’s good that Krug is back in the lineup, but keep expectations in check.
Pavel Buchnevich – Two assists with two shots. The second line in St. Louis continues to crush offensively. Buchnevich is in the middle of a seven game point streak while he continues to hit all of the categories very well.
Sebastian Aho – Goal and two assists with two shots. The shot rate is down a bit, but Aho is still above a point per game. He’ll be outside of the top 20 in my rankings next season, but not far off it.
Brady Skjei – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Solid in deep leagues, nothing for shallow leagues.
Andrei Svechnikov – Goal and an assist with four shots. This season has been another step forward for Svech. I still think there’s another level for him to get to, but it’s damn good as is.
Seth Jarvis – Goal and an assist with two shots. Jarvis has looked the part in this rookie season, but given how Brind’Amour uses his players, I think we’re a couple years away from seeing him as a hold. There should be plenty of streaming value next season though.
James van Riemsdyk – Two goals. He’s a solid streamer with his current role.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Two assists with three shots and ten PIM. Washington scored 9 goals against Philly and to be honest, that says more about Philly than any specific Washington player. Great all-around season from Kuz.
Derek Grant – Goal and an assist with three shots. Grant has been very good since Anaheim fell out of it, scoring eight points in eight games in a bigger role. He’s more of a streamer for deep leagues, but a middling to bottom end one for 12’ers or less.
Anthony Duclair – Two goals on eight shots. Huge season from Duclair, who now has 30 goals. He obviously has to be held at this point given his all-around contribution.
Anton Forsberg – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 4-1 win over the Red Wings. It looks like he’ll be Ottawa’s goalie to start next season, making Forsberg an interesting dynasty target.
Tim Stuetzle – Two goals and an assist with two PIM. Stuetzle is finishing the season in style. He’s an elite streamer.
Austin Watson – Goal and an assist with three shots. And there’s your biannual Watson update!
Jake Guentzel – Two goals and an assist with seven shots and two PIM. The new first line of Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell has been great, with Crosby and Rakell each dishing two assists. Rakell needs to be held right now.
Zach Parise – Two goals on five shots. Parise is a bottom end streamer.
Josh Bailey – Two goals on three shots. He finished the season much better than he started, but I still have no interest in streaming Bailey at this point.
Juuse Saros – 25 save shutout in the 1-0 OT win over the Sharks. Saros has held up fine all season despite it being the first time that he had big volume. He’s a borderline top 5 goalie going forward.
Kaapo Kahkonen – 40 saves on 41 shots as the touch luck loser. The numbers are rough for Kahkonen, but it’s only five starts in San Jose. Only one of the games was truly bad. He’ll be given a real opportunity next season, but San Jose’s offseason moves will determine how good this team could be.
Cam Talbot – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 5-1 win over the Oilers. The Wild seem to be alternating games between Talbot and MAF which means Talbot should still be held if you have the room.
Ryan Hartman – Two goals with twelve PIM. Hartman has been one of the biggest surprises of the season. He’s definitely a hold again with his strong PIM and shot rate.
Kevin Fiala – Two goals on three shots. Fiala finishing the season strong after a slow start: an annual tradition.
Kirill Kaprizov – Two assists with four shots. Kaprizov has a real chance at getting to 100 points in his second season. Just a dominant season in every fashion.
Taylor Raddysh – Goal and an assist with three shots. Raddysh has been decent in Chicago, but his role is very limited. I’d like to see him with a bigger chance, but it seems unlikely to happen.
Philipp Kurashev – Two assists. He’s had some games on the top line, but he doesn’t seem to do much.
Dustin Brown – Two assists with five shots in his first game in a month. Nice to see Brown back in the lineup. God knows the Kings have been brutalized with injury.
Phillip Danault – Goal and an assist. Danault’s offense has easily been the best of his career. The shot rate is much higher than in the past, the goals are well above his previous career high, and he’s been fine on the power play. Danault is a solid streamer.
Viktor Arvidsson – Two assists with two shots. I lean more towards elite streamer for Arvidsson right now, although the Kings’ schedule is pretty easy after the Colorado game tonight.
Blake Lizotte – Two goals on four shots. He’s carved out a role with L.A. this year, but I see very little fantasy value.
Johnny Gaudreau – Two assists with two shots. 100 points for Gaudreau. Absolutely incredible season.
Noah Hanifin – Goal and an assist with three shots. Hanifin has been fantastic this season taking on a top pair role with Calgary. He should be held right now in most formats.
Rasmus Andersson – Two assists with two shots. The shot rate is fairly poor, but Andersson is definitely a hold as a #3/4.
Scott Wedgewood – 25 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Lightning. Wedgewood has been great for the Stars and is making a big difference in the playoff race. I would stream him whenever he starts at the moment.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 28 saves on 29 shots as the tough luck loser. It’s hard to say how motivated Tampa will be to get home ice in the first round, or if they care who they play, but I expect Vasilevskiy to get most of the starts down the stretch regardless.
Alec Martinez – Goal and an assist with four shots. If your league includes blocks, I would hold Martinez. Otherwise, I’d probably pass in a 12’er but hold in deeper.
Shea Theodore – Two goals on eight shots. This was easily the best game I’ve seen Theodore play all season. It’s been a disappointing season for Theodore, mostly because the assists are down, but I’m still a big fan going forward.
Elias Pettersson – Goal and two assists with five shots. Pettersson was absolutely dominant against Vegas over the last week. After a dreadful start, Pettersson has been incredible. I think we finally see the big breakout next season, but he should continue to crush for the rest of this season.
Bo Horvat – Goal and an assist with four shots. Horvat now has 31 goals as he’s also torn it up under Boudreau. The shot rate is through the roof too. Absolutely love it.
Conor Garland – Two assists with a shot. I was expecting a breakout from Garland, but it didn’t happen. He’s a solid streamer right now.
Quinn Hughes – Goal and an assist. Hughes’ numbers are almost the exact same as two seasons ago. The assists are incredible, but everything else lacks a bit. That puts him as a bottom end #2.
Nick Schmaltz – Goal and an assist with three shots. Schmaltz has now tied his previous career high in points despite playing 24 less games. Arizona is still going to be terrible next season, but Schmaltz should maintain his big role. You’ll probably be able to draft him super late and he’ll provide great value.
Nico Hischier – Three assists with a shot. Hischier’s on fire down the stretch with 7 points in the last 3 games and 10 in the last 7.
Yegor Sharangovich – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Sharangovich has been a pleasant surprise with 22+21 in 67 games. The problem is that he could lose his bigger role if the Devils make some offseason moves. Either way, it’s a great step forward for the former fifth round pick.
Fabian Zetterlund – Goal and an assist. Zetterlund has four points in three games after being recalled. I wouldn’t use him right now, but he’s a name to keep an eye on for the future. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Kevin Bahl – Goal and an assist with two shots. Bahl was a part of the Taylor Hall trade to Arizona before the COVID shutdown. He had very little offense in the AHL so it’s going to take an extended run of offense in the NHL for Bahl to be worth considering.
Three Point Challenge: We’ll do Thursday’s games. You can’t take McDavid, Huberdeau, Draisaitl, Gaudreau, Matthews, Marner, Kaprizov, Tkachuk, Panarin, and Josi. I’ll take Pettersson to continue his hot run against the Coyotes.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Friday 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!