Shane Doan has been around for so long that he was on the Winnipeg Jets in the mid 1990’s. As a kid, he was one of my favorite players for the two way game that he played; I still have a signed jersey in my basement. He was one of the most consistent players in the league who quietly went about his business and has been part of the Coyotes since they moved to Arizona. So far, his biggest plus in the fantasy world was that he was racking up the penalty minutes until he had two goals and an assist with four shots in the 3-2 win against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. If you are short on PIM, I’d definitely grab Doan in 12’ers because his offense is better than most of the big PIM guys. If you don’t need PIM, he’s starting to work his way onto the fringe and is a solid streamer. Jaromir Jagr is getting a ton of attention for what he’s doing at his age but Doan at 39 is going under the radar again. Here’s what else I saw on a busy Tuesday:
Jake Allen – 32 save shutout against Boston. He’s pretty good despite the curse of having two first names! He’s been a great value so far this year especially if you include shutouts as a category.
David Backes – Assist and two shots. The points keep coming so hopefully Hitchcock keeps using him in a more offensive role like he has been the last couple weeks.
Rickard Rakell – Goal and an assist with three shots. I’ve watched a few Ducks games in the last weeks and Rakell is regularly buzzing around the ice. He’s right on the fringe of holding in 12’ers versus being a streamer.
Derick Brassard – Two goals and an assist with four shots. He’s hotter than a pistol right now and is consequently playing big minutes. Keep rolling him.
Dan Boyle – Assist with a shot and two PIM. Grab him everywhere if you can. The minutes are big right now with the injuries to the Rangers defense, especially on the power play.
Mats Zuccarello – Goal and an assist with three shots. The shot rate has fallen off a bit but the Norwegian Hobbit keeps producing.
Kyle Palmieri – Goal and an assist with two shots. He has to be the biggest surprise of the season so far. He has 14 goals, 13 assists, about 2.5 shots per game, 25 PIM and 12 STP in 35 games. The goals have already tied a career high and everything else is rapidly approaching it. He wasn’t even in consideration for my top 200 in the preseason.
Jimmy Howard – 3 saves on 6 shots in 14 minutes. Yikes. Probably the worst start of the year so far. It’s because he has two first names! Curses!
Mike Green – Goal on two shots. The minutes have really come up recently so I’d grab him if he’s available.
Dylan Larkin – Goal on four shots. Incredible year so far and he’s my front runner for the Calder at this point. Amazingly, he has 24 points and only one of them is on the power play. If he starts producing on the power play, Larkin will be incredible.
Jacob Markstrom – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 2-1 win over the Lightning. He’s starting to get the majority of the starts over Ryan Miller and I don’t know what to make of it. A few years ago, Markstrom was the best goaltending prospect in hockey only to flop in Florida. Could he finally be panning out at 25 years old? Crazier things have happened and the Canucks are a pretty bad team so they might run with Markstrom. He’s a decent speculative add if you’re desperate for starts.
Sven Baertschi – Goal on two shots. That’s three straight games with a goal but he only played 9 minutes. Free Sven Willie Desjardins! He’s super talented and just needs the minutes to produce.
Jonathan Marchessault – Goal on four shots. Grab him everywhere; that’s 5 straight games with a point and the minutes will be big as long as Tyler Johnson is out.
Craig Anderson – 39 saves on 40 shots in the 2-1 shootout loss to Florida. He has these types of games on a regular basis and his save percentage is solid but his goals against is so poor because of how wide open the Senators play. He’s very bottom end.
Erik Karlsson – Assist with two shots. Only played 32:46, what a bum.
Mark Stone – Goal on his only shot. The shot rate has fallen off a bit but he’s on pace to pass his 64 points from last season.
Roberto Luongo – 15 saves on 16 shots in the win. A very rare easy game for Bobby Lu.
Alex Galchenyuk – Assist. Still rolling and would be ecstatic if I owned him in a dynasty.
Charlie Coyle – Goal on three shots. A good streamer call last night, woot!
Jason Pominville – Goal on six shots. Finally starting to regress to the mean; if his owner was impatient and cut him, grab Pominville.
Antti Niemi – 20 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Hawks. Big statement win for the Stars last night. Also, revenge game!
Johnny Oduya – Assist locking down the top Stars guys. Revenge game!
Patrick Sharp – Goal and an assist with two shots. ALL OF THE REVENGE GAMES!
Jason Demers – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. He’s been very good so far and I think he’s hold now in 12’ers. The shots are a little below average but the points are okay with a great plus-minus and very good PIM.
Karri Ramo – 19 saves on 20 shots in the 4-1 win over the Jets. Another rare night for a goalie who usually sees a ton of shots.
Johnny Gaudreau – Hat trick on six shots. Here’s Johnny! Easily over a point per game without a ton of power play points. So good.
Mark Giordano – Two assists on five shots. I’m buying low if I can. He’s really starting to turn things around and consequently the Flames are starting to turn things around on the whole.
Nazem Kadri – Goal on five shots with two PIM. Regression is finally showing its lovely face. At least it’s lovely for Kadri owners!
Morgan Rielly – Assist with six shots. He’s slowed down quite a bit recently so he’s right on the edge of 12’ers.
James van Riemsdyk – Goal on three shots. Really starting to heat up right now.
Louis Domingue – 37 saves on 39 shots in the 3-2 win over the Leafs. Still don’t trust him one bit.
Joe Pavelski – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Can’t stop the Big Pavelski! Top ten in goals and points now.
Joe Thornton – Goal and two assists with four shots. Can’t stop Jumbo Joe! That’s a five game point streak and he’s actually taking a fair amount of shots.
Brent Burns – Two goals and an assist with two shots. Brent Burns you beautiful bearded bastard! How can somebody not love this man?
Tanner Pearson – Two assists with two shots. The 70’s line has been reunited which puts Pearson in a more offensive role than he has been. He’s definitely worth streaming in the coming games and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s must own very soon.
Tyler Toffoli – Two goals on three shots. That puts him tied for tenth in the league in goals. He’s on pace to dwarf his previous career highs set last year and is paying off his top 100 ranking.
That’s all for now guys. There are no games until Saturday so I will be back on Monday next week with a recap of Saturday and Sunday’s games. As always, feel free to ask any questions or post any comments below. I’ll be sure to check this post a few times a day and will get back to everybody in a timely fashion. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
