Jeff Skinner scored 40 goals in 2018-19 playing on the first line with the Sabres. Then, for no reason at all, Ralph Krueger decided that Skinner shouldn’t play on the first line anymore. Last season, Krueger thought that Skinner, on a team devoid of talent, should play on the fourth line, or even be scratched. Needless to say, Krueger was one of the worst coaches in the league and quickly lost his job. Since Don Granato took over, Skinner has been back in the role he should be, and he’s been thriving in the early part of this season. Skinner scored two goals and added an assist on Saturday against the Maple Leafs. He has 5+4 in 14 games so far with a whopping 47 shots on goal. The shot volume will go a long way towards Skinner finding his goal scoring touch again. I don’t think he’s a slam dunk hold in 12’ers just yet, but he’s an elite streamer with clear upside in his role. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Leon Draisaitl – Two goals on eight shots. He’s over a goal per game and over an assist per game. Seems decent.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Two assists with a shot. Somehow, RNH doesn’t have a goal yet, but he has 17 assists in 13 games. When the shooting regresses, things could be extremely good.
Dylan Cozens – Two goals on three shots. Cozens matched up with McDavid for most of the game and held his own. He’s a bottom end streamer for now, but I’m a huge fan long term.
Carter Hart – 39 saves on 40 shots in the 2-1 win over the Hurricanes. The wins haven’t been great, but Hart looks back with a 2.32/.931 so far. Hart looked in complete control which almost never happened last season.
Jack Campbell – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 2-1 win over the Flames. Campbell has been one of the best goalies in the league so far. His numbers are absolutely insane.
William Nylander – Two assists with four shots. Nylander is off to the best start of his career. He’s pushing four shots per game which is a massive jump. Nylander looks like a top 50 player.
Alex Ovechkin – Goal and an assist with four shots. One day, the masses will stop thinking he’s going to massively regress. Ovechkin is defying the age curve.
Lars Eller – Two assists with two shots. Eller remains at a bottom end streamer level.
Garnet Hathaway – Two goals on three shots. If you’re desperate for hits on a Sunday, you can stream Hathaway. That’s about all of his value.
Sean Kuraly – Two goals on three shots. And there’s your biannual Kuraly update!
Patrick Kane – Two assists with six shots. Almost feels disappointing against Arizona.
Marc-Andre Fleury – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 2-1 win over the Desert Dogs. MAF is only usable in the best of matchups right now. The Blackhawks are so bad defensively that he has little chance.
Saturday’s Games
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with two shots. Tavares has proved me wrong in the first month of the season as the production has been terrific. He sits on exactly a point per game.
Morgan Rielly – Goal and an assist with four shots. It’s been a slow start for Rielly, but his role is the same as it ever was. It’s going to be very assist heavy, but there’s plenty of value in that.
Alex Kerfoot – Two assists with three shots. Decent run of play for Kerfoot, but he’s only a middling streamer because of the shot rate.
Kyle Okposo – Two assists with three shots. There’s some deep league value here with Okposo off to a strong start by his recent standards.
Tage Thompson – Goal and an assist with four shots. Thompson’s skill set is tantalizing. He’s very close to a 40 goal pace with almost three shots per game. I prefer Skinner to him, but it’s not far off. Call me a sucker, but I’m getting sucked back into Thompson long term again.
Samuel Girard – Goal and three assists with five shots and two PIM. That’s one way to get your season back on track. Girard struggled to start the season, but he now has 7 points in the last 3 games. Even with Makar back, Girard is an easy hold again.
Nazem Kadri – Goal and two assists with two shots. Nathan MacKinnon is out for around three weeks which makes Kadri a borderline top 50 player for the next month.
Charlie McAvoy – Three assists with three shots. The top guys carried Boston as each member of the perfection line had two points each. The shot rate is the only thing keeping McAvoy from being a top 10 defenseman.
Jesper Bratt – Goal and an assist with five shots. Nice run of form for Bratt with nine points in the past eight games. He’s a solid streamer.
Dawson Mercer – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Mercer has been better than expected as a rookie with 5+5 in 13 games. It’s not quite sustainable, but he’s pushing towards an elite streamer already which I didn’t see happening at any point this year.
Chris Wideman – Goal and an assist with four shots. Wideman has 5 points in 12 games, but I’m not buying the production at all.
Dylan Larkin – Two goals on three shots. The Athletic fantasy writers said that you should look to add / buy Larkin? O rly? How many people have to be in your league for Larkin to be on the waiver wire? 4? He’s been excellent so far.
Evan Rodrigues – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Rodrigues has had a great start, but he’s only a middling streamer with Crosby returning on Sunday.
Kasperi Kapanen – Goal and an assist. Kapanen is still in the middling streamer category.
Drake Batherson – Two goals and two assists with six shots… and then went on the COVID list before Sunday’s game. Batherson has been fantastic so he needs to held even if you don’t have IR spots to put Batherson on.
Michael Del Zotto – Goal and an assist with three shots. He could be useful in deep leagues in the very short term with all of the guys on the COVID list for Ottawa, but that’s about it.
Thomas Chabot – Two assists with three shots. It’s been a very bizarre start for Chabot. He’s +4 which is surprising given the Senators. He has only 6 assists, and 0 goals despite being over three shots per game. That makes him an intriguing trade target.
Logan Stanley – Two assists with a shot. He gets a bunch of hits, but that’s about it. I don’t see much from Stanley in fantasy in the present or future.
Chris Kreider – Two goals on five shots. Kreider just keeps scoring despite what seems like inevitable regression.
Ryan Strome – Two assists with two shots. Strome has six points in the last six games as he starts to round into form. I’m holding, but it is a bit fringy.
Jacob Trouba – Goal and an assist with six shots and two PIM. Trouba’s role has dwindled in his time with the Rangers. There’s deep leagues value as he adds a bunch of PIM, decent shots, hits and blocks, but he’s not worth owning in 12’ers.
Artemi Panarin – Two goals on six shots. Keep shooting Artemi!
Adam Fox – Two assists. Fox has been fantastic once again as he sits over a point per game in the early going.
Robert Thomas – Two assists and two shots. If your league doesn’t have shots as a category, I’d hold Thomas. The assists are going to be great. It’s just tough to hold him in shots leagues when he’s averaging one per game.
Tony DeAngelo – Two assists with two shots. TDA has been a top 10 defenseman so far. Just need him to keep his head on straight.
Sebastian Aho – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. Aho has started the season in his usual fashion of doing well across the board.
Andrei Svechnikov – Two assists with a shot and four PIM. Svechnikov has been a top ten forward so far with 7+10 in 13 games with 22 PIM and over three shots per game. It appears that the full breakout is upon us.
Luke Glendening – Goal and an assist with four shots. No thank you.
Roope Hintz – Goal and an assist with three shots. So I dug into Hintz’ numbers a bit, and before this game, the Stars were shooting 1.5% this season with Hintz on the ice. That calls for massive positive regression. With points in three straight, I’m buying low on Hintz.
Juuse Saros – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 4-1 win over the Coyotes. Saros has given up two goals or less in seven straight starts and nine of the past ten. Pretty, pretty good.
Roman Josi – Two goals and two assists with four shots and four PIM. Josi is absolutely crushing to start the season; his numbers are better than in his Norris season. I know it’s early, but last season’s drop-off looks like an outlier.
Matt Duchene – Goal and an assist. Duchene already has more points than last season in 19 less games. This is the best he’s looked since he was in Ottawa three seasons ago. He needs to be held now that he’s back at this level.
Eeli Tolvanen – Two assists with two shots. The shot rate is strong, but the minutes aren’t there even with Forsberg out. That’s a bit disappointing. Tolvanen is stuck as a bottom end streamer for now.
Nils Hoglander – Two goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM. He’s been very good, but the minutes haven’t really been there. I’m not holding, but he’s still a solid streamer.
Evgenii Dadonov – Two goals and an assist with six shots. A ton of Golden Knights had 2+ points, but Dadonov is worth discussing. His shot rate is the best it’s been in his career, and now he’s playing with Mark Stone, who returned from injury Saturday. Dadonov is at least an elite streamer, but I don’t mind holding him for the time being. It’s a great opportunity for Dad getting to play with Stone.
Rem Pitlick – Hat trick on three shots, all assisted from Ryan Hartman. A natural hat trick is a nice way to get your first three career goals. It’s going to take more than one game for Pitlick to be on the fantasy radar. Welcome to the Razzball Database! Hartman has been shockingly good so far. 7+4 with over three shots per game is excellent. Hartman is an elite streamer.
Marcus Johansson – Goal and an assist with three shots. Johansson looks to be a solid streamer now that he’s back on the line and getting PP time.
Alex Wennberg – Goal and an assist with three shots playing over 20 minutes. Hakstol has a lot of faith in Wennberg. He has a point in five straight games. It’s sad that his 1.5 shots per game is an upgrade, but it is. He’s a solid streamer and a borderline hold if your league doesn’t include shots.
Sunday’s Games
Dan Vladar – 27 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the depleted Senators. Vladar won’t play much, but he’s been solid in the four games he has played. I’d stream him in most matchups when he does play.
Elias Lindholm – Goal and an assist with five shots. This game gets Lindholm back over a point per game. He’s the most consistent Flames forward which says a lot.
Sean Monahan – Two assists with a shot. Monahan’s minutes are down a lot right now, but he was back on the second line and still getting quality PP time. That said, I’m keeping him as a bottom end streamer.
Taylor Hall – Goal and an assist with seven shots. I was expecting better from Hall this season, but hopefully this game spark plugs him.
Charlie Coyle – Two goals on four shots. Coyle is a solid streamer but it’s hard to see any upside past that.
Charlie McAvoy – Two goals on four shots. Keep them shots coming!
Pavel Zacha – Goal and an assist with three shots. Zacha is shooting a unsustainable percentage, but the ice time is very encouraging. I have him as a top end streamer.
Jesper Bratt – Goal and an assist with three shots. Bratt has been a factor in recent games with his speed. I’m bumping him up to elite streamer while he’s on fire.
Kappo Kakko – Goal and an assist playing 20 minutes. It’s been a brutal start for Kakko, but he seems to be locked into playing with Panarin and Strome. I’m not holding, but I think he can get to that level at some point this season.
Leon Draisaitl – Goal and two assists with three shots and two PIM. Everyone keeps talking about Connor McDavid (1+1, 3 SOG, 2 PIM) and justifiably so, but Draisaitl has been even better from a fantasy perspective so far.
Zach Hyman – Two assists. Everything is start to click for Hyman. All of you know that I’m all in on Hyman this season and see no reason to pivot off that.
Kailer Yamamoto – Goal and an assist with two shots. Yamamoto has been terrible so far, but he’s still getting a chance on the second line. The upside is there, but he needs to find some consistency.
Robert Thomas – Three assists with a shot and four PIM. Thomas played over 21 minutes in this game. We could finally be getting the full breakout, although as mentioned above, it’s hard to know how much value there is in fantasy with that when he rarely shoots the puck. Great player in real life though.
Pavel Buchnevich – Two assists with two shots. It appears that Buch is finally settling into St. Louis as he has six points in the last six games.
Vitek Vanecek – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 6-1 win over the Penguins. Vanecek’s numbers are all decent. He looks like a solid #3.
Alex Ovechkin – Two assists with a shot. Can’t stop, won’t stop.
Daniel Sprong – Goal and an assist with two PIM. I wish I could see Sprong get more ice time. As is, he’s a bottom end streamer.
John Gibson – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 5-1 win over the Canucks. The Ducks have been a nice surprise so far. Gibson’s save percentage is borderline elite so far, and the wins are great. I’m not convinced the wins last, but Gibson looks to have found his previous form. I have him as a solid #2 going forward.
Trevor Zegras – Two goals and an assist with three shots. We’re seeing the flashes, but not the consistency from Zegras. He’s a middling streamer for now.
Ryan Getzlaf – Two assists with two shots. Getzlaf has been a massive surprise so far. He’s over a point per game despite having just one goal on 46 shots. I didn’t expect Getzlaf to be a hold again at this point in his career, but right now, I think he has to be.
Three Point Challenge: For those that are new or need a refresher, you pick one player to score three points in a game but they can’t be in the top ten in points. We’re going with Tuesday’s games, and with the Top 10 from last season for the time being. That means you can’t take McDavid, Draisaitl, Marchand, Marner, Kane, Matthews, Rantanen, MacKinnon, Scheifele, or Crosby. Fungazi remains the only one on the leaderboard. I’ll go with David Perron against the Coyotes.
That’s all for now guys. I should be back on Wednesday night recapping the action from the next two nights. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
