The scores of some of the games over the last two days may have been surprising, but nothing compares to Mike Smith going into Smashville and shutting out the Predators. Smith stopped 43 shots he faced in the 3-0 win over the NHL’s Stanley Cup favorite. So what do we make of Smith? Well, facing 43 shots isn’t a recipe for success. On the other hand, the Flames have a lot of star power, and Bill Peters has a system that generally leads to puck possession (the downfall in Carolina was goaltending, plain and simple). Smith gave up a bunch of goals to Vancouver last week, so these three games sum him up perfectly. You never know what you’re going to get, and it’s going to make for a wild ride in head to head leagues. At the end of the day in roto leagues, he should be a solid #2, especially given the volume he’s likely to get. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the past two nights:
Ryan Dzingel – Two goals on seven shots. He’s been a solid streamer at times in the past, and now the minutes are the best they’ve been. I don’t see anything more here, but Dzingel could be usable for stretches.
Dylan DeMelo – Two assists. Little to no value here.
Patrice Bergeron – Hat trick on four shots with an assist and two PIM. David Pastrnak had 2+2 while Brad Marchand dished three assists. This top line is going to ravish the poor teams in the Atlantic (and everywhere for that matter). They’re a viable GPP stack every game they play.
Charlie McAvoy – Three assists. I really wish the shots would start coming in, but he’s been good enough that it could cause some issues for Torey Krug when he returns from injury.
Casey Cizikas – Goal and an assist with three shots. And there’s your annual Cizikas update!
Robin Lehner – 35 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Sharks. Lehner is a damn good goalie when he’s on, and there’s a chance that he’s past his mental health issues and plays damn well for the Isles. Now, the downside is still there, especially with the defense the Isles play, but if you need goalie help, he’s not a bad gamble.
William Karlsson – Two assists with a shot. He has only four shots in three games. Obviously that needs improvement for him to sniff a repeat of last year.
Jonathan Marchessault – Goal and an assist with five shots. Marchessault on the other hand has picked up right where he left off, making me feel good about ranking him so high while keeping Karlsson and Smith lower.
Jack Eichel – Two goals on four shots. Not the best start at even strength for Jack, but I’m not going to complain about three goals in three games with four shots per.
Kyle Okposo – Two assists. He looks bad out there; I wouldn’t use him outside of deep leagues. As a Sabres fan, it bothers me that he played 18 minutes in this game.
Sven Baertschi – Two goals and an assist. Baertschi is your standard streamer and I don’t see that changing.
Alex Edler – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. As I talked about Monday, he’s a plus-minus risk, but Edler has the chance to contribute well elsewhere.
Teuvo Teravainen – Two assists with two shots. Fingers crossed that he can get his shot rate up.
Sebastian Aho – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s picked up where he left off last season with at least one point in every game. Aho looks like he belongs at center which is massive for the Canes’ chances this year.
Jaccob Slavin – Two assists with four shots. So good in real life, but next to no fantasy value without PP time.
Kevin Labanc – Four assists with three shots. All of these stats for the Sharks are only from Tuesday’s game since they were shut out Monday. DeBoer changed the lines on Tuesday, and I think eight goals shows that it helped. Labanc is an elite streamer with the upside to potentially be a hold.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Two assists. As I said the other day, I think Vlasic will stumble into enough points playing with Erik Karlsson (2A, 3 SOG) to be owned in 12’ers.
Joe Pavelski – Two goals on four shots. Slow start for Little Joe before today, but he’ll be fine.
Evander Kane – Two goals on seven shots. Kane has been terrific in the early going and I see no reason for the shots and goals to stop coming.
Brian Elliott – 40 saves on 48 shots in the 8-2 loss to the Sharks. Yikes. I don’t hate Elliott, but there’s a reason I prefer him as a #3 to a 2.
Claude Giroux – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. Nice of him to salvage a decent day on the power play despite his team getting the beat down.
Wayne Simmonds – Goal and an assist with four shots. Early returns for my Simmonds as a bust prediction do not look good. The shots are there and his spot on the top PP unit is locked down with JVR out. That said, I’m still not in love with him, and he’s given zero PIM. Time will tell.
Nick Foligno – Tow goals and an assist with three shots and two PIM. The minutes are huge right now and he’s on the top PP unit. I’m not rushing to grab him yet, but Foligno is an elite streamer who could turn into a hold.
Alexander Wennberg – Two assists with two PIM. Sigh, Wennberg has one shot on goal in three games. He’s simply waiver wire material until that at least reaches 1.5 a game, if not 2.
Johnny Gaudreau – Three assists with two shots. Great start for Gaudreau with 7 points in 3 games.
Sean Monahan – Two goals on four shots. Same story as Gaudreau as Monahan has a goal in each game so far.
Connor Hellebuyck – 16 saves on 17 shots in the 2-1 win over the Kings. Doesn’t get much easier than that for Hellboy as the Jets dominated the Kings all game long.
Morgan Rielly – Four assists with three shots. Looks like Rielly is finally making the jump people expected when he was drafted fifth overall. Great chance of him finishing as a #1 fantasy D.
Mitch Marner – Goal and three assists with four shots. Like the rest of the big guns on Toronto, Marner is rolling now with eight points in the past three games.
Ron Hainsey – Goal and an assist with two shots. Hainsey playing 18 minutes a game shows why Toronto has been a dumpster fire defensively. He belongs nowhere near a lineup.
John Tavares – Two goals on three shots. Nothing can stop him at the moment.
Kasperi Kapanen – Two assists with two shots. I’m probably holding him if you have the room while he’s with Matthews, but at the least Kapanen is an elite streamer.
Auston Matthews – Two goals on four shots. All your goals are belong to Matthews! My 50 goal prediction looks better by the day.
Tyler Seguin – Goal and three assists with three shots. My man! You can put me on the board for the Three Point Challenge! Back to back four points for Seguin as the top line has been unstoppable along with the Stars’ top PP unit.
Alexander Radulov – Goal and two assists with three shots. The shots are down to this point but one good game gets him back on track. Again, nothing to complain about with 7 points in 3 games.
Wednesday Streamers:
Max Comtois (2.3%) – He has a point in every game so far this season and the minutes are up with the Ducks decimated. With only three games on the slate, pickings are tough, so I’ll give Comtois a shot.
Ryan Dzingel (11.0%) – Dzingel has started off hot and while I expect Philly to come out firing tomorrow following their beatdown from the Sharks, I still think Dzingel is worth using.
Calvin Pickard (0.3%) – He should get the nod against Ottawa last night, so if you need a goalie start, Pickard is in a great spot.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Friday recapping the action from Wednesday and Thursday. I will add in streamers for Thursday to this point either later Wednesday or on Thursday morning. I will also make a Three Point Challenge pick for Thursday’s games when I post it. Again, no top 10 scorers from last year. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
