Sorokin Shines With Another Shutout

In Ilya Sorokin‘s first two starts, he allowed ten goals.  In the next seven, he’s allowed eight total.  Sorokin kept up his hot streak with a 24 save shutout against the Jets on Saturday.  Semyon Varlamov is back for the Islanders, but for now, Sorokin is getting all of the volume.  I had him pegged as a great platoon guy this year who ideally was your #3, but would be fine as a #2.  Now, it would be terrific if Sorokin is your #2 because he could easily end up being a top 10 goalie even without much volume.  The GAA and save percentage look to be elite while the wins on a per-game basis should be as well.  Long term, Sorokin looks like a top five goalie.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:

Friday’s Games

Eric Comrie – 17 saves on 18 shots in the 5-1 win over the Blackhawks.  Connor Hellebuyck is sidelined with an illness, but it shouldn’t be much longer.  Comrie is a decent streamer when he plays.

Andrew Copp – Three assists.  Copp has had an incredible start to the season.  Easy hold now.

Nikolaj Ehlers – Goal and an assist with three shots.  The shot rate is through the roof as Ehlers dominates at even strength.  If only the Jets would give him the minutes he deserves.

Kyle Connor – Goal and an assist with seven shots.  Talk about an incredible start.  Connor is over four shots per game with 8+8 in eleven games.  A top 20 season isn’t out of the question.

Chris Kreider – Goal and an assist.  He’s overachieving at the moment, but Kreider is definitely a hold.

Mika Zibanejad – Two goals on four shots and two PIM. The top line for the Rangers has been rolling with Zibanejad at the forefront.  It’s nice that Zibanejad avoided that dreadful start like last season.

Filip Chytil – Goal and an assist with four shots.  The injuries to the Rangers have left Chytil with worse linemates than anticipated.  He’s worth keeping an eye on, but for now, he’s only a bottom end streamer.

Connor McDavid – Goal and two assists with two shots.  Was that the best goal I’ve ever seen?  It’s certainly in the discussion.  What an animal as the Oilers made a crazy comeback.  Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse, and Tyson Barrie all had three points.

Jesse Puljujarvi – Two goals on three shots.  Amazing start for Puljujarvi who finally looks like the top five pick that he was.  He’s only at two shots per game, but he’s still a no brainer hold.

Mikael Granlund – Two assists with two shots.  Granlund has six points in the last six games.  He’s an elite streamer, but I can’t hold him when the shot rate is around 1.5 per game.

Adam Henrique – Goal and an assist with five shots.  Henrique is off to a great start by his standards with eleven points in twelve games.  The shot rate is very good as well.  I’m not convinced it lasts, but I’d hold him for now.

Anthony Stolarz – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 3-1 win over the Coyotes.  I’m not in a rush to use Stolarz when he starts, but he’s good enough to be streamed in the right matchups.

Jesper Bratt – Goal and an assist with seven shots.  I still have Bratt as a middling streamer because I don’t see any reason to change that.  He’s far too inconsistent to be held.

Saturday’s Games

Tyler Bertuzzi – Two goals and two assists with three shots.  The top line for Detroit dominated in the game bringing them back and stealing a win.  Bertuzzi’s found another level to start the season and is an easy hold.

Lucas Raymond – Three assists with six shots.  Raymond looks fantastic right off the bat for Detroit.  I wasn’t expecting such a seamless transition.  He’s the favorite for the Calder now.

Pius Suter – Goal and an assist with seven shots.  Suter is a solid player and I don’t get why Chicago let him go for nothing.  With Larkin out, Suter bumped up in the lineup.  He’s an elite streamer while he’s with Raymond and Bertuzzi and will go down to a bottom end one after that.

Rasmus Asplund – Two assists with two shots.  Asplund has a six game point streak and has a point in eight of the last nine games.  I have Asplund as a middling streamer which is higher than I anticipated him reaching.

Andre Burakovsky – Two goals.  That’s a three game point streak for Burakovsky, but he’s still been struggling overall.  The minutes are low as well.  I have him more as an elite streamer than a hold now, but that could change fairly quickly.

Yegor Chinakhov – Two assists with two shots.  I mentioned Chinakhov in Friday’s post about taking Laine’s spot.  This is obviously encouraging, but Columbus doesn’t play again until Friday, so he’s off the streaming radar until next weekend.

Vladislav Gavrikov – Two assists with two PIM.  Nice player in real life, zero value in fantasy.

Ondrej Palat – Goal and two assists with six shots.  Palat has really struggled, but I’m giving him a little more time as a hold.

Brayden Point – Three assists with a shot.  Slow start for Point as well, but I’m not too worried.  I’m expecting slightly below a point per game until Kucherov comes back and then he should be a bit above it.

Steven Stamkos – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Stamkos looks great; just stay healthy!

Anthony Cirelli – Goal and an assist with two shots playing over 21 minutes.  Cirelli’s shot rate has been dreadful so far this season.  That keeps him from being a hold.

Vincent Trocheck – Goal and an assist.  The shot rate is much lower than we’re used to at two per game, but the points are coming in strong.  Big fan of Trocheck going forward.

Anthony Duclair – Two goals and two assists with four shots.  Duclair had three points on the power play and then scored an empty netter.  Even with Barkov out of the lineup, Duclair blew up.  He has a point in six straight and needs to be held while he’s on fire.

Carter Verhaeghe – Two assists with two shots.  Verhaeghe is a bit on the fringe because of the shot rate, but I’m still holding for now.

Brandon Montour – Two assists with two PIM.  Montour is getting power play time which is a bit of a surprise.  He’s on the fringe of 12’ers and should be held in anything deeper.

Alex Pietrangelo – Goal and an assist with two shots.  He’s had a rough start, but I’m not panicking about Pietrangelo.  The shot rate is excellent and the minutes are there.

Chandler Stephenson – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Stephenson is piling up the points even without both of his linemates.  He’s an elite streamer and can be a hold if you can stomach the poor shot rate.

Nick Suzuki – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Suzuki is on a massive tear with multiple points in three straight games, and four points in the four games preceding that.  He played over 23 minutes so Suzuki should push 70 points for the full season.

Jared Spurgeon – Goal and an assist with five shots.  Spurgeon is firmly on the fringe.  I lean towards leaving him on waivers, but it’s very close.

Frederick Gaudreau – Two assists.  Nothing to see here.

Kirill Kaprizov – Goal and an assist with five shots.  The shots are there so it’s only a matter of time until Kirill the Thrill goes on a scoring binge.

Kasperi Kapanen – Hat trick. These were Kapanen’s first three goals of the season, but the shot rate is much better than usual and the assist rate is around a career best.  He’s a solid streamer.

Jason Zucker – Two assists with three shots.  Zucker is putting on a ton of shots but I still see him as a middling streamer more than anything else.

Bryan Rust – Two assists with six shots.  Nice to see Rust perform in his first game in almost a month.  Be sure to get him back into your lineups.

Evan Rodrigues – Two assists.  He’s had a strong start to the season, but I have a really hard time buying it.  He’s a middling streamer, but I prefer his linemate Zucker to him.

Brad Marchand – Two assists with two shots and two PIM.  Marchand has been crushing per usual, although he’s a little lower in shot rate than normal.  Hopefully that turns because then he should be a top five player again.

Mitchell Marner – Goal and three assists with four shots.  The studs carried Toronto with John Tavares scoring two goals and an assist with four shots and two PIM, Morgan Rielly had two assists with two shots, and Auston Matthews scored twice on six shots.  Toronto’s slow start has quickly been erased.

Martin Jones – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 2-1 win over the Capitals.  Jones has been good in his three starts, but I’m still skeptical given how bad he’s been the previous three seasons.

Jacob Markstrom – 22 save shutout in the 6-0 win over the Rangers.  That’s four shutouts already for Markstrom.  He’s been as good as any goalie in the league.

Matthew Tkachuk – Goal and three assists with two shots and two PIM.  Four game goal streak for Tkachuk, who is at a point per game and four shots per game.  Nice to see Tkachuk playing at his peak level.

Johnny Gaudreau – Two goals and an assist with three shots.  Excellent start for Johnny Hockey which I honestly didn’t expect. I’m a bit skeptical he can stay above a point per game again, but either way, the shot rate going back up is a huge boon to his value.

Elias Lindholm – Two assists with three shots.  Lindholm continues to crush and should be a top 75 player.

Shayne Gostisbehere – Three assists with three shots.  Despite Arizona being a dumpster fire, Gostisbehere is playing very well.  It is hilarious that Philly dumped Gostisbehere and a second pick just to give up a first for Risto, who has been atrocious.  If your league doesn’t have plus-minus, he’s worth using.

Johan Larsson – Two assists.  And there’s your annual Larsson update!

Lawson Crouse – Two goals on three shots and two PIM.  There’s some value here in deep leagues with Crouse piling up hits and PIM with a nice shot rate.

Brent Burns – Two assists with seven shots playing over 30 minutes.  Burns has been fantastic.  Part of that is him simply playing better, and part of it is getting absurd minutes with everyone else on the Sharks blueline out.  It’s great to see Burns back at this level at 36 years old.  He looks to be a #2D right now.

Sunday’s Games will be added later today.

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 Pastrnak against the Senators.