Mark Stone has had a pretty good season by his standards, albeit not as great as I had hoped. Perhaps that’ll change now that he had his best game of the season. Stone went off on Thursday scoring two goals and three assists while adding five shots on goal and two PIM. That brings him up to 20+33 in 56 games while being +10 and well over 2.5 shots per game. Stone used to be a two shot per game player, but it has taken a big jump since last season, and especially when he went to Vegas. He should be a clear top 50 player going forward, and I think there’s a good chance he ends up topping 80 points for the first time in his career. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Jack Campbell – Traded to Toronto. Toronto desperately needed a goalie, but the question is how good is Campbell? He was in the minors for close to a decade, was amazing last season, and then has been bad this season. Regardless, there’s a good chance he’ll be better than Hutchinson. He’ll be the backup when Andersen returns, but for now, it probably will be Campbell’s show. He’s a complete wildcard. The upside is big given how well he played last season, but it’s also a huge risk given how poor he’s been this season and that the Toronto defense is suspect at best.
Auston Matthews – Two goals on four shots. He’s stayed healthy and now looks like a good bet to score 50 goals.
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Tavares has taken a step back from last season but remains a borderline top 20 guy due to the quality shot rate and being right around PPG.
Pavel Buchnevich – Goal and two assists with six shots. The Bucher is on a nice little run right now and the shot rate has been very good. I’m bumping him to elite streamer.
Chris Kreider – Goal and an assist with five shots. Nice to see Kreider back in the lineup so quickly. He’s meeting with the Rangers front office in the next couple days to determine if there’s any chance of a contract extension, or if he’s getting moved at the deadline.
Mika Zibanejad – Goal and an assist with six shots. Zibanejad has transformed himself into a top 50 player.
Jaroslav Halak – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Blackhawks. Halak has been great once again and is a borderline hold despite the lack of volume.
Dylan Larkin – Two goals on eight shots playing over 26 minutes. Disappointing season for Larkin, but the upside is still there for him to have a strong finish despite his team being atrocious.
Robby Fabbri – Two assists with a shot. Still a big fan of Fabbri long term; nice to see him get his career on track in Detroit since returning from the torn ACL.
Cale Makar – Goal and an assist with five shots. Makar has been as good as anyone could have hoped for as a rookie.
Philipp Grubauer – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 4-1 win over the Senators. Nice to see Grubauer get back on track, granted against the Sabres and Senators.
Jeff Petry – Goal and an assist playing over 27 minutes. Petry’s career took a big step forward once he arrived in Montreal from Edmonton, but mainly over the past three seasons. He’s an easy hold in all formats.
Ben Hutton – Goal and an assist. And there’s your annual Ben Hutton update!
Kieffer Bellows – Two goals on four shots in his second career game. Bellows was a WJC standout but stumbled over the past couple seasons. The upside is there for him to be fantasy relevant, but for now I’m just monitoring him until the minutes go up.
Derick Brassard – Two assists with four shots. Nice bounce back season from Brassard, but he’s a bottom end streamer at best.
Anders Lee – Goal and an assist with five shots. Disappointing season for Lee, but the workload is there for him to get back on track. He’s an elite streamer that can be held based on team needs.
Miles Wood – Two goals. Decent streamer in deep leagues for the PIM and decent shots, but nothing for standard leagues.
MacKenzie Blackwood – 46 save shutout in the 5-0 win over the Flyers. Game of Blackwood’s career so far. There’s long term upside, but for now, he’s a desperation play.
Evgeni Malkin – Goal and an assist with three shots. Malkin continues to be the best in the league for fantasy on a per-game basis.
Victor Hedman – Three assists with three shots. It feels like this season hasn’t been up to Hedman’s standards, but here he is with 45 points in 52 games hitting all of the categories.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and an assist with two shots. He has a point in nine straight and two points in seven of his last eight games. I’d say he’s back on track.
Max Pacioretty – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Patches looked like he was on the steep decline over the past two seasons, but he’s bounced back in a huge way this season. He’s well over four shots per game and is crushing all the categories. This has a good chance to be the best season of his career.
Chandler Stephenson – Two assists with two shots. He’s playing with Stone and Patches which gives him some value, but the lack of PP time kills him. Bottom end streamer at best.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Two assists with a shot. Huberdeau’s great season continues as he’s been top ten in the league in points most of the season, including now.
Vincent Trocheck – Goal and an assist with three shots. Trocheck is right on the fringe due to his contributions in the non-points categories.
Paul Stastny – Two assists with four shots. Easy hold while Karlsson is out.
Nate Schmidt – Goal and an assist with five shots. He’s right on the fringe. I slightly lean towards leaving him on the wire, but it’s very close,
Shea Theodore – Goal and an assist with four shots. Theodore has been very good across the board. The shot rate taking a big step forward has gone a long way to solidifying him as an automatic hold in all formats.
Jansen Harkins – Goal and an assist with two shots. This matched Harkins’ point in his first 14 games. Congrats on the first career goal and welcome to the Razzball Database!
Andrew Copp – Goal and an assist with three shots. Solid player in real life but nothing to see here for fantasy.
Kevin Fiala – Goal and an assist with five shots. Nice stretch of hockey for Fiala. He’s still only 24 years old so there’s a chance he still puts it together and ends up the first line winger that it looked like he’d be. For now, he’s an elite streamer.
Brad Hunt – Goal and an assist with three shots. He had a nice start to the season, but he belongs on the waiver wire for now.
Kyle Turris – Goal and an assist. Turris has been better this season, but it’s still only at a bottom end streaming level at best.
Roman Josi – Two assists with six shots. Josi has slowed down a bit, but Josi has been as good as it gets for defensemen. He’s at a point per game, +21, 33 PIM and almost four shots per game.
Mikael Granlund – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s also showing signs of life, but it’s still not enough for fantasy.
Sebastian Aho – Two goals and an assist, as did Andrei Svechnikov. It’s really infuriating that Aho only played 17 minutes in this game and Svech only played 14 minutes. Regardless, both of them have excellent, Svechnikov all season and Aho after a slow first month.
Trevor Van Riemsdyk – Two assists. TVR had three points in 34 games before this game. Moving on…
Alex Goligoski – Goal and an assist with three shots. Not much value here anymore as Chychrun has passed Gogo on the depth chart.
Timo Meier – Two goals and an assist with eight shots. His second big game of the season, but Meier has been a massive disappointment just like the rest of the Sharks. Meier is an elite streamer since he hits all of the categories, but I’m not looking to hold him at the moment.
Joe Thornton – Two assists. Still an easy pass.
Brent Burns – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Burns has been among the most disappointing players in the league this season. He still needs to be held, but at 34 years old, it appears that the end is approaching.
Kevin Labanc – Goal and an assist with two shots. Decent streamer, but that’s it right now.
Darnell Nurse – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. After it looked like Nurse was on the way to becoming an easy hold after last season, the offense has dried up. In hits/blocks leagues, he’s still worth holding, but otherwise, he’s a team needs guy for PIM and shots.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping all of the action from this weekend. As always, feel free to ask questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
