It's not that often that you see a team score 10 goals in a game. In fact, it didn't happen all of last season. It did on Saturday, with the Bruins smashing the Rangers 10-2 in the afternoon. It's no surprise that the two highest game scores of the season were Bruins in this game. It's definitely not a surprise that one was David Pastrnak, who dished a whopping six assists in the game, adding five shots on goal. The huge surprise was Marat Khusnutdinov, who scored four goals and an assist, finishing +6. While he didn't record any stats in Boston's game on Sunday, Khusnutdinov did have three assists in his previous four games. He's currently on the first line with Pasta, so he's worth bumping into the middling streamer range. There's some upside here, but he only had seven shots in his previous eight games combined, so that will need to drastically change for anything more. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
What did the Buffalo say to his boy before dropping him off at college?
I don’t know for sure. I mean, I’m not a creeper or an obsessive stalker of bison, but I do know one thing.
Despite the frosty January nights in Western New York, there’s one group of hockey players that is about as hot as the surface of the sun and is certainly not saying, “Brrr.”
The Columbus Blue Jackets spoiled Buffalo’s win streak on Saturday (5-1 CLM), but the Sabres were BACK Tuesday night at home vs Vancouver.
Early on, I had things written up looking like we'd get a blowout from Buffalo, but the Canucks made it interesting with a late push and three straight unanswered goals after the 10-minute mark of the third period.
In the end, it was the Sabres’ 11th win in their last 12 games, and a leapfrog over the Panthers into the top four spots of the Atlantic division.
Was that the only exciting bit from last night’s schedule?
Today, I'm going to take a look at what has changed for some power plays around the league after the first two weeks of the season. I am going to focus on personnel changes that involve two players being swapped, not ones caused by injuries, unless the injury is long term. I'll talk about how it changes the value for each player and whether I expect this to hold going forward, or whether I think it's a matter of time until it changes back. Let's get to it!
One way to prove last season's breakout wasn't a fluke? Get an early hat trick. Kirill Marchenko did just that, scoring three times on four shots in the 7-4 win over the Wild. Yes, Marchenko didn't get any points in the Columbus opener, but the eight shots on goal also goes a long way. I was neutral compared to consensus on Marchenko going into the season, but I already kind of regret not being bullish. Columbus is playing a wide open, attacking style, and their best forward will continue to benefit from it. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Hello again, Razzball faithful!
I’m very excited to be back on the hockey side of things for the 2025 season! When Viz sent out the ‘puck-beacon’ into the night sky, asking if anyone was down to help write some words about our beloved frozen fandom, I got that Flame in the belly again.
After I realized it was not indigestion, or Jarome Iginla, all it took was a quick message from Grey asking if I’d be interested in jumping back in on the word-Zamboni, and I was in.
Some of you might remember me from a few years ago when I wrote up some DFS for Viz here. Since then, I’ve been hammering out words on the baseball side most recently as our Top 100 Starting Pitchers writer for the last two years. You can check that stuff out here if you have a lot of time on your hands and/or have read through the divisional preview 25 times already.
As for me, I told Viz that I would be happy to preview the divisions and bring you names and some notes to help you get your squad up to snuff for the 2025-2026 season. After that, I’ll be coming back each Wednesday to do the Tuesday night recaps.
We keep moving along with defensemen 21-40 for the upcoming season. In case you missed it, you can see the Top 20 here. This is a reminder that MarmosDad will have his first post of the year on Wednesday, and I will be back on Thursday. Let's get right to it!
21) John Carlson - This tier started with McAvoy and goes through Toews. This feels a bit harsh on Carlson, but I'd rather be conservative on a 35 year old trending the wrong way. As I mentioned in the Chychrun board, Carlson is at risk for losing PP1 time for the first time in over a decade. I think they'll try both of them to start again to be fair, but it's possible. I do think the goals bounce back closer to 10, but 10+45 seems close to the best case now. That's fine, but don't draft based on name recognition.
Well, my bold preseason prediction that Matvei Michkov would score 30+ goals has some hope. Since coming back from the Four Nations break, Michkov has completely torched the Oilers and the Penguins twice. Michkov scored two goals and an assist with four shots on Thursday, giving him eight points in his three games over the past week. Going back to the two games before the break, he also has 24 shots on goal in five games, which is incredibly encouraging going forward. I'm all in on Michkov long term as I've noted throughout the season, but his rough patch in January has left him on the waiver wire on around 50% of leagues. Even if he's just a hot schmotato for now, he's clearly must own right now because of the undeniable upside. If his shot rate gets up to three per game eventually, he's going to be a top 20 player for years. Let's take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
I hope that everyone enjoyed their long weekend as much as I got to enjoy the Bills demolishing the 49ers on Sunday night! The Sabres and having to dig out my car, not as much fun. Anyways, I'm going to take a look at one player on each team around the league whose value has changed for the better or worse in the short term. I'll give you their current value and what I'm expecting from them in the near and short term. Let's get to it!
It's been an incredible start for the Jets, and a big part of it is that the Jets coaching staff is finally playing their elite winger on the top unit. Nikolaj Ehlers had a hat trick and an assist with five shots in the 6-2 win over Columbus, before a goal and an assist with three shots in the 7-4 win over the Lightning. Ehlers has a whopping 8-9 in 12 games, dominating at even strength with solid PPP. This is while playing with a second line center who is clearly below average. What is Winnipeg makes an upgrade on Namesnikov eventually? I don't think Ehlers needs it, but it couldn't hurt. Regardless, career highs across the board are a near-certainty, and he could even beat the paces from his 28+27 in 62 games from three seasons ago. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
The Avalanche are currently missing four top six quality wingers in Nichushkin, Landeskog, Lehkonen, and Drouin. With Rantanen being the only one left, opportunity has appeared for other guys, and one has grabbed the bull by the horns. Ross Colton moved onto the top line and top power play unit three games ago, and it couldn't be going any better. Colton scored two goals on five shots playing almost 22 minutes on Friday. Then, he scored two more goals on four shots on Sunday night. That brings Colton to six in six games with over four shots per game since he moved onto the top line. Is it going to last? Almost certainly not. Should he be owned in all leagues right now? Without any doubt. Who knows, maybe he keeps his spot all season and the Avs load up their middle six. Again, it's unlikely, but for as long as Colton keeps this role, he could easily be a top 50 player. Look at what Big Val has done in the past. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Today, we're moving up to the blue line. I'm going to cover the top 20 defensemen today, the top 40 later in the week, with the plan of putting out my Top 150 or Top 200 on Friday. I'm on the fence between 150 and 200 just because of how much team needs come into play later in drafts. If I do the Top 150, my plan is to have a separate post early next week about players I'm targeting later in drafts. Anyways, let's get to the kings of the blue line!
We’re keeping it moving with part two of my defensemen rankings today. If you didn’t read Part One, check it out here. Also, if you didn’t see Jules’ rankings, the newest Razzball writer, you can check those out here. Please, blog, may I have some more?
