Twenty-two games. One regulation loss. That's what the Colorado Avalanche have done so far, cementing themselves as the best team in the the league. In fact, the teams tied for second place as closer to 25th in the standings than they are to Colorado. They're in the midst of a nine game winning streak, with two wins over the weekend, both by shutout. It started with a MacKenzie Blackwood masterpiece on Saturday, making 35 saves in the 3-0 win over Nashville, before Scott Wedgewood had an easier 22 save shutout in the 1-0 win over Chicago. Wedgewood has been the #1 overall player so far because why not? Yay goalies. Blackwood is back now from injury and getting his fair share of starts. Yes, right now Wedgewood is the #1, but it should only be a matter of time until it flips back. Regardless, both of them are clearly must own for the time being, and barring injury, both should be for the rest of the season. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Brad Marchand was trending in the wrong direction last season, but a trade to Florida rejuvenated his career. Now, he's on a massive tear and reached a career milestone earlier than expected. Marchand dished two assists on Thursday night, extending his point streak to nine games and more importantly, reached 1,000 points for his career. That brings him to a whopping 11+9 in 16 games with almost three shots per game. Am I going to bet against Marchand falling off? No. I think even when Tkachuk returns, Marchand keeps his spot on the first power play unit, and we see Marchand push towards his first point per game season in four years. Let's take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
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.
It had to happen in his office. On Sunday, Alex Ovechkin set the NHL goal scoring record, tallying his 895th career goal from his hot spot against the Islanders. In my preseason bold predictions, I said that Ovechkin would break the record this season despite his projections being in the low 30's both by sportsbooks and projection systems. You can see everything I wrote here (I will look back at all of these in a post once the season is over). I have to say that I never saw it coming after his injury. Forty-two goals in 61 games is absolutely insane for anyone, let alone a 39 year old. That's why he's the greatest goal scorer we have ever seen. It will be fascinating to see where he's ranked next season, in what presumably will be his last in the NHL. I had him 45th overall going into the season, a bit above ADP, but I think it has to be higher than that now. The Capitals are very good, and on a per-game basis, Ovechkin is a top ten forward this season. I can't wait to see how the Capitals do in the playoffs, Ovechkin included. Let's take a look at some other highlights from the weekend:
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:
It was a slow start for Jake Guentzel in Tampa Bay, but that is clearly a thing of the past. Guentzel scored a goal and an assist with five shots in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jackets, extending his goal scoring streak to seven games. This game brings Guentzel up to 18 goals and 15 assists in 28 games, with the shot rate creeping back up towards three per game. I was extremely bullish on Guentzel in Tampa Bay, ranking him 12th overall. He hasn't quite been to that level, but that's what I'm expecting for the rest of the season. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Hi all, and welcome to week 11 of the NHL season. Normal schedule this week but be prepared for next week with the Christmas Holiday (there will be no games on Tue/Wed/Thurs i.e. Christmas Eve, Christmas day, AND the day after Christmas).
As it’s a typical weekly schedule of games our off-days this week are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. With the remaining days being busy days around the league.
The top teams are listed in order by strength of schedule and opponent in the table below.
The two teams playing only 2 matches this week are Vegas and the Islanders. I know that Barzal is coming off IR and may be on some waiver wires but resist the temptation to pick him up at least until Saturday if possible.
Top Streaming Team Schedules for the Week:
If you want proof that no NHL coach has job security, look at what's happened over the last week. Boston is off to a slow start but after setting records two seasons ago and winning a playoff series six months ago, nobody saw him getting fired before American Thanksgiving. However, the news broke early on Tuesday that Boston was moving on with Joe Sacco as the interim coach. Then, on Sunday, St. Louis made a quick move to hire Montgomery. You have to feel bad for Drew Bannister, who only coached 76 games with the Blues and was a shocking 39-31-6 despite a weak roster, even though he was only 9-12-1 this season.
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:
No Barkov, no Tkachuk, no problem for Florida on Monday and Tuesday. They posted two consecutive 4-3 wins over Boston and Columbus respectively, with Sam Reinhart leading the way. Reinhart scored two goals on Monday against the Bruins before scoring a goal and two assists against the Blue Jackets. It's an excellent start to the season for Reino despite missing his most common linemate. I was still aggressive in my Reinhart ranking despite the regression that was coming because I've always believed in his ability. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a career high in assists to counter the drop off in goals. He played over 21 minutes on Tuesday and as long as the other two are out, I expect Maurice to lean on Reinhart heavily. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
