So there's just one game on tonight?
And it's Dallas? As in Dallas, Texas? The leading oil-drilling state?
Versus Edmonton? Also known as the “Oil Capital of Canada”?
On Tuesday night, right before the holiday where everyone drops their freshly plucked birds in a giant vat of boiling…
WAIT, WHAT?!
Ok, so I guess it’s officially “Deep Fried Tuesday” on the NHL schedule. I would have said, “Welcome to the War of Oil Wranglin!”, but I was worried about copyright infringement.
There's no denying that the previous two seasons have been rough for Trevor Zegras, in terms of both performance and health. He received a fresh start this offseason being traded to Philadelphia, and it's paying early dividends. Zegras had two goals and an assist with three shots in the 4-1 win over the Predators on Thursday. Zegras now has 12 points in ten games on the season with a solid shot rate. He's also earning trust with Tocchet, as his ice time has been pushing 19 minutes in three straight games. It wasn't that long ago that Zegras was putting up 60+ point season as a 20 and 21 year old. This trade might be exactly what he needed, and given the start he's had, he's a must hold in all fantasy formats. Let's take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
With today’s post, we’ve officially come to the end of our Divisional Previews for the 2025-2026 season!
If you’re looking for the other Divisions, you can click here to check them out.
On New Year's Eve, I watched the Leafs - Islanders game in entirety. In the midst of a rough stretch, Matthew Knies stood out. Despite staying off the scoresheet, he was buzzing throughout the game, putting five shots on net in over 20 minutes of ice time. After being a passive shooter for almost two months, Knies was gunning regularly, which was encouraging. It felt like a big game was on the horizon, but we didn't get a big game. We got a massive game. Knies had one of the games of the season so far, scoring a hat trick against the Bruins. That's not all though. Knies also had two assists, six shots on goal, two penalty minutes, and had a +6 rating in the 6-4 win. Wow. He followed that up with another goal against the Flyers on Sunday. The return of Matthews can only help Knies. He's locked into a large role at even strength, and while he's not on PP1, Knies has played his way onto the fringe of 12'ers. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Back to back wins for the Devils against the defending champions, both in Florida, is quite the accomplishment. Throughout my preseason rankings, I repeatedly stated that I was basically throwing last season out of the window for all of the Devils, and that has proven to be prudent. All of the injuries and horrific goaltending had no bearing on this season, and they look back to the team from two seasons ago. On Thursday, the Devils won 6-2, with Jesper Bratt scoring a hat trick on five shots. In 20 games, Bratt has 8+16 with almost exactly three shots per game. It's a bit skewed because the Devils have played the most games in the league to this point, but Bratt is a top five forward on the season. His teammates, Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes, who each dished three assists in the victory, are both pushing top ten forwards. We've seen superstars in Toronto play at their best under Keefe, and now we're seeing it with the Devils. None of this looks fluky. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
It's not too often that an NHL record that's stood for over one hundred years gets broken. That happened on Wednesday night. Despite his role shrinking, Kris Letang had the period of a lifetime. Letang dished five assists in the second period in a seven minute span, becoming the first defenseman in NHL history to record five assists in a period. He finished the game with six assists, all at even strength to give him a +6 rating in the 7-0 win over the Islanders. Even with this game, Letang is far from the defenseman he used to be, partially due to age, and partially due to the arrival of Karlsson. He's under two shots per game, and has only three goals as a result. However, the assists are still very good, the hits and blocks are solid, and the PIM are much higher than they've been. He's the perfect #3/4 defenseman on most teams since he's hitting most of the categories and piling up assists.
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?
The Senators have been a disappointment this season despite their big forward acquisitions in the summer. Turns out that you can't get away with completely ignoring the blue line and being forced to give bad players big minutes. Anyways, we don't care about that for fantasy, we care about their scoring, and their top players have largely delivered. Claude Giroux had a great weekend, totaling three goals and two assists with ten shots over two games. Giroux is having his best goal scoring season since his monstrous 34 goal, 102 point season in 2017-18. Unsurprisingly, that season and this season are Giroux's two highest shooting percentages, but it seems a bit more sustainable in this environment in Ottawa. Even with an inconsistent PP1 role, Giroux has still played his way into being a bottom end hold in all formats. The one problem is that after Ottawa's game on Tuesday, they don't play again until February 11th. My biggest point here with bottom end holds over these bye weeks is that you need to know your league format and whether the waiver wire is strong enough that you can drop someone like Giroux to get more games. In head to head leagues, volume is king, so you can make a case after Tuesday that you can let him go for players with a bunch of games after the All-Star break. In roto, I would hold onto Giroux without hesitation. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
While I wasn't expecting a repeat of last season from Filip Forsberg, his drop off was a much higher level than it should have been. Thankfully, he started the turn around in a massive way this weekend. Against Anaheim on Friday, Forsberg had a goal and two assists. He followed it up with an even better game, scoring a hat trick on six shots against the Golden Knights. With those performances, Forsberg is on a 33+41 pace, which isn't amazing, but far more acceptable given Forsberg's shot rate. Here's to hoping that Forsberg can keep building. Nashville is going on a long road trip soon, which could lead to a bit more ice time for Forsberg when Hynes can't protect matchups as easily. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
With all of the Boston injuries to start the season, there was no easing David Krejci back into the NHL after a year in Czechia. In the season opener, Krejci delivered and then some. He scored a goal and two assists, one of which came on the power play, in the 5-2 win over the Capitals. Krejci went right onto the first power play unit and was excellent on the second line with David Pastrnak (goal, three assists, six shots) so as long as you're okay with below average shots, you can hold Krejci. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
What's poppin, Razzpimples?
Ya boi JKJ is back for another year of fantasy hockey content here at Razzball! Going a different route this time around, though. I'm gonna be your D daddy! No, no, not that kind of D, ya silly goose! Defenders. All the defenders. I don't exactly know why, but I've taken a real liking to that position. If you're familiar with my baseball work, I handle all the RP business. Taken a liking to relievers in baseball, and in hockey it's the defenders.
We move through more defensemen today going through my Top 40. For those that didn't see my Top 20, you can check that out here. I have some good news before I get going with these rankings. JKJ is going to be back! He's going to shift his focus this season towards defensemen, similar to what he does on the baseball side of things with relief pitchers. Look for him to be writing again in the near future, with a rebuttal to my defenseman rankings the first thing coming. And now, let's get to it!
