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It has to be a good feeling to kick your rival while they're down.  This is the worst stretch that the Rangers have had in years, and the Devils caused them to have a big postgame discussion amongst the players and coaches.  The Devils won 5-1 on Monday, with their best players leading the charge.  Jesper Bratt had a goal and three assists, Jack Hughes had two goals and an assist with eight shots, while Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM.  The most encouraging from a fantasy perspective was Jacob Markstrom, who saved 38 of 39 shots.  He hasn't been a world beater, but Markstrom is up to the 6th goalie overall because of the elite wins and volume.  The GAA is solid as well, and there's room to grow with the save percentage.  I'm bullish on both goalies going forward, but Markstrom should keep getting 2/3rds of the starts with Allen getting the leftovers.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Dallas was in a mini slump having lost three of their last four games going into Monday night.  Safe to say that they took their anger out on the Penguins.  Dallas scored six goals in the first period, eventually winning the game 7-1.  Mason Marchment led the charge, tying the franchise record for points in a period with four, before tallying a fifth in the third.  Marchment's goal and four assists brought him up to a point per game on the season.  The minutes lead Marchment to being quite streaky, which is a reason why I see him more as an elite streamer than hold.  That said, you can make the case for holding Marchment on the bottom of your roster.  The PIM are excellent, the hits are also very good, and his play at even strength leads to a top plus-minus.  If you can stomach low shots and streaks, you can use Marchment for other team needs.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Vegas has started off the season extremely well at 6-2-1, and it's no surprise that their best forward (sorry Eichel) is at the forefront.  Mark Stone continued his torrid pace over the weekend, dishing two assists against his old team, before scoring a goal and two assists with three shots against the Sharks.  That brings Stone to a whopping 4+13 in nine games, a point total that actually leads the entire NHL.  Obviously that won't last, but there have been seasons where Stone was above a point per game.  Getting to play with Jack Eichel (1+3 over two games) has both rolling, and their incredible playmaking has Ivan Barbashev (2+1) mooching at a level that has Barbashev on the fringe.  The Vegas schedule is a bit light in games coming up which isn't ideal when they're rolling, but at least they should be well rested to try and maintain this elite level of play.  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!
It's safe to say that we've reached the point that nobody doubts Boston anymore.  Their two top centers retired, and yet the team is chugging along at 16-4-3.  Their new captain was the reason they won both games over the weekend.  Brad Marchand scored the overtime winner against the Leafs on Saturday, his eighth shot on goal in the contest.  He followed it up with a natural hat trick, scoring all three goals for the Bruins in their 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets.  That gives Marchand 11+12 in 24 games, almost exactly a point per game.  The big thing is his shot rate is at an all-time high.  In my preseason rankings, I was uncertain on Marchand's ceiling, but speculated his shot rate could improve without Bergeron.  He's at exactly 3.5 per game, and with his elite PIM as always, Marchand is still in the conversation for a top 20 player.  At 35 years old, Marchand is showing no signs of slowing down.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Even for Nikita Kucherov, the start to this season is on another level.  Kucherov scored two goals and two assists with five shots and two PIM against the Maple Leafs, and then followed it up with a goal and an assist with six shots against the Canadiens.  That brings Kucherov to 10+12 in 13 games, including 11 in the last three games.  He also has 5+ shots in the last five games, and seven of the last nine.  This game pushes him past Pettersson for the league lead in points.  The top guys on Tampa look so much better, and I can't help but think that being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs helped them for this season.  So many long playoff runs for the Lightning that a real offseason had to do them wonders.  We can't expect this level, but Kucherov looks poised to give his 128 points from his Hart Trophy season a run for his money.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
You guys know I like to start my posts about players who could be available in a large percentage of leagues that you can target on the waiver wire.  After all, being aggressive at the bottom of your roster is a huge factor in fantasy hockey.  However, sometimes a player has a weekend so good that you have to give him his due.  This time, that player is Auston Matthews.  Matthews scored three goals on Saturday, recording his second hat trick in as many games.  Look, everybody knows the upside.  We're talking about a guy who scored 60 goals two seasons ago on his way to the Hart trophy.  He's obviously in that tier right behind McDavid, and the only reason I had him towards the bottom of the tier is that he tends to miss 10-15 games a season.  If Matthews can play 75+ games, a repeat of 60 goals is well within reason.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
The Devils have built arguably the best young core in the league.  There's a lot of talk about Hughes and Hischier leading the way now, with Nemec and L. Hughes on the way.  There's Meier and Bratt also playing a huge role.  However, there's another former first round pick making a huge charge in his sophomore season.  Dawson Mercer scored a hat trick on Tuesday in the 5-1 win over the Penguins.  I had to do a double check because I did not realize this, but Mercer now has 27 goals on the season.  I knew he was having a good year, but man, that's a huge jump for the 21 year old.  Mercer is a natural center, but with the two former #1 picks in the fold, there's no reason to put Mercer on the third line right now.  He's thriving on Hischier's wing, and is definitely worth a middle to late round pick in drafts next season.  I'm not sure how much better it will get other than a potential increase in ice time because his skating is below NHL average, but his playmaking in traffic is so good and his compete level is so high that incremental increases help a lot to get into the 70 point range.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
The rich keep getting richer.  The Boston Bruins acquired Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway from the Capitals on Thursday, sending draft picks and Craig Smith to Washington, and a pick to the Wild for retaining salary.  I think this trade is far more interesting from the Washington perspective.  They couldn't agree to a contract with Orlov, with the dispute being over the term of his next deal.  Until a few days ago, it seemed farfetched that they would weaken their team for this season, but I actually think it's a smart move.  Even if they snuck into the playoffs, they weren't going anywhere.  They gained some additional ammo that they can flip in the offseason to make a push again next season.  They have a lot of additional pending UFA's that could be on the way out, so it's hard to figure out who will be there in a week to benefit from this move.  My guess is Trevor van Riemsdyk takes Orlov's spot on PP2, but he's also a UFA making 950k so he's a logical target for a lot of teams at that price, so he could be on the move too.  Smith should crack the lineup, but I'm not expecting much at all.  He's off the radar until we see him play.  As for Boston, Orlov won't be getting PP time there with Lindholm holding down PP2, so he takes a slight hit to his value.  The Bruins are so good that Orlov should stumble into enough points to be valuable in deeper leagues, but we're talking 14+ teams.  Hathaway should do what he usually does, and that is pile up a bunch of hits and PIM with an okay goal rate for a fourth liner.  All in all, this trade impacts real life more than fantasy.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Another big domino fell in the trade market on Thursday with Vladimir Tarasenko joining the Russian contingent in Manhattan.  The Rangers also received Niko Mikkola, while giving up Sammy Blais, Hunter Skinner, a first round pick in 2023, and a conditional fourth round pick in 2024 that will almost certainly turn into a third (the Rangers need to make the playoffs for that to happen).  The first round pick that the Blues get will be the lesser of the New York and Dallas first round picks.  I'm a big fan of this move for the Rangers.  A late round first for a quality rental is a solid price, they get to dump Blais in the deal, Skinner isn't much of a prospect, and they get some blueline depth with Mikkola.  Tarasenko gets a boost in this trade, and potentially a big one.  He'll almost certainly go on the opposite wing of Panarin, and if Zibanejad stays at center with Panarin, that's a great spot to be in.  The big question is whether Tarasenko goes on the vaunted first power play unit in Trocheck's place.  It's a different position than he's used to playing on the power play, but Trocheck isn't exactly lighting the world on fire.  Trocheck would be a big loser if Tarasenko does take that spot.  We should get an answer on that tonight.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Matthew Tkachuk entered the All-Star break on a massive hot streak.  He continued it at the All-Star Game, winning MVP honors.  Needless to say, it was continued on Monday night against their rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Tkachuk had two goals and three assists with six shots in the 7-1 win over Tampa, going +5 in the process.  Tkachuk has managed to blow last season's 42+62 out of the water to this point.  He's the #3 forward overall on the season and has the most balanced stat line of everyone in the entire league.  Marchand was a top five forward for years because of his all-around contribution.  Now, that spot is Tkachuk's.  He's every bit of a top five player now and going forward.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights: