LOGIN
It's been a painful 13 years as a Sabres fan, but Tuesday's game might have been the worst.  There were tanking years, there were disappointing years, but for as bad as it's been, there can't be a worse loss than giving up nine goals at home to one of the worst teams in the league missing two of their best players.  "Kirill Marchenko is a lone bright spot lately.  I’m not holding, but the minutes are going up, the goals and shots are decent enough, and he currently is a key figure on their PP.  He’s a solid streamer."  And that's me quoting me from yesterday!  Well, it's time to give Marchenko a boost.  Marchenko had a natural hat trick in this game.  One of his goals was on the power play, he put four shots on goal, and he played 15 minutes despite the game being a blow out.  Marchenko is now an elite streamer.  Let's take a look at what else happened on Tuesday night:
Hello everyone. Welcome to the seventh edition of JOT This Down! Thank you to everyone who provided feedback in volume six. I appreciate it.  Keep the questions, comments, and concerns coming. I’ll be here all week to answer any and everything you may have.
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:
I was extremely bullish on Tyler Toffoli's fit with the Devils, even though he wasn't a lock to be on PP1.  "Before last season, Toffoli had never topped 31 goals or 29 assists, so expecting a repeat for a guy entering his 11th season in the league seems farfetched.  That said, it’s hard to pick a better spot to be in than New Jersey right now for even strength play.  People were worried about Toffoli’s power play role to open, but it looks like the Devils are starting with the two balanced unit approach.  Personally, I hate it, but it’s a big boost to the value of the guy who normally would be on PP2, which Toffoli looked to be.  I’m all the way in."  And that's me quoting me in my bold predictions saying Toffoli averages at least a point per game.  He was off to a solid start, but he had his first big game on Tuesday.  Toffoli scored a hat trick on six shots in a revenge game against the Canadiens.  That brings Toffoli to 4+2 in five games with 4.5 shots per game.  There's a real chance that he ends up as a top 50 player.  Let's take a look at what else happened in the Monday game and the Frozen Frenzy.
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 trade deadline has come and gone with teams making their final moves, either to set up their playoff push, or to sell for the future.  I covered all of the trades on this very site over the last week, so if you want to get my previous analysis, go back and take a look.  Today, I'm going to take a look at early returns on all of the trades.  What role are these players getting, how are they doing, etc.  Let's get to it!
Surprisingly, we're having the most action ahead of the trade deadline that I can ever remember.  There were a lot of trades over thee last two days that I'll be sure to cover below, but I have to start off with a four goal game.  Anze Kopitar scored four goals in the 6-5 OT win over the Jets.  I'm shocked that this was actually Kopitar's second four goal game of his career.  Kopitar has a good chance for 30 goals now for the first time in six years.  Kopitar has played his way into being a hold in all formats as he's closing in on a point per game.  With the Kings in the thick of a playoff race, he should continue to get 20+ minutes a night.  Kopitar has shown very few signs of slowing down in his age 35 season.  He's one of the best players of his generation and doesn't get all of the credit that he deserves.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Carolina's offense has been a bit disappointing overall, with only Aho sitting around a point per game.  The injury to Patches really put a hole in their lineup that I assume they're going to address before the trade deadline.  On the bright side, their most recent high draft pick just had the game of his early career.  Seth Jarvis scored a hat trick in the 6-2 win over Montreal on Thursday.  Overall, Jarvis has taken a step back offensively this season which is disappointing.  His points are down despite playing 2 minutes more per game on average.  It's dropped him down to being a middling streamer, but it hasn't really changed my long term opinion of him.  He has great speed, solid hands, and an elite compete level.  Jarvis just turned 21 years old so the best is yet to come.  If you owned him in a dynasty, I wouldn't panic.  He's going to be a top six winger for a long time.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
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:
It feels like it's been forever since I've written daily notes.  I guess being stuck inside due to a blizzard will do that.  It was great to be able to watch the NHL on Tuesday night with a massive slate of games.  He didn't have the biggest game of the day, but Erik Gustafsson can be a huge difference maker that impacts the vast majority of fantasy leagues.  Gustafsson scored a goal and added a power play assist in the 4-0 win over the Rangers.  This is notable because John Carlson is out "long term" after taking a puck to the face last Friday against Winnipeg.  It seems like an eternity ago, but Gustafsson did have 60 points with Chicago four years ago with 18 coming on the PP.  It's his top unit to run now, and the minutes have been decent even before Carlson's injury.  The blocks are okay and the hits are below average, so in those formats he's still on the fringe, but without them, I think he's a no brainer hold.  He's available in over 90% of leagues right now, so open another tab, put a claim in for Gustafsson, and then come back and see what else happened on Tuesday night!
The Blues are in the middle of a brutal schedule, playing three back-to-backs in a row, including four games in six days.  They pulled off the first back-to-back through Alberta before going to Vancouver on Monday.  There, Jordan Kyrou stole the show.  Kyrou scored a hat trick on five shots while adding an assist in the 5-1 win, giving him 10 points in his previous four games.  Unfortunately for Kyrou, he was injured late in the game and missed Tuesday's debacle against the Kraken with a UBI.  It's unclear how serious it is, but I do find it a bit encouraging that the news that he was out came later on Tuesday instead of immediately after the game Monday or early Tuesday.  With only one game over the next week, let's hope that he misses minimal time while he's on a heater.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights: