LOGIN
The Jets are off to a perfect 3-0 start and they have their best players to thank for it.  They've only given up two goals in three games (more on that guy later), and Mark Scheifele has been the difference maker in both games over the weekend.  Scheifele tied Friday's games with just over a minute remaining before scoring the overtime winner against the Blackhawks.  Then, on Sunday, he scored with one second on the clock at the end of the first period before setting up Connor for the overtime winner.  Scheifele has two points in each of the three games so far, and the eleven shots is quite encouraging.  At the end of the day, we should expect Scheifele to be around a point per game, so the shot rate will go a long way between being a top 50 player and being a top 100 player.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Opening night in Salt Lake City couldn't have gone any better for Utah HC.  Dylan Guenther will go down in history after their first goal scorer, and he also sealed the game with an empty netter.  Guenther picked up right where he left off last season with those two goals on five shots, playing over 16 minutes.  To say I'm all in on Guenther is an understatement.  Guenther's ADP was outside of the Top 200 while I had him ranked 96th overall.  I'm a huge believer in his talent, and with Logan Cooley (2A, 3 SOG) as his centerman, I think we see fantastic seasons that elevate Utah into the playoffs.  Let's take a look at what happened over the last three nights:
We keep things moving in these parts with the rest of my forward rankings.  I am going to put these guys into tiers with comments on players that I think are worth discussion.  For example, I'm not going to talk about Scheifele because at this point, we know he's going to be right around a point per game with his goals coming down to how effective the Winnipeg PP is.  For the Top 40, you can read that here.  Let's get to it!
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.
Mason McTavish had an ADP of 250 this season.  I had him ranked at 176th overall.  While I wasn't fully convinced he would make a huge leap in his sophomore season, his upside is so high that I thought he was a worthwhile gamble towards the end of your drafts.  It's paid massive dividends in the early going, and McTavish had his best game to date on Monday.  He scored two goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM, including the shorthanded winner with 13 seconds left in the game.  McTavish now has 5+6 in 11 games with a good shot rate, plus-minus and PIM.  McTavish is still available in almost 70% of leagues, which is blasphemous.  I've been holding onto him since the draft in a ten man league, and think it's become clear that he needs to be held everywhere.  In dynasties, he's a top 50 keeper.  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:
Obviously you guys know that I've gone out of order with my rankings, but I had to get my Top 200 out there for everybody's drafts.  If you've missed it, you can see those rankings here.  Today, I'm going to show you the method behind the madness of my forward rankings.  Part one will be out today, part two will be out tomorrow.  I'm going to try and get a bold predictions post out on Monday as well, and then the season will be underway.  As a heads up, I am going to be in London from Thursday until Tuesday.  I will probably only get to the site once per day, but I will be sure to answer everybody's questions on all posts when I get the chance.  Thanks for your understanding.  And with that, the first half of my forward rankings.
The Oilers are peaking at the right time, as they've gone from battling for a playoff spot to battling for the Pacific Division.  It started with a 5-4 win over the Coyotes on Monday, before a dominating 7-4 win over the Golden Knights on Tuesday.  The man leading the way was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who continued his career season.  RNH had a goal and an assist on Monday, before following that up with a goal and four assists with two shots against Vegas.  That brings RNH up to a whopping 96 points (35+61), blowing away his previous career high of 69 points.  96, much nicer than 69.  McDavid and Draisaitl justifiably get most of the attention surrounding the Oilers, but the impact that RNH has made this season can't be understated. Adding a third 100+ point player to the mix is insane, and Edmonton has as good of a set of forwards as there is in the league.  They're a bit light on games the rest of the way, but their schedule is among the softest in the league, so look for the studs to continue to crush.  As for where RNH will rank next season, that's an extremely difficult question to answer.  I have to expect some regression, but how much?  Given the mediocre shot rate, I assume I'll have RNH towards the bottom of the top 50?  If he's only a PPG guy, there's plenty of value but it would be a bit underwhelming compared to other guys in his range i.e. his floor is lower.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
This year couldn't be going any worse for the Columbus Blue Jackets.  A horrible record, terrible injuries to key players, and dreadful goaltending have sunk them from the beginning.  Now that they're in the Bedard race, their fans probably aren't even happy that they won on Tuesday night.  Their prize free agent signing, Johnny Gaudreau, dominated the game with two goals and three assists, plus six shots on goal.  That brings him up to 62 points in 64 games, a far cry from last season, but not a complete disaster.  The question isn't about what to expect from Gaudreau for the rest of this season, but going forward.  He turns 30 in the summer, but I'm not expecting drop off in the short term.  Can he approach 100 points again?  I have my doubts, but if Columbus is lucky enough to get Bedard, it can't be ruled out.  Bedard would be the perfect compliment, and Fantilli wouldn't be a bad consolation prize.  I was lower on Gaudreau than consensus so I don't have any of him this year, but there's always a chance that with his talent, he makes a huge difference over the last month.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Even with Columbus up 4-0 halfway through the game, it never felt remotely close to over.  In the span of the first four minutes of the third period, the Penguins turned a 4-1 deficit into a 4-4 battle.  A careless overtime penalty set the stage for Sidney Crosby to score the overtime game winner to complete the comeback.  Crosby had a goal and two assists with four shots in the win, setting up a game on Thursday with the Islanders for the first wild card spot.  While he's not at his peak anymore, Crosby still has a chance for 100 points again.  You don't need me to tell you how good Crosby is, but where he'll rank going into next season is an interesting debate.  My guess is that it's somewhere around 20th overall, a clear second rounder in drafts, but perhaps it's a few spots above that.  Even at 36, he's given us no reason to expect him to slow down.  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: