Elliotte Friedman dropped a bomb on Friday, reporting that Nikita Kucherov requested a trade from Tampa Bay, telling them that he won't sign an extension. The Tampa Bay GM said that they will not be trading him, but this is still massive news. The reports are that Tampa offered him four years at 15 million per year, which is an absurd lowball given the current market. This is playing out very similarly to Stamkos' end in Tampa, although Kucherov is a much better player right now than Stammer was at that point. That was evident on Saturday, as Kucherov had three assists and a shot against the Predators. For now, this doesn't change anything in fantasy, as Kucherov's agent is adamant that it won't turn into a holdout. That said, this could have a massive impact on the Tampa franchise in the next year, if not sooner. Could they pivot into a quick rebuild, as they have a ton of players who could return them a ton of value? Do they stay on their current track and hope to stay in contention? Time will tell, but it could end up hurting a bunch of Tampa guys in dynasties if one of the best playmakers of all time ends up leaving. There's not a dull day in the NHL right now. Let's take a look at what happened on the ice over the weekend:
There were plenty of wild games on Thursday night. The Sabres won a wild 7-6 game against the Ducks. The Senators came from 5-1 down to get a point before ultimately losing in overtime. However, the Mammoth game against the Penguins took the cake. Kindel scored with 24 seconds left, just for Logan Cooley, a Pittsburgh native, to complete his hat trick with one second remaining in the game. Sergachev went on to win the game in overtime. Cooley now has seven goals and eight assists in 14 games. Yes, the shot rate is quite poor, but we can't complain about those results. His shot rate is up quite a bit lately, so perhaps it could get better. Cooley does seem like he's on the path of a Robert Thomas type of season, but if he does get to two shots per game or even higher, we could be getting a top 50 season. Let's take a look at what else happened the last two nights:
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
If you’re looking for an LW/RW-eligible breakout with goal-scoring potential, a high volume of minutes, and a healthy dose of power-play time, you may not need to look much further than the Columbus Blue Jackets’ first line.
With 10 points in his last 10 games, it’s becoming pretty clear that opposing teams Kent stop, and won’t stop Kent Johnson (2 G, 1 A, +3, 2 SOG, 2 H, 1 BLK).
The 24-year-old forward is in his 5th full season (excluding a 9-game cup of coffee in 2018-2019), and he’s ready to prove last year’s 22 points in 76 games was an outlier in his development path.
I mentioned in Viz’s post on Monday that I had a dynasty league trade offer involving his Johnson (hey-now) for my Quinton Byfield, but that it felt a bit light.
Will I regret turning down that deal? Maybe.
Is this Columbus forward headed for an increase in his “weekly rostered percentage” of 47% this week? Certainly, if he keeps this up.
Should you be looking to add Kent Johnson in straight points leagues? I think that’s a definite yes.
Are we seeing any other point-scoring, statsheet-padding skaters from an 11-game schedule last night? Well…I’m gonna say that’s a yes. Because…
The Hellebuyck saga has finally come to an end, and while the fit makes a lot of sense, it's a team that was on the outside of the inner circle of discussed teams that swooped in and got him. The Devils acquired Connor Hellebuyck from the Jets on Friday for forwards Dawson Mercer and Nick Bjugstad, goalie Nico Daws, the rights to forward Alexander Command, New Jersey’s second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft and its seventh-round selection in the 2027 NHL Draft. The Devils have started off the season extremely well, and the cost wasn't prohibitive, so good for Mehta to swoop in and get the superstar. Hellebuyck should be back in the lineup this week and goes right back to being a top five fantasy goalie. Mercer played on the third line on Sunday, and looks to remain a middling streamer in 12'ers. Bjugstad is a cap dump who is injured, and Daws is just depth for the Jets. Command was the 12th pick in last draft, and projects to be a middle sixer. This trade doesn't affect his value. The biggest impact of this trade comes to Jake Allen and the goalies on teams that didn't acquire Hellebuyck. Allen isn't worth holding anymore outside of deeper leagues, although I'd stream him in almost all matchups. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen remains the Buffalo starter, at least until Lyon returns. It's been a dreadful start for UPL, but I would still hold for now. Karel Vejmelka has been even worse than UPL, but the wins are better, so for now, we hold there too. I wouldn't be surprised if Cossa eventually works his way into a platoon though. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Happy MONDAY, Razzball faithful!
Let’s start this one out with one of Friday night’s goalies.
Clay Stevenson - 34 saves on 37 shots in a 3-2 loss to Carolina…Ah, who am I kidding? With all due respect (and with apologies to Grandma Stevenson), no one wants to read a Clay Stevenson update.
It’s true. There’s no need to add your name to the Razzball database just yet, Clay.
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
Well, yesterday was my final Top 100 Starting Pitchers article and Year in Review. (Click on that link if you want to check it out!).
Now, I can officially, and undistractedly, present to you a fully focused MarmosDad who has shifted entirely into hockey gear!
Does that mean I’m fully invested in tracking the ins and outs of the preseason rankings that I ran through in September?
You betcha!
Will I be ready to answer any questions you throw at me here each week with nothing but my day job, fatherhood, mentoring, planning, coaching in school and winter workouts for our baseball team, and the general ridiculousness of life getting in the way?
Absolutely!
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
When Viz and Grey asked if I’d come back for another year of NHL writing, I couldn't tell a lie. I was, and am, pretty stoked to get rolling on the preseason content!
So, if any of you were hoping you’d seen the last of your dear old MarmosDad, I’ve got bad news for y’all.
I’m back!
I spoke a bit with Viz about the schedule, and, as he said in his first post of the year, I’ll be covering all of our NHL games from Tuesday nights throughout the season.
This is one of the longest posts of all the rankings posts, especially this season where I have more defensemen in the Top 20 overall than ever before. I'll just say that I will have 41-60 up by the end of the week, and if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, let me know. Let's get to it!
There are a couple teams making surprising runs to get back into the playoff race. The most surprising to me, by far, is the Flyers. In a huge showdown with Detroit on Saturday, the Flyers stomped them early and held on for the win. Owen Tippett stole the show with a hat trick and an assist with seven shots. He had two shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Stars, putting Philly two points out of the playoffs, albeit losing the tiebreaker to every team in front of them. Philly has a bunch of games this week against their direct competition, so expect Tocchet to lean on their studs. There are only two games on Friday, so Tippett has a real case to be held. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
Matthew Knies (2 G, +1, 2 PIM, 4 SOG, 2 H) is one of the only bright spots shining on the sinking ship that is the Toronto Maple Leafs’ season. His second-period shorthanded goal was a thing of beauty. Knies intercepted a weak Bruins pass, pushed aside Mason Lohrei, who looked a lot less powerful than his 6’5” frame would suggest, like an empty paper plate, and threw a nifty head fake on Jeremy Swayman before roofing a nice lickety-split wrister over the netminder’s glove.
As much as this was a nice opportunity for the Bruins to pad their lead over Columbus, Montreal, and Detroit in the extremely tight playoff race, this tiny snapshot in time was an equally important reminder for Leaf fans that the team needs to do a lot of other “retooling or rebuilding” that DOES NOT involve trading their 23-year-old sniper.
Thanks to Gary Bettman, the favorite to win the Pacific Division bracket isn't even a team in the Pacific Division. Sure, this is a hot take, but give me the Utah Mammoth over any other team in the Pacific to make the final four assuming Utah is the first wild card team. On Sunday, the Mammoth beat the Kings in overtime, with Lawson Crouse leading the way with two goals, an assist, five shots, three hits, and two blocks in almost 18 minutes of ice time. Crouse has been on the first line for an extended period now and continues to deliver. In hits leagues, I would hold him almost everywhere. In non-hits leagues, he's an elite streamer. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
The time is ticking away, and according to my chronological calendrical system (AKA the NHL schedule), we’ve got FIVE more Tuesday night round-ups before the playoffs begin!
