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What’s poppin’, Razzpimples? If you’re new to this column or have no idea what the Friday/Sunday split is, it’s a simple yet effective way to maximize your weekly output no matter the format of your league. Typically — and it’s not always the case — heavy game loads are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, whereas Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays are lighter. Streaming players on those lighter days is almost a necessity to ensure you’re getting the most of each week, but this column focuses on just Fridays and Sundays. Reason being is that you get more bang for your waiver add buck in picking up a guy who will play those two days and will almost always be able to slot into your starting lineup without having to sacrifice someone else to the bench.
Fantasy Hockey Weekly Newsletter: Week 17 Hello everyone. Welcome to the seventeenth edition of JOT This Down! Keep the questions, comments, and concerns coming. I’ll be here all week to answer any and everything you may have. The schedule is quite wonky this week. Multiple teams only play 1 or two games and the Sharks do not have a game. After this week, the schedule goes back to normal for a while. Keep tabs on your rosters as there will be many off days, and decisions will need to be made regarding whether or not to hang on to fringe players.
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:
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:
It was great to see Aleksander Barkov back in the lineup on Thursday, and if you didn't get him back into your lineup off injured reserve, well, that one is going to hurt for a while.  Barkov scored a hat trick in the first period against the Canadiens and added two assists in the 7-2 win over the Canadiens.  It hasn't been Barkov's best season to this point, but I'm buying Barkov going forward to get back to being well over a point per game.  Florida has dug itself quite a hole in the playoff race and I expect Maurice to really ride their top six even more.  Barkov's shooting percentage is also much lower than his career sh% (10.3 vs 14.0) so look for some positive regression in the New Year for the Panthers captain.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
For those that didn't see part one of my recap of the trade deadline, you can read it here.  I'm going to get right into Part Two below.  And away, we go! Arizona acquires the right to Jack McBain from Minnesota for a second round pick.  All indications were that McBain wasn't going to sign in Minnesota so the Wild tried to get something for his rights.  I assume Arizona will do him the favor of burning a year off his ELC for him to sign.  There's some upside here long term, but nothing for now.