Going into the season, I was high on Aaron Ekblad because the reports out of Florida were that Yandle was going to get scratched to open the season and his future was in doubt. One bout of COVID later, and Yandle was in opening night and scored. For the bad luck I've had on rankings this year , Yandle has not impacted Ekblad one bit. Ekblad had hit a bit of a rough patch over the last week, but he fixed that in a big way on Thursday. Ekblad scored two goals and added two assists with six shots in the 5-4 win over the Predators. That brings Ekblad to 8+7 in 22 games, an incredible rate of goals for a defenseman. Add in three shots per game and strong PIM, and Ekblad has a chance at finishing as a #2D this season. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Jake Virtanen
It’s Opening Night! Late Updates Around The NHL
January 13, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey | 30 Commentsby: Viz
It's here! The 2021 NHL Season will finally start at 5:30 EST tonight in a battle of Pennsylvania. I'm going to give some late minute updates in this post for your streaming and DFS needs. Let's get to it!
The lines in Philadelphia are quite different than we are used to. Most notably, Kevin Hayes is starting the season centering Claude Giroux and Joel Farabee, while Hayes is also playing on the first power play unit. He had a solid first season in Philadelphia, but year two could be even better. Hayes had only seven PPP last season so if that increases on the top unit, he could play into a bottom end hold. Worst case, he should be an elite streamer.
2020 Playoff Manifesto: Western Conference
March 6, 2020 | 2019-20 Fantasy Hockey, Playoff Manifesto | 6 Commentsby: Viz
We're back for part two of the Playoff Manifesto. For those that didn't read Part One, you can read that here. Today, we will cover the Western Conference. To see the template of which I'm working with, check out the details in the Eastern Conference post. For this one, let's get right to it!
ST. LOUIS BLUES: 4, 3, 3, 3
This is pretty much the worst streaming schedule possible. There are only three teams that don't have a back-to-back over the last four weeks. We'll get to them later in this post, but at least their games are more bunched together with a 4,3,4 in the first three weeks for both. They're every other night the first two weeks, then have two days off in the middle of the third week, before finishing every other day. Honestly, there's not much to say here. Thirteen games is average so hold the usuals, and don't stream Blues.
Ullmark Suffers Brutal Injury
January 29, 2020 | 2019-20 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 11 Commentsby: Viz
There wasn't a lot of action the last two days after the All-Star Break, but sadly we saw what certainly appeared to be a severe injury. Linus Ullmark has established himself as the clear #1 goalie for the Sabres this season playing at a league average level. He collapsed to the ice on Tuesday against the Senators with what appeared to be a bad leg injury. There hasn't been an update yet, but I would be surprised to see if he ends up out for the season. So what does that mean for the Sabres and for us fantasy hockey players? Well, the Sabres are far from the best situation, but Ullmark has been serviceable. Carter Hutton has been one of the worst goalies in the league, so unless he has a bunch of good starts in a row, I have no interest in using him. I suspect that Jonas Johansson is called up from Rochester. Johansson is a former third round pick who was an AHL All-Star this season. He's taken a huge jump forward as he was serviceable in the ECHL last season but that's about it. However, goalies are strange and perhaps he catches lightning in a bottle. I wouldn't rush to add him, but he's a name worth monitoring. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Post All-Star Break: The Week Ahead
January 27, 2020 | 2019-20 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 6 Commentsby: Viz
The first week after the All-Star Break is always an interesting one to navigate for fantasy hockey, especially in head to head leagues. We have a bunch of teams that are on a bye week making some short schedules. This makes streaming a necessity, so for today's post, I'm going to go break down every day's schedule and highlight some players I'd like to stream. Let's get to it!
Welcome Back Williams
January 19, 2020 | 2019-20 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 7 Commentsby: Viz
He's backkkk. Justin Williams made his return on Sunday, totaling three shots on goal in 13 minutes of action before scoring the shootout winner for the Hurricanes. So what should we expect from him going forward? Well, the Hurricanes are in a bigger dog fight for the playoffs than expected, so I do expect Williams' workload to ramp up sooner than later. He skated on the fourth line in this game, but there's a spot for him right now in the top six that's currently occupied by Foegele. It should only be a matter of time until he fills that role. How much does that matter? Well, we know that Williams is a great source of shots. He pushed close to three per game last season while totaling 53 points and 44 PIM. That sounds like a guy firmly on the fringe to me. I wouldn't be rushing to grab Williams, especially with Carolina only having one game between now and January 31st, but he's back to elite streamer status with the upside of being a bottom end hold. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Updated Hold/Stream List
December 29, 2019 | 2019-20 Fantasy Hockey, Buy/Sell/Hold, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 12 Commentsby: Viz
I hope that all Razzballers had a great festive period! It's time for an updated hold/stream list, so I'm going to get right to it!
ANAHEIM DUCKS
Hold: Getzlaf, Gibson, Fowler
Stream: Rakell, Silfverberg, Lindholm, Kase
Rickard Rakell is right on the fringe, but he has missed the last three games. He's not good enough that he's a must hold, so I cut him on one of my teams. I will probably look to stream him when he returns, but if someone else picks him up, it's not the end of the world. Cam Fowler is super boring but he's doing just enough to be a bottom end hold.
31 in 31 – Demko Breakin’ My Heart, Hughes Couldn’t If He Tried!
August 13, 2019 | 2019-20 Fantasy Hockey, Team Previews |by: Sven
Hey guys! Over the next month, I will be taking a look at each team’s players to watch out for going into the 2019-20 fantasy hockey season. This analysis features everything from surefire studs, to sleepers, to streamers, deeper league holds, even to rookie-eligible prospects that may make an appearance at some point this season. Please let me know if you guys enjoy this type of material! Reminder that the stat totals are from last season.
Last year my previews went alphabetically, but this year we’re going to go division-by-division, starting with the top team. On our fifth stop on the 31 in 31 tour, the Vancouver Canucks! The Canucks have had a busy – and awfully confusing – off-season. Nonetheless, their top-six got much better and their prospects got a year older.
Laine Lights Lamp For Helsinki Hatty
November 2, 2018 | 2018-19 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 15 Commentsby: Viz
Being the stand alone game on Thursday afternoon, I was watching the Jets-Panthers game in Finland closely. For the first half of the game, Patrik Laine looked awful. He was so bad that he didn't even get 4 minutes of ice time in the first period. Well, Laine ended up making the natives who came to watch him happy, as he ended up scoring a hat trick on seven shots. That matched his total from the first 12 games of the season. Obviously I wasn't panicking about Laine, but my hopes that his ice time would take a nice jump this season isn't looking promising. There's still plenty of time, and I wouldn't be surprised if Laine goes on a run where he scored 9 goals in 10 games. His floor is just a bit lower than I hoped because the Jets are so good that Maurice doesn't have to give him big minutes. I said he would score 50 in the preseason, and the shot rate has jumped to the point where it's possible if he can get his time on ice back up. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Bartender! Shot of Jack… with this Campbell’s
October 12, 2018 | 2018-19 Fantasy Hockey Rankings, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 20 Commentsby: Viz
It's been years since Jack Campbell was the hot goaltending prospect. Seemingly out of nowhere, Campbell has been thrown into the fire and has come out hotter than a pistol. Campbell had his best game to date on Thursday, recording a 40 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Canadiens. He now has 117 saves on 121 shots over 3 games. Jonathan Quick is week-to-week, so while it might only be a short term thing, Campbell is worth owning in virtually all leagues until Quick returns. The Kings aren't the powerhouse they used to be, but they're still a strong possession team making their goal automatically worth owning. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Bjugstad The Big Stud
March 7, 2018 | 2017-18 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 5 Commentsby: Viz
It’s at the point of the season where I start off posts with guys who aren’t trivial holds and can make a difference down the stretch run. I’ve always been enamored with Nick Bjugstad‘s potential, especially after his 24 goal season three seasons ago. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Barzal Making History
February 12, 2018 | 2017-18 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 13 Commentsby: Viz
Gretzky, Lemieux, Forsberg, LaFontaine. That's the list of players in the last 30 seasons to have multiple five assist games in one season. Add Mathew Barzal to the list after Friday night. Barzal became the first rookie in 100 years to have three five point games in one season dishing five assists in the 7-6 win over the Red Wings. That puts Barzal over a point per game on the season and makes him the prohibitive favorite for the Calder (sorry Boeser). Our second podcast ever, which took place before last season, saw Reid and I hype up Barzal for dynasties. Regardless, he's blown away my expectations this season. Now, it's not all rosy for fantasy. The penalty minutes are low, but more importantly the shot rate is barely over two per game. On the other hand, he's 20 years old and is over a point per game, so it's hard to complain. There's a top 20 fantasy player in Barzal's future if he can get that shot rate up. Regardless, he'll be a borderline top 50 player next year solely for the points, and it's only going to get better from there. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
A little birdie told me our 2024 Fantasy Baseball subscriptions are live. The little birdie also said it includes our Draft War Room. You really wanna lose in a fantasy baseball league to a little birdie? Would be kinda embarrassing, tbhhttps://t.co/1ag7IFSYS0
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