Atlantic Division Preview here
Metropolitan Division Preview here
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
It’s your new/old hockey writing friend, MarmosDad, back with another divisional preview as we start knocking games off of the NHL calendar.
Last week, I gave you the final Eastern Conference preview with the Metropolitan Division (you can click it to check it out!).
This week, we head West with a peek at the Central division, and boy, am I excited to get rolling on this one!
I nearly jumped the gun and went straight to the Central when I started writing these up, just because I’m kind of obsessed with a certain Winnipeg Jets prospect who opened some eyes in training camp.
That should be enough of a teaser to get us through this preview, especially because the Jets round out our teams at the bottom of our profiles today.
So let’s close our eyes, take a deep breath, and try to find our Central, er, center, as we head out to visit the place with the least creative division name of all…
I was originally going to take Sidney Crosby for three points but realized I took him within the last two weeks. Then, I was going to take Bryan Rust, but thought it was too bold, so went with Matchbox Twenty. Of course Thomas had two points (more on him later), but the other two both had three points. The top line for Pitt was fantastic, with Crosby and Rust each having a goal and two assists in the 5-3 win over the Oilers. Their plus-minuses are quite ugly, but Crosby and Rust have been fantastic for fantasy purposes. Rust doesn't get the credit he deserves for playing like a star. Crosby moved into 9th on the all-time points list and is starting to make a case for being on the hockey Mount Rushmore. He's probably just outside it, but regardless, we can never take Crosby for granted. Both should be top 50 players for the rest of the season, with Crosby having a good chance to get inside the top 25. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
I’ll be honest, I don’t have a good open for the weekend post. But “The Wire’ is indisputably the best TV show of all-time. I can watch it every time through and see something I didn’t before. Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Jets have been excellent to open the season, but that hasn't stopped them from tweaking things to get better. On Friday, we saw Bowness go back to last season's duo of Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kyle Connor together, something I've been clamoring for. They notched one goal on Friday by Connor from Dubois, but they went off against Chicago on Sunday. Dubois had two goals on eight shots, while Connor had a goal and two assists with two shots. I've been saying it was a matter of time for Connor to get going, and I think that time is now. He's too talented to not pile up goals. Dubois has been quite good across the board so far this season, but career highs are now in play. The shot rate is fantastic, the PIM are strong, and he's playing at a 40 goal pace. It sucks that they're missing Ehlers indefinitely so they don't have a great second winger, but even still, look for these guys to improve their even strength performance while remaining great on the power play. Let's see what else happened over the weekend:
It’s that time again. Friday/Sunday stream targets to finish out the week. Get those claims in today so you don’t miss out! Unless you’re in one of them fancy same-day adds leagues.
Note: For the sake of uniformity and convenience on my part, only players rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues will be included. Also, a “***” denotes a priority stream, in my humble opinion.
It’s that time again. Friday/Sunday stream targets to finish out the week. Get those claims in today so you don’t miss out! Unless you’re in one of them fancy same-day adds leagues.
Note: For the sake of uniformity and convenience on my part, only players rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues will be included. Also, a “***” denotes a priority stream, in my humble opinion.
Hey, hockey nerds!
This is the first installment of my new weekly streaming column to hopefully give you an edge at the tail end of your weekly matchup (or to pad those roto stats as the week finishes out). The idea is to focus on teams that play both Friday and Sunday (hence the "Sundae" pun...boy I'm funny) so you can get the most bang for your waiver-pickup buck, but this week the schedule is a little odd since it's the first one. So, no one plays both Friday and Sunday this time around. It's all good, we'll just roll with it! In addition to Friday/Sunday targets, I'll do a quick look at the week ahead to give you insight into teams that are playing the most (and least) desirable schedules. Again, the purpose of this column moving forward will primarily be teams playing both Friday and Sunday each week. I think the snapshots are useful for planning ahead, but I won't be taking the time to target each every streamer worth your while.
Hat tricks aren't that uncommon in the NHL. First period hat tricks are. Evander Kane became the first player in Sharks history to do so, scoring three goals and adding an assist with five shots in the 5-2 win over the Hurricanes on Wednesday. Kane has long been a player that I rate higher than consensus because of his shot rate and penalty minutes. Kane has four goals and two assists in four games since returning from suspension to go along with four PIM and 13 shots. Pretty, pretty good. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Sharks went 0-3 without Kane and are 3-1 since. With their current depth issues, Kane should be leaned on heavily giving him a great chance at a top 50 fantasy season. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Hey guys! It's Sven, and we have another 31 in 31. 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 sixth stop on the 31 in 31 tour, we’re headed back to California to preview the Anaheim Ducks! Last season the Ducks were – well, wounded ducks. Their amount of injuries combined with players just being inconsistent led to a forgettable season. With their core only getting older and some tough decisions made this off-season, I have a feeling these guys have a couple of rough years ahead. That being said, there is still some excitement and some young talent brewing!
Hello everyone! I am Sven, and this is my first time contributing fantasy hockey material to anyone other than three or four friends who care to listen. I am a third year university student studying Sports Administration, and have an intense thirst for knowledge surrounding the NHL and all of its players. Though I typically root for the Bruins, I will watch just about any hockey game on TV (including lots of Arizona/Vancouver games while studying late at night).
Over the next month, I will be taking a look at each team's players to watch out for going into the 2018-19 fantasy hockey season: The 31 in 31 daily segment. This analysis features everything from surefire studs, to sleepers, to prospects that may make an appearance at some point this season. Please let me know if you guys enjoy this type of material!
Without further ado, here is my initial analysis of the Anaheim Ducks:
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?
Hey everyone! While there are still a bunch of teams that have their bye this week, it's nowhere near as many as last week. The lack of games made it the lightest week of the season and leaving little to talk about fantasy wise. Therefore, I'm going to use this post to make one fantasy hockey prediction for each team for the rest of the season. We'll be back to the usual daily notes on Wednesday and Friday this week. Let's get going!
