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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:
The Anaheim Ducks have taken a big step forward this season.  Lucky for them, they're geographically located in the right place.  In the Eastern Conference, they'd be on the outside looking in for the playoffs.  In the West, specifically the Pacific Division, they're close to a lock.  The Ducks won their fourth straight game on Thursday, with Mikael Granlund scoring all three goals in a 3-2 OT win.  Granlund now has seven goals in his last four games and continues to get big minutes.  We've reached the point of the season where most of the fringe are streamers because we need to make a push in the fantasy playoffs, but with Anaheim having four games next week, Granlund is making a real case to be held while he's on fire.  Let's take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
I've long been a fan of Bobby McMann, but the early returns for Seattle blew my expectations out of the water.  McMann scored two goals and an assist with four shots in his Kraken debut on Saturday against Vancouver, and followed it up with a goal and an assist with four shots against Florida on Sunday.  He played over 18 minutes in both games slotting right onto the first line and second power play unit.  With Seattle in the thick of a playoff race, I see no reason to expect McMann's workload to decrease.  That means a 20-25% boost in playing time compared to what he was getting in Toronto.  Over the last three seasons, McMann is in the top 50 in the league in even strength goals per 60 minutes.  Given that, I think he should be held in all formats for the time being.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
I liked the acquisition of Mason Marchment by the Kraken in the summer, but for whatever reason, it just wasn't working out.  They shipped him to Columbus, and Marchment looks like the player we are used to from his time with Dallas.  Marchment scored two power play goals on Monday, putting four shots on goal.  He has three goals in two games with Columbus now, and he's gone right onto the top line with Fantilli and Marchenko.  I don't expect him to get to hold status, but Marchment is an elite streamer while he's on fire.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights.  Also, apologies for not having my usual Monday post, but I am back home now and will be on my usual schedule going forward.
The Utah Mammoth have been struggling lately, with four consecutive losses and only two wins in their last ten.  They snapped that streak in a big way on Wednesday, winning 7-0 in Anaheim.  Leading the charge for Utah was J.J. Peterka, their big offeseason acquisition.  Peterka scored two goals and two assists with six shots.  It hasn't been the best start in Utah for Peterka, who was down on the third line for a couple weeks recently.  Besides the obvious of it being a big game, this was notable for Peterka for a couple reasons.  One, he was on the first line with Keller and Schmaltz.  That's always a help.  The other big boost is that Peterka was on the first power play unit.  One of his goals came with the top unit.  The Utah power play has been atrocious for the last few weeks, so it wouldn't surprise me if Peterka gets an extended look there.  The goals have been there, but that's because of a high shooting percentage.  The assists have also dried up significantly compared to where they were in Buffalo.  My hope is this boost in role can cancel out the inevitable shooting regression, which can get Peterka back into clear hold territory.  For now, Peterka belongs on the fringe, although I lean towards bottom end hold for the upside.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
I attribute a lot of it to randomness, but the new coach bump seems to happen over and over again.  Right now, it's happening in Detroit, where Todd McLellan has the Red Wings on a seven game winning streak shortly after taking over the team.  Given the ugliness of the Eastern Conference Wild Card race, that's vaulted Detroit right back into contention.  A few guys have been thriving for Detroit, but I want to focus on Marco Kasper.  The former eighth overall pick is getting his first real opportunity in a big role, playing first line minutes with Larkin and Raymond.  In both games over the weekend, Kasper had a goal and an assist, with five shots between the two games.  He's getting second power play unit time as well, which is enough to bump Kasper into the middling to solid streamer range for the time being.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Hi all, and welcome to week 10 (wow!) of the NHL season. Fairly normal week again this week but actually a limited number of great streaming options as our “off” days this week are pretty light on the total number of games each day. Especially Wednesday and Friday.  As it’s a typical weekly schedule of games our off-days this week are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. With the remaining days being busy days around the league. The top teams are listed in order by strength of schedule and opponent in the table below. Note: Both Columbus and St. Louis also play four games this week but are not featured on this table. This is due to the fact that they both play three of their games on busy nights and their one off-night isn’t until Sunday. However, do keep in mind that both teams are an option for a Sunday stream if needed! The only two teams playing less than three games this week are Washington and Dallas (sad to see it, but their time was due as they’ve been riding high with great schedules for weeks now).
Tuesday was a rare day in the NHL where every team plays  Thankfully, they stagger all of the game times, marketing it as "Frozen Frenzy."  Arguably the marquee matchup of the night was Tampa Bay at New Jersey, and it certainly was the craziest game.  The Lightning fell behind 2-1 before scoring five goals within ten minutes in the second period.  In that stretch, Brandon Hagel had a natural hat trick, finishing the game with an assist as well.  And yet, that still hasn't put him on the first power play unit .  Regardless, Hagel is off to a fantastic start.  I wasn't as far ahead of ADP on him as Guenther, but I was very bullish on Hagel.  I'm not sure he'll get to the 90 points I attempted to wish into existence with my bold predictions post, but it's in play if he gets that top power play time eventually.  Come on Cooper, do it already!  Let's take a look at what else happened in the one Monday game and Tuesday night.
Fantasy Hockey Weekly Newsletter: Week 21 Hello everyone. Welcome to the twenty-first 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.