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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.
At the end of the day, Patrick Kane chose playing with a former linemate over his best chance to win a Cup, and his hometown.  Kane signed a one year deal with the Red Wings, the rival of the team he's most known for, the Blackhawks.  Boy, it's going to look weird seeing him in that jersey.  Anyways, most would assume that Kane will play on the wing with DeBrincat and Larkin because of his connection with DeBrincat.  I'm a little skeptical, except on the power play.  No matter how Kane looks physically, Kane is a lock for Detroit's top power play unit.  That alone puts him on the fantasy radar.  However, there hasn't been one skater that has returned to peak form after a hip resurfacing.  It would not surprise me if Kane struggles at even strength, and at the least, I expect Detroit to ease him back in.  That means cushy minutes in a limited even strength role, plus the power play time.  How good is that going to be for fantasy?  I wouldn't be spending a ton of FAAB to get him if he's available.  If you have nothing to lose, I'm fine with making a spec add on him if you're in a 12'er or deeper, but keep expectations in check.  I would guess the most likely outcome is Kane is a solid streamer who goes back and forth between a bottom end hold and slightly usable.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Hello everyone. Welcome to the seventh edition of JOT This Down! Thank you to everyone who provided feedback in volume six. I appreciate it.  Keep the questions, comments, and concerns coming. I’ll be here all week to answer any and everything you may have.
While the NFL steals the spotlight during Championship Week, the Rangers started the weekend blowing out two top teams in Seattle and Carolina.  They scored six goals in both games to bring their winning streak up to five.  While it was a group effort on Friday, Artemi Panarin stole the show on Saturday.  The Breadman scored four goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM against Carolina, after dishing an assist against the Kraken.  Gallant shuffled the lines after Tarasenko's arrival, with Vincent Trocheck and Jimmy Vesey playing with Panarin again, setting up two of his goals.  It was Panarin's third three-point game in his last eight, as he starts to heat up.  While he hasn't approached his point production of his first three seasons in New York, Panarin is still on pace for 90+ points.  That shows what kind of floor he has and why he's worthy of an early draft pick every year.  Despite lower shots and PIM/hits, even his below average year (by his standards) is a top 50 player.  Who knows, Panarin could finish the season on a massive heater and finally get to 100 points.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Hello, weekend! Hopefully all of you NHL fans enjoyed the all star layoff and are ready to get back to some DFS goodness! At the very least, I will not be dressing up as our underdog namesake Happy Gilmore and skating around my office while I type this out. (Poor Pasta). Speaking of Poor Pasta, after I punched up the rough outline for today’s names I realized that we had more than a few double lettered names. Alliteration station, indeed!  We’ll go with our goalie here as the main focus. I was all set to run with an alliterative goalie, Matt Murray, and even spoke to his newfound health in his Leafs renaissance…then apparently reality set in and Murray was placed on the IR on Thursday with an ankle injury. Ouch. Literally.
It has been a terrible year for Kris Letang on and off the ice, but mostly off.  He suffered a stroke and his father passed away shortly after.  After almost a month away from the team, Letang returned on Tuesday and carried the Penguins to victory.  Letang had a vintage performance, scoring two goals and two assists with six shots, four hits, and two blocks in the 7-6 OT win over the Panthers.  I'm not going to say Letang will have a monster second half based on one game in his age 35 season.  The good news is that there's a lot of games left for him to make an impact, and we know how big the upside is.  If I said Letang was a top five defenseman the rest of the way, would you be shocked?  I wouldn't.  Now, the floor is much lower in the past, even assuming he can stay healthy.  However, Pitt is starting to round into form, offensively at least, and the opportunity is there for a big finish.  If your team is in position where you need to take a gamble, I would float some offers to the Letang owner.  If I had him and was patient through the first three months, fingers crossed that he can salvage the season.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Mats Zuccarello has gone through three separate streaks this season.  He started the season on fire, he had a cold streak, and now he's on a heater again.  Zuccarello started off the weekend with a hat trick and an assist against the Blackhawks, before adding a goal and an assist against the Senators.  That brings Zucc's point streak up to ten games.  He's well over a point per game, and pushing towards three shots per game.  The 35 year old has shown no signs of slowing down, being rejuvenated playing with Kaprizov.  Zuccarello is starting to erase his plus-minus hole as well.  Even including the plus-minus, Zuccarello has been a top 50 player, and should continue to be so.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
The Canucks have been showing signs of life lately, especially offensively.  Right now, there's no better cure for early season woes than going against the Ducks.  On Thursday, Vancouver scored eight goals, and their big offseason acquisition led the way.  Andrei Kuzmenko had a hat trick and an assist, giving him eight points in his last four games.  He's found great chemistry with Pettersson (more on him later) and Kuzmenko has kept his spot on the first power play unit.  He's on the fringe, but for now, I would definitely hold while he's this hot.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
It wasn't that long ago that Vladimir Tarasenko requested a trade from the Blues. It wasn't that long ago that Tarasenko could have went to Seattle in the expansion draft.  Now, St. Louis has to be thanking their lucky stars that he's still on the roster.  Tarasenko had his biggest game of the season on Thursday, scoring a hat trick on four shots and adding two more assists in the 6-2 win over the Sabres.  Tarasenko now has 31+41 in 67 games, with a great chance of setting a career high in points.  It's a remarkable turnaround for the Russian who is certainly a top 100 player for drafts next season.  I don't see him cracking the top 50, but it's great to see Tarasenko playing great hockey again.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
As a Sabres fan, I've tortured myself for the better part of a decade watching this team.  In the last few years in particular, they would play a ton of games that were over halfway through the game because of how poor their goaltending was (besides Ullmark, who was constantly hurt).  Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen was considered the goalie of the future for the past few years, but in the eyes of most, he was passed this year by Portillo and Levi in college.  Well, UPL was called up out of desperation ten days ago, and opinions are quickly changing.  Luukkonen saved 30 of 32 shots in the 3-2 SO win over the Wild on Thursday.  Since being recalled, UPL has started five games and allowed exactly two goals in all of them, making over 30 saves in the past four games.  Even with the acquisition of Subban, UPL is going to stay up and should get most of the starts.  Granato has made it clear that they need to reward guys who play well and Luukkonen is keeping them in games.  I'm not rushing to grab him in redrafts, but he's certainly worth considering in his next start, presumably against Columbus on Monday.  In dynasties, I'm still a big fan.  Who knows what happens with the other goalies, but both are 2-3 years away, and the time for UPL is now.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights: