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Kent Johnson

Viz

The Most Toronto Game Ever

December 14, 2023 | 2023-24 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED | 24 Comments

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The Leafs were coming off a dominant victory over the Rangers heading into a home game against Columbus.  They managed to go down 5-0 in the second, and it was that way heading into the third period.  Then, as we've seen in the past, Toronto made a massive rally, tying the game with 45 seconds left to earn a point.  Then, like usual, they managed to lose anyways.  The 6-5 OT win for Columbus is one of the craziest games you'll ever seen.  Auston Matthews led the comeback with two goals and an assist with nine shots.  Patrik Laine scored an early goal before leaving the game injured, while Kent Johnson was the hero.  The former fifth overall pick had two goals and an assist, including the game winner.  It's undeniably been a slow start to Johnson's career.  However, for most players, it takes time, and we're starting to see the signs.  Johnson now has six points in his last four games, and if Laine is down for a while, we could see Johnson becoming a fantasy factor.  For now, I'm bumping him up to middling streamer, but he's definitely worth monitoring.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Viz

Crosby Caps Comeback, Columbus Collapse

March 7, 2023 | 2022-23 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 14 Comments

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Even with Columbus up 4-0 halfway through the game, it never felt remotely close to over.  In the span of the first four minutes of the third period, the Penguins turned a 4-1 deficit into a 4-4 battle.  A careless overtime penalty set the stage for Sidney Crosby to score the overtime game winner to complete the comeback.  Crosby had a goal and two assists with four shots in the win, setting up a game on Thursday with the Islanders for the first wild card spot.  While he's not at his peak anymore, Crosby still has a chance for 100 points again.  You don't need me to tell you how good Crosby is, but where he'll rank going into next season is an interesting debate.  My guess is that it's somewhere around 20th overall, a clear second rounder in drafts, but perhaps it's a few spots above that.  Even at 36, he's given us no reason to expect him to slow down.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Viz

Panarin Simply Super

February 12, 2023 | 2022-23 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED | 37 Comments

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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:
Viz

Boudreau Finally Shown Mercy By His Own Team

January 22, 2023 | 2022-23 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED | 35 Comments

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I've never seen an organization do more to sabotage their own team and coach as the Canucks have over the last six weeks.  They've been openly interviewing coaches for two months while Boudreau was still employed.  It was already reported that Rick Tocchet was going to take over the Canucks before the Canucks played on Saturday night.  It was highly emotional for the fans, players, and coaches, as Zach Hyman had a goal and three assists with five shots to lead Edmonton to a 4-2 win over the Canucks in Boudreau's last game.  He was 50-40-13 in his Vancouver, a 90 point pace per 82 games, much better than it should be with their roster.  Boudreau is one of the best coaches of the last 20 years, and I hope he gets another chance.  Fantasy wise, Tocchet steps in and well, he was really bad when he coached the Lightning and Coyotes.  His only playoff appearance was in the bubble because of an expanded playoffs.  The schedule does lighten up quite a bit for the Canucks in the short term, which obviously helps.  The distraction of the entire situation being gone also helps, but at the same time, they're going to trade Horvat sooner than later, and this could end up a slight negative for the value of their players.  If anything, I lean neutral to their values, but I really don't like the way things are trending in Vancouver.  Shame on Aquilini and Rutherford for handling this situation as poorly as possible.  As for the Oilers, they're on fire finally starting to solidify their playoff positioning being carried by their superstars.  The big thing I would say is never panic about their lines, Hyman and RNH will score plenty regardless, and will end up taking extra shifts with McDavid and Draisaitl anyways.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Viz

Dubois Drops The Dynamite

January 8, 2023 | 2022-23 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 35 Comments

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As good as the Jets have been, Friday was a huge boost for their team.  Not only did they get Wheeler, Schmidt and Perfetti back, Nikolaj Ehlers returned for his first game since the second game of the season.  He immediately went onto a line with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kyle Connor, and it worked out as well as it has in the past.  In the 4-2 win over the Lightning, Dubois scored two goals with four shots and four PIM, with Connor having a goal and an assist plus four PIM of his own.  Sunday was even better with Connor scoring a hat trick, Dubois dishing four assists, and Ehlers scoring a goal and two assists.  This line has the potential to be one of the best in hockey yet again, and with Dubois playing the best hockey of his career right now, it can be even better than last season.  All of them are easily top 50 players with Connor in the top 20, and the other two with the potential to push towards that, but probably a step behind that.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Viz

Kyrou’s Dominance Ends With Injury

December 20, 2022 | 2022-23 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED | 15 Comments

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The Blues are in the middle of a brutal schedule, playing three back-to-backs in a row, including four games in six days.  They pulled off the first back-to-back through Alberta before going to Vancouver on Monday.  There, Jordan Kyrou stole the show.  Kyrou scored a hat trick on five shots while adding an assist in the 5-1 win, giving him 10 points in his previous four games.  Unfortunately for Kyrou, he was injured late in the game and missed Tuesday's debacle against the Kraken with a UBI.  It's unclear how serious it is, but I do find it a bit encouraging that the news that he was out came later on Tuesday instead of immediately after the game Monday or early Tuesday.  With only one game over the next week, let's hope that he misses minimal time while he's on a heater.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Viz

Dubois On The Rise

November 27, 2022 | 2022-23 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 29 Comments

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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:
Viz

Notes From Around The NHL: It’s Time For Power

April 10, 2022 | 2021-22 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 13 Comments

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We've reached the home stretch with three weeks left in the season.  Today, I'm going to hit on some notable things that'll help you for your fantasy playoffs and other things just to watch for future gain.  Let's get to it! Owen Power signed with the Sabres and should make his NHL debut on Tuesday against the Maple Leafs.  It's not the best matchup obviously, but if you need defensemen help, I'm good with adding him.  The Sabres finish the week with a back-to-back against the Flyers which is pretty advantageous.
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