Viktor Arvidsson has been among the best waiver wire pickups of the season, especially at the forward positions. He's thriving in Nashville seemingly out of nowhere. A late bloomer, which caused him to be drafted at 21 years old in the 4th round by Nashville, Arvidsson first made his name in the league by scoring an overtime goal in Game 6 against the Sharks last season, his rookie campaign. Now, in his sophomore season, we're seeing upside that I quite frankly didn't know what there. On Saturday, Arvidsson scored his first career hat trick on eight shots, albeit in a 7-4 loss against Florida. He came right back on Sunday to record an assist with six shots. That brings his totals to 18+21 in 54 games with well over 3 shots per game and a +16 rating. Arvidsson moved back onto the first line Saturday which helped sparked this surge. He's a clear as day hold at the moment and should be even if he eventually drops down a line. Regardless, Arvidsson is available in over 50% of leagues so do your part to fix that and pick him up. Here's what else I saw around the league this weekend:
The first few weeks of the season, Connor Hellebuyck was a polarizing figure in the fantasy hockey world. He made the Jets roster and was clearly the best goalie but Hellboy was struggling and splitting starts. Plenty of people were asking me if he was worth rostering and justifiably so. Well, things no longer look to be a mixed bag after the last week of games. Hellebuyck has won 4 straight starts allowing no more than 2 goals in a game. His best performance came last night recording a 27 save shutout at home against the Blackhawks. Hellebuyck is getting massive offensive support right now and the defense is gradually improving in front of him. At the end of the year, I believe he will finish as a top end #2 goaltender with the expectation that he will be a #1 in 2017-18 and beyond. Here's what else I saw around the league in a very busy Tuesday night slate.
It's no secret that coming into the season, I loved the best players on the Jets. While the team itself is of to a mediocre start, the forward in my top 50 that I was highest on compared to consensus was Mark Scheifele. After a monstrous second half last season, I wrote repeatedly how much I liked him for 2016-17 and dynasties going forward. It was evident looking at Fantasy Pros where I was 16 spots higher than anyone else and 19 spots above consensus, quite a margin for a player who I had ranked 32nd overall. Well, it's been a terrific start to the season for Scheifele and it continued over the weekend. On Friday, Scheifele had a goal, two assists and two shots while being +3 in the 5-3 win over Detroit. He followed that up with a goal and an assist with two shots and +1 on Sunday despite the Jets losing 5-2 to the red hot Rangers. That gives Scheifele a total of 7 goals and 7 assists in 13 games with a +5 rating, 10 PIM and almost 3 shots per game. It puts him easily in the top 20 skaters on the season in the player rater and is making me look smart! I salute you, Mr. Scheifele. With the workload that he's receiving, I have little doubt that he will produce going forward at an elite rate. Let's take a look at what else went on around the league over the weekend.
Hey guys! My top 50 rankings have taken a little longer than expected, it's getting pretty lengthy, so I will finish them up today and post them first thing on Tuesday morning. For now, I'll do the next team in my season preview series, the New York Rangers. This works out well because they won the Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes over the weekend. More on what that entails later. The Rangers are in a tough position after years of being a viable contender. They were absolutely demolished by the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs. Jeff Gorton made one trade to switch the core and with the addition of Vesey, they have a plethora of forwards with fantasy value. Defensemen, not so much, but the King stay the King. Here's a look at the Rangers roster and top 5 prospects:
Hello everyone. Today, I'm going to take a look at the top 20 overall defensemen on the season based on the ESPN player rater for the categories used in the RCL's. I decided to start with defensemen because the top 10 and 20 from the preseason were the first two articles I wrote for Razzball. You can find the top 10 here and the top 20 here if you want to have them open while you read this. While there were some surprises in the teens, the most part the rankings were very close for the most part. The top 11 overall defenseman were all in my top 17. Let's get to it!
Streamer success! Coming off his first career multi-point game on Saturday, William Nylander had the first three point game of his young career, scoring a goal and two assists with four shots in the 5-2 win over the Flames on Monday night. The Leafs fans might not be happy that the team is winning now as they are jockeying for draft position but they have to be happy with the progress their young players are showing, especially Nylander. The 19 year old is only going to get better and should go in the middle rounds next season in redrafts with the upside to be a top 100 player sooner than later. Here's what else I saw around the league on a short Monday slate:
After a hat trick over the weekend, Michael Frolik came back with another monster game on Wednesday night scoring a goal and adding two assists in the 4-1 win over the Jets. Despite this recent hot streak, I'm still leaving Frolik on the waiver wire. His numbers on the season are still pedestrian and the consistency is lacking. That said, I can guarantee you Frolik will be one of my Friday streamers (spoiler alert!) because you might as well ride the hot streak in your playoff run. Here's what else I saw around the league on Wednesday night:
Brad Marchand is really good at his job. He looks like a troll, plays like a troll by starting things while teetering on the edge of dirty and now, he’s trolling us all with his offensive prowess. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Even though the Flames offense has been prospering lately, they've done it without their number 1 center producing. Before Wednesday night, Sean Monahan had 3 points in his last 13 games. Well, he broke out of his slump and in a big way with a goal, three assists and three shots in the 4-1 win over the Hurricanes. He now has 15 goals and 18 assists through 49 games, a bit behind last year's pace. You can attribute directly to special teams points; Monahan had 21 last year while he only has 8 to date this year. If he gets going on the power play, he can push last year's 62 point total. While he hasn't taken the next step from last season, he's still only 21 years old. The sky is the limit for this kid and it would be wise to throw make some offers for him in a dynasty league if his owner isn't happy. Here's what else I saw around the league the last two nights:
Welcome to the second edition of Assume the Position. Today we’ll be looking at a few defensemen that can help you fill out your roster. There are only a few elite level defenders out there; after them, if you want to gain an advantage, you’re going to have to make some sneaky pickups along the way. In shallow leagues, you’re looking to ride the hot hand with your defensemen. Keep track of not only which players are getting the power play minutes, but of those players, who is actually producing at any given time and ride their momentum. In this type of league, most teams should be able to roster four D-men that contribute in several categories. And if you lose one to injury, your replacement will likely be a lesser version but still contribute. Going deeper, however…
As a Sabres fan, I must admit that I thoroughly enjoy seeing the Bruins struggle to start the season. It seems like so long ago that they were a defensive juggernaut shutting down all comers and making deep runs in the playoffs, including a Stanley Cup victory. In actuality, it was in 2013 that the Bruins were last in the Cup finals, a paltry two years ago. Now, their defense is an absolute trainwreck which is bad news for Tuukka Rask, who gave up 6 goals on 23 shots today against the Lightning. He's an incredible goalie but there's only so much that you can do when you're repeatedly facing great chances. If you're a Rask owner, I'd be asking around to gauge interest, not to sell very low but if someone wants Rask based on his reputation, I'd pounce.
Here was else I saw around the league on Monday:
Man, what the hell happened with Kari Lehtonen, G (W, 33 SV, 1.000%, SHO) this season? I honestly have no idea. Yes, the Stars have dealt with injuries since before the start of the season and that’s definitely hurt team chemistry. Yes, their defense is more offensively minded than they should be and when you mix that with a handful of youth on the blue line and you’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster. Yes, he sports a 31-14-10 record which is pretty stellar, but when you pair it with a 2.82 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage through 59 starts this season you’ve got yourself a recipe for a lot of disgruntled owners. Despite all that, and despite everything I’ve been saying for most of the season, Kari is getting hot at the right time and you’d do well to pick him up for the playoffs.
