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:
After some brutal injury luck, Patrik Laine was able to return for the Canadiens on Tuesday, scoring a goal in his Montreal debut. On Thursday, Laine did the same, scoring a goal on three shots in the win over the Predators. Laine has stepped into a 17 minute role right away, including top power play time. I'm not going to say it's going to be completely smooth, but Laine has undeniable upside. He's available in about 50% of leagues, which seems too high. In 10'ers, he's definitely on the fringe. In 12'ers, I lean towards holding for that goal scoring upside, but it is also fringy. It depends on the bottom of your roster and your team needs. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
It has to be a good feeling to kick your rival while they're down. This is the worst stretch that the Rangers have had in years, and the Devils caused them to have a big postgame discussion amongst the players and coaches. The Devils won 5-1 on Monday, with their best players leading the charge. Jesper Bratt had a goal and three assists, Jack Hughes had two goals and an assist with eight shots, while Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. The most encouraging from a fantasy perspective was Jacob Markstrom, who saved 38 of 39 shots. He hasn't been a world beater, but Markstrom is up to the 6th goalie overall because of the elite wins and volume. The GAA is solid as well, and there's room to grow with the save percentage. I'm bullish on both goalies going forward, but Markstrom should keep getting 2/3rds of the starts with Allen getting the leftovers. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
An injury on opening night took Macklin Celebrini out of the lineup for a while, but otherwise, his entrance in the NHL has gone swimmingly. Celebrini scored two goals and an assist with four shots, two PIM, two hits, and two blocks in over 20 minutes of ice time in the 7-2 Sharks win over the Kings on Monday. Celebrini has six goals and four assists in twelve games this season, and surprisingly, he's taking over three shots per game. I was not expecting this type of shot rate out of the gate for Celebrini, which is a game changer for his fantasy value. The plus-minus has the potential to be ugly, but you can make a good case for holding Celebrini in all formats now. Here's to hoping he can maintain this level of play over a long season. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
If you want proof that no NHL coach has job security, look at what's happened over the last week. Boston is off to a slow start but after setting records two seasons ago and winning a playoff series six months ago, nobody saw him getting fired before American Thanksgiving. However, the news broke early on Tuesday that Boston was moving on with Joe Sacco as the interim coach. Then, on Sunday, St. Louis made a quick move to hire Montgomery. You have to feel bad for Drew Bannister, who only coached 76 games with the Blues and was a shocking 39-31-6 despite a weak roster, even though he was only 9-12-1 this season.
We're just over a month into the season now, so I figured this was a good point to look at some surprises and disappointments around the NHL. I'm going to look at one player on each team that has been better or worse than we expected, looking at what has happened so far, and what to expect from them going forward. I've received plenty of questions talking about players that are struggling so I figured it was best to give longer thoughts about how panicked I am. Today, I'm going to focus on the Eastern Conference while the Western Conference will come later in the week. Let's get to it!
It's not often that a four point game goes to waste, but it happened on Tuesday night. Travis Konecny rallied the Flyers back to a 4-4 score, scoring two goals and dishing two assists, only for the Canes to score with 31 seconds left to win the game. Konecny already has 7+7 in 13 games, totals that nobody can complain with. He's playing over 20 minutes a night, giving him a great chance to set career high in goals and assists. The one concern is that he's getting destroyed at even strength, currently sitting at -9 despite all of his points. His shot rate is also fine, but not what we are accustomed to. For years, Konecny was around two shots per game, until the last three where he approached three and went well past it. Konecny has the chance to be a top 50 player this season, especially in PIM leagues, but he's going to have to get that shot rate back up. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
It's been an incredible start for the Jets, and a big part of it is that the Jets coaching staff is finally playing their elite winger on the top unit. Nikolaj Ehlers had a hat trick and an assist with five shots in the 6-2 win over Columbus, before a goal and an assist with three shots in the 7-4 win over the Lightning. Ehlers has a whopping 8-9 in 12 games, dominating at even strength with solid PPP. This is while playing with a second line center who is clearly below average. What is Winnipeg makes an upgrade on Namesnikov eventually? I don't think Ehlers needs it, but it couldn't hurt. Regardless, career highs across the board are a near-certainty, and he could even beat the paces from his 28+27 in 62 games from three seasons ago. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
It wasn't that long ago that Kyle Connor was coming off a 47 goal, 93 point season with over four shots per game. He was a borderline first round pick going into the 2022-23 season, and while he hasn't been a big disappointment, we haven't see him return to that level. It's only the first month of the season, but Connor is currently the #2 skater in fantasy behind MacKinnon. Connor had a goal and two assists, all in the first period, with four shots on goal in the 6-2 win over the Red Wings. Connor has had at least one point in every game so far this season, with a whopping 9+8 with 40 SOG in ten games. While he won't maintain this pace, the four shots per game is crucial. It will make up for inevitable shooting regression, especially for the Jets on the whole with regards to their power play. Perhaps this run, with Connor reaching 500 points in his career already, will lead him to get the credit he deserves for being one of the best offensive players in the league. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
It's not every day that we see a hat trick from a defenseman, but we got one on Tuesday night. The Kraken destroyed the Canadiens from the get go, and Brandon Montour really dug their grave. Seattle's big free agent acquisition had a natural hat trick on four shots, adding an assist and two PIM in the 8-2 beatdown. I was fairly bullish on Montour going into the season, and he's delivered nine points in ten games so far, with over three shots per game. The main reason I wasn't all in on Montour, as you can see in my preseason rankings, is that I was unsure on how Disco Dan would set everything up for Seattle. Well, Dunn ended up getting hurt right away and ended up on LTIR, alleviating any concerns. Montour should be an elite #2 in 12'ers for the time being, with the upside of being a #1. Let's take a look at what else happened over the two nights:
On Thursday, the Florida Panthers brought the Rangers back to earth with a 3-1 win in The Garden. Leading the way was Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 24 saves in the win. Bob became the 14th goalie in NHL history to win 400 games, and set the record for the fewest games to reach 400 wins in the process. Assuming health, Bob will make the top ten all-time by the end of the season, and if he plays a couple seasons after this one, he should become the fourth goalie to reach 500 wins. It hadn't been the best start to this season, but with Tkachuk back and Barkov on the way, it's only a matter of time until the Panthers get rolling again. When that happens, Bob should get back to the top ten fantasy goalie that we're used to, with the upside of being the #1 goalie. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
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.
