During Claude Julien's tenure, his #1 goalie, usually Tuukka Rask, never played against the Sabres. My hometown team has been so bad for so long that we would get Halak, Khudobin, or whatever backup. Even with a new coach, we haven't seen Swayman once, but he had a rough outing on Tuesday night. In fact, we had a first of the season. Tage Thompson and J.J. Peterka each had a hat trick and an assist, with the duo becoming the first teammates this season to both have a hat trick in the same game. They really seem to be clicking since Jiri Kulich (assist, shot) moved onto their line at center. Thompson and Peterka each finished +6 which is remarkable. Thompson looks to be getting healthier and back to his normal self. I saw Peterka on the fringe but this heater is enough to get him back as a bottom end hold. Kulich looks like a huge dynasty value and is a solid streamer for redrafts. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
We were early on the Igor Shesterkin bandwagon when we found out in 2019 that he was going to come over to the Rangers that season. His numbers were insane in Russia and none of it looked fluky. He's been fantastic ever since, carrying flawed Rangers teams to elite levels. This season, he finally had a rough patch, although it was largely influenced by the play in front of him. The Rangers are bouncing back, and Igor is at the forefront. Shesterkin saved 33 of 34 shots in the 6-1 win over the Flyers, after having shutouts in his previous two starts. His save percentage has crossed the .915 mark now, and he's third in the league in GSAA. Hellebuyck has done enough to say that he's the top goalie in the world right now, but I'm still taking Igor second, and wouldn't be surprised to see that flip at any point soon. Given that the Rangers are in the thick of a playoff race, expect massive volume and Shesterkin to be a top five goalie the rest of the way in a worst case scenario. 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:
We keep things moving in these parts with the rest of my forward rankings. I am going to put these guys into tiers with comments on players that I think are worth discussion. For example, I'm not going to talk about Scheifele because at this point, we know he's going to be right around a point per game with his goals coming down to how effective the Winnipeg PP is. For the Top 40, you can read that here. Let's get to it!
As a change of pace from my usual daily notes, I'm going to focus on one player on each NHL team whose value has changed recently, or could as the trade deadline approaches. Let's get to it!
In his last four games, Mason McTavish has four goals and three assists. His line has dominated despite Anaheim's overall struggles. McTavish is still available in over 50% of leagues, and if anything, his minutes should increase down the stretch once Henrique is moved out. I have confidence in McTavish becoming a top 50 player sooner than later, potentially next season. For now, I would definitely own him if your league doesn't have plus-minus. If it does, he's on the fringe.
There was a lot of craziness around the NHL on President's Day, but nothing topped the game in Minnesota. At one point late in the second period, the Canucks looked in complete control up 5-2. Two minutes and seventeen seconds of game time later, Minnesota was up 6-5. And if that wasn't enough, there were still six more goals! The Wild beat the Canucks 10-7, and to wash it down, they played a paltry 6-3 game on Tuesday, a loss to the Jets. Nothing like 13-13 aggregate over two nights. On Monday, it was all of the stars for the Wild, as those four goals in a 2:17 span were all on the power play, three of which were 5 on 3. Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov had three goals and three assists... each! Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy had a goal and three assists... each! On Tuesday, Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, while Marco Rossi had two goals on five shots. Both goalies were shelled, and right now, it's hard to trust either of them. For the moment, the Wild look like a four star team, Faber is a clear hold, and Brodin is on the fringe. Rossi is a solid streamer, and gamble if you'd like on their goalies. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Fantasy Hockey Weekly Newsletter: Week 15
Hello everyone. Welcome to the fifteenth 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.
It's not too often that an NHL record that's stood for over one hundred years gets broken. That happened on Wednesday night. Despite his role shrinking, Kris Letang had the period of a lifetime. Letang dished five assists in the second period in a seven minute span, becoming the first defenseman in NHL history to record five assists in a period. He finished the game with six assists, all at even strength to give him a +6 rating in the 7-0 win over the Islanders. Even with this game, Letang is far from the defenseman he used to be, partially due to age, and partially due to the arrival of Karlsson. He's under two shots per game, and has only three goals as a result. However, the assists are still very good, the hits and blocks are solid, and the PIM are much higher than they've been. He's the perfect #3/4 defenseman on most teams since he's hitting most of the categories and piling up assists.
To change up from my usual daily notes, I'll be looking at one player on each NHL team today. All of them had a change in value recently, and I'll look at how they're doing it and what it says about them going forward. Let's get to it!
Anaheim is in dire straits right now. It's no surprise that they plummeted down the standings after a hot start. The good news is that Mason McTavish should be back any game now (Zegras sooner than later). McTavish is the only Duck that I consider a definite hold when healthy. He's been dropped in a few places because he was never put on IR, but if you're in one of those leagues, I'd grab him.
We know that Jack Hughes has dominated the first three weeks of the season, but his older brother has started off extremely well, while his teammate and younger brother is starting to get going as well. Let's start with Quinn Hughes. On Friday, Hughes scored two goals on four shots, adding two PIM. Against the Rangers, he had three shots on goal, which sounds disappointing, but it illustrates a large change in Quinn's game. The one thing that has been holding Quinn back for years in terms of fantasy value is his shot rate. This was his sixth straight game with 3+ shots, and 7th in eight total games. It signifies a huge chance in his game, one that does fantasy owners wonders. He has eight points in eight games and certainly can come close to repeating last season's 76 points in 78 games, if not topping it. He was always an elite #2 with flaws, but now, he's a #1. Sure, the hits are dreadful, but everything else is magical.
You guys know I like to start my posts about players who could be available in a large percentage of leagues that you can target on the waiver wire. After all, being aggressive at the bottom of your roster is a huge factor in fantasy hockey. However, sometimes a player has a weekend so good that you have to give him his due. This time, that player is Auston Matthews. Matthews scored three goals on Saturday, recording his second hat trick in as many games. Look, everybody knows the upside. We're talking about a guy who scored 60 goals two seasons ago on his way to the Hart trophy. He's obviously in that tier right behind McDavid, and the only reason I had him towards the bottom of the tier is that he tends to miss 10-15 games a season. If Matthews can play 75+ games, a repeat of 60 goals is well within reason. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Hello everyone. Welcome to the first edition of JOT This Down!
For those who do not know me, my name is Julian Tarevski (Jules) and I am a fantasy sports content contributor from London, Ontario. (I may be an Ontarian but please do not assume I am a Maple Leafs fan.) I will be here every week with a newsletter, think of it like a message to start your Monday and help you prepare for your weekly matchup. I will cover notable line changes, guys who jumped up on the top powerplay unit, category fillers to watch, and sleepers to stream with favorable schedules.
