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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.
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:
Out of the top ranked goalies in the preseason, only Hellebuyck has played at an elite level.  This is a big reason why I don't take goalies in the first two rounds, if not longer, because the variance is too high.  My #1 goalie going into the season was Jake Oettinger.  He didn't play well in the first half and also missed time due to injury.  The All-Star break proved to be a good reset, as Oettinger was out of his mind on Tuesday.  Oettinger made 47 saves in the 2-1 win over the Sabres, stealing the game for the Stars.  After tomorrow, there's only two back-to-backs in the next four weeks for the Stars.  We should see Oettinger get plenty of action, and I'd bet on him finishing the season strong.  I don't do midseason rankings because I don't see a lot of value for the time it takes.  You have the team you have, and if you are making trades, you need to target your weaknesses to improve.  That said, if I was ranking for the rest of the season, Oettinger would still be a top five goalie.  I'm not betting against him.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Fantasy Hockey Weekly Newsletter: Week 17 Hello everyone. Welcome to the seventeenth 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. The schedule is quite wonky this week. Multiple teams only play 1 or two games and the Sharks do not have a game. After this week, the schedule goes back to normal for a while. Keep tabs on your rosters as there will be many off days, and decisions will need to be made regarding whether or not to hang on to fringe players.
It's been a disastrous season for the Wild, and it's hard to imagine them digging out of this hole.  Monday was a lone bright spot, both for the team and their oldest player.  The Wild beat the Islanders 5-0, with Marc-Andre Fleury posting a 21 save shutout.  The win gave Fleury the second most wins in NHL history, passing Patrick Roy.  It's been a very up and down career for Fleury.  He was incredible in the 2008 playoffs getting Pittsburgh to the finals.  His most iconic moment clinched the Cup the year after.  There were a handful of years right after that where his poor play was the reason the Penguins were eliminated early in the playoffs.  They won a Stanley Cup with him as the backup.  He also saved them the next year when Murray struggled early in the playoffs to lead Pittsburgh to back-to-back cups.  He carried Vegas to the Cup finals in their inaugural season.  That's how I'm going to remember MAF.  There were too many down years for him to be in that inner circle of all-time goalies, and his best generally wasn't among the current elite, as evidenced by him being a Vezina finalist once in 20 seasons.  However, when he was at his best, it was incredible to watch, and that will put him in the Hockey Hall of Fame sooner than later.  For this season, Gustavsson is back, so I expect them to split the games fairly evenly.  He's a streamer in good matchups for now, but like most goalies, MAF can turn into a hold sooner than later, or be complete unusable.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
For most of last season, Zach Hyman led the league in expected goals.  By the end of the season, he had a career high with 36 goals, but didn't even sniff the league lead.  This season, he's starting to finish at an elite level, resulting in him pushing towards the league lead in goals.  Hyman had a hat trick on eight shots on Saturday, carrying the Oilers to a 3-1 win over the Senators.  That gives Hyman 25 goals on the season to go along with 15 assists, a +13 rating, 32 PIM, and almost four shots on goal per game.  He's been a top ten forward so far, and while I expect a bit of a drop off in the second half, I don't see much of one coming.  That's how good Hyman has been.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend: