Hey everyone! Last year's trade deadline post was a hit so I'm back updating all of the latest trades and providing instant analysis. Reid will also be giving his thoughts as well that I will add into this post with mine. An hour or so after the deadline, we will record a podcast that will go up Thursday morning recapping everything in more detail. Anyways, I'll recap everything that happened before 1 AM EST now and starting around 10-11 AM later today, I will start updating this post as trades happen. As always, post any questions or comments in the section below or we will answer them. Let's get to it!
P.A. Parenteau
Off The Schneider
December 23, 2016 | 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, Streamers | 29 Commentsby: Viz
Cory Schneider has been a mainstay among the top of goaltending rankings for the past few years in fantasy hockey. To say this year has been a disappointment to this point would be quite the understatement. The good thing is that there's plenty of time for him to turn the tide. Schneider had his first shutout of the season on Thursday making 16 saves in the 4-0 win over the Flyers. Yes, it was a great spot for the Devils but regardless, they took it to the Flyers and Schneider stepped up when called upon. I would ask Schneider's owner about a trade and see if you can buy low on him. He's established himself as a true #1 fantasy goalie for years and I think he plays that way the rest of the season. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two days:
Budaj Brings His Best
December 19, 2016 | 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, Streamers | 2 Commentsby: Viz
I certainly didn't think I'd be writing about Peter Budaj at any point this year. After all, he played in a whopping one game over the past two seasons combined. Alas, we're here in December with Budaj being a major talking point of the NHL season. After Jonathan Quick went down, the expectation was that offseason signing Jeff Zatkoff would get the majority of the starts but when he went down as well, Budaj stepped in and has kept the job. He had arguably his best two performances over the weekend. Budaj posted a 39 save shutout in the 1-0 OT win over the Penguins before making 29 saves on 30 shots in the 1-0 loss in Boston. Budaj is currently #12 in the ESPN player rater among goalies making him a bottom end #1 or elite #2. With the news that Quick is going to be out until at least March, it's Budaj's job going forward. Despite that, Budaj is still available in over 40% of leagues. Can I explain it? No, not one bit. If you don't already own him and he's available in your league, grab Budaj. Let's take a look at everything that happened around the league the last three nights:
Domi So Fine You Blow My Mind!
November 9, 2016 | 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, Streamers | 34 Commentsby: Viz
There are probably a dozen different players who I could give this lede to. There were a bunch of people who hit the 3 point challenge, my love affair for the Jetse guys is paying off and there were also some shutouts. I decided to take a look at somebody who generates some talk in the comments, Max Domi. Domi finally broke and in a big way with a goal and two assists and two shots. It was shockingly his first goal of the season but he now has 9 assists in 12 games, including 8 in the last 8 games. The shots have slightly increased, not as much as I hoped, but with almost a penalty minute per game as well, he's easily a top 100 player at this point. Domi's minutes are a bit inconsistent but with how thin the Coyotes roster, I expect them to go up as the season progresses. Let's take a look at what else happened around the league the last two nights.
Dubnyk Doing the Shutout Dance! Three Times!
October 31, 2016 | 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 22 Commentsby: Viz
I said on Friday that I don't like leading off with the same person back to back, let alone the same month. Well, Devan Dubnyk deserves to be the lede again with his third consecutive shutout on Saturday stopping all 29 shots against the Stars. For those of you who own Dubnyk in weekly head to head leagues, congrats on winning the goaltending categories this week! Three starts, three shutouts for my most frequently owned goaltender, go me! In the big picture, this doesn't really change things for me; Dubnyk is a #1 goalie and will continue to be so. While it matters less in fantasy hockey (it still has an impact for streaming and matchups), this shows me that the Wild are for real this season. I harped on it in the preseason and on the podcasts (mostly the over-under) but Bruce Boudreau does amazing things for hockey teams. I'm sure we'll be talking about it on Tuesday's podcast. Anyways, let's take a look at everything that happened around the league this weekend.
He’s PerrOn Fire!
October 24, 2016 | 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, Streamers | 35 Commentsby: Viz
It hasn't even been two weeks since the regular season started and the hat tricks are already piling up! On Saturday, we had our most recent hat trick in Calgary as new Blue David Perron scored a hat trick on six shots and added an assist in the 6-4 win for St. Louis. Ken Hitchcock shuffled the lines before the game and the biggest beneficiary was Perron getting to play with Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz. Obviously it worked out better than anyone could have imagined. Perron was horrible to start last season in Pittsburgh but took off in Anaheim so there is fantasy potential here. For now, if I had room, I would grab Perron just to be able to stream him on Tuesday to see what happens. The Blues play the Flames again who are a complete dumpster fire defensively at the moment so it's an excellent spot for Perron to produce and there's a chance he turns into a hold. Let's take a look at what else happened around the NHL this weekend:
Panic for Panik
October 17, 2016 | 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, Streamers | 36 Commentsby: Viz
In my season preview for the Chicago Blackhawks, I projected that Richard Panik would be the new player that slides into the Blackhawks' top 6. "Panik should get a chance in the top 6 because quite frankly, the Blackhawks don’t have anybody else. He could be a decent streamer but I can’t expect anything more from the 25 year old." And that's me quoting me doing what Grey does! In the long term for the season, I still think that'll be the case, but for now, Panik is must-own. After scoring in the season opener, Panik had an assist on Friday and came back with a hat trick on four shots on Saturday, both against the Predators. He's getting power play time right now and with 5 points in 3 games, Panik should be held for the time being as he rides the hot streak. Here's what else I saw this weekend around the NHL:
Auston Powers
October 14, 2016 | 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 55 Commentsby: Viz
When players get interviewed before their first game, they always give the same boring mundane answers. "I'm focused on keeping things simple out there." "I'm just going to play my game," etc. They dream of scoring a goal in their first game. Well, Auston Matthews did just that in his first game. And then he did it again. And again, and again. The first overall pick from this year's draft became the first player in NHL history to score 4 goals in his debut, doing so on 6 shots playing 17:37 against the Senators. And the Leafs still lost! Man, they are horrible. Everyone is going to overreact to this game so I'll be the one to say that you need to lower expectations. Yes, there will be flashes from Matthews but like any rookie, consistency will come and go. He also won't get to play a team as hopeless defensively as the Senators are again any time soon. There's no doubting that Matthews will be a superstar but in the fantasy realm that we live in, don't think he's going to be a top 50 player this season or anything outlandish after one game. Here's what else happened around the league in the first two nights of the season:
Opening Night! Streaming Strategy, Daily Notes and More!
October 12, 2016 | 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, Streamers | 27 Commentsby: Viz
We’ve made it! There’s four games on the slate tonight, all of which are rivalry games. And I don’t mean fake rivalries that NBCSN uses every Wednesday! I’m going to look at a few different things in this post. Please, blog, may I have some more?
What Was Viz Thinking During RCL 1’s Draft?
October 4, 2016 | 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey, Razzball Commenter Leagues | 4 Commentsby: Viz
Hey guys. I'll be recording with Reid later today and I already have talked to Matt as well so look for a podcast to drop Wednesday morning. For now, I'm going to walk through, pick by pick, my thought process during my first RCL. I was "lucky" enough to pick 1st, which will makes things easier for this exercise since I can talk about two picks at once. To make it easier to follow along, the draft recap can be found here. Also, there's still over one week under the season starts so please create or join a league here. Let's get to it!
2016-17 Fantasy Hockey Top 200
September 23, 2016 | 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey, 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey Rankings | 6 Commentsby: Viz
We are through 149 players in my rankings; I can't believe there's still 101 players to go! Thanks to a commenter, I realized that I had Tyler Toffoli ranked twice. I'm only human! Anyways, things are already getting thin at this point in drafts. There will be some guys who are here for their safety but I'm deferring to players with upside at this point in the draft. Locking in 45-50 points is fine and dandy but I'd rather shoot the moon and work the waiver wire during the season. Let's take a look at the best players who make up the second half of standard drafts:
2016-17 Season Preview: New York Islanders
August 19, 2016 | 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey, 2016-17 Season Preview |by: Viz
For the first time in 23 seasons, the New York Islanders won a playoff series, building momentum in their first year in Brooklyn. Free agency was not kind to the Islanders as they lost two of their best players from the past few seasons, Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen. In comes Andrew Ladd to play on the first line and the expectation is that their young trio of first round picks take the next step (or first step) in their games to fill the void. There's more pressure on the team to succeed than there has been in decades so let's take a look at how the team is shaping up.
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