Hello everyone. Welcome to the twenty-fourth edition of JOT This Down!
This will be the final edition of the year. Thanks to everyone who read along all season. Best of luck as you close out your seasons, hopefully I was able to help some of you bring home a title!
Week 24 (March 25th-31st)
*Vancouver plays 2 games on light days (Monday and Sunday.)
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:
If you’re new to this column or have no idea what the Friday/Sunday split is, it’s a simple yet effective way to maximize your weekly output no matter the format of your league. Typically — and it’s not always the case — heavy game loads are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, whereas Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays are lighter. Streaming players on those lighter days is almost a necessity to ensure you’re getting the most of each week, but this column focuses on just Fridays and Sundays. Reason being is that you get more bang for your waiver add buck in picking up a guy who will play those two days and will almost always be able to slot into your starting lineup without having to sacrifice someone else to the bench.
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.
We're very close to the All-Star break with most teams starting their extended break on Sunday. If you look at defensemen production, specifically in goals, you see notable names at the top. Dahlin leads defensemen in goals, and then there's a four way tie behind him with notables like Makar and Hughes. None of that is a surprise. Weegar is one of those tied with Makar and Hughes, which is very surprising, but he went into the season locked into a big role, so let's assume he had some good fortune. But Thomas Harley? He's a player I really liked in dynasties, but to be one goal off the league lead for defensemen? Not even close to my radar. Harley scored two goals on Saturday, including the overtime winner for a second straight game, in the 5-4 win over the Capitals. That gives Harley a whopping 12 goals in 46 games. "Even with Heiskanen back, Harley was a factor. I’m still holding Harley even though I wasn’t expecting to when Heiskanen came back. He’s been that good for the Stars." And that's me quoting me from three days ago copying what Grey does! Somehow, Harley is still available in almost two-thirds of fantasy leagues. With the pool of defensemen dropping off hard at the bottom, Harley should be owned in all formats. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Last season, Alex Lyon saved Florida by getting them into the playoffs until Bob returned from injury. While I'm not predicting a Stanley Cup run from the Red Wings, Lyon has saved somebody for the second straight season. The Red Wings were in a massive downward spiral, and Lyon has stepped in to get them back into the playoff picture. Lyon had a 30 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Flyers on Thursday. He's won 12 of his 19 starts, and is currently sitting at a .920 save percentage. So why is he available in 70% of leagues? He's clearly a #2 goalie in 12'ers at the very least, and I'd argue that he's near the top end of #2's right now. If you need goaltending help and Lyon is available, consider it your lucky day and pick him up. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Before we start, I just wanted to highlight two posts that came out on Monday much later than scheduled because of technical difficulties with the website. Jules' weekly streaming post can be read here, while I also updated my hold/stream list. Now back to the scheduled daily notes...
It looks worse because of their record, but in reality, Carolina is playing very close to the same level as last season. The difference is that their goaltending has been dreadful for the better part of three months, and that's from all three goalies. Thankfully, when they needed it most as Andersen was out with blood clots and Raanta completely lost his game, Pyotr Kochetkov has rounded back into form. On Tuesday, Kochetkov saved 28 of 29 shots in the Carolina 6-1 win over the Rangers. Going back to Kochetkov's last ten starts, he's allowed only one goal five times, and has only one game allowing more than three. Kochetkov has a 2.00 GAA in that stretch so it's no surprise to see Carolina back in second place in the division. There's a very reasonable chance they finish atop the division again. Kochetkov is still owned in less than 50% of leagues, and that doesn't make any sense to me. He's a top five goalie for the last month and should be owned in all leagues. Let's take a look at what else happened on Tuesday night:
It's been a painful 13 years as a Sabres fan, but Tuesday's game might have been the worst. There were tanking years, there were disappointing years, but for as bad as it's been, there can't be a worse loss than giving up nine goals at home to one of the worst teams in the league missing two of their best players. "Kirill Marchenko is a lone bright spot lately. I’m not holding, but the minutes are going up, the goals and shots are decent enough, and he currently is a key figure on their PP. He’s a solid streamer." And that's me quoting me from yesterday! Well, it's time to give Marchenko a boost. Marchenko had a natural hat trick in this game. One of his goals was on the power play, he put four shots on goal, and he played 15 minutes despite the game being a blow out. Marchenko is now an elite streamer. Let's take a look at what else happened on Tuesday night:
We had a game of the year performance on Monday night by Connor Hellebuyck. Hellebuyck saved 50 of 51 shots in the 4-1 win over the Rangers, ending their winning streak. One of my best rankings this season over ADP was banking on Hellebuyck to bounce back after last season's disaster. I even said in my bold prediction that he'd win the Vezina, which Ullmark will probably ruin, but his season has certainly been Vezina worthy. But enough of patting myself on the back. Hellebuyck is sitting with a 2.39/.926, putting him in a battle with Oettinger for the #2 overall goalie to this point (the gap to #4 is massive). He's as good of a bet as any to finish the best goalie for the rest of the season considering the top end volume. Bottom line, Hellebuyck is entering his prime now and since he gets to play in a Bowness system, he should stay in tier one for the indefinite future. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
The Flames are playing incredible hockey at the moment as they make their way up the standings. The top line gets a ton of credit, but the second line has been just as important. They've thoroughly dominated for months generating absurd shot rates and possession. This continued the last two nights as Calgary blew out Vegas and Toronto back to back. Mikael Backlund led the way with six points between the two games, scoring a goal and three assists against Vegas, then following it up with two more assists against the Leafs. Andrew Mangiapane scored three goals over the two games, while Blake Coleman dished two assists. It might be a stretch, but I have them all as elite streamers right now. I'd rank them Mangiapane, Coleman, Backlund depending on your league format, but the work they're doing against top lines is more valuable in real life than fantasy. Still, if they keep getting over 80 shots per 60 minutes as a line, which they've done for over a month, there will be plenty of fantasy value. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Columbus was in an absolutely miserable spot on Tuesday. They were missing their #1 goalie, their best defenseman, arguably their second best defenseman, and one of their hottest forwards. Their backup goalie was playing his first game in three weeks, and they were facing the healthiest version of Tampa that we've seen in months. Needless to say, it did not go well. Tampa was in control from the very beginning and won 7-2, led by Ondrej Palat and Brayden Point. Palat scored two goals and an assist with four shots, while Point had a goal and two assists with two shots. These two haven't spent too much time together this season as Palat has been with Stamkos for the vast majority. They didn't miss a step from playing together in the past. Point is a fringe top 20 player while Palat is solidified himself as a hold again. If he's available, grab him now, because I have no doubt that Palat will be a no brainer hold once Nikita Kucherov comes back, which should be in a couple weeks. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
In Ilya Sorokin's first two starts, he allowed ten goals. In the next seven, he's allowed eight total. Sorokin kept up his hot streak with a 24 save shutout against the Jets on Saturday. Semyon Varlamov is back for the Islanders, but for now, Sorokin is getting all of the volume. I had him pegged as a great platoon guy this year who ideally was your #3, but would be fine as a #2. Now, it would be terrific if Sorokin is your #2 because he could easily end up being a top 10 goalie even without much volume. The GAA and save percentage look to be elite while the wins on a per-game basis should be as well. Long term, Sorokin looks like a top five goalie. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
