The Utah Mammoth have been struggling lately, with four consecutive losses and only two wins in their last ten. They snapped that streak in a big way on Wednesday, winning 7-0 in Anaheim. Leading the charge for Utah was J.J. Peterka, their big offeseason acquisition. Peterka scored two goals and two assists with six shots. It hasn't been the best start in Utah for Peterka, who was down on the third line for a couple weeks recently. Besides the obvious of it being a big game, this was notable for Peterka for a couple reasons. One, he was on the first line with Keller and Schmaltz. That's always a help. The other big boost is that Peterka was on the first power play unit. One of his goals came with the top unit. The Utah power play has been atrocious for the last few weeks, so it wouldn't surprise me if Peterka gets an extended look there. The goals have been there, but that's because of a high shooting percentage. The assists have also dried up significantly compared to where they were in Buffalo. My hope is this boost in role can cancel out the inevitable shooting regression, which can get Peterka back into clear hold territory. For now, Peterka belongs on the fringe, although I lean towards bottom end hold for the upside. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
It was ridiculous enough that Tom Wilson set career high in both goals and assists in his 12th season in the NHL, especially after coming off a horrible 2023-24. So of course, Wilson is blowing last season out of the water so far in his age 32 season. Wilson had a goal and an assist with two shots on Friday against Toronto, before scoring two goals and an assist with three shots and two PIM against the Isles on Sunday. Wilson is somehow sitting with 15 goals already, adding 14 assists, in only 26 games. Add in 54 PIM and 69 hits already and Wilson is having a top five fantasy season for a forward as we enter December. Am I buying this? Definitely not. Guys just don't go from a 40-50 point player to 65 and then blow that 65 out of the water at age 32. However, I also wouldn't be looking to move him without getting an insane return. The PIM and hits are locks to be elite and he has turned into a good play driver. With where you drafted Wilson, you're already playing with house money, so let it ride! Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
The greatest goal scorer added himself to another list on Thursday: players who scored a hat trick at age 40 or above. He became the sixth person ever to do that, joining Jagr, Howe, Selanne, Bucyk, and... Lidstrom! You could have given me 100 guesses, and I'm sure I'd have gotten the first three, and probaly Buyck, but never Lidstrom. Anyways, Ovechkin scored only two goals in his first 12 games, but since then, he has seven in the past six. Add in three assists, and we've seen Ovechkin get back on track lately. An ugly start is now a thing of the past, and while I still think a repeat of last season is too farfetched, a monster season is possible again. MarmosDad covered the early part of the week here, so please check that out if you haven't. Now, it's time for me to recap Thursday night after a depressing Bills loss (fire McDermott!):
Sports Mount Rushmore's are always a hot topic for debate, but the more time goes on, the more I think Sidney Crosby has to be on it. Here we are one month into the season, and Crosby is carrying a horrible Penguins team to a 9-4-2 record while leading the league in goals. Crosby scored two more times on Thursday against the Capitals, putting six shots on net in over 22 minutes of ice time. He's been a top five forward to this point, and while I don't expect that to last, it's a good chance that Crosby finishes as a top 20 player again. Not bad for someone in his age 38 season. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
I’m back again this week with another Divisional Preview.
Last week, we checked in on the Atlantic Division. If you missed it, you can open that up here.
This week, we’re headed to the Big City to check out the Metropolitan Division.
Can the Capitals charge their way to another divisional title?
Is Jet Greaves going to leave Elvis Merzlikins “All Shook Up” in the Blue Jackets’ crease?
What the heck are we supposed to call Sid “The Kid” Crosby now that he’s 38 years old?!
I might not answer all of these burning questions today, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be checking out the goods in...
I'm slightly pivoting from my original plan to keep things moving. Today, I'm going to go through the forwards ranked 42-60 in full detail like I have with the first 41 forwards. Then, I'm going to have a post ranking 61-100 where I will still right more than it simply be a list, but I'm going to highlight players that I like or dislike compared to consensus, and limit what I write about players who we know who they are at this point e.g. Kopitar in his last season. If you missed the Top 40 post, you can check that out here. Let's get to it!
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:
"I really like Logan Thompson. There’s no way to bet on this, but I favor Thompson to be the #1 by the end of the season, and probably by midseason. I’m a big believer in his talent. It (drafting him) is a gamble I’d like to take." And that's me quoting me from my preseason rankings! Well, we've reached that point and then some. Thompson posted his second consecutive shutout on Thursday, beating the Sens 1-0 in OT on a Ovechkin game winner. Thompson's numbers are ludicrous. He's started 25 games and has 20 wins. His GAA is pushing towards 2.20 and his save percentage is above .920. And just like that, he's the #2 overall goalie on the season. I didn't get Thompson on every team like I hoped, but he is carrying my teams where I do since he was my third goalie drafted. The Capitals look like a powerhouse and I see no reason to expect him to fall off a cliff. Would I bet him as a top five goalie the rest of the way? Probably not. As a #1 in 12'ers? Absolutely. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
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:
It's not too often that a player scores four points in a game. It's even less often that it happens in a losing effort. On Monday, J.T. Miller scored two goals and two assists with three shots, only for the Canucks to lose to the red hot Canadiens 5-4 in overtime. The ongoing speculation around Miller and Pettersson is rampant, and you have to think it's taking a toll on both of them. Reports are that the Rangers were interested in getting him back, but it never reached the point where Zibanejad was asked to waive his no trade because the Canucks didn't want to make a move around those two. At the end of the day, it hasn't been Miller's best season, but he's sitting at a point per game. That shows how high his floor is, despite his shot rate really dropping. Perhaps we see a surge from him now that Quinn Hughes (2A, SOG) is back as well. I was asked about Miller in the comments recently, and I didn't think perception was that Miller's value is down quite a bit. I'd certainly lean towards the buy low side than trading to move Miller if I owned him. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
If the early returns are any indication, the Flyers hit a massive home run picking 7th last year. Matvei Michkov dished two assists with three shots on Tuesday, giving him a five game point streak in which he has ten points. That brings him up to a point per game on the season as a 20 year old rookie (he turned 20 two days ago). We're starting to see the shot rate tick up a bit, and if you're in a league without hits but have PIM, Michkov is a top 20 forward on the season. Now imagine when the minutes increase, the team improves around him, and he grows into a better player. I don't think there's ten players in the league with more offensive talent than Michkov, and if the shot rate continues to grow, we're looking at a fantasy superstar for years to come. Let's take a look at what else happened on Tuesday night:
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.
