It was only a matter of time until Vladimir Tarasenko picked up his play. Tarasenko had four goals over the weekend, including a hat trick on Sunday, in two games against the Predators. That gives him an eight game point streak to get to 22+19 on the season. Obviously that’s still disappointing, but there’s time for him to salvage the season. Hell, the Blues are even in a playoff spot now because of how bad the Western Conference is. Look for them to make some additions at the deadline because of all of the moves they made in the summer. Missing the playoffs would be a major disappointment, and creating depth for the lineup would help things out for Tarasenko. The buy low window is probably closed but there’s a strong chance that he’s a top 30 player the rest of the way. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Game
Petr Mrazek – 27 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Rangers. Nice win by the Canes on the second of a back-to-back after the win against the Sabres. Mrazek is a desperation stream at best; he’s still below .900 on the season.
Brock McGinn – Goal and an assist. Nothing to see here.
Brett Pesce – Two assists with two shots. Very nice player in real life, doesn’t do much in fantasy.
Saturday’s Games
Patrice Bergeron – Goal and two assists with seven shots. It’s a shame that Bergeron missed over a month because he’d be well on his pace for career highs. So damn good.
Brad Marchand – Goal and an assist with two shots. Crushing across the board like usual.
Torey Krug – Two assists with two shots. The shot rate is down but Krug is destroying his previous career high in assist rate. Very good season all around.
Danton Heinen – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s been playing with Bergeron and Marchand which makes him a solid streamer by default.
Charlie McAvoy – Goal and an assist with four shots. We’re starting to see some bigger shot totals from McAvoy which is very encouraging for his future value. He’s going to be at least a #2D in fantasy at some point, be it next year or two years from now.
Linus Ullmark – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 3-1 win over the Red Wings. He’s been struggling quite a bit lately. I have him a step above desperation at the moment.
Marcus Foligno – Goal and an assist with a fight. Gordie Howe hat trick! And there’s your annual Foligno update!
Luke Kunin – Goal and an assist with four shots. Kunin has a chance to be a nice player down the line. Bottom end streamer for now.
Carl Soderberg – Goal and two assists with two PIM. Solid season by Soderberg’s standards. He’s a slightly below average streamer.
Erik Johnson – Goal and an assist with four shots. Watching the Avs, Johnson has played fairly well lately, but the offensive production hasn’t been there. I’m not using him yet but I could see him turning into a bottom end guy in standard leagues at some point before the end of the season.
Jordan Eberle – Goal and an assist with three shots. Nothing more than a bottom end streamer now.
Brock Nelson – Two assists with four shots. Four game point streak for Nelson who is a solid streamer. There’s a chance for more if the Isles add at the deadline.
Ryan Pulock – Two goals on eight shots. I went into the season expecting big things for Pulock but it hasn’t happened yet. That said, he does have seven points in his last five games. It’s decent enough across the board if you want to use him as your last D in a 12’er, but I think I’m barely passing for now.
Ryan Getzlaf – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. It’s to the point where I’d consider cutting Getzlaf (thankfully I don’t own him anywhere). If I was in a shallow league, I’d just cut bait. The team is a dumpster fire resulting in a dreadful plus-minus. Everything else is right around average or slightly better. I really don’t want to own anyone on the Ducks at the moment.
Nick Ritchie – Goal and an assist with three shots. Ritchie has taken a nice step forward this season but the team is a mess. Shockingly, he’s a plus player, so he’s an okay streamer to elite streamer if you need PIM or hits.
Sean Couturier – Goal and two assists with five shots. As expected, Couturier has really picked it up with 19 points in his last 13 games. He’s rewarding our patience.
Phil Varone – Goal and an assist. Nice for Varone to be up in the NHL after being in the A for a long time, but nothing to see here. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Michael Raffl – Goal and an assist. He was a nice streamer once upon a time, but that’s not now.
Travis Konecny – Goal and an assist. I’d slide him down to an average streamer now.
Mark Stone – Two goals on six shots. Matt Duchene scored a goal and added an assist. Things are coming down to the wire for the Senators in terms of extending either of these guys. If they don’t, they’ll get a great return back at the deadline barring a mistake.
Robert Thomas – Two assists with a shot. With the Blues getting hot, we probably won’t see a big finish for Thomas as his minutes are limited. I am all in on him for dynasties though. Upside is through the roof.
Alex Galchenyuk – Two goals and an assist with five shots. Solid streamer but he’s not doing enough to hold with that dreadful plus-minus.
Alex Goligoski – Goal and an assist with two shots. Easy pass at this point in his career.
Nick Cousins – Two assists with a shot. And there’s your annual Cousins update!
Kevin Labanc – Hat trick. He’s caught fire with ten points in the past eight games. The minutes are up and he’s getting PP time so Labanc is an elite streamer while he’s a hot schmotato.
Joe Thornton – Two assists with two shots. Thornton has little fantasy value now, but props to him for tying Gordie Howe for assists in a career. First ballot Hall of Famer.
Evander Kane – Goal and an assist with four shots. So damn good.
Tomas Hertl – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s playing at a 40+41 pace. Pretty, pretty good.
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with four PIM. Tavares is destroying everyone in his path this season.
Morgan Rielly – Two assists with a shot. Obviously Rielly wasn’t going to keep up his amazing start but he’s remained above a point per game on the season into February.
Andrew Shaw – Goal and an assist with three shots. Somehow Shaw has 26 points in 37 games. With his great PIM and passable shot rate, he’s an elite streamer.
Max Domi – Two assists with four shots. Great season across the board for Domi, although he’s slowed down quite a bit offensively. I’d prefer to sell high if you could.
Bryan Rust – Goal and an assist with five shots playing over 20 minutes. If the minutes remain this high, there’s a chance Rust can be a hold. For now, he’s an elite streamer.
Alex Killorn – Two assists with four shots and five PIM. Killorn is doing decent in every category but isn’t particularly good in any besides plus-minus. He’s a bottom end streamer in standard leagues, but a strong option in deep leagues given the lack of holes in his stat line.
Anthony Cirelli – Goal and an assist. Until he starts getting more minutes, Cirelli can’t be used in fantasy.
Keith Yandle – Goal and an assist with three shots. The plus-minus has gotten ugly but Yandle has solidified himself as a #2D once again.
Aaron Ekblad – Two assists with two shots. Still don’t know why he’s so highly owned. Wouldn’t use him in standard leagues.
Brett Connolly – Two goals and an assist with three shots and four PIM. The third line killed it in this game as Lars Eller had a goal and an assist with three shots while Andre Burakovsky had two assists with three shots. All of these guys are bottom end streamers at best. I could see Burakovsky becoming more if he’s moved at the deadline.
Elias Pettersson – Two assists with two shots. I’d probably sell high on Pettersson in redrafts, and that’s not to say I dislike him, I love the kid in dynasties. For now, he’s at two shots per game with no PIM. There’s a chance he goes a bit cold in terms of goals given the absurd shooting percentage.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and two assists with two shots. He’s continued to be excellent despite the circus around him and his potential trade deadline move.
Cam Atkinson – Two goals on six shots. Just a remarkable season from Atkinson. While it will hurt if Panarin is traded, I don’t think it will hurt too badly.
Reilly Smith – Two assists with two shots. His big season last season seems in the distant future. Smith is only a bottom end streamer right now.
Sunday’s Games
Jay Bouwmeester – Two assists with a shot. Bouwmeester is a near-zero at this point.
Ryan O’Reilly – Two assists with two shots. It’s not exciting, but RoR has provided great value as he’s remained at a point per game all season.
Ryan Ellis – Two assists. As I said last week, it’s been a steep drop from last season’s big totals, but he needs to be held in all leagues.
Roman Josi – Goal and an assist with five shots. Josi is on a massive tear right now. He’s pushing towards being a top 5 defenseman.
Ryan Johansen – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Everything remains the same for Johansen.
Viktor Arvidsson – Two goals on six shots. Good lord has Arvidsson been amazing this season while healthy.
Brad Marchand – Goal and an assist with two shots. He does it all and never goes through a slump, it’s incredible.
Jaroslav Halak – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Avalanche. Halak was awful in January but he has two strong starts in February. He’s a solid streamer in most matchups but I wouldn’t be holding him anymore.
Connor Hellebuyck – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 3-1 win over the Sabres. The numbers aren’t great but he still needs to be played in all formats. The Jets are talking about playing a tighter game so there’s plenty of upside for Hellboy.
Blake Wheeler – Goal and an assist with three shots. Wheeler has been outstanding but he can get even better going forward. He has a career low shooting percentage right now.
Mark Scheifele – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Not a great last ten games for Scheifele but he’s crushing all six categories.
Dylan Strome – Goal and two assists. Nine points in the last four games and 16 in the past 9. Needs to be owned everywhere.
Alex DeBrincat – Three assists with two shots. We’re seeing a massive breakout from DeBrincat and things could get even better down the line with more playing time.
Dominik Kahun – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Solid streamer as long as he remains with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane (1+1 each).
Nino Niederreiter – Two assists with three shots. I’m a broken record at this point but since the trade, I’ve been calling Nino a must own in all formats. Still remains true.
Nico Hischier – Three assists with two shots. He’s been playing well considering that they’ve been missing Hall. The 20 year old remains on track for stardom but he needs the shot rate to go up for that to happen in the fantasy realm.
Marcus Johansson – Two goals on five shots. Bottom end streamer.
Thomas Greiss – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 2-1 win over the Wild. Barry Trotz is a god. Both Isles goalies should be owned everywhere and played no matter who they are going against.
Nikita Kucherov – Two goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM. He moved back with Stamkos because Cooper said Kucherov was “struggling.” It shows how good Kucherov is when two points in five games is struggling. He remains the league leader in points.
Anton Stralman – Two assists with two shots. Easy pass outside of deep leagues.
Steven Stamkos – Goal and an assist with three shots. Somehow he’s a minus player which seems impossible on Tampa. Been great all season regardless.
J.T. Miller – Two assists. I was hoping for big things from Miller this season but it hasn’t happened. Middling streamer.
Brayden Point – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Point is about to get all of the monies in five months.
Chris Kreider – Two assists with a shot. Good chance for Kreider to set career highs across the board. The Rangers would get a pretty penny in return if they decide to move him with one season left on his deal.
Mats Zuccarelllo – Two assists with three shots. He’s really picked it up after a dreadful start. He’s a solid streamer which could get better after he’s moved at the deadline.
Alexandar Georgiev – 55 saves on 56 shots in the 3-1 win over the Maple Leafs. I’d say he played pretty well on his birthday. That said, Georgiev is a desperation play outside of the best of matchups, this performance notwithstanding.
That’s all for now guys. With only three games on the slate Monday, I’ll be back on Wednesday recapping action from the next two nights. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Thanks for reading, take care!
