Another big domino fell in the trade market on Thursday with Vladimir Tarasenko joining the Russian contingent in Manhattan. The Rangers also received Niko Mikkola, while giving up Sammy Blais, Hunter Skinner, a first round pick in 2023, and a conditional fourth round pick in 2024 that will almost certainly turn into a third (the Rangers need to make the playoffs for that to happen). The first round pick that the Blues get will be the lesser of the New York and Dallas first round picks. I’m a big fan of this move for the Rangers. A late round first for a quality rental is a solid price, they get to dump Blais in the deal, Skinner isn’t much of a prospect, and they get some blueline depth with Mikkola. Tarasenko gets a boost in this trade, and potentially a big one. He’ll almost certainly go on the opposite wing of Panarin, and if Zibanejad stays at center with Panarin, that’s a great spot to be in. The big question is whether Tarasenko goes on the vaunted first power play unit in Trocheck’s place. It’s a different position than he’s used to playing on the power play, but Trocheck isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire. Trocheck would be a big loser if Tarasenko does take that spot. We should get an answer on that tonight. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Quinn Hughes – Four assists with a shot and two PIM over two games. All your assists are belong to Hughes!
Brock Boeser – Goal and four assists with seven shots and two PIM. I suspected that Boeser would be the beneficiary on Vancouver from Horvat’s departure, and that has been the case. He’s firmly on the fringe now.
Elias Pettersson – Three goals and an assist with five shots over two games. I’d like to thank Pettersson for scoring three goals immediately after I went over my bold prediction of him scoring 45+ goals this season. He’s getting closer to pace now.
K’Andre Miller – Three assists. If your league has hits and blocks, Miller is a bottom end hold. Without them, he’s deep league only without PP time.
Jacob Trouba – Two assists with a shot. He seems impossible that Trouba has only 16 points in 51 games given his role. That’s some bad luck, but now, his value is only in PIM/hits/blocks.
Jake Oettinger – 38 saves on 39 shots in the 4-1 win over the Wild. Oettinger is up to the #2 goalie on the season. He’s in the top tier for this season and in dynasties.
Roope Hintz – Goal and an assist with three shots. Jason Robertson had two assists with three shots. This line is a blast to watch. Hintz is playing at a 40+50 pace per 82 games, while Robertson is on pace to lap those numbers.
Ville Husso – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 2-1 win over the Flames. After a hot start, Husso is hovering around 3 GAA and .900 sv%. He’s fine as a #3, but don’t expect more.
MacKenzie Blackwood – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 3-1 win over the Kraken. Blackwood is worth streaming in the best of matchups only. Even after this, his numbers are dreadful.
Dougie Hamilton – Two goals on five shots. Hamilton is on a massive tear right now, and we could see his shot rate take another small step forward with Jack Hughes week-to-week (Ruff did say it was on the shorter end of week-to-week). He’s playing his way into the Norris conversation.
Ondrej Palat – Two assists. Palat is on the top unit in Hughes’ absence, and is also on the first line. That makes him a solid streamer.
Carter Hart – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 2-1 SO win over the Oilers, making Stuart Skinner (35/36) the tough luck loser. Skinner is a bottom end #2 because of the solid sv%, while Hart is in the same range, although I lean more towards a #3 because of the poor wins.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 30 save shutout in the 5-0 win over the Avalanche. Nice revenge game for Tampa after losing the Cup to Colorado last year. Look for Vasilevskiy to continue to do the same thing he always does as Tampa pushes for home ice against Toronto in the first round.
Alex Killorn – Three assists. Killorn is firmly in the middling streamer range.
Brandon Hagel – Two goals and an assist with five shots. Hagel is on the fringe, although I lean elite streamer just because he’s off the top line for the moment.
Brayden Point – Goal and an assist with three shots. I feel like it is completely under the radar that Point has 32 goals already. His resurgence is massive for Tampa’s ceiling.
Anthony Cirelli – Two assists. Middling streamer.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 4-1 win over the Sharks. Bob is a #3. Whether he’s worth holding or not depends on your format.
Sam Reinhart – Two goals on seven shots. Couldn’t get me a third point!? Reinhart has been very unlucky this year so I’ve been stubborn. It’s starting to pay off so I’m still holding.
Eric Staal – Two goals on four shots. Both goals were empty netters. And there’s your annual Staal update!
Eetu Luostarinen – Two assists with a shot. Luostarinen moved up with Aleksander Barkov out of the lineup. His injury is short term, so I don’t see more than bottom end streamer for Luostarinen.
Mathew Barzal – Goal and two assists. Somebody is loving life with Bo Horvat (1+1, 4 SOG). One of the goals was on the power play, although to be fair, it was a 6 on 4 with the goalie pulled. Anyways, things couldn’t be going better for Barzal and Horvat.
Noah Dobson – Goal and an assist. Dobson hasn’t taken the step forward I hoped, but maybe Horvat’s arrival gets him going, specifically on the power play. There’s #2 upside here but he could also be a #4. Regardless, Dobson is a clear hold.
Logan Thompson – 23 saves on 24 shots before leaving the game injured in the 5-1 win over the Wild. Thompson suffered a non-contact injury which looked quite bad. He’ll have an MRI today, but if you need goalie help, grab Adin Hill immediately.
Jack Eichel – Goal and an assist with three shots. Classic Eichel goal to make the score 5-1. Sorry, I can’t help myself. Not really sorry.
Jonathan Marchessault – Two assists with two shots. Marchessault is an elite streamer, but I don’t want to hold him right now.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the action from the weekend. I haven’t talked to him yet, but I believe MarmosDad will be back on Saturday with a DFS breakdown, so be sure to check that out! As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
