Reid and I talked about John Tavares extensively on Tuesday’s podcast. We both saw him as a viable option for The Three Point Challenge but decided to go elsewhere since it’s rare for someone to post consecutive three point games. Well, Tavares shoved it up both of our you-know-wheres! He scored a hat trick and added an assist in the 5-3 win over the Coyotes. All of a sudden, a slow start (3 points in 7 games) has been erased with Tavares at 10 points in 9 games. This is why we wait at least a month before we panic about players, especially studs like Tavares. Look for him to be his usual self going forward, which means being a top 20 forward. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Martin Jones – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 4-1 win over the Rangers. This trip to the East has done wonders getting Jones back on track; he now has 4 straight wins allowing 5 goals total in those games.
Logan Couture – Goal and an assist with three shots. Couture is playing like he did during the Sharks’ Cup run in 2015-16. It’s scary to think what he’d do if he actually had quality wingers on his line.
Mika Zibanejad – Goal on six shots. Amidst a horrible start for the Rangers (talked about on the podcast), Zibanejad has been a lone bright spot.
Frederik Andersen – 36 saves on 38 shots in the 3-2 win over the Kings. Right now, it’s all wins for Andersen and a negative impact in the ratios. He’s certainly capable of better but are the Leafs going to play in a style conducive to Andersen turning it around? I’m starting to have my doubts.
Mitch Marner – Two assists with a shot. He has 6 points in 9 games but I have some actual concern with Marner. He played only 12 minutes in this game playing on the fourth line. That’s not going to get it done long term. I assume that it’s not going to last but it’s infuriating.
Trevor Lewis – Goal and an assist with four shots over two games. And there’s your biannual Trevor Lewis update!
Adrian Kempe – Two goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM. Now we’re talking! I wish the minutes were higher but Kempe is still a top end streamer with upside for more if he starts pushing into the 17-18 minute range.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 5-1 win over the Hurricanes. Doesn’t get any better than Vasilevskiy at the moment.
Steven Stamkos – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. All your assists are belong to Stamkos! 17 assists and 20 points in 10 games, are you kidding me!?
Tyler Johnson – Goal and an assist with two shots. Solid streamer but not enough there to warrant holding Johnson. Get your mind out of the gutter!
Clayton Keller – Two assists with four shots. He’s a brutal -8 but with 6+4 in 9 games and almost four shots per game, I don’t think anyone can be upset. Kid is the real deal.
Adam Pelech – Three assists with a shot and two PIM. Pelech is so relevant in fantasy hockey that I have never written about him before! Congrats to Pelech for making it, his greatest achievement yet.
Jordan Eberle – Two assists with two shots. Very slow start for Eberle on the Island as he still looks for his first goal. I’m still holding though because at least assists are coming in. With Tavares in his current form, good things are coming.
Brandon Montour – Goal on two shots. I had a lot of people ask about the Ducks blueline situation so here you go. Montour is a must-own now in 10’ers and deeper as long as he’s on the first power play unit. He’s the clear choice of the guys who are left.
Ryan Getzlaf – Goal and an assist with two PIM. The floor is incredibly high for Getzlaf playing over 22 minutes per game. He’ll stumble into 60 points and probably push into the 70’s.
Ondrej Kase – Two goals on three shots with two PIM. Kase is off to a hot start with five points in five games and is a player I like quite a bit in real life. However, the minutes and power play time aren’t there so leave him on the waiver wire.
Sean Couturier – Two goals on five shots. It’s weird to see Couturier be counted on offensively but as long as he’s in this role, he’s must own.
Jakub Voracek – Two assists with six shots. If you had Voracek with 0 goals and 12 assists through 9 games, congrats! You are the winner and also a liar.
Oscar Klefbom – Assist with three shots. He’s started poorly but I’d try to buy low on Klefbom (and most of the Oilers for that matter).
Matt Murray – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Oilers. Murray has posted the early candidate for save of the year
Murray save pic.twitter.com/Vdppv24l43
— steph (@myregularface) October 25, 2017
Sweet baby Jesus.
Robin Lehner – 32 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Red Wings. That should stop people from panicking about Lehner for about a week. He was excellent in this game and I have faith in him going forward.
Carey Price – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 5-1 win over the Panthers. It looked like the Canadiens were going to be shut down again but out of nowhere they ripped off 3 goals in just over 1:30 to snap their losing streak. As discussed in previous posts, I’m still not worried about Price in terms of ratios, just wins.
Shea Weber – Two goals on seven shots. Awful start for Weber outside of shots having 0 PIM, a -5 rating and only 1 assist. He’s a player I never own because of name value and it’s only going to get worse.
Brendan Gallagher – Goal and an assist with four shots. I still like Gallagher a ton but he’s fringe right now until the minutes increase.
Jonathan Drouin – Two assists with three shots. Drouin is maybe the only Canadien who has lived up to expectations at this point.
Dougie Hamilton – Two assists with two shots. Hamilton hasn’t been great in any category but he’s plus everywhere. This is why you took him as a bottom end #1D; the safety across the board.
Roman Josi – Goal and an assist with four shots. Excellent start for Josi with 2+3 in 6 games with 6 PIM and over 4 shots per game. I think we see 2015-16 Josi this year instead of 2016-17 Josi.
Anders Nilsson – 29 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Wild. The Canucks have been a massive surprise mostly because of solid goaltending. Nilsson had one horrible game but has shutouts in the other two. It’s up to you if you want to take the gamble when he gets the nod.
Devan Dubnyk – 24 saves on 25 shots as the tough look loser. If you can buy low on Dubnyk, do it. The Wild are going to turn things around and Dubnyk will be the center of it.
Jamie Benn – Goal and two assists with three shots and two PIM. Benn is rolling now with a goal in five of the last six games. Shoutout to Saints for being the first person to hit The Three Point Challenge!
Tyler Seguin – Two assists with three shots. Over a point per game, over five shots per game. Things are going well for Seguin.
John Klingberg – Goal and an assist with five shots. The bounce back is real for Klingberg with 9 in 9. Now chip in some PIM’s and you’ll be plus in every category.
Matt Nieto – Hat trick. And the early front runner for most random hat trick goes to Matt Nieto! Decent player in real life for the bottom six but nothing here for fantasy despite the hat trick.
Blake Comeau – Three assists with three shots. Nothing to see here either.
Gabriel Landeskog – Goal and an assist with five shots. The Kog is a bottom end hold right now, mostly due to his shot rate.
Oscar Dansk – 29 saves on 31 shots in the 4-2 win over Chicago. Nothing makes sense any more. Vegas being 7-1 is simply remarkable. I’m still passing on their goaltending situation but if you want to cross your fingers and pray for the best, feel free to grab Dansk.
Wednesday Streamers:
There are only two games on Wednesday so options are limited. Calgary and Buffalo are both on the road in the second of a back to back coming off wins so it’s a nice spot for Blues and Blue Jacket players. Oliver Bjorkstrand stands out for my normal criteria of under 20% ownership. Boone Jenner would marginally be a better choice if he’s available. Vladimir Sobotka would be my next choice.
Thursday Streamers:
Pavel Buchnevich (4.3%) – It hasn’t been a great start for The Butcher but I’ll take my chances with him against the Desert Dogs.
Elias Lindholm (10.2%) – The minutes are massive and the Leafs have been allowing (and scoring) all of the goals.
Ondrej Kase (0.9%) – I like Kase plenty for real life but normally he doesn’t get the minutes to be fantasy relevant. Well, he played on the first power play unit last game which is enough for me to give him a chance.
Ondrej Pavelec is starting tonight against Arizona which puts him in play but it’s a big risk because he’s, well, bad. I’d rather go with Michal Neuvirth against the Sens.
That’s all for now guys. With only two games on the slate, my next set of daily notes will go up on Friday. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Thanks for reading, take care!
