That Little Devil, Arseny, Is On Fire!

Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!

We had some red-hot NHL action last night with 10 games on the schedule!

But no one was hotter than that little devil, Arseny Gritsyuk: 1 G (7), 2 A (9), +3, 3 SOG.

The New Jersey rookie is still getting bottom-six minutes (14:33 TOI) and PP2 time (2:19), but he’s making the most of his limited action. The three-point night pushes his first-year total to 16 PTS in 30 GP and puts him on pace to record a respectable 50 points by the time April rolls around.

Arseny was certainly on fire last night, but with a deep forward group ahead of him on the depth chart, Gritsyuk is going to have to add another couple of points on that 9.7 shooting percentage to get an increase in playing time. 

If he can consistently put up more nights like this one, and one of New Jersey’s Top 6 forwards has a setback, get ready to pounce on the 24-year-old Russian in those deeper leagues if you need some scoring help.

Was that the only Devil to bring the heat last night? Did we have any other players setting the fantasy hockey world on fire?

Here’s what else I saw in Tuesday night’s NHL action…

Ilya Sorokin – 32 saves on 36 shots in the 5-4 SO win vs Vegas. Last week’s NHL player of the week shuffled into this one with 3 straight wins, 4 GA, and 97 saves on 101 shots. 

Bo Horvat – 2 G (19), -2, 2 PIM, 5 SOG, 1 PPG, 1 H, 22:19 TOI. I don’t know how many of you are old enough to remember the old Nike commercial, but I’m going to tell you that Wayne Gretzky was wrong. 

Bo knows hockey. And Hockey Canada knows they could do worse than having a guy with a 17.1 shooting percentage wear the red maple leaf at the Olympics in February 2026. Bo Horvat has been a beast.

Matthew Schaefer – 1 A (14), -1, 4 SOG and 28:14 TOI. It feels like I say this to Viz each week, but, again, this kid could put up zero points, and I’d still want to write him up. I watched the first period of this game while I was waiting for the B’s and Blues to start at 8:00 EST. If you haven’t watched the Islanders yet this year, do yourself a favor and tune in soon. You’ll get a front row seat to one of the best defensemen shows in the league. Seriously. The 18-year-old Schaefer skates like the wind and is a wizard in the offensive zone. I was almost embarrassed when I thought one of his one-man rushes looked like an old Bobby Orr clip, until I heard the intermission team say the same thing. He’s a stud.

Carter Hart – 23 saves on 27 shots in the OT loss. 

Mitch Marner – 1 G (6), 1 A (23), +1, 2 PIM, 5 SOG, 1 BLK. You think the Leafs could use this guy? I know it’s easy to rip on Toronto, and I know it was time for Marner to move on, but it still has to sting watching the guy click as he has in Vegas. 

Mark Stone and Jack Eichel – 2 A (18 for Stone; 26 for Eichel). I don’t know what’s more impressive, Eichel’s 38 points in 29 games, or Stone’s 22 points in 13 games. What happens in Vegas definitely does not stay in Vegas with these guys.

Dan Vladar – 17 saves on 18 shots and the 4-1 win vs San Jose. Oh, you don’t think Darth Vladar can lead the Flyers to a playoff spot? I find your lack of faith disturbing.

Christian Dvorak – 1 G (7), 1 A (12), +1, 4 SOG, 1 BLK.

Travis Konecny – 1 G (8), 1 A (17), +1, 2 PIM, 2 SOG, 17:26 TOI. 

Alex Nedeljkovic – 26 saves on 29 shots and the loss. The only thing tougher than his 4-6-1 record is trying to spell his last name without checking it four times.

Collin Graf – 1 G (5), 3 SOG, 1 H. Get out your rulers and pencils. We need to put some effort into this Graf. Hey, at least it’s better than a tennis joke.

Jonas Johansson – 26 saves on 27 shots and the win (6) at MTL. After two tough losses, with one goal allowed in each, Johansson’s team gave him plenty of support in this one. 

Nikita Kucherov – 1 G (13), 1 A (23), +3, 2 PIM, 2 SOG, 1 BLK. A much less exciting game than when he was our lede a couple of weeks ago, but a much better showing than the goose-egg he put up in Toronto on Monday night.

Brayden Point – 1 G (4), 1 A (9), +2, 2 SOG, 1 PPA. There’s been a shortage of…uh…points from Brayden this year as he’s well off his usual point-per-game pace. There’s still time for him to turn it around, but I’d be taking a guy like Bo Horvat or even Morgan Geekie if I were putting together Team Canada’s roster based on what we’ve seen so far.

Darren Raddysh – 2 G (5), +3, 3 SOG, 1 PPG, 3 H, 1 BLK. Victor Hedman is back, but someone forgot to tell Raddysh that he’s a drop. I’d still be holding in those deeper leagues, but the points could dry up as early as Christmas.

Jakub Dobes – 12 saves on 15 shots, then lifted for Sam Montembeault – 10 saves on 13 shots. The Habs are a solid, young team with some serious building blocks. That said, the Montembeault inclusion on Team Canada’s Four Nations team last year looks even more like a silly call now. Viz mentioned it yesterday, and I’ll paraphrase here today. Logan Thompson should’ve been on that team and should be a clear-cut add to the squad in February.

Oliver Kapanen – 1 G (9), -2, 3 SOG, 1 BLK, and 16:24 TOI. I pulled this kid’s card in my NHL25 HUT team last week. Let’s just say he can score a ton of goals…if you’re on the rookie or semi-pro setting vs the computer.

Ivan Demidov – 1 A (17), -3, 1 SOG, in 15:48 TOI. I’m still in on the Demi-dog no matter what, but despite extending his point streak to 4 games, his +/- dumps below zero on the year (-1) if that plays in your league.

Nick Suzuki – 1 A (25), -2, 4 SOG, 1 H, 19:45 TOI. I was surprised to see Suzuki has just 8 goals on the year, but the assist total makes up for the lack of punch in points leagues. He’s a must-start every game.

Ville Husso – 44 saves on 47 shots and the 4-3 OT win. It would’ve been a shame if Husso faced almost 50 shots and didn’t end up with the dub. Good on the Anaheim offense for picking him up. Or should I say, good on the FIRST PLACE Anaheim offense for picking him up? Somewhere, Teemu Selanne is smiling.

Jackson Lacombe – 1 G (4), +1, 4 SOG, 3 BLK.

Cutter Gauthier – 1 A (18), +1, 3 SOG, 1 H. If your league counts shots on net, this guy is even more valuable. He trails only Nathan MacKinnon and Jason Robertson on SOG (115).

Beckett Sennecke – 1 G (10), 1 A (16), +1, 4 SOG, 1 SHG, 1 H. A 19-year-old rookie with 26 points in 30 games and a 16.9 shooting percentage? Yep. That’s how you find a solid supporting cast in a rebuild.

Arturs Silovs – 26 saves on 28 shots and the OT loss. The former Vancouver Canuck has lost the opportunity to run with the Pens starting gig. Now that Tristan Jarry is back and playing out of his mind (one shootout loss in 6 games since his return from injury), Silvos needs to prove that he can bounce back. He’s a clear backup now.

Erik Karlsson – 2 A (19), -2, 5 SOG, 1 PPA, 1 BLK. The 35-year-old Karlsson isn’t a superstar anymore, but he’s still a serviceable D-man in points leagues. Just don’t expect another 100-point season (2022-23).

Sidney Crosby – 1 A (13), -2, 1 PPA, 22:54 TOI. At 38, Sid isn’t so much a kid anymore. But he is still a scoring threat and one of the best to ever lace them up. He’ll be front and center (literally) on Team Canada in February.

Jacob Markstrom – 34 saves on 37 shots in the 4-3 win at OTT. 

Simon Nemec – 1 G (7), +2, 5 SOG, 1 BLK. Thai kid is the real deal, but I can’t shake the feeling that he’ll be a part of a huge trade offer to try to pry the final Hughes Infinity Stone out of Vancouver at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Connor Brown – 3 A (6), +3, 1 BLK, and 15:36 TOI. Brown doubles his assist total on the year in one night and looked pretty comfortable on a line with Cody Glass and the fireball Arseny Gritsyuk.

Linus Ullmark – 28 saves on 32 shots and the loss vs NJD. That’s 3 losses in his last 4 starts and 14 GA in 4 games. Ugh.

Drake Batherson – 2 G (12), -1, 3 SOG, 2 PPG, 2 H, 1 BLK, and 19:15 TOI. It was a little bit of everything for Drake last night. He started from the bottom, now he’s here…kind of…but he’s still got a long way to go to get to the skill level of…

Tim Stutzle – 1 G (12), 1 A (14), -3, 1 SOG, 1 PPG, 1 PPA, 2 H. The Sens’ power play was clicking last night.

Brady Tkachuk – 2 A (9), -1, 2 PIM, 6 SOG, 2 PPA, 3 H, and 19:19 TOI. That’s 9 points in 9 games for Brady, but with just one goal to show for it. He should start to hit the back of the net sooner rather than later.

Jeremy Swayman – 24 saves on 26 shots and his 4th win in his last 5 starts. Swayman is now 13-7 with a 2.67 GAA and .913 SV% on the year.

David Pastrnak – 2 A (20), +2, 3 SOG, 1 BLK, and one clanger off an empty net post with 1:46 left in the third period. He’s baaaaack!

Pavel Zacha – 1 G (8), +1, 2 PIM, 6 SOG. That empty net post that Pasta hit ended up as Zacha’s 8th G.

Fraser Minten – 2 G (6), +1, 4 SOG, 1 H, 1 BLK. Mark Kastelic had two goals in this one, too, and as much as I wanted to write up Morgan Geekie, it was Minten and Kasty that led the charge here. 

Joel Hofer – 26 saves on 30 shots and the 5-2 loss to BOS. Come on. When I saw “J. Hofer” was starting for St. Louis, I was really hoping his first name was Jack. Jack Hofer? 13-year-old me would’ve giggled at that one.

Robert Thomas – 2 G (9), 2 SOG, 1 PPG. Give me your heart, make it real, or else forget about it.

Justin Faulk – 1 A (9), -1, 2 SOG, 1 PPA, 3 BLK, and 24:17 TOI. I heard they were opening a new post-secondary school to honor the St. Paul, Minnesota, stay-at-home defenceman. Apparently, it’s called “Justin Faulk University”. Or just “Faulk U” for short. (badum-tss).

Jet Greaves – 27 saves on 30 shots and the loss at Carolina. Greaves ratios are solid – 2.73 GAA, .906 SV%, so the 7-6-1 record is a bit misleading.

Dmitri Voronkov – 1 G (11), -1, 3 SOG, 1 PPG, 2 H, 1 BLK. Wait. This guy had 34 points in 75 games in his rookie year (2023-24), then 47 points in 73 games in his sophomore season. And now he’s sitting at 20 points in 29 games? I was talking with a buddy about another player (from a different team), and I said sometimes all it takes is an increase in playing time (and power-play time) for a guy to break out. It’s safe to say Voronkov is going to obliterate his career high if he can stay healthy and on the first line with Marchenko and Fantilli.

Kirill Marchenko – 1 A (15), -1, 2 PIM, 2 SOG, 1 PPA, 1 H, 1 BLK. 

Sean Monahan – 1 A (12), -2, 1 SOG, 1 PPA, 1 H, 1 BLK. Almost a carbon copy of Marchenko’s line.

Brandon Bussi – 23 saves on 24 shots and the win. Former Bruin alert! I kind of hated that the B’s lost Bussi in the offseason and hoped that he’d get a shot with the Hurricanes. With 9 wins in 10 starts and some solid ratios (2.21 GAA, .903 SV%), Bussi is bussin’. I wonder if the kids will give me bonus points for using “bussin” properly. I’d say he’s won 6 or 7 in a row, but…

Seth Jarvis – 1 G (17), +1, 3 SOG, 2 H. Viz’s 3-point challenge pick! 

Andrei Svechnikov – 2 A (10), +1, 2 SOG, 1 PPA, 2 H, 3 BLK. A full score sheet for Svech last night.

Casey deSmith – 30 saves on 33 shots and the 4-3 win at Winnipeg. No Jake Oettinger? No problem. deSmith came into Tuesday night’s game with 6 wins in 7 starts, a 2.16 GAA, and a .921 SV%. He’s as solid a backup as you’ll get.

Jason Robertson – 1 G (19), 4 SOG, 1 PPG, GWG, 1 H. Speaking of sure-fire Olympians, Robertson and his 128 shots should play a prominent role in the Top 6 forward group of Team USA. I’d be surprised if he didn’t get PP1 time, too.

Mikko Rantanen – 3 A (29), 2 PIM, 2 PPA. That’s a 7-game point streak for Rantanen and 14 points over that span. I guess we should’ve picked this one for the 3-point challenge!

Wyatt Johnston – 2 A (20), -1, 2 PIM, 1 PPA. This guy has been almost as hot as Rantanen. (15 PTS in his last 10 GP). Ugh. I got too excited when I saw the EDM/BUF matchup that I didn’t see Dallas was headed to Winnipeg. I should’ve taken him in the 3-point challenge tonight. (Yes, I wrote that last part before the game.)

Eric Comrie – 15 saves on 19 shots and the loss. 6-7-1, 3.16 GAA, .892 SV%. Is Connor Hellebuyck healthy yet?

Mark Schiefele – 2 G (16), +1, 3 SOG, 2 BLK. That’s 38 points in 29 games for Scheifele, and good for a Top 10 scoring pace!

Kyle Connor – 2 A (22), +1, 7 SOG. Connor isn’t far behind! (37 PTS in 29 GP).

Colten Ellis – 6 saves on 6 shots, and Alex Lyon 16 saves on 18 shots (8:00 left in the third). Ellis got run over in the crease in the first period and left with an upper-body injury.

Tage Thompson – 1 G (14) 2 A (12), +1, 3 SOG. Believe it or not, Tage was on my short list with Nuge for the 3-pointer. Oof. 

Josh Doan – 2 G (10), -1, 5 SOG, 1 H. I didn’t like the JJ Peterka deal for the Sabres, but Josh Doan is quickly proving the naysayers wrong. Peterka is more established, but Doan is looking like he’ll be just as good with just as much upside.

Rasmus Dahlin – 2 A (20), -1, 2 PIM, 3 SOG. RamJam just keeps on cruising. 

Stuart Skinner – 20 saves on 23 shots (8:00 left in the third). If you’re still running him out as your #1 goalie, good luck!

Connor McDavid – 1 G (15), +1, 5 SOG. Remember when Buffalo fans said that Jack Eichel was better than McDavid? Eek.

Leon Draisaitl – 1 A (21), +1, 7 SOG. No hits or blocks from either one of these guys? Bums.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – +1, 1 BLK. Hello? Hello? Is anyone home? So much for that 3-point challenge pick!

Scott Wedgewood – 14 saves on 16 shots (through 2 periods). 13 wins and just one loss with a 2.07 GAA and .925 SV%. Maybe Team Canada should just go full-forest mode and take the two “Wood”s from Colorado as their netminders.

Martin Necas – 1 A (26), +1, 3 SOG, 1 H. That’s 40 points for Necas (in 30 games).

Nathan MacKinnon – 1 A (26), +1, 3 SOG. Here’s your top goal scorer in the league, the #1 guy in shots (132), and the main reason why this team is the best in the league. 50 points in 30 games means a career high 140+ point season is not out of the question.

Juuse Saros – 24 saves on 26 shots through 2 periods. I’m sure Saros wants the win, but holding the juggernaut Avs to just 2 goals through 2 periods is a good night (so far).

Jonathan Marchessault – 1 G (6), -1, 2 SOG. He might be “marching so” close to his impending doom against a team loaded with firepower, but at least he’s still chipping in with a goal or two here and there.

And it’s 3-Point Challenge night for Thursday’s games, too!

It’s a 13-game Thursday night schedule, and you know the rules. No one from the Top 10 Scorers, so that rules out MacKinnon, Celebrini, Bedard, McDavid, Rantanen, Necas, Eichel, Robertson, Carlsson, Draisaitl, Kucherov, and Scheifele. I’m going to head back to the well and take my guy, Morgan Geekie, against Eric Comrie and the Winnipeg Jets.

I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can! 

Happy Wednesday, and I’ll see you next week!

Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social