We’ve been talking up Jaccob Slavin over the past couple of weeks on the podcast as someone who can help your team if you’re in need of assists. The increased workload as the season has progressed has push Slavin onto the fringe but his playoff schedule was enough to justify grabbing him. Well, if you were fortunate enough to do so, he just started off the fantasy playoffs with the game of his career. Slavin scored more goals than he had in the first 65 games of the season, registering his first career hat trick and added an assist in the 8-4(!) win over the Islanders. Look, despite this game, it’s not going to be anything incredible down the stretch, but Slavin just had a five game assist streak. Add in that he’s +18 and as mentioned above, the Hurricanes have more games left than anyone else the rest of the way, and I’d grab Slavin if you need defenseman help. Here’s what else happened on a randomly busy Monday night around the NHL:
Nikita Kucherov – Two assists with two shots. This hot streak is absolutely absurd. 20 points in the past 20 games!?
Brayden Point – Two goals on three shots playing almost 22 minutes. Since the Lightning have nobody else left, Point is playing with Kucherov and on the first power play unit. I’m fine with holding him if you want to but you should at least stream him.
Cam Atkinson – Two goals on three shots. Ranking Atkinson is going to be incredibly difficult next season. He has to be in the top 50 but I don’t expect to be very high on him.
Seth Jones – Two assists with three shots and four PIM. Year 4 was Jones’ breakout like many defensemen. He’s been solid but with little PIM and average shots, it’s nothing special. I view Jones as a #3 and will do the same next season.
Brandon Saad – Two assists with a shot. He’s going to set a career high in assists but the shot rate has dropped a bit. Saad is still looking at around 55 points, albeit like 22+33 instead of last season’s 31+22. Saad will be borderline top 100 next season since he takes no penalties and the shot rate isn’t elite anymore.
Zach Werenski – Goal and an assist with four shots. I can’t really explain it but I’m scared of a sophomore slump for Werenski. I’ll need to do more homework on him in the offseason. All of his numbers are great as are the underlying possession numbers so it could be me overreacting to Ghost and other D falling off this season. For this season, obviously keep rolling one of the waiver pickups of the season.
Travis Konecny – Two goals with four PIM. He’s fallen off hard as the season progressed but I’m still a fan for dynasties. He could have a bigger impact starting next season depending on how the Flyers offseason goes. For now, Konecny is a bottom end streamer.
Justin Faulk – Two goals on three shots. He’s a guy I want to get behind every season but man, the plus-minus is always a killer. The goals are always great as are the shots but everything else is average or worse. I do think there’s still upside with Faulk but don’t overpay for it.
Noah Hanifin – Two assists. I’m eventually going to be a big fan for fantasy but that’s probably in 2018-19 or later. He’s just not ready to make a regular impact offensively.
Elias Lindholm – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Now here’s a guy I’m going to like next season for assists late in drafts. He’ll be a go-to streamer down the stretch with the amount of back-to-backs Carolina has.
Jeff Skinner – Two goals on six shots. After a brutal cold stretch, Skinner is starting to pick things up at the perfect time.
Jordan Staal – Two assists with two shots. That’s five assists in the past three for Staal making him a solid streamer right now.
J.F. Berube – 9 saves on 13 shots in 28 minutes before getting pulled. It’s kind of ridiculous that the Islanders felt the need to bury Jaroslav Halak to keep Berube. He’s shown nothing to indicate he’s an NHL level goalie, the Isles are in the middle of a playoff race yet he’s getting starts. Just poor management.
Josh Ho-Sang – Goal and an assist with two shots. That’s four points in the last four games solidifying himself as a streamer down the stretch run.
Thomas Hickey – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Two games with two assists in a week for Hickey, pretty crazy. I still want nothing to do with him.
Bryan Little – Two assists with a shot. Little has been great while healthy and the Jets have four games this week and next. Just be prepared to cut him if you make the finals when their schedule gets atrocious.
Viktor Arvidsson – Two assists with six shots. He’s not far off 30+30 which is insane. Nobody could have seen this coming. He’ll be borderline top 100 next season.
Filip Forsberg – Goal and an assist with three shots. Three straight seasons in a row that Forsberg has been a monster down the stretch. If he could avoid a poor first month, he could have a top 20 season.
Ryan Johansen – Goal and an assist with four shots. I have no idea where the shots have gone but everything else has been strong.
Roman Josi – Two assists with two shots. The assists are a bit behind last season but he’s compensated with a much better shot rate. Josi is still a #1 guy the rest of the way and next season for his super high floor.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and an assist with four shots. There’s certainly an argument for Crosby to be worth the #1 pick next year.
Jake Guentzel – Two assists with three shots. I’ve been pumping his tires for a week or more now but to reiterate, I’m all for owning Guentzel right now. I’ll talk about him at length on the podcast that posts this afternoon but he looks great playing with Crosby.
Conor Sheary – Goal and an assist with seven shots. Again, broken record, but Sheary is available in 43% of leagues which is absolutely absurd. If you’re lucky enough to be in one of those leagues, pick him up now.
Kris Versteeg – Two assists. He’d be an okay streamer given the slightly below average contributions in all categories. The problem is that the Flames play every other day the rest of the season so you don’t get any back-to-backs by grabbing him. Pass.
Jake Allen – 38 saves on 39 shots in the 3-1 win over the Kings. Huge performance by Allen which really buries the Kings in the playoff race. The Blues should ride him down the stretch.
Alex Pietrangelo – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. He’s been strong as expected since Shatt Deuces was traded. Assuming that the Blues bring back a similar defensive core, Pietrangelo should be a solid #2 next season.
Alex Steen – Goal and an assist with two shots. Steen has picked it up lately but it’s still bottom end. You can go either way with Steen right now.
David Backes – Goal and an assist with four shots. His first season in Boston has been wildly mediocre and I don’t think it’s going to get any better down the line.
Patrice Bergeron – Two assists with six shots. Bergeron has been spectacular after a miserable start to the season. I still see him as a top 50 player next season.
Brad Marchand – Hat trick and an assist with four shots. Marchand has to be considered towards the back end of the first round now. The penalty minutes aren’t as great as normal but it doesn’t matter when you’re well over a point per game on the season.
David Pastrnak – Two assists with five shots. Another no-brainer top 50 player next season, Pastrnak’s had the massive breakout a year earlier than I thought.
Markus Granlund – Two goals on four shots. The Canucks close the semis and finals of RCL’s with three games in four nights. If Granlund is still on the top line at that point, he’ll be a nice streamer.
Daniel Sedin – Assisted both Granlund goals as did brother Henrik Sedin. I wouldn’t be holding either of them at this point.
Mike Smith – 22 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Avalanche. I actually watched some of this game for fantasy reasons and it was as horrible as expected. Arizona’s schedule is about to get brutal so you’d be playing with fire even more than usual starting Smith.
Calvin Pickard – 34 saves on 35 shots taking the loss. Pickard has actually been okay this season, he’s just playing on one of the worst teams in history.
Tuesday Streamers:
Brayden Point (3.0%) – I said this above… ” Since the Lightning have nobody else left, Point is playing with Kucherov and on the first power play unit. I’m fine with holding him if you want to but you should at least stream him.” And that’s me copying and pasting me!
Jarome Iginla (8.6%) – A huge loss last night for the Kings puts them in desperation mode tonight against the Coyotes. Look for Iginla to get ample opportunity to notch a point or more.
Jannik Hansen (3.0%) – This is more of a gut call but I don’t think the Sabres have much chance of containing the Sharks top line. Hansen has played there the last few games so I’ll take a shot on him.
That’s all for now folks. As mentioned above, Reid and I are going to record a podcast this morning so look for that to get posted around noon eastern. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. I will also have daily notes for tonight’s games so look for that to go up early Wednesday. Thanks for reading, take care!
