Out of all players, Devan Dubnyk was on the most fantasy hockey championship teams last season. Dubnyk went from waiver wire fodder to start the season to arguably the best goalie in the league once he went to Minnesota. He started off slow this season in the percentages while accumulating wins but has started to turn things around, including a 23 save shutout against the Predators on Saturday. His numbers are starting to improve and should only get better behind a strong Wild team. He won’t approach last year’s totals, those are completely unsustainable, but he should still push towards being a top 10 goalie come the end of the season.
Here’s what else happened on an action packed weekend:
Justin Faulk – Two goals and an assist with ten shots and two PIM in the two Hurricanes games this weekend. That’s points in 5 straight games for Faulk and he’s up to 8+7 on the season in 20 games with 71 shots on goal. The plus-minus sucks but everything else is amazing.
Kris Versteeg – Three assists; no shots though. Still a good streamer in the right matchups but I’m not holding him in 12’ers.
Brad Malone – Goal and an assist with a shot and nine PIM. Not fantasy relevant but amazing he can contribute as much as he did playing 14 minutes in the two games combined.
James Reimer – 33 saves on 34 shots in the win Friday, then 35 saves on 36 shots in the loss Saturday. He’s on fire like someone who drained 3 quick baskets in NBA Jam so grab him if he’s still available. The wins will be scarce but the percentages are amazing right now.
Nazem Kadri – Goal on three shots with 2 PIM. Still only has 2 goals on 84 SOG. Goals are coming.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 39 save shutout on Friday against Nashville (shutout twice this weekend, yikes!) only to give up 4 goals on 28 shots to the Sharks on Saturday. His numbers were at average before Sunday which is amazing considering the horrendous start. I’ve traded for him in most leagues where the owner was selling low and I’d still try to do so.
Cam Atkinson – Goal and an assist with four shots. The minutes are going up so he’s right on the fringe of 12’ers right now; at the least he’s an awesome streamer.
Ryan Johansen – Two goals and an assist with six shots and two PIM. The minutes were massive early in the week only for Torts to play RyJo for 15:45 and then 13:52 in the two weekend games despite his points. It’s incredibly frustrating because he’s the best player on the Blue Jackets by a mile. He’s still going to produce plenty but it caps his value with the lack of minutes.
Brandon Saad – Two assists with three shots. Like the rest of the Jackets, he’s starting to heat up.
Boone Jenner – Two goals and an assist with four shots. He’s up to 10 goals on the season with 18 PIM and now he’s on the first line; he’s safely a top 100 player going forward and if the PIM keep up, he probably sits in the 60-70 range with the other 25-30 goal, 70+ PIM guys.
Scott Hartnell – Goal an an assist with six shots and twelve PIM. He’s pretty much in the same boat that Jenner is with 9+6 instead of 10+5.
Petr Mrazek – 35 saves on 37 shots in the 3-2 win over LA. Jimmy Howard played Saturday and stopped 27 of 30 shots in the 4-3 win over the Blues. Both have value individually but I’d rather own both of them than one of them individually, if possible.
Pavel Datsyuk – Goal on five shots. Should start rolling soon now that he’s been back from injury for a bit.
Brad Richards – Two assists and seven shots. He’s on Datsyuk’s line so he’s a good streamer while he’s in that spot.
Teemu Pulkkinen – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s also on Datsyuk’s line but unlike Richards, I’d own Pulkkinen in all leagues with the big power play time he’s getting.
Dylan Larkin – Two goals on ten shots. At this point, I think he’s the favorite for the Calder Trophy. Amazing season so far for the 19 year old.
Tomas Tatar – Goal and an assist with eight shots. The goals are down so far but his point total is starting creep up which is nice. He’s on the third line right now but on the first power play unit so he should be fine going forward.
Henrik Zetterberg – Three assists and a shot. I have no idea why his shot rate has completely fallen off but with 18 points in 21 games, he’s still been a solid value.
Jeff Carter – Two shots on ten shots on goals in two games. He has 9+10 in 2o games with over 3 shots per game and +12. Top 25 player right now.
Anze Kopitar – Two goals and an assist with four shots and two PIM. He’s one of the biggest disappointments so far this year but with the big minutes he’s getting, I think he’s a good bet to turn it around. I’d float some buy low offers.
Carey Price – 33 saves on 36 shots Friday, then 21 saves on 23 shots Sunday in two wins against the Islanders. If you own Mike Condon, it’s safe to drop him.
Tomas Fleischmann – Two goals on seven shots. The shots are poor but everything else is great. I think it’s to the point where I’d add him in 12’ers and hold him.
Alex Galchenyuk – Goal and an assist with five shots. The minutes are decreasing which is frustrating since he’s one of their most talented players. Brendan Gallagher is out indefinitely so perhaps he’s Galchenyuk will get the bump up to the first line. It’s something to look at over the next few days.
Jeff Petry – Two goals on five shots and two PIM. You could do worse than your last defenseman in 12’ers.
Tomas Plekanec – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Like Zetterberg, the shot rate has plummeted but he’s up to 20 points in 22 games so no complaints.
Travis Hamonic – Goal and an assist with ten shots and ten PIM. For personal reasons, he’s requested a trade to the west but it’s good to see him playing great in the meantime.
Anders Lee – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s still on the fringe of 12’ers.
Brock Nelson – Two goals on three shots. Pick him up wherever you can. He’s on the first line and played 22 minutes yesterday.
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with eight shots. He’s doing pretty much exactly what you’d expect.
Johnny Gaudreau – Goal and an assist with six shots in the win Friday over Chicago. He’s up to 20 points in 21 games (5+15). He’s been one of the lone bright spots on a struggling Calgary team.
Sean Monahan – Goal on five shots. The nice thing is that Monahan’s shot rate is starting to steadily increase. He has a long way to go to get to last year’s total but with 5, 4 and 5 shots in 3 of the last 5 games, it could happen.
Artem Anisimov – Two goals on three shots. Definitely a must own going forward.
Patrick Kane – Two assists with five shots and two PIM. You know things are going well when two points in two games drops your points per game by a decent amount.
Jonathan Toews – Goal and an assist with nine shots and two PIM. He’s still behind his normal pace but he’s one 4-5 game point streak from getting back to his normal 60-70 point pace.
Taylor Hall – Goal and two assists with five shots. Through 20 games, he’s at 9+15 with 12 PIM, +11 and 85 SOG. What an overall stat line. I don’t know where you rank him for the rest of the season but he’s definitely top 10.
Leon Draisaitl – Goal on his only shot with two assists. That’s ten points in his last five games. This is beyond a heater; he’s the real deal.
Tuukka Rask – 22 save shutout. Even after the shutout, he still has a 2.95 GAA and .896 sv%. Avoid like the plague.
Brad Marchand – Goal on four shots with two PIM. As much as I hate his guts, he’s been a beast this year. 8+6 in 17 games with 35 PIM and over three shots per game.
Craig Anderson – 36 save shutout. His save percentage is great but his GAA is below average because the Senators play such a wide open game. I like him but don’t love him going forward.
Bobby Ryan – Two assists with two shots. He was bumped onto the first line Saturday and delivered. If he sticks there with Mike Hoffman (Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM) and Kyle Turris (goal and a shot), Ryan could approach point totals from his Anaheim days, although he won’t get the goals.
Ben Bishop – 30 save shutout. His numbers are great outside of wins which is frustrating because the Lightning’s offense had completely disappeared until Saturday. I doubt he’s available in trades but it’s probably worth trying.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and two assists with a shot. He’s played at least 19 minutes in 4 straight games so a hot streak should be coming.
Steven Stamkos – Two goals and an assist with five shots. Same thing with Stamkos as Kucherov.
Vladimir Namestnikov – Assist. With the injuries, he’s on the first line with Stamkos right now so he’s an excellent streamer at the least.
Rick Nash – Hat trick on ten shots with two PIM. With how good the first line has looked, it was a matter of time until Nash had a game like this. The goals should start coming.
Mats Zuccarello – Goal and two assists with two shots. He’s up to 21 points in 20 games; what a beast.
Derek Stepan – Assist on six shots. He’s struggled so far but I also expect him to turn things around.
Aaron Ekblad – Two assists and two shots. That’s five points in the last five games. I had him in the top 20 defenseman going into the season and I still think he can get there.
Aleksander Barkov – Goal and an assist with five shots playing 23 minutes. He’s shown no rust returning from his injury; he just needs to stay healthy.
Nick Bjugstad – Goal on seven shots. The minutes have dropped off a bit with Barkov back but Bjugstad should still be fine going forward.
Jaromir Jagr – Goal on five shots and two PIM. He’s had a point in every game since Barkov returned which isn’t much of a surprise. Keep rolling that beautiful mullet.
Martin Jones – 38 saves on 39 shots in the win over Pittsburgh. He’s heating up again and the Sharks look like a great team this year so Jones has top 5 goalie upside.
Patrick Marleau – Goal and three assists with seven shots in two games. Marleau went over 1,000 points in his career which is looking more and more worthy of the Hall of Fame. He’s still chugging along with a solid rate and a 55 point pace so there’s still plenty of value there.
Joe Pavelski – Two goals on three shots with four PIM. Still killing it.
Joel Ward – Three assists with four shots. Even when Logan Couture returns, I have to think Ward sticks on the second line right now. He’s been an amazing acquisition for the Sharks.
Brent Burns – Three goals on eleven shots with four PIM. Oh, you beautiful bearded man. I think it’s to the point where he’s in the top tier of defenseman instead of leading the pack in the second tier.
Phil Kessel – Goal on six shots. That’s points in three straight games and 14 total shots; things are looking up.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal on two shots and two PIM. The Caps absolutely destroyed the Avs but the top line still got one point each; they’re arguably the hottest line in hockey right now.
Alex Ovechkin – Goal and an assist with four shots. Considering the Caps scored 7 goals, it’s almost disappointing to see him with two points. He’s over 5 shots per game and has 10+9 in 18 games. He’s being overshadowed by Kane and the Stars but Ovechkin has lived up to his preseason ranking.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Goal and two assists with three shots and two PIM. Good to see him have a big game not being on Ovechkin’s line for the time being.
Michael Hutchinson – 7 saves on 7 shots getting the win in relief of Ondrej Pavelec, who left the game injured and was already ruled out for the Jets next game. If Hutchinson is available, grab him immediately.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Goal and an assist with two shots. Beast mode.
Kevin Shattenkirk – Two assists with three shots. He’s up to 7 points in 5 games showing signs that he’s on the way back to last year’s levels. Firmly in the top 10 for defenseman rest of the season, probably just outside the top 5.
Antti Niemi – 22 save shutout. Stars goalie platoon for the win!
Jamie Benn – Two goals on six shots and two PIM. Tyler Seguin had two assists with four shots. Watching them together is amazing; it’s like a cheat code just sending them onto the ice.
Ryan Suter – Goal and two assists with a shot. He’s up to 19 points in 19 games; we haven’t seen great offense from Suter since he was in Nashville and this is even at a new level. He’s taking over two shots per game as well; he’s been an excellent find in the later rounds.
Thomas Vanek – Goal and an assist with five shots. He’s bounced back big time playing on the first line with Jason Pominville (two assists) and Mikael Granlund (goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM). I like him plenty going forward but Zach Parise returning as soon as Wednesday, I’d expect a dropoff in his recent production.
Daniel Sedin – Three goals, two assists, twelve shots and two PIM in two games over the weekend. You can’t stop these Cyborgs; he’s up over a point per game and over four shots per game. Just ridiculous.
Henrik Sedin – Two goals and four assists with four shots. The shots suck but everything else is outstanding.
Alex Edler – Three assists with five shots and two PIM. Firmly on the top pair and top power play unit; I’m a big fan of him for the rest of the season.
Cory Schneider – 36 saves on 38 shots in the win over the Canucks. Revenge game at its finest. He’s been a pleasant surprise this year with the Devils winning all of these games.
Michael Cammalleri – Goal and two assists with two shots and four PIM. The emergence of the top line for the Devils is one of the biggest surprises of the season and Cammalleri is at the forefront.
Monday Streamers: With the holidays upcoming, there’s a much bigger Monday slate than usual with 7 games in action. Here are my top 3 streamers:
Brayden Schenn (17.6% owned) – The Flyers get a good matchup at home against the Hurricanes and Schenn is back on the top line and top power play unit. It’s that simple.
Leo Komarov (0.7%) – Uncle Leo has been getting big minutes, including on the top power play unit right now, and on the first line. Boston has been playing wide open lately so I expect them to force that game on Toronto, leading to more opportunities for the Leafs.
Marcus Johansson (14%) – The Capitals scored seven goals on the Oilers last time and their offense should have their way with the Oilers again. Johansson is getting solid minutes on the second line and second power play unit so look for him to get on the score sheet.
That’s all for now guys. With the holidays this week, this will be my only article of the week. I will check all comments throughout the week so feel free to ask questions below and I’ll be sure to answer them. I’ll be back on Monday with a massive recap of everything that happened from this week. Take care everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!
