One of the highest variance players for fantasy hockey this season is Logan Thompson. You can’t ask for much of a better start. Thompson had a 27 save shutout on Thursday, and the Golden Knights needed every bit of it in the 1-0 win over the Blackhawks. He also had 27 saves on 30 shots in the first Vegas win, 4-3 over the Kings. I liked Thompson as a #2 this year, and this start makes me feel better about it. It’s not going to be smooth, but that happens for only a few goalies in the entire league. Outside of the worst matchups, I feel good about rolling Thompson against everybody for the time being. Let’s see what else happened on Thursday:
Craig Anderson – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 4-1 win over the Senators. He looked shaky to start, but finished excellently. I still have little faith in Anderson.
Victor Olofsson – Two goals on six shots. I like Olofsson as an elite streamer. In fact, I had him as one of my favorite late picks this seson. That said, both goals were empty netters, so don’t overreact too much.
Jesper Bratt – Two assists with four shots. I don’t like seeing Bratt play under 16 minutes in a game that the Devils were chasing, but it was a strong performance nonetheless.
Tony DeAngelo – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Tony Dawgs is the one Flyer I feel good about holding.
James van Riemsdyk – Two assists with three shots. JVR should remain a middling streamer.
Kevin Hayes – Two assists with three shots playing over 21 minutes. Hayes should get huge minutes given his relationship with Torts. I wouldn’t be shocked if he plays into being a hold for stretches, but he should be a solid streamer.
Ivan Provorov – Two assists, three shots, +4, 10 blocks, 5 hits. Oh man. Don’t sucker me back in Provorov. He’s worth monitoring closely.
Travis Konecny – Two goals on four shots playing over 21 minutes. Same story as Hayes for Konecny.
Morgan Frost – Two goals on three shots with two PIM, three hits, three blocks. I like the long term talent, but it’s going to take more for me to believe in Frost for this season.
Tanner Laczynski – Two assists with a shot. I’m not a believer. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Nick Ritchie – Two goals on three shots with four PIM. Ritchie is going to get big minutes, but outside of deep banger leagues, I don’t have much interest.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. The plus-minus is almost certainly going to be rough, but Ghost Bear should produce plenty offensively.
J.J. Moser – Two assists playing over 23 minutes. He’s getting plenty of opportunity, but Moser is a super deep league option only.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and two assists with seven shots and two PIM. All of the Pens produced, but Crosby led the charge. Not a big surprise against Arizona, but still good to see.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 3-1 win over the Islanders. Arguably the highest variance player in all of fantasy hockey, it’s great to see Bob start on the right foot.
Morgan Rielly – Two assists with a shot. Rielly is as safe as it comes on the blue line for being a bottom end #1 defenseman.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and three assists with a shot. All the big dawgs on the Rangers went off getting two points (or in Panarin’s case, four), lighting up Marc-Andre Fleury. On their day, the Rangers top six can be unstoppable.
Alexis Lafreniere – Two assists with four shots. Another guy on my list of favorite late round fliers, Laf is already in the top six due to Kravtsov’s injury, and there’s a good chance he never gives that spot back.
Matt Boldy – Two goals on three shots. I admit that there’s a good chance I was too low on Boldy and gave all the credit to Fiala. Boldy has a ton of talent and is a clear hold in all formats.
Jake Oettinger – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 4-1 win over the Predators. Jake! Jake! <Denzel voice in ‘Training Day”> Nice to see Oettinger pick up where he left off last season.
Mason Marchment – Two goals on five shots. Another guy who I was high on late, Marchment’s Dallas debut couldn’t have gone better. My only concern was he played just 13 minutes. That said, he was so good last season that he probably deserves the credit and should be held?
Tyler Seguin – Three assists with three shots. He’s on PP2 instead of one as expected, but he got a secondary assist there. He’s on the bottom end of holding, but Seguin should be held.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Even though he just won the Cup, it feels like the year MacKinnon crushes the league and finally gets over 100 points.
Rasmus Andersson – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Great start to the season for Andersson, who somehow managed to get a breakaway out of the box and buried it. He should be a solid #2/3.
MacKenzie Weegar – Two assists. He did get over 2 minutes of power play, which isn’t great, but there was a chance he got zero. Weegar has a good chance to also be a bottom end #2, but his secondary stats give him the floor of being a #3.
Alex Stalock – 36 saves on 37 shots as the tough luck loser to Vegas. Any Chicago goalie is the pure definition of desperation this season.
Martin Jones – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 4-1 win over the Kings. The Kraken have been quite impressive in their first two games. Jones was solid with the Flyers last season, so while I’m not using him yet in shallow leagues, I am monitoring him.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the action from the weekend. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, and give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
