It wasn’t that long ago that Vladimir Tarasenko requested a trade from the Blues. It wasn’t that long ago that Tarasenko could have went to Seattle in the expansion draft. Now, St. Louis has to be thanking their lucky stars that he’s still on the roster. Tarasenko had his biggest game of the season on Thursday, scoring a hat trick on four shots and adding two more assists in the 6-2 win over the Sabres. Tarasenko now has 31+41 in 67 games, with a great chance of setting a career high in points. It’s a remarkable turnaround for the Russian who is certainly a top 100 player for drafts next season. I don’t see him cracking the top 50, but it’s great to see Tarasenko playing great hockey again. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Alexandar Georgiev – 28 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Flyers. Man, the Flyers are downright terrible right now. Georgiev has been better after a dreadful start to the season. I’m not much of a believer, but he’s likely to move to a new team in the offseason which would change his fantasy value, probably for the better.
Kaapo Kakko – Two goals on four shots. Kakko just came back from injury in the last week. He’s a bottom end streamer for now.
Jacob Trouba – Two assists. The points have dried up a bit, but the PIM, hits, and blocks are still outstanding.
Barclay Goodrow – Two assists with a shot and twelve PIM. Easy pass.
Elvis Merzlikins – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 5-1 win over the Canadiens. Elvis has actually won half of his starts which is remarkable given how bad his numbers are. Blame Columbus’ style, but it’ll be hard for him to succeed in net.
Patrik Laine – Goal and two assists with four shots. It’s great to see Laine playing his best hockey again.
Jack Roslovic – Two goals on five shots. Hot schmotato alert! Roslovic is getting massive minutes right now and is as good of a streamer as there is.
Jakub Voracek – Two assists, as did Gustav Nyquist. If you need assists, they’re viable options.
Nathan MacKinnon – Hat trick and two assists with six shots and two PIM on Wednesday. The Kings looked like they were playing a completely different game than the Avalanche. MacKinnon has managed to be as good as ever this season. It’s a shame he missed time due to injury.
Cale Makar – Goal and three assists with five shots Wednesday, assist on Thursday. The Norris race actually turned out to be a competition, which I never expected, but Makar still deserves the trophy.
Andre Burakovsky – Two goals and an assist with seven shots over two games. I’m holding Burakovsky in almost all leagues right now while he’s on the first line.
Artturi Lehkonen – Goal and three assists with four shots over two games. Lehkonen is on the first power play right now which makes him an elite streamer.
Robert Thomas – Five assists with a shot. Matchbox Twenty has an 11 game point streak and is second in the league in primary assists. He’s a star that doesn’t get the notoriety he deserves, but he’s not as good in fantasy as real life. Thomas is still an auto hold, but his ceiling is capped with the shot rate.
Pavel Buchnevich – Goal and two assists. Thomas, Tarasenko, and Buchnevich are remarkable together. Buch is back to a point per game smashing his previous career highs. What a trade for the Blues.
Torey Krug – Two assists with a shot. Nice to see Krug doing well off the injury.
Tim Stuetzle – Goal and two assists with five shots. Stuetzle is finishing the season on a tear. He’s a very likely breakout candidate for next season.
Brady Tkachuk – Goal and an assist with six shots. This season was a significant step forward for Tkachuk. I don’t see him reaching his brother’s level, but regardless, he’s an absolute stud in fantasy.
Alex Nedeljkovic – 46 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Hurricanes. Now that’s a revenge game! The Red Wings are so bad defensively that their goalies don’t have much hope. I’m still a fan of Nedeljkovic in dynasties on the hopes that Detroit gets better defensively, but Nedeljkovic could also be a stopgap to Cossa.
Brock Nelson – Two assists with a shot. Nelson has tied his previous career high in points. In a lost season for the Islanders, Nelson thrived.
Jake Guentzel – Two goals and two assists with three shots. He doesn’t get mentioned with the superstars, but Guentzel is clearly a superstar. What a monster.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and two assists with three shots and two PIM. Props to Eli Man Penguin Boy for picking Crosby for three points, his third correct selection of the season! Crosby hasn’t slowed down one bit yet.
Ryan Getzlaf – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Congrats to Getzlaf on an incredible, Hall of Fame career. He is definitely an original Razzball favorite.
Adam Henrique – Two goals on six shots. Amazing bounce back from Henrique who looked like he was cooked.
Steven Stamkos – Two assists with three shots. What a treat it’s been to get a healthy Stamkos.
Alex Killorn – Goal and an assist with three shots. Killorn has been decent, but he’s only a middling streamer at this point.
Anthony Cirelli – Goal and an assist with two shots. I had high hopes for Cirelli this season, but it never panned out. He’s still only 24 so it’s not completely out of the question, but it seems more likely that he’ll be a guy on the fringe going forward.
John Carlson – Goal and an assist. Carlson is finishing the season strong to be a bottom end #1 again.
John Tavares – Three assists with three shots. The Leafs went off on Thursday showing what they’re capable of. Tavares didn’t regress this season like I expected, but I’m still a bit worried about him in the next few years.
Pierre Engvall – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. I’d love to see Engvall on a different team in a bigger role. I suspect that he would thrive.
Kevin Fiala – Two goals and an assist with five shots. Frederick Gaudreau had a goal and two assists. The second line has been tearing it up for the Wild. Fiala going off to close the season, an annual tradition.
Jason Robertson – Two goals, both assisted by Roope Hintz. I never saw either of these players becoming this good, especially Robertson. This is what great teams do, they find players in the second round that become first liners. Now if only Dallas developed anyone else on the forward line…
Mike Smith – 30 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Predators. Smith is back to being the #1 in Edmonton. I can’t imagine he’s available anywhere after three great starts in a row, but he’s an automatic hold everywhere.
Leon Draisaitl – Hat trick on four shots. Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had two assists. Draisaitl has an outside shot at 60 goals, but either way, he’s going to set a new career high in points and already has in goals.
Timo Meier – Goal and an assist with seven shots. Tomas Hertl dished two assists. Their minutes are through the roof even with the Sharks out of contention, so they should finish the season well.
Patrick Kane – Goal and two assists with four shots. Alex DeBrincat had three assists with five shots, while Dylan Strome had a goal and an assist. Same story as their San Jose counterparts.
Seth Jones – Two assists with three shots. He’s been fine, but boy, that trade and subsequent contract was atrocious.
Logan Thompson – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 6-1 win over the Flames. Thompson could get another start for Vegas pretty quickly after this performance. Thompson has a chance to be the goalie of the future in Vegas which makes him appealing in dynasties.
William Karlsson – Goal and two assists, as did Jonathan Marchessault. While Marchessault continues to thrive, Karlsson has taken a big step back. I can’t help but wonder if he’s one of the guys Vegas trades away in the offseason. They already have Eichel, Stephenson, and Roy and they have to dump so much money.
Evgenii Dadonov – Goal and an assist. What a run by Dad since the trade debacle.
Pavel Francouz – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 3-1 win over the Devils. He could get an extra game or two down the stretch with Colorado having the 1 seed locked up, but it depends how hard Colorado wants to put for the Presidents Trophy. Francouz is worth streaming every time he plays.
Thatcher Demko – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 7-1 win over the Coyotes. This is basically the expectation for a good goalie against Arizona right now.
J.T. Miller – Five assists. It’s not that often you get two players that have five assists on the same night. Miller has been marvelous to keep the Canucks on the fringes of the playoffs.
Quinn Hughes – Three assists with a shot and two PIM. All your assists are belong to Hughes!
Vasily Podkolzin – Two goals and an assist. His first season has been disappointing, but it’s nice to see Podkolzin finishing the season on a high note.
Alex Chiasson – Two goals on four shots. The ultimate hot schmotato, Chiasson hasn’t had an offensive stretch like this in half a decade. He’s an elite streamer for the time being.
That’s all for now guys. I got home late from traveling Sunday so I’ll be back on Tuesday recapping the action from the weekend. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. I hope you enjoyed your Easter Sunday, take care!
