Tony DeAngelo grew up in New Jersey and on Thursday, he had the best game of his career against the Devils. DeAngelo scored a hat trick on seven shots while adding two assists to have the best game of the NHL season by a defenseman. In the preseason, I ranked DeAngelo 32nd at defensemen, way above consensus. Here’s what I said: “Alright, somebody I really like! Now, that’s not to say there’s concern here with DeAngelo. One, he’s still unsigned and I’m not sure if a deal gets done sooner than later. Two, it’s possible that Fox takes his PP time. I think the two play together on PP2 but we’ll have to wait and see. However, if DeAngelo is playing on opening night getting PP2 time, he could get 40 points and 100 PIM. Yes, the shot rate is slightly below average, but it’s extremely difficult to get that out of anyone on the blue line. You won’t need to take him this early, but I’m targeting DeAngelo because he fits so many team builds.” And that’s me quoting me copying what Grey does! Well, I may have overshot the PIM, but I was way under on the points. DeAngelo now has 11+25 in 42 games and he worked his shot rate up to over two per game, a solid number for a defenseman. Hopefully you guys checked out my preseason rankings and you own DeAngelo everywhere because I’m not expecting a drop off given the style the Rangers play. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Mark Scheifele – Two goals and an assist with three shots over two games. I feel like Scheifele still doesn’t get the credit that he deserves for being an elite player. He’s over a point per game again which should be the fourth year running.
Nikolaj Ehlers – Goal and two assists with six shots over two games. Ehlers has bounced back nicely from last season’s disappointment to become an easy hold in all formats again.
Kyle Connor – Goal and two assists over two games. Connor has found another gear this season as he pushes for career highs in all categories. He’s playing around a top 30 level right now.
Auston Matthews – Two goals on eight shots. He’s already reached 30 goals this season to get there for the fourth time in four seasons. Only bad health would keep him from finishing as a top 10 player.
Esa Lindell – Three assists with a shot. He’s piling up the assists but I’m still not buying it from Lindell. I’m not using him outside of the deepest of leagues.
Anton Khudobin – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 2-1 win over the Kings. Khudobin has been so good that he’s a borderline hold now. At the least, he remain an automatic streamer in every start.
Ben Bishop – 27 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Ducks. Bishop has to be the front runner for the Vezina right now. Given that he probably deserved it last season, I hope that he gets the credit he deserves this season.
Jordan Binnington – 18 saves on 19 shots in the 5-1 win over the Sabres. Doesn’t get much easier than that.
Alex Steen – Two goals and an assist with five shots. These were Steen’s first two goals of the season. Easy pass.
Tyler Bozak – Goal and two assists with three shots. He’s on a decent streak but I wouldn’t use Bozak as a streamer.
Robert Thomas – Goal and two assists. I absolutely love Thomas as a prospect for dynasties, but he’s a bottom end streamer for now until the shot rate increases.
David Pastrnak – Hat trick on five shots. Is he ever going to slow down? This is 35 goals already. I ranked him as a top 10 player thankfully, but he’s reached another level. He’s as good as it gets right now.
Jake DeBrusk – Two goals and an assist with four shots. DeBrusk is showing some signs of life so I’m bumping him up to middling streamer with upside from there.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Goal and an assist. Decent run for RNH who is also a middling streamer.
Leon Draisaitl – Two assists with four shots. I thought last season was unbelievable and now Draisaitl has found a way to blow that out of the water.
Nikita Kucherov – Two goals on eight shots. Kuch has caught fire to the point where he’s barely behind a 100 point pace, but I’m betting on him getting there.
Patrick Maroon – Two assists. He played seven minutes. Maroon is irrelevant at this point.
Cedric Paquette – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Also fantasy irrelevant.
Steven Stamkos – Two assists with a shot. Like the rest of the top players on the Lightning, Stamkos has really picked it up as of late. He should be a top 20 player going forward.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 25 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Coyotes. He’s given up four goals total over the past four games. Vezina Vasilevskiy appears to be back.
Travis Zajac – Two assists. Zajac has seemingly been hanging on for years now. I could not care less about him for fantasy.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and two assists with four shots. His run as a top ten player continues.
Chris Kreider – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. He’s the best player that should be on the trade block so the Rangers have to be loving his recent form. Kreider will be getting big minutes until he’s moved so he’s a no-brainer hold everywhere.
Ryan Strome – Two assists with a shot. Strome needs to buy Panarin an amazing gift for resurrecting his career. He’s borderline depending on team needs.
Mika Zibanejad – Two assists with three shots. It’s a shame Zibanejad was injured because he’s been even better this season than last season’s 30+44.
Noel Acciari – Two goals on six shots. Of all the things to happen this season, Noel Acciari scoring 17 goals in 41 games has to be up there with the most surprising. He has 18 goals in his career before this season in 180 games! He’s a bottom end streamer at best because this screams massive fluke.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. The shot rate is a bit disappointing, but nobody can complain when Huberdeau is on a 110 point pace.
Jonathan Toews – Two assists with a shot. Toews is playing like a bottom end hold right now. In general, I put him on the fringe, but with nine points in his last nine, I’m holding for the time being.
Pekka Rinne – 29 saves on 31 shots in the 5-2 win over Chicago. But that’s not the main thing… Rinne scored a goal! Props to him for drilling the shot clean.
For the first time since 2013… WE HAVE A GOALIE GOAL.
Bless you, Pekka Rinne. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/teY98yCmB9
— NHL (@NHL) January 10, 2020
Cam Talbot – 42 saves on 43 shots in the 2-1 win over the Wild. Talbot in on a nice run right now and has been very good on the season as a whole. I’d be streaming him in most spots right now and if you want to gamble on a free agent goalie, he’s a nice option because he’s getting more starts lately.
Tyler Toffoli – Goal and an assist. I’m not a Toffoli fan, but the Kings should be riding him hard over the next month to try and inflate his trade value. He’s a middling streamer.
Adrian Kempe – Two goals on five shots. A guy that I expected to take a step forward this season, Kempe has not done that. I’m bumping him to bottom end streamer because he’s been better lately, but that’s it.
Aaron Dell – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets. Dell is getting a lot of action lately and he’s been doing well. He’s another spec add if you’re desperate for goaltending.
Kevin Labanc – Goal and an assist with four shots. With Logan Couture out at least six weeks, Boughner is really riding the rest of his top guys. Kane played 22 minutes while Hertl and Labanc pushed 21. He’s a middling streamer with upside, and I think we can see a semi-resurgence from the good players on the Sharks now solely due to increased workload.
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, give any suggestions, or make any comments below. Thanks for reading, take care!
