One of my best calls in my four years of writing at Razzball was the breakout for Vincent Trocheck. His ability to hit all of the categories at a very strong rate was underrated by many. Sadly, it looks like he could be done for the season after a gruesome injury Monday night against the Senators. Best case scenario, it’s going to be a few months. We don’t have an update yet, but either way, you either have to put Trocheck on IR if you have the room or cut him. It’s a tough loss for the Panthers who really ride their top six. It’s unclear who is going to play 2C now. Perhaps Nick Bjugstad slides there or Jared McCann moves up. I think Bjugstad and Jonathan Huberdeau take a slight hit to their value without Trocheck, while the guys on the first line get a small boost. It wouldn’t shock me to see those guys pushing 23 minutes a night on a regular basis. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Henrik Lundqvist – 16 saves on 17 shots in the 2-1 win over the Stars. Very easy night for The King. He’s been a nice value this year with the Rangers off to a nice start.
Ben Bishop – 12 saves on 13 shots in 40 minutes before leaving the game with an injury. Bishop is expected to miss one week, which means Anton Khudobin will take over. There are a couple decent matchups in there, so Khudobin is a viable option.
Kyle Okposo – Two assists with two shots. He’s been fine this year, but Okposo is a bottom end streamer.
Zach Bogosian – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. Easy pass.
Jack Eichel – Goal and an assist with six shots. Eichel has been fantastic, and as noted in Monday’s notes, he’s due for a hot streak in terms of goals.
Rasmus Ristolainen – Two assists with two shots. Risto has been okay to this point. He’s a hold, but it’s not exciting.
Tanner Pearson – Goal and an assist with four shots. It was Pearson’s first goal this season. He’s playing with Evgeni Malkin (2A, 4 SOG) so there’s a chance Pearson can get back to streamer status. He’s not there yet.
Patric Hornqvist – Two assists with four shots. He’s on a nice run lately. Only two penalty minutes is disappointing, but the shot rate is great and the points are solid.
Cam Atkinson – Goal and an assist with seven shots. The first line for Columbus has been on a tear with Pierre-Luc Dubois also having a goal and an assist while Artemi Panarin had an assist. They’re making a case as a top five line in the league.
Ron Hainsey – Two assists. Despite having 10 points in 21 games, Hainsey is an easy pass.
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with three shots. Tavares has found another level in Toronto with Matthews down.
Zach Hyman – Two goals on five shots. As long as he’s playing with Tavares, Hyman is a decent streamer or better depending on the matchup.
Mitchell Marner – Two assists with six shots. He’s been fabulous with 6+22 in 21 games. Marner actually leads the league in primary assists. My prediction that he leads Toronto in points is firmly in play.
Alex Ovechkin – Two goals on five shots. 15 goals in 20 games with 80 SOG for the Great Eight. Seems good.
John Carlson – Two assists with two shots. Carlson has slowed down a bit after his torrid start but Carlson is still over a point per game.
Dmitry Orlov – Two assists with five PIM. Orlov has six points in his last four games but only had two in his first sixteen. I don’t think there’s enough to consider owning him given the dreadful shot rate.
Tom Wilson – Two assists with four shots. He’s been great offensively since he returning offensively. As long as he’s with Ovechkin, Wilson is either a hold or streamer depending on league settings.
Jeff Petry – Goal and an assist with three shots. Petry has had a fantastic start. If you could sell high, I would, but I doubt you’ll be able to. The plus-minus is always a problem, and Weber will be back at some point.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Two assists with a shot. He’s shown the flashes which is all you really want from Kotkaniemi at 18 years old. He’s a fine streamer right now, but he’s going to be great eventually..
Juho Lammikko – Four assists with a shot. Lammikko moved up and down the lineup throughout the game. He had one point in the previous 16 games, so he’s a pass for now. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Aleksander Barkov – Goal and an assist with three shots. He played 22 minutes in this game, and as mentioned in the intro, I expect it to go even higher. Barkov has been as good as expected to this point.
Aaron Ekblad – Two assists with two shots. Ekblad has a four game point streak, but he still shouldn’t be owned right now. I assume he’s owned in most leagues for the name value, but 40 points seems like best case for him barring a Yandle injury.
Matt Duchene – Two goals and an assist with five shots. Duchene has been spectacular lately with 15 points in the last 7 games. Some regression is coming, but a point per game season isn’t impossible.
Drake Batherson – Goal and an assist with two shots. Another nice game from Batherson on Duchene’s wing. I’m bumping him up to solid streamer.
Cal Petersen – 29 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Blues. I wrote extensively on Peterson on Monday here.
Brayden Point – Two assists with two shots. Point has been fabulous and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Mattias Ekholm – Two assists with two shots. As long as Subban is out, Ekholm is must own in all formats.
Ryan Johansen – Goal and an assist. Johansen has been everything his owners could have realistically hoped for.
Johnny Gaudreau – Goal and three assists with two shots. The top players on the Flames absolutely destroyed the Golden Knights on Monday. Gaudreau’s numbers are in line with last season’s; in fact he’s slightly ahead.
Matthew Tkachuk – Two goals and two assists. I love me some Tkachuk. I wish the shot rate was higher, but everything else has been spectacular. Sure, he won’t shoot 25% forever, but a 70 point season with big PIM is realistic.
Sean Monahan – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Boring Sean hasn’t been so boring this far this season. A new career high looks possible.
Mark Giordano – Two assists with four shots. Giordano has been better than anyone could have hoped for. He’s shown no signs of slowing down and looks to be back as a #1 fantasy D.
Kyle Connor – Goal and three assists with seven shots. The move to put Connor on the second line has worked swimmingly. Connor has been great with 10+10 and three shots per game. There’s a good chance he’s a top 50 player for years.
Patrik Laine – Hat trick on six shots. Laine has struggled with consistency, but 11 goals and 4 shots per game is nothing to sneeze at. The assists will come so I have no concern with Laine.
Bryan Little – Goal and an assist with three shots. Little isn’t much at this point in his career, but now that he’s centering Laine and Connor, Little is a decent streamer.
Mark Scheifele – Goal and an assist with five shots. Scheifele’s shot rate has jumped to the point where he’s a top 20 player bare minimum. Remember when ESPN ranked him in the 60’s this season?
Nikolay Goldobin – Goal and an assist with three shots. Goldobin is up and down right now but he’s a decent streamer while he’s playing with Pettersson.
Patrice Bergeron – Out at least a month. Tough break for the Bruins as they’ve been decimated by injuries. It looks like Marchand and Pastrnak will be split it to balance the lines, so none of the other centers for Boston get a big boost.
Connor McDavid – Goal and two assists, as did Leon Draisaitl. Too good, plain and simple.
Wednesday Streamers
Jason Pominville (17.0%) – He’s back with Eichel and Skinner. Enough said.
Ondrej Kase (3.0%) – Kase is playing on the top line in Anaheim at the moment. He has 21 SOG in 4 games so far, and gets a prime matchup against the Canucks.
Charlie Coyle (13.4%) – Coyle is on the third line right now, which obviously isn’t great, but he’s still on the first power play unit. The main reason I’m interested in Coyle is that he’s going against the Senators. I want some action against that porous defense.
That’s all for now guys. I’m unsure when my next post will be; it’ll be either Friday or Monday. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Thanks for reading, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
