We’re six weeks into the season now which seems like a good point to update my hold/stream list. Obviously things can change fairly quickly for some players, but it’s still good to address what has drastically changed since the opening of the season. Let’s get to it!
Anaheim Ducks
Hold: Getzlaf, Rakell, Gibson
Stream: Silfverberg, Henrique, Fowler
This one seems pretty easy to me. I thought I’d have Cam Fowler as a hold, but looking closer, there’s just not enough there. No PIM and just under two shots per game isn’t enough when he’s below a 40 point pace.
Arizona Coyotes;
Hold: Keller, Schmaltz, Keller, OEL, Kuemper
Stream: Garland, Soderberg, Goligoski, Dvorak, Chychrun
If you need assists, I can see holding Alex Goligoski. Phil Kessel has been very unlucky so far and is a nice trade target.
Stream:
Boston Bruins – Hold: Marchand, Pastrnak, Bergeron, Krug, Rask
Stream: Krejci, Coyle, Heinen, Halak
This one is straight forward. In deep leagues, you can stream Matt Grzelcyk while Krug is out as he’s taking his spot on the top power play unit.
Buffalo Sabres
Hold: Eichel, Skinner, Reinhart, Olofsson, Dahlin, Hutton
Stream: Johansson, Ristolainen, Ullmark
I am right on the fringe for Victor Olofsson. My plan was to have him as a streamer, but his shot rate has been increasing the last couple weeks which is encouraging. The minutes are there so I’m giving him a little more time.
Calgary Flames
Hold: Tkachuk, Gaudreau, Monahan, Lindholm, Giordano, Rittich
Stream: Backlund, Andersson
Another easy one. In deep leagues, I really like Rasmus Andersson. He’s on the first pair after Brodie’s frightening incident and getting PP time. I don’t even mind grabbing in the short term in a 12’er if you need the help.
Carolina Hurricanes
Hold: Svechnikov, Aho, Teravainen, Hamilton, Slavin, Mrazek
Stream: Niederreiter, Dzingel, Necas, Haula
Nothing to really add here.
Chicago Blackhawks
Hold: Kane, DeBrincat, Strome, Gustafsson, Lehner
Stream: Nylander, Toews, Saad, Dach, Shaw, Kubalik, Keith, Crawford
The controversial one here is Erik Gustafsson. On the face, it looks ridiculous to keep holding him. However, he’s back on the first pair and first power play unit, resulting in two goals over the last three games. I don’t love it, but he could go on a very productive run again so I’m being a bit stubborn and still holding him.
Colorado Avalanche
Hold: MacKinnon, Landeskog, Rantanen, Kadri, Donskoi, Makar, Grubauer
Stream: Burakovsky, Johnson
Obviously a bunch of these guys are out, although Philipp Grubauer appears to be returning soon. We don’t know the severity of Matt Calvert‘s injury yet, but if he’s out, whoever goes on the first line in his place will be an elite streamer.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Hold: Dubois, Atkinson, Jones, Werenski
Stream: Nyquist, Foligno, Bjorkstrand, Korpisalo
Straight forward.
Dallas Stars
Hold: Seguin, Radulov, Benn, Heiskanen, Klingberg, Bishop
Stream: Pavelski, Hintz, Gurianov, Khudovin
Jamie Benn is starting to show signs of life so I’m giving him a bit more time. I could easily have moved Joe Pavelski to a hold as he’s also getting back on track. If you don’t have IR spots, I’m fine with dropping John Klingberg.
Detroit Red Wings
Hold: Larkin, Mantha, Bertuzzi, Hronek
Stream: Athanasiou, Fabbri, Howard
Easy one. Andreas Athanasiou is back to elite streamer as he’s been playing some great hockey lately. The arrival of Robby Fabbri has helped the second line tremendously.
Edmonton Oilers
Hold: McDavid, Draisaitl, Klefbom, Koskinen, Smith
Stream: RNH, Neal, Kassian, Nurse
Edmonton is one of the most interesting ones in that you can go one way or the other on a bunch of guys depending on team needs. If you need the PIM help, you can easily hold Zack Kassian or Darnell Nurse, but you know Kassian is going to be poor in shots and these points are unsustainable. James Neal should be a good power play source, but he’s been really bad at even strength lately and has fallen off in general. Both goalies are getting half the starts and have been very good so I’d lean towards holding both for now.
Florida Panthers
Hold: Barkov, Huberdeau, Dadonov, Trocheck, Hoffman, Ekblad, Yandle, Bobrovsky
Stream: Connolly, Vatrano
Nothing to really debate here.
Los Angeles Kings
Hold: Kopitar, Doughty
Stream: Brown, Iafallo, Walker, Carter, Quick, Campbell
The Kings list is trivial.
Minnesota Wild
Hold: Staal, Dumba, Spurgeon,
Stream: Zucker, Parise, Suter, Hunt, Zuccarello, Dubnyk
I’ve finally cut bait with Ryan Suter. The plus-minus is now bad and the shot rate has plummeted. I was down on Devan Dubnyk going into the season, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad. He belongs on the waiver wire.
Montreal Canadiens
Hold: Tatar, Gallagher, Domi, Drouin, Weber, Petry, Price
Stream: Danault, Armia
Personally, Phillip Danault‘s shot rate is so poor that I can’t consider holding him. However, the rest of the top Montreal forwards are holds for me right now. Same goes with Jeff Petry as he’s been decent enough this season and there’s big upside if (when?) Weber gets injured.
Nashville Predators
Hold: Forsberg, Duchene, Arvidsson, Josi, Ellis, Ekholm, Rinne
Stream: Johansen, Bonino, Jarnkrok, Saros
If you need the PIM and PPP, Ryan Johansen is a fine hold. Regular Razzball readers know how I feel about his lack of shots and consequently, lack of goals. I’m not buying the start from Nick Bonino, but he has to be streamed at this point.
New Jersey Devils
Hold: Hall, Palmieri, Hughes, Hischier, Subban, Blackwood
Stream: Simmonds, Gusev, Vatanen, Bratt, Coleman, Zacha
The Devils are loaded with bottom end streamer. I’m giving the two former #1 draft picks that are centers the benefit of the doubt here. It’s bottom end right now, but there’s no denying the upside. It is nice to see MacKenzie Blackwood get the majority of starts. While I did have some early season whiffs in my goaltending rankings, being extremely low on Cory Schneider was certainly not one of them.
New York Islanders
Hold: Barzal, Nelson, Lee, Toews, Varlamov, Greiss
Stream: Eberle, Bailey, Brassard, Beauvillier
This one seems pretty easy to me. Anders Lee is probably the closest decision, but I’m giving him a little bit more time. His track record is too good to cut him yet, including last season in the post-Tavares Islanders era.
New York Rangers
Hold: Panarin, Strome, Zibanejad, Kakko, Trouba, DeAngelo
Stream: Buchnevich, Kreider, Chytil, Fox, Lundqvist, Georgiev
You can go either way with Chris Kreider depending on if you need the PIM or not. Same goes with Pavel Buchnevich as he’s fallen into AAGNOF territory. Filip Chytil is on a tear since his recall, but once Zibanejad returns, his role could be in trouble. That said, he’s looking strong as a dynasty option. Also, time to pat myself on the back for my guy Tony DeAngelo!
Ottawa Senators
Hold: Tkachuk, Pageau, Chabot
Stream: Duclair, Namestnikov, C. Brown, Paul, Nilsson
In decent matchups, I’d feel pretty good about using Anders Nilsson at home. I really wish they would give Jean-Gabriel Pageau power play time, but he’s killing it right now so I leaned towards hold. Vladislav Namestnikov has stopped shooting the puck and has lost ice time as a result so he’s nowhere near a hold right now like he was a couple weeks ago.
Philadelphia Flyers
Hold: Giroux, Voracek, Couturier, Konecny, Provorov, Hart
Stream: Lindblom, JVR, Hayes, Gostisbehere, Elliott
The holds are all automatic. Oskar Lindblom has certainly played well enough to be a hold to this point but I still prefer to stream him. That line’s shooting percentage has regression coming. On the other hand, James van Riemsdyk is getting a bit unlucky and is over three shots per game so I could see him playing his way back into a hold sooner than later.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Hold: Malkin, Crosby, Guentzel, Rust, Letang, Murray
Stream: Hornqvist, Bjugstad, McCann, Galchenyuk, Schultz
With Crosby going down, Bryan Rust looks to be the beneficiary. Getting to play with Guentzel and Malkin as the first line is excellent. We could see a breakout month for Rust.
San Jose Sharks
Hold: Kane, Couture, Hertl, Meier, Burns, Karlsson
Stream: Labanc, Marleau, Thornton, Goodrow, Jones
Kevin Labanc is a very tough decision for me. DeBoer switching the top two centers has really revitalized their top six. Labanc’s shot rate has jumped as has the PIM, but that plus-minus is brutal. You can honestly go either way and I wouldn’t quibble, but I lean towards elite streamer. The rest is easy.
St. Louis Blues
Hold: Perron, O’Reilly, Schenn, Pietrangelo, Binnington
Stream: Schwartz, Parayko
Jaden Schwartz is looking like a pure AAGNOF, although I’d rate him ahead of most of the other ones like Buchnevich. No debate otherwise.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Hold: Kucherov, Stamkos, Point, Hedman, Shattenkirk, Sergachev, Vasilevskiy
Stream: Johnson, Killorn, Palat, Gourde, Cirelli
Mikhail Sergachev is on the fence, but I think he’s doing enough with the penalty minutes to be held. The shot rate for all of the guys listed as streamers is what keeps them in that category.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Hold: Matthews, Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Rielly, Andersen
Stream: Johnsson, Kapanen, Mikheyev, Muzzin, Barrie
The Tyson Barrie situation couldn’t be going worse so far. The shot rate is there, but he has zero goals and looks to be lacking confidence. There is some talk that he’s asked to be traded, but regardless, I’m not holding him anymore. Jake Muzzin could be held if you need the PIM, but getting 0 PPP makes me want to leave him on the wire.
Vancouver Canucks
Hold: Boeser, Pettersson, Miller, Horvat, Edler, Hughes, Markstrom
Stream: Pearson, Gaudette, Virtanen, Demko
Easy one here.
Vegas Golden Knights
Hold: Karlsson, Marchessault, Smith, Stone, Pacioretty, Schmidt, Fleury
Stream: Stastny, Glass, Tuch, Theodore
I’ve lost patience with Shea Theodore. The shot rate is nice, but Schmidt’s return has hurt him a decent amount. I’m okay with holding him, but I lean towards moving on.
Washington Capitals
Hold: Ovechkin, Backstrom, Oshie, Kuznetsov, Vrana, Wilson, Carlson, Holtby
Stream: None?
It’s weird to say that they don’t have a streamer, but it’s bleak outside of their top six. I guess you could say Lars Eller or Michal Kempny, but neither really appeals to me. Holtby is uninspiring but I think he still needs to be held.
Winnipeg Jets
Hold: Scheifele, Laine, Connor, Wheeler, Ehlers, Morrissey, Hellebuyck
Stream: Roslovic, Copp
An easy one to close up shop.
I will edit in the Three Point Challenge information later, but we will be doing it for Tuesday night’s games.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Wednesday recapping the action from the next two nights. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
