In terms of expected goals and puck possession, the Devils have been the best team in October, bar none. They’ve been absolutely dominant and earned every single bit of their 6-3 record. Their most impressive win came on Friday beating the Avalanche 1-0, and they followed that up with a complete demolition of Columbus, 7-1. The common denominator? Vitek Vanecek started both of these games. Vanecek saved all 24 shots from Colorado before saving 20 of 21 shots from the Blue Jackets. We’re looking at a time share in New Jersey, but Vanecek appears to have grabbed the upper hand for now. Before the season, I had little interest in either of their goalies. Now, with how well they’re playing, both could be owned in 12’ers, but Vanecek definitely has to be. Ride the hot hand while you can. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Games
Logan Thompson – 29 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Ducks. Thompson has been among the best fantasy goalies so far. It’s not a massive surprise given that Cassidy is coaching the team, but it’s still great to see.
William Karlsson – Goal and an assist with two shots, as did Reilly Smith. The old #1 line in Vegas has been reunited as the #2 line. Smith is an elite streamer while Karlsson is a solid one.
Brock Nelson – Two goals on three shots. Nelson is right on the fringe as the assists have been coming in at a rate much higher than in the past. I would lean towards holding because the Islanders have been quite good at even strength.
Mathew Barzal – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. He hasn’t scored a goal yet, but Barzal is getting plenty of shots on goal, and is over an assist per game. It’s extremely encouraging.
Anthony Beauvillier – Two assists with two shots. He’s been scratched this season, but Beauvillier has been decent offensively when in the lineup. He’s a solid streamer.
Pavel Francouz – 22 saves on 23 shots as the tough luck loser against the Devils. Georgiev has been quite good which is unfortunately making Francouz the backup. He’ll still get plenty of games, but it depends on format if you want to hold him at this point.
David Pastrnak – Goal and an assist with six shots. Pasta has been the best skater in the league for fantasy, bar none. Monster performance so far.
Linus Ullmark – 30 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets. What shaped us as a split has turned into Ullmark running with the starting job. He’s been as good as any goalie in the league.
Spencer Martin – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 5-1 win over the Penguins. I don’t expect Martin to play much, but his 8 Canucks starts over the past two seasons have been quite good. I’d still only stream him in good matchups, but I’m opening up to considering more.
Bo Horvat – Two goals on six shots. Despite Vancouver’s struggles, Horvat has been great offensively with six goals in nine games. His contract situation is one of the biggest dominoes to fall over the course of the season.
Ilya Mikheyev – Two assists with four shots. I’m a huge fan of Mikheyev’s game and he’s been solid so far when he’s on the ice. Mikheyev is an elite streamer.
Andrei Kuzmenko – Goal and an assist with three shots. Kuzmenko has looked the part in the NHL so far. I’m not holding, but it’s pretty close. I do prefer him to Mikheyev because of the better PP time.
Blake Wheeler – Goal and an assist. Wheeler is putting a ton of shots on goal, but I wouldn’t hold him at this point.
Christian Fischer – Two goals on three shots. And there’s your biannual Fischer update!
Saturday’s Games
Tage Thompson – Two goals and an assist with eight shots. Granato pulled the right strings on Saturday, putting Kyle Okposo on the first line in the third period, resulting in both Thompson goals. Okposo and Jeff Skinner each had two assists with three shots. I don’t necessarily expect Okposo to stay there on Monday, but it’s not impossible. Tage is still an easy hold for me with the shot rate being excellent, while Skinner is more elite streamer than hold for me. Okposo is a bottom end streamer until we see if he stays there.
Victor Olofsson – Two goals on six shots. I really hope that the Sabres saw that the power play needs to be going through Thompson and Olofsson shots, as it did in the 4 on 3 in overtime. Olofsson has 6 goals in 8 games and is over three shots per game which is enough for him to be on the fringe.
Jason Robertson – Goal and an assist with four shots. Robertson has been terrific across the board in October.
Vincent Trocheck – Two goals and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Mika Zibanejad had a goal and two assists as the top centers for New York dominated on Saturday. Trocheck’s shot rate is through the roof and yet Zibanejad’s is somehow better. They’ve both been outstanding.
Chris Kreider – Goal and an assist with five shots. The shot rate is still there for Kreider so while last season’s 52 goals aren’t repeatable, Kreider will turn more of these shots into goals.
Zac Jones – Goal and an assist. There could be something here long term, but not right now. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Julien Gauthier – Goal and an assist. And there’s your annual Gauthier update!
Carter Verhaeghe – Two goals and an assist with three shots. The lines were shuffled a bit with Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk (1+2 each) getting time together with Verhaeghe. Verhaeghe is an elite streamer who can easily turn into a hold if that line sticks together.
Brandon Montour – Goal and two assists with six shots playing almost 28 minutes. I think Montour has made it pretty clear that he’s must own in all leagues now.
Erik Karlsson – Two goals on five shots. Karlsson has turned back the clock so far this season with six goals already. It’s great to see despite the team’s struggles.
Tomas Hertl – Two assists. I lean towards leaving Hertl on the waiver wire because of how bad the Sharks are at even strength.
Alex Killorn – Goal and an assist with two shots. Bottom end streamer at this point.
Brayden Point – Two assists with two shots. Point has been fine by his standards.
Brandon Hagel – Two assists with two shots. Hagel is on a hot streak with six points in the last four games. He’s an elite streamer while he’s on the first line.
Ville Husso – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 2-1 win over the Wild. Husso has been very good for the Red Wings so far. I expect him to settle into being a #2 goalie come the end of the season.
Lucas Raymond – Two goals on seven shots, both assisted by Dylan Larkin. Raymond has really struggled to open the season, so it was nice to see him get on track. I have him as an elite streamer that can turn into a hold.
Kevin Fiala – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. He’s off the first line for the moment, but I’m not concerned. He still has nine points in ten games, plus he’s started slow every season in the past. Fiala will be just fine.
Anze Kopitar – Two assists with a shot. The shot rate is down quite a bit, which really hurts Kopitar’s value. He’s on the fringe because the assists are great, but I expected him to be an easy hold and that’s not the case.
Jordan Staal – Goal and an assist. Moving on…
Martin Necas – Goal and an assist with five shots playing over 21 minutes. I don’t know what happened, but Rod the Bod is finally playing the second line massive minutes. The Necas breakout is real.
Nic Deslauriers – Goal and an assist. Wade Allison also had a goal and an assist, while Lukas Sedlak dished two assists. All of them played less than 10 minutes in this game. Nothing to consider here at all.
Christian Dvorak – Hat trick. Dvorak has provided next to zero offense since he’s gone to Montreal, so naturally he randomly gets a hat trick. I still have no interest.
Cole Caufield – Two goals and an assist, while Nick Suzuki had a goal and two assists. These two have been dominant despite going against top opposition every single night. Massive for the long term trajectory of the Canadiens.
Kirby Dach – Two assists with two shots. Dach played on the wing on the first line on Saturday and delivered. He’s a bottom end streamer for now, but it’s worth monitoring.
Jordan Harris – Two assists with a shot. Harris is blocking a ton of shots so for deep leagues, he’s an okay streamer while he’s playing 20 minutes a night. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Jordan Kyrou – Two goals on three shots. It’s been a bad start for Kyrou with zero assists and a -10 rating in seven games, but he’s well over three shots per game, so if anything, I’d look to buy low.
Brayden Schenn – Two assists with a shot. Schenn has been excellent so far with 9 points in 7 games, but his shot rate is dreadful. That puts him on the fringe.
Justin Faulk – Two assists with three shots. Faulk has been one of the best defenseman in the league so far. It will be interesting to see if he can keep this shot rate up.
Evan Rodrigues – Two goals on three shots playing over 27 minutes. The minutes in this game were completely out of whack. Rodrigues is an elite streamer while he’s on PP1, which will last until Big Val gets back.
Nathan MacKinnon – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist. The Avs are struggling by their lofty standards, but their top guys are not. They’re just getting nothing from their depth.
Darcy Kuemper – 34 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Predators. And just like that, Kuemper’s numbers are right in line with where they were in Colorado last season. I feel pretty good about him finishing as a middling to bottom end #1.
Connor McDavid – Goal and two assists. I’m greatly enjoying this version of McDavid who seems like he’s on a mission to score 50+ goals. That said, he’s still at an assist a game. He’s insane.
Zach Hyman – Two goals on four shots. This is the Hyman that I expected last season when he first got to Edmonton. He’s crushing across the board.
Jaden Schwartz – Goal and an assist with five shots. Schwartz has bounced back nicely so far with 5+5 in 10 games and over three shots per game. I’d actually lean towards holding him, but it is on the fringe.
Martin Jones – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 3-1 win over the Penguins. If you’re desperate for starts, you can play Jones while Grubauer is down. The wins have been nice, but he’s over 3 GAA and below .900 sv% which is rough to say the least.
Sunday’s Games
Jesper Bratt – Goal and an assist with three shots. Bratt has been one of the best players in the league so far. He’s driving play better than anyone and the points are coming in to show it.
Nico Hischier – Goal and an assist with eight shots. Hischier is blowing up offensively finally. Easy hold everywhere.
Jack Hughes – Two assists with four shots. It’s only a matter of time for the goals to really pile in if Hughes is going to get four shots on goal per game.
Matt Boldy – Two goals on five shots playing over 22 minutes. Great work by Boldy in October showing that he wasn’t a passenger with Fiala.
Mason Shaw – Goal and an assist with two shots. Congrats to Shaw on his first career points! And that’s that.
Jarred Tinordi – Two assists with four PIM, six hits. He’ll pile up hits to stream in deep leagues on a Sunday, but there’s just nothing here offensively. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Artemi Panarin – Goal and two assists with two PIM. The Breadman has already had three 3+ point games already. He could finally get that 100 point season if he stays healthy.
Dylan Guenther – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Guenther has looked quite good as a rookie. I only have him as a bottom end streamer, but there’s a ton of long term upside here. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
William Nylander – Two assists with a shot. Nylander dropped to the third line in this game which to be blunt, I don’t understand. He’s still at a point per game so I’m not concerned at all.
Trevor Zegras – Two goals on three shots. The assists aren’t there yet, but it’s great to see Zegras score six goals already. Given his playmaking abilities, it could be a monster season from Zegras despite Anaheim being a mess.
Jack Eichel – Goal and an assist, as did Mark Stone. These two have been absolutely dominant together, which comes as no surprise. It took a lot for anyone to beat Connor Hellebuyck (46 saves on 48 shots) in this one. It’s great to see both of these guys looking healthy again.
Three Point Challenge: I will update this section later with who you can’t take, but we will be doing Tuesday’s Games. Props to Eli Man Penguin Boy for getting Pastrnak last Thursday.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Wednesday recapping the action of 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!
