Every Sunday this season, we’ll share 20 Fantasy Thoughts from the writers at Dobber Hockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week’s “Daily Ramblings” on DobberHockey.com.
1. Connor Hellebuyck made his NHL debut Friday and it was a relatively quiet night as he recorded his first win stopping 14 of just 15 shots faced. This has to have been the best game the Jets have played in a month, holding the Wild to so few attempts and taking just one penalty. Great timing for Hellebuyck. A few more wins and he gets the keys to the car.
2. Working against Hellebuyck: the Jets’ schedule. They play just seven times in the next three weeks. They do have two separate back-to-backs so we will see both goalies but there really is not much of a chance for Hellebuyck to get a ton of action.
3. What a beauty Hellebuyck is in keeper leagues though. I have had any number of offers for players between good- and star-level that see me parting ways with Hellebuyck. One in particular would see me get Gaudreau for Hellebuyck plus some other nice assets. I cannot bring myself to do that and probably wouldn’t even do it straight up. Gaudreau is great at scoring and does just about diddly in any other category. Hellebuyck is going to be a franchise goalie before we know it. Even now, having proven so little, Hellebuyck is worth more than Gaudreau.
4. Nikolaj Ehlers finally scored a goal after a 15-game drought. He has been dropped to the third line for a while now so that partially explains the drought but with his speed game he shouldn’t need to play with elite talents to create opportunities.
5. John Gibson is doing OK in goal for the Ducks, but they still need a superhuman performance. Only Freddie Andersen is giving them superhuman so don’t think for a second that Gibson’s arrival muddies this situation. Andersen all the way. And if someone in your pool disagrees with that notion, kindly swindle them of Andersen’s services.
6. I get asked this at least once every two weeks, “Is Jakob Silfverberg good?” No. I’ll qualify that: Of course he is good, he’s a freaking NHLer, but from the perspective of, “is he good for my fantasy team?” The answer is, unequivocally, NO.
7. Silfverberg may have grabbed the title of the king of empty calories away from Blake Comeau. What does it mean to be the king of empty calories? That is how I refer to guys who pile up huge shot totals with little chance of actually scoring. Jason Blake had to have been the original, although he did score 40 once.
8. Artem Anisimov, can we get this guy above 36 per cent owned in Yahoo pools? He skates with a guy on a historic scoring streak. Until Patrick Kane cools off, Anisimov could be the worst player in the league and he’d still fall into points.
9. You don’t need me to tell you that Alexander Ovechkin is good. What you do need to hear is how Barry Trotz has brought back the “Ovechkin plays the whole power play” doctrine, which is AMAZING. We haven’t seen a coach roll with such an idea in years. Ovechkin is skating 4:26 on the power play per game, accounting for 87 per cent of the Capitals’ power play minutes. That is how you get Jason Chimera recording multiple PPP in one game.
10. Patrik Elias got his first point of the season (in his second game), snagging an assist on the PP. He skated 16:38 with 3:56 coming on the PP. He isn’t asked to do a lot, but they sure like using him when they’re up a man. I am not jumping on board yet but there is a chance this becomes relevant.
11. No goals for Devante Smith-Pelly Friday night. Skated on the top line, but only received 11:46 in ice time. I have little optimism regarding his fantasy potential. Alex Galchenyuk, on the other hand, has hit another level with Brendan Gallagher out. The extra PP minutes should really pay off for Galchenyuk owners.
12. Two of the only guys seeing more PP time than Ovechkin are on the Coyotes. Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads the league in PP minutes with 5:55 per game, which accounts for 88 per cent of the Coyotes’ minutes. Mikkel Boedker is a fair ways behind at “just” 4:46 per game, but he is starting to account for more now that he and OEL are pairing on the PP permanently.
13. Somehow, Boedker is only owned in 11 per cent of Yahoo leagues. An astounding number. It is as though people like losing.
14. Ryan Strome made his return to the Islander lineup scoring his second goal of the season. He skated 13:17 on the third line alongside Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin. What really excites me is that Strome scored a goal. All too often Strome deferred and passed the puck despite golden scoring chances in front of him. Scoring a goal is a great sign that he learned something from the demotion and a great way to get him shooting more.
15. Nail Yakupov will miss the next 2-4 weeks with a high ankle sprain. He was droppable in one-year leagues with Connor McDavid out so this doesn’t change much, unless you were still hanging on, in which case, you have now been set free.
16. Have you enjoyed the rollercoaster ride Evgeny Kuznetsov owners? He has points in just 13 of 23 games but has been so prolific in those games that he is well over a point-per-game scoring pace. What a nightmare. You just have to play him every night and weather the ups and downs. I don’t know how you throw him into a lineup in daily fantasy, however.
17. I was asked about James Neal vs. Jakub Voracek in a pool that counts SOG. I still took Voracek. I simply do not trust Neal’s health. He has missed an average of 15 games the past three seasons. Also, as we shall see later on, Voracek is turning it on.
18. Cam Atkinson just had a four-game point streak and is quietly on pace for 50 points in a secondary role. Does anyone really believe he’ll maintain this pace though? Come on. Atkinson is going to disappoint with another 40-point season because that’s just what he does.
19. Mikko Koivu is a machine. He has points in 17 of 21 games this season. Just churning assists with consistency. He is making a return to the 60-point level look easy. I’m not ready to bump his projection up to 65 or 70 points, simply because injuries are too real a factor in his life, but this is an impressive run.
20. They have not played together at all times but it is no surprise to me that Tomas Tatar has taken off since the return of Pavel Datsyuk. Four goals and six points in seven games for Tatar with Datsyuk in the lineup. Datsyuk just makes more room for everyone.
