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. The Penguins’ Matt Murray stopped 35 of 36 shots in earning the win Saturday. Murray is now 4-0 since starting his season 10 days ago. He’s now started four of the last six games over Marc-Andre Fleury, who is now seeing his grip on the starting job slipping. Fleury has allowed at least three goals in each of his last three starts, so his fantasy value has officially taken a hit with his recent struggles and Murray’s return.
2. The Johnny Gaudreau/Sean Monahan struggles have been well documented, but the Flames’ early-season struggles have also affected Mark Giordano. The team captain has now been held without a point in nine consecutive games. You can’t blame it on a lack of trying, as Gio took six shots on goal in 27 minutes of ice time Saturday. Your best bet would be to remain patient with the three struggling Flames, since this drop-off isn’t normal.
3. The small, speedy Paul Byron is looking like a great waiver wire option at the moment. Playing on the Habs’ Alexander Radulov/Alex Galchenyuk line, Byron scored another goal on Saturday, which gives him a three-game goal streak and four-game point streak. That gives him 10 points and a plus-7 in 15 games. He’s worth a look as long as he can stay on that line.
4. Tell me you haven’t heard this one before: Michal Neuvirth is injured again. Steve Mason replaced him to start the second on Saturday and stopped 19 of 20 shots to earn the win. For what seems like the thousandth time since the start of the season, I’m going to tell you that starting any current Flyers goalie is risky. The Flyers have a team 3.63 GAA, which is the worst in the NHL.
5. Mikko Rantanen scored his first career NHL goal Friday and is worth monitoring. The Avalanche are giving him 17 minutes a night with top power play usage and ice time alongside Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon.
6. After he was a healthy scratch for Thursday’s game against Nashville, the Blues’ Robby Fabbri came back with a vengeance, scoring two goals on Vladimir Tarasenko’s line. Ken Hitchcock explained that Fabbri had been scratched for not displaying enough “tenacity,” so hopefully this serves as a wake-up call. Fabbri is down to 30 per cent ownership in Yahoo leagues, so he’s worth a look if someone has already dropped him.
7. The Rangers’ ability to roll four lines is awesome for their team production but perhaps not so much for fantasy owners. This team could seemingly pump out 10 or 11 guys with 45 points on the year but not have a single one hit 65 points. Lots of depth available to fill out your roster but perhaps no tentpoles. For what it’s worth, I still think Chris Kreider takes a damn good run at 60 points this season. I think we’d all settle for 55 points as a solid breakout.
8. The Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho scored the first two goals of his career and added an assist Saturday. Aho had already recorded seven assists this season but he had already hit a rookie wall with a seven-game stretch without a point. He is certainly one to target in keeper leagues but it looks like you’ll have to experience the ebbs and flows of a typical 19-year-old.
9. Many fantasy owners are breathing a sigh of relief now that the Predators’ Filip Forsberg has finally scored his first goal of the season in his 14th game. The fact that he already has 10 assists should soften the blow but you could look into trading for Forsberg from any owner that is focusing too much on the goal total. Forsberg will need to up his shot total, since he is averaging around two shots per game and is on pace for only 160 shots. Forsberg has taken over 200 shots in each of his two previous seasons.
10. If Anze Kopitar does miss time, I’m not sure there is an in-house replacement to get excited about on the Kings. Maybe Nic Dowd steps into a larger role? I’d be looking elsewhere. For instance, Nazem Kadri and Alexander Wennberg continue to be undervalued options on the waiver wire in many leagues.
11. The Jets’ Patrik Laine has been playing with Mark Scheifele but it wasn’t until they moved Blake Wheeler off the line and replaced him with Nikolaj Ehlers did things really start rolling. What this means is that Ehlers and Scheifele are in for big years. Chemistry like this will lead to the trio playing together through thick and thin. If they ever get broken up, they’ll be put back together soon. What we’ve seen is more than enough to convince anyone that these three kids – three studs – are a match made in heaven.
12. Yohann Auvitu scored his first career goal, the French defenceman the Devils signed this offseason. He is a solid puck mover and has settled into a decent spot as the number two offensive defenceman behind Damon Severson. He’s not really fantasy relevant unless your pool is deep enough that 30-point defencemen have value. But perhaps if there is an injury, he can have a moment.
13. We thought Frans Nielsen would surpass Henrik Zetterberg as the Red Wings’ number one centreman but, so far, Zetterberg is holding him off. The season is a long 82 games, however, and Zetterberg has been susceptible to wear and tear.
14. Jussi Jokinen is back for the Panthers skating in his usual spot beside Vincent Trocheck and Reilly Smith. Jokinen’s return is a net positive for this group. Hopefully they can get going soon. I am growing antsy with Trocheck as there are plenty of juicy options on the waiver wire at the centre position. He gets a couple of more weeks from me, I think.
15. Conor Sheary has been a stud for the Penguins and he’s almost never playing with Sidney Crosby, with whom he enjoyed so much success in the playoffs. I’m very optimistic about Sheary’s season ahead because he’s playing his way onto that big line. He finally played with Crosby Saturday night and did not look out of place.
16. Scoring hasn’t really been an issue for the Maple Leafs, and they have some other intriguing options on the blue line, but I don’t understand why they keep pretending like Morgan Rielly isn’t their top offensive defenceman. Rielly is good enough that he can sniff 40 points without power play time. If he can start seeing significant power play time, his upside soars.
17. It’s very interesting to see Ryan Ellis paired with P.K. Subban on the top Nashville power play while Roman Josi is on the second unit with Mattias Ekholm. Those are four solid, puck-moving defencemen, but if Ellis is getting more power play time (with a stud like Subban), he could be in for a bit of a run.
18. The Blues’ Kevin Shattenkirk always has hot starts that generally go on for 40 games while his second half slides quite a bit. Injuries also play a role with him. But for now enjoy the ride, it should continue for another month or two.
19. As expected, the Blackhawks’ Richard Panik has slowed considerably. He’s still getting power play time but Panik is pretty much off the Jonathan Toews line, which is concerning. I still like him for over 40 points but anything more than that will very much depend on whom he plays with. He’s not good enough to do it alone.
20. It’s getting close to that time when Calvin Pickard begins cannibalizing starts from Semyon Varlamov in Colorado. We’re always looking for a goalie to help our fantasy team because they’re only a small number of decent players who play that position and can actually help – and most of them get scooped up at the draft. So the two or three goaltenders that do crop up during the season and suddenly have value, well, they’re gold.
For this year and next, I can see Pickard being the better goaltender – but it will frustrate fantasy owners because he won’t get enough starts (35? Maybe?). Until the last year of Varlamov’s contract when the Avs send him down to the minors. So, that’s the lowdown on Pickard’s future. Barring a Varlamov injury, you’ll see Pickard do well, steal some starts, but hockey politics (in this case, a giant contract) will hold him back for a couple of years.
