20 Fantasy Thoughts: Blake Coleman showing no signs of slowing down

Is there hope for Jonathan Huberdeau yet?

It’s been a dismal season for the Calgary Flames forward, but recently there’s at least been reason for optimism. Huberdeau has six points in his past five games and eight overall in his last eight contests, easily his best stretch of the season. The Flames themselves are playing better as well, winning nine of 13 games and scoring six times in three of their past six. 

Huberdeau would also be a very low-risk, high-reward gamble at this point. He’s available in almost 60 per cent of leagues, so it should likely cost you nothing more than a waiver pickup if you want to take a chance on him. Huberdeau is also C/LW eligible (I’m not really sure why he has centre eligibility but that’s another matter), so you should easily be able to work him into your lineup.

Even so, it’s going to take a lot more than to gain the trust back of fantasy hockey enthusiasts. This stretch was preceded by Huberdeau recording just a single point in the entire month of December and he’s no longer on the top power play unit. So, you’d understand if people weren’t rushing out to grab him off waivers. 

One thing is for sure, there are definitely a lot of fantasy teams out there battling injuries that would welcome a bounce-back second half from Huberdeau if he has it in him. 

1. Blake Coleman has been producing at a very high level for well over a month now. The Flames forward is up 24 points in his past 18 games and is already rapidly closing in on his career high of 38 points. He also shouldn’t have any issue shattering his career high of 22 goals shortly either. Coleman is typically a decent streamer who has upside for hits, but he’s definitely worth holding right now.

Amazingly, Coleman is pulling this off mainly from the third line and without top power play time. Plus, with the Flames playing better of late, there’s reason to believe Coleman can at least keep this going a little while longer. 

You don’t often see a player have a breakout season in their eighth year in the league that isn’t typically known for offence, but Coleman is on pace for 71 points at the age of 32. Normally, this would be a good opportunity to sell high on a player, but Coleman is playing so well I’d just keep him and enjoy the ride. It’s not every day you can get this type of contribution from someone you likely picked up on waivers. Coleman could end up being the catalyst that propels your team to a championship.

2. Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic is up to 12 goals on the year and has seven points in his past eight contests. He’s worth a look in deep leagues as a short-term fill-in if your league counts faceoff wins and hits. Frederic has C/RW eligibility, too. 

3. Even at age 35, without Patrice Bergeron and coming off a major hip surgery prior to last season, Brad Marchand is showing no signs of slowing down. He’s on pace for 76 points and is still as reliable as ever. 

4. A .909 save percentage and a 9-6-4 record isn’t that impressive in itself, unless it’s a goalie on a team near the Eastern Conference basement.

Sam Montembeault looks like a legit starting goaltender in this league and could have major value when the Montreal Canadiens eventually put it all together. 

5. You can’t say Lukas Reichel has been a huge disappointment this year because expectations weren’t that high, but it’s still been a bit discouraging nonetheless. Granted, Reichel hasn’t played much with Connor Bedard and the rest of the Chicago Blackhawks roster is pretty bare, to put it mildly, yet I must confess I didn’t think Reichel would have only nine points in 42 games. I thought Reichel could be a decent streamer at times this year with upside as a hold if he played with Bedard, but he’s essentially been unrosterable. 

6. Things hit a new low for Pierre-Luc Dubois this week, as he was demoted to the fourth line for a short stint. Dubois is typically a great multi-cat option, good for about 60 points, 200 shots and 100 hits. Barring a miraculous turn of events, it doesn’t look like Dubois is going to get anywhere close to those numbers this year. If you’re still holding out hope for Dubois, it’s probably time to drop him and move on. 

7. The Los Angeles Kings themselves are struggling as well, losing eight straight games. Cam Talbot also appears to have hit a wall, conceding 15 goals in his past four starts. We all knew Talbot couldn’t keep up the pace he started the year at given his age, so it’s definitely concerning if you’ve been leaning on him in net this season. The Kings would be well served to perhaps reduce Talbot’s workload if they can, even if that means adding another experienced goaltender. I don’t think it’s time to panic yet where Talbot is concerned, but you might want to look into adding another option to your team to help support him just for insurance. 

8. Jaden Schwartz returned from injury this week and promptly scored four points in his first three games back. The Seattle Kraken forward had a great start to the season before going down, so keep an eye out to see if he continues to pick up where he left off. 

9. Tage Thompson’s underwhelming season continues. After a nice little four-game stretch, Thompson failed to register a shot or shot attempt against the Seattle Kraken, and he was bumped off the top line for a bit in favour of Casey Mittelstadt. Thompson finished the game with just 14:36 of ice time. He bounced back Thursday with a pair of goals but then was forced to leave with an injury. Overall, it hasn’t been a terrible season for Thompson, but he certainly isn’t producing at the standard he did last year and if getting moved off the top line starts becoming a trend, it’s only going to make it more challenging for him to get back on track. 

10. Cole Perfetti is another top-six Winnipeg Jets forward who may be worthy of adding. He recently enjoyed a stretch of four goals in three games and has the always beneficial C/LW eligibility to make Perfetti easy to slot into your lineup. 

11. I’ve mentioned this a few times this season, but it really is absurd how good the Jets are defensively. They’ve now gone 32 games without allowing more than three goals and in 26 of those it’s been two or less. This has easily made Connor Hellebuyck the most valuable goalie in fantasy this season in my opinion. No one has been as consistent as Hellebuyck and he never ruins your stats for the week, which counts for a lot. 

The other thing to consider here is the players you have facing the Jets. We talked earlier this year about playing as many guys as you can against the San Jose Sharks because they give up so many goals, but the opposite is true here. If you have to bench someone on your roster because you are in a roster crunch, sit any who are playing the Jets if applicable. They simply don’t give you much.

12. It’s flu season and why is that relevant in fantasy hockey you ask? Well, a couple of reasons. The main one being it’s important to check your roster again right before puck drop, as many players are game-time decisions because of illnesses at this time of year. If you aren’t paying attention, you could find yourself with a surprise scratch here and there in your lineup. 

There are also a couple of other things I do to minimize the impact of illnesses, with the main one being never adding a streamer for a game until warmups. I’ve been burned a few times by adding someone in the morning, only to have them miss the game because they were sick later in the day and it cost me a waiver add. This is especially important where you have a maximum amount of adds for the week or season. If you really want the player and you think someone else will grab them you might have to risk it early, but if it’s just someone you’re targeting for a one-off to help you catch up in a category it’s best to wait. 

One other thing to consider is who you’re benching. Sometimes it’s better to play someone with an early start time versus a late one. For instance, if you’re deciding who to bench between two players and you sit a player starting at 7 p.m. ET and then the player you wanted to start at 10 p.m. ET is out with an illness, you’re stuck. You might feel this is overthinking it but as we get closer to fantasy playoff time, every advantage you can get counts. 

13. Outside of a three-point game recently, Brock Faber still isn’t filling up the scoresheet with all that ice time. That said, Faber has 21 blocks in his last six games. If you’re in a multi-cat league I wouldn’t be overly worried about the lack of offence. 

14. This is the Matthew Tkachuk we’re used to. After a really slow start, Tkachuk has picked it up, recording seven goals in six games and 16 points in his past eight contests, while posting a ton of shots. You knew Tkachuk’s shooting percentage wasn’t going to stay as low as it was a few weeks ago forever and it still has more room to keep climbing to get to his career average. Tkachuk was a really strong buy-low candidate because you could definitely tell he was snakebitten to start the year, but now the dam appears to have burst. 

15. Elvis Merzlikins hasn’t played since Dec. 29, as the Columbus Blue Jackets seem intent on giving Daniil Tarasov a real look. I don’t think Merzlikins is worth holding onto anymore given how infrequently he’s playing and the state of the Blue Jackets. He would be an interesting option should he be dealt to a stronger team though, but that will be easier said than done because of his cap hit.

16. Perhaps Carolina could be a fit for Merzlikins. Pyotr Kochetkov is out indefinitely with an injury, leaving Antti Raanta to carry the workload. Though he’s been better recently, Raanta has really struggled overall this year, but the Hurricanes have won seven of eight games and it’s still a goalie-friendly spot. Do you dare take a chance on him again if your team is desperate for help between the pipes?

17. There are some teams with really good schedules next week, including the Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks and New York Islanders. The Wings play Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, while the Islanders play Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, including a matchup against Chicago. Meanwhile, the Ducks have a pair of back-to-backs, so Lukas Dostal should get two starts and one of those could be against the San Jose Sharks. I might also look at Jake Walman from Detroit if he’s over his illness and your league counts blocked shots. Walman won’t get you many points, but he’s in the top five in the NHL for blocks. 

18. Shane Pinto is back at practice and he’s eligible to return Jan. 21. If Josh Norris is going to miss a significant amount of time, Pinto could have some upside if he can work his way into the Ottawa Senators top six. He did score 20 goals last season. 

19. Terrible timing for Trevor Zegras to go down with an injury. He had just come off a two-goal, four-shot performance in arguably his best game of the season. Now Zegras is the subject of trade speculation and is going to be sidelined for the foreseeable future, so your best bet is probably to just stash him on IR if you can and see how this plays out, especially in a keeper league. He’s still young and sometimes a fresh start, if it happens, can be really good for a player’s value.

20. Gabriel Landeskog returned to the ice this week. From the sounds of it, the Colorado Avalanche would have to make it fairly deep in the playoffs for Landeskog to get back in the lineup, if he does at all this season. That means he isn’t really fantasy-relevant for this year, but Landeskog could make for an interesting pickup if you’re thinking really far down the line. If you’re in a keeper league and have room for a stash, grabbing Landeskog could end up paying dividends for 2024-25. It’s a long shot but nothing ventured, nothing gained.