20 Fantasy Thoughts: Jets' Connor proving he’s an elite scorer

It’s been a less than ideal start to the season for the Columbus Blue Jackets to say the least.

Columbus has just one win in its past 13 games and its top stars have been anything but thus far. Johnny Gaudreau has two points in eight games and Patrik Laine has just a single point since returning from injury. This culminated in both players getting benched in the third period in a game against the Arizona Coyotes earlier this week. It’s hard to fathom this is the same Gaudreau that had 74 points a year ago and 115 the season prior.

If a player is known to get benched or scratched, I have a pretty strong philosophy that you shouldn’t roster them. We rarely see players with the track record of Gaudreau or Laine getting benched, but it appears Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent isn’t playing around this season. If you can’t rely on someone on your squad to be in your lineup regularly or play respectable minutes, you may ultimately have to move on.

Even if they are as talented as Laine or Gaudreau, they’re no use to you stapled to the bench.

1. I’m not surprised to see Kyle Connor finding the net with more regularity this season and he’s currently leading the league with 14 goals. He was a big bounce-back candidate for me after scoring just 31 goals last year, as his shooting percentage was down from his career average in 2022-23. Connor was a 47-goal scorer two years ago, so last year’s output was a major disappointment.

One of the reasons Connor is off to such a strong start is that he’s upped his shot volume in 2023-24. He’s currently on pace to reach 332 shots, which would be a new career high and only the second time he’s crossed the 300-shot mark.  
With Mark Scheifele staying in the fold long-term, I think Connor could be a 50-goal scorer someday. Maybe even as early as this year.

2. You may want to grab Cole Perfetti while you still can. Amazingly, he’s still only 27% rostered despite recording 12 points in his past 12 contests. Perfetti offers virtually no hits coverage and his shots on goal are fairly sporadic, so his value is much higher in points leagues. Still, with offensive production like that, Perfetti is probably worth taking a chance on as a streamer at the very least.

3. Something seems off with Mika Zibanejad this season. He only has one point in six games and just two goals on the year. What’s most concerning is that nothing has changed with his deployment, as he’s still on the top line and first power play, and the New York Rangers have been playing really well. His ice time is also almost identical to the previous two seasons. Not to mention, Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin have been producing at an elite level. There’s no reason Zibanejad should be struggling this much. I’d bet he snaps out of this soon and he could be a good buy-low candidate

4. Is this the year Alexis Lafreniere finally breaks out? He’s taking advantage of Panarin’s torrid start and is on pace for 38 goals. Keep in mind, though, Lafreniere is currently shooting almost 26%, which isn’t sustainable. That’s going to come down, but even if it does and Lafreniere finishes with 25-30 goals or so, that’s still a huge win if you drafted him.

The other thing to consider with Lafreniere is that his hit totals are way down. He’s had sneaky value for hits in his young career, totaling well over 100 in each of the past two seasons. This year, though, he only has five. If Lafreniere can get those back up to last year’s pace and become a consistent scorer, he’ll be a huge asset.

5. Some positive signs for Stuart Skinner here. He posted three quality starts in a row before Saturday night, allowing just five goals total in those three contests. It’s been a nightmare start for Skinner and the Edmonton Oilers, but he still has way more upside than likely any goalie sitting on your waiver wire right now. The Oilers are too good not to get really rolling eventually, which should help Skinner rack up the wins. His only competition is now Calvin Pickard, so Skinner should get an opportunity to reclaim the net and get his game back to last year’s level.

6. If you’re like me and constantly reviewing the schedule to optimize your roster, you’ve probably noticed the Anaheim Ducks players are a great resource. The Ducks have one of the best schedules for off nights, regularly playing on Fridays and Sundays. It’s been even more effective since Anaheim suddenly has more fantasy-relevant options than usual. Mason McTavish, Frank Vatrano and Pavel Mintyukov have all emerged to provide significant value. So, if you’re finding you’re regularly having to bench a player or two Thursdays and Saturdays, you could see if streaming a Duck is an option.

7. The Minnesota Wild have given up 64 goals this season, good enough for a tie for 30th in the NHL. How long before Jesper Wallstedt, and his .932 save percentage in the AHL, gets a shot?

8. Wyatt Johnston is starting to gain some real traction. He’s up to 13 points in 16 games, but has been a little boom or bust this year, doing most of his damage in four multi-point games. There are advantages to a player like Johnston who scores in bunches. For instance, he had a big three-point night last Sunday. That kind of output on the weekend can potentially swing a matchup in a head-to-head league

9. It’s not the first time I’ve been wrong about a player and it probably won’t be the last, but Matt Duchene is playing some good hockey right now. I suggested Duchene could be a decent drop candidate recently and he’s promptly scored nine points in five games. After going pointless in his first four games and being stuck on the third line and second power play, I didn’t think Duchene could have this much impact. I’m still not sure it’s going to last, but take advantage of it while you can.

10. We’ve talked a lot about the Oilers' struggles in goal this season, but it hasn’t been much better for the New Jersey Devils. Both Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid are well below .900 on the season, as neither has been able to put together any type of a decent run. At least Vanecek has seven wins, though the rest of his numbers leave a lot to be desired. Meanwhile, Schmid was supposed to be a great bargain goalie this year but has virtually been unrosterable.

11. There was a collective sigh of relief throughout the fantasy hockey community Saturday night as Jack Hughes returned to the Devils lineup, without missing a beat. He delivered two points and eight shots, looking just fine. Ultimately, after causing major panic for a number of fantasy GMs, he missed just five games. It could’ve been a lot worse.

12. It’s been a rough stretch for Dylan Cozens, who has just one point in his past seven games. Cozens isn’t even on pace for 50 points right now, which would be a huge letdown based on last year’s campaign. With Tage Thompson out for a significant period of time, maybe that opens the door for Cozens to get going with a promotion to the top line.

13. Even with John Carlson healthy and on the top power play for the Washington Capitals, Rasmus Sandin is still making a great case to be rostered. He’s played at least 24 minutes in eight of his past nine games and has 26 blocks over that stretch. Sandin also has a point in three of his past four games. The lack of power play time isn’t ideal, but he’s still rosterable in multi-cat formats given his heavy minutes.

14. JT Compher is one of the more unique players out there in fantasy. He has seven points in six games but only three shots in his past seven. He provides steady faceoff wins but doesn’t even have centre eligibility in Yahoo. Compher could be a very valuable option in some formats but not worth rostering in others.

15. It’s been sort of a challenging season for Alexandar Georgiev. He’s 10-4-0 on the season, but has a save percentage below .900 in nine of his past 10 starts. That’s partly because the Colorado Avalanche are almost too good at limiting shots. For instance, Georgiev hasn’t even faced 20 shots in two of his past three outings. We’ve seen this issue in the past with Carolina Hurricanes goalies as well, where you face so few shots that giving up even only a couple of goals can be problematic.

There’s also the matter of fatigue, as Georgiev has played every game but two for Colorado. I think the Avs are going to have to find a way to get him some more rest moving forward. It’s a long season.

16. There haven’t been too many positives for the Blue Jackets, but Ivan Provorov is having a strong campaign. He already has 11 points and is playing big minutes. He might be worth a look in deep leagues.

17. Connor Brown made his return from injury this weekend and has been placed back up with Connor McDavid. The Edmonton Oilers play four times next week and all on off nights, so even though Brown hasn’t recorded a point yet, he might be a good streamer to take a chance on.
The Ottawa Senators, on the other hand, play just once. You might have to look at dropping any Sens on the fringes of your roster for a player that’s going to see more action next week. It’s really tough to hold a player for a one-game week in head-to-head formats.

18. Eeli Tolvanen is a must-add at the moment. Tolvanen has tallied eight points in eight games, is on the top power play for the Seattle Kraken and doing a decent job of filling the shots, hits and blocks categories. He’s a great option in multi-cat leagues.

19. Just when Alex DeBrincat is heating back up again, Dylan Larkin remains ice cold. He’s been held without a point in eight of his past nine games. That duo looked unstoppable to start the season, but they’ve come back down to earth in a big way. Hopefully, this recent surge from DeBrincat can re-ignite Larkin again, as I thought Larkin had 90-point potential this season. That projection could be slipping away, though, if Larkin doesn’t get going again quickly.

20. It’s very rare to find value with a goalie on a struggling team, but Jacob Markstrom has been solid for the Calgary Flames this year. He’s deserved better than just four wins this season and Markstrom has actually had three games this year where he’s allowed two goals or fewer and didn’t get enough offensive support to pick up the win in any of them.

There are definitely pros and cons to rostering someone like Markstrom. Calgary has played better of late, but generally wins will be hard to come by. Plus, if the Flames do become sellers, the roster is going to get worse throughout the year, making things even more difficult for Markstrom.

On the positive side, Markstrom could play around 60 games and there’s simply not many goalies that can give you that kind of volume. You could use him selectively when the matchups are somewhat favourable to get the most out of Markstrom that you possibly can. If he continues to play at this level, Markstrom we’ll be worth having around, no matter where the Flames end up this season.