20 Fantasy Thoughts: Tage Thompson blossoming into star for high-scoring Sabres

You could’ve probably counted on one hand the number of goalies more reliable heading into this season than Tristan Jarry.

Jarry’s regular season numbers had been solid over a decent sample size and he had a strong Pittsburgh Penguins team in front of him.

Or so we thought. The Penguins have plummeted down the standings with seven straight losses, including Jarry’s past four outings that have seen him concede 19 goals.

It’s not just Jarry, as Jack Campbell, Thatcher Demko and a few other goaltenders that were drafted as number ones for fantasy squads have struggled out of the gate. Sometimes searching the waiver wire for the next Ville Husso or Alex Nedeljkovic is just as effective of a strategy as taking a high-end option earlier in drafts.

We could probably spend the next thousand years with all of the world’s great minds and unlimited resources, and still not figure out goaltending.

1. Tage Thompson has arrived. He posted nine points this week, including a whopping six in one game. The Buffalo Sabres forward probably shifted the balance of a number of matchups with that single outing alone, and it reminded me of a fantasy football matchup that was won by a Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes five-touchdown performance. You don’t get those very often in fantasy hockey.

Don’t look now, but the Sabres might be the most exciting team in the league, all of a sudden, ranking second in the NHL in goals per game. Who saw that coming?

2. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about Bruce Cassidy’s impact on the Vegas Golden Knights, but not nearly enough on what Jim Montgomery is doing with the Boston Bruins. Montgomery is much more encouraging with allowing the Bruins' defence to jump up into the rush and Hampus Lindholm is benefitting in a big way. He’s up to 13 points on the season and punctuated things with a four-point night earlier this week. Lindholm’s career high in points is 34, and he’s on pace to shatter that.

3. If you’re rostering Brandon Montour, you’re probably sweating bullets with Aaron Ekblad inching towards a return. Montour has been a revelation with Ekblad sidelined: picking up points, playing big minutes, getting top power play time and recording at least five shots in four of his past five games. Ekblad’s return is certainly going to hurt Montour’s value, but the question is, how much?

4. Never underestimate the power of the “contract year” in fantasy hockey. People rarely focus on this when drafting, but we’ve seen career seasons time and time again from players in a contract year. Case in point: Bo Horvat. The Vancouver Canucks forward enjoyed a stretch recently where he had two goals in three straight games and is up to 10 on the season. He’s going to get paid. If not by the Canucks, from someone else.

5. It’s getting tough to hold onto Jordan Binnington. He’s given up an average of five goals in his past three games, and his numbers have been on a steady decline since he propelled the St. Louis Blues to the Stanley Cup. The Blues were supposed to be a strong team, and Binnington was going to play a ton, but right now it looks like St. Louis is trending in the wrong direction. Binnington can still give you quantity, though not much quality. There are probably better options out there.

6. For all the talk around Mitch Marner and the Toronto Maple Leafs, you’d probably think the forward was stuck in some disastrous slump. Marner, though, has 13 points in 12 games, and he and Auston Matthews really haven’t even started clicking yet. Marner’s numbers are going to be scary when they inevitably do.

7. It sounds like Erik Kallgren is going to get a few starts here with Ilya Samsonov injured. Any goalie on a strong team is worth a look, but the Toronto Maple Leafs' upcoming schedule is somewhat daunting. The Leafs play Carolina, Vegas and Pittsburgh over their next three games. Not exactly ideal for Kallgren but if you’re desperate for help in the crease, he’s probably worth the risk.

8. If the Vezina Trophy was being handed out today, there’s a good chance it would be going to Ilya Sorokin. In his eight starts, Sorokin has a .929 save percentage or better in seven of them. It won’t be long before the New York Islanders goaltender is mentioned right alongside Andrei Vasilevskiy and Igor Shesterkin.

9. Oliver Wahlstrom played just over 12 minutes Saturday and barely saw any power-play time. He’s not going to give you much value with that deployment.

10. Dylan Strome is settling in nicely in Washington. He’s up to nine points and is even getting looks on the top line with Alexander Ovechkin and the top power-play unit at times. I think he’s a safe pickup, as his floor should be at least 50 points if he stays healthy. He’s also only 25 per cent rostered and plays four times next week if you’re looking for forward help.

11. There may not be a more impressive team so far this season than the New Jersey Devils, and they are being powered by a number of forwards reaching their potential including Nico Hischier. He’s only been held off the scoresheet in three games this season, and Hischier is filling the shot category by posting a whopping 38. If he keeps this up, Hischier should cruise to a new career high in points.

12. Patience is starting to pay off where Lucas Raymond is concerned. After a slow start, Raymond now has four goals in his past three games. He’s simply too talented to not be filing the net with regularity.

13. Roope Hintz is now up to nine points in his past five games. Many were scared off by the Dallas Stars forward because of his struggles with injuries during the 2020-21 shortened season, but since then he’s been a pillar of durability. Hintz played 80 games a year ago and hasn’t missed a game this season. Hintz is perennially one of the more underrated players in the league.

14. Not a bad week for Scott Wedgewood. He went 3-0-0 with a .935 save percentage with Jake Oettinger injured, including a couple of wins over tough opponents. Wedgewood is turning into a savvy pickup if you need help in goal.

15. It’s a smart move if you bought low on Kyle Connor. Three points in his past two games, and he’s getting a ton of shots. He’s had at least three shots in every game so far this season but two. The goals will come.

16. It appears the No. 1 job between the pipes in Colorado is Alexandar Georgiev’s. He’s started eight of 11 games this season, including both contests in a back-to-back over in Europe this weekend. It felt like the Avalanche net could be up for grabs this year, with Pavel Francouz getting a real opportunity to play close to 50 per cent of the games, but that ship has apparently sailed. Georgiev has been great so far, and Francouz is probably only good for streaming in spot-start situations at this point.

17. Owen Power is looking more and more comfortable each night. He’s up to five points in four games now. If Rasmus Dahlin’s injury keeps him out of the lineup for a bit of time, Power would be good to have around.

18. Troy Terry is not a one-hit wonder. It’s been a pretty lackluster season for the Anaheim Ducks so far, but Terry has quietly picked up 16 points in 12 games. This year could end up being even better than the last.

19. I’m sure it was very tempting to move on from Timo Meier after that rough start, but he’s now notched nine points and 32 shots in his past five outings. Kudos if you had the discipline to hang on.

20. Those who weren’t deterred by Nikita Kucherov’s injury issues over the past couple of seasons have certainly been rewarded. The Tampa Bay Lightning superstar has now scored in six straight games and is up to 20 points on the season. Kucherov actually ranked second in the league last year in points per game behind only Connor McDavid, albeit in just 47 contests. I’m sure there were a few people who didn’t want to use a first-round pick on a player they thought would miss a significant chunk of time with an injury, so perhaps Kucherov fell a spot or two in drafts. If he stays healthy, I’m sure some folks will be kicking themselves.