Evgeni Malkin continues to age like a fine wine.
Watching him play you would have no idea Malkin is 37 years old and he continues to be an effortless player that can seemingly dominate shifts at times. Malkin is backing up an 83-point campaign with seven points in his first four games this season.
The interesting thing about Malkin is that last year he played in all 82 games for the first time since 2008-09 and he hadn’t skated in anything close to a full season since 2017-18. Most players his age start becoming less and less durable, so was last year’s 82-game season an anomaly or the start of a trend for Malkin?
If you bet on another injury-free Malkin season and it hits, he’s undoubtedly going to reward you with another huge year.
Let’s get to your questions:
Unfortunately, a lot of the forwards that are good for blocked shots are on the higher end. Players like Auston Matthews, Elias Pettersson and Anze Kopitar would be great, but likely aren’t available. Someone like Boone Jenner could be a fit, though. If he can stay healthy on that top line he has a chance for 30 goals and should average a block per game.
There may be no more frustrating player in fantasy hockey than Nik Ehlers. Whether it’s injuries or his deployment from Rick Bowness, Ehlers always leaves you wanting more because of his incredible talent. With Gabriel Vilardi now injured, though, this might be the perfect time to take a chance on Ehlers. Rick Bowness should have no choice but to lean on Ehlers and he recorded a pair of assists, including one on the power play in the first game without Vilardi. There’s nothing wrong with Seth Jarvis either. He’s off to a good start, has dual eligibility and is on the top power play. That said, I don’t think Jarvis has the upside that Ehlers does. If Ehlers can finally put it all together this season, he could be a difference maker for your squad.
Henry Thrun has picked up a couple of points and is getting some power-play time for the San Jose Sharks, but I’d still lean towards Brock Faber. The Minnesota Wild are playing Faber a ton and he looks like he’ll be fairly strong for category coverage. Plus, the Sharks may be the worst team in the league and over a long season, offence is going to be hard to come by for Thrun. He was also sent down to the AHL recently and it’s unclear when or if Thrun will be back.
For all the reasons I listed above, I really like Jarvis this season. Plus, in multi-cat leagues, Jarvis has extra potential for things like hits and faceoff wins. I know in a 10-team league there are probably lots of good options available, but I’d hang onto Jarvis and see where this hot start goes.
Hard to say, though my guess is the Anaheim Ducks will send Pavel Mintyukov back to junior. Anaheim isn’t likely going to be very competitive this year, so it wouldn’t make much sense for them to burn a year of his entry-level deal. The Ducks will also probably be near the bottom of the league in a number of defensive metrics, so it won’t be ideal to throw Mintyukov out there night in and night out. If he really impresses it’s possible they keep him, but I’d bet on seeing more of him next season.
I think Lukas Reichel is a drop if you need the roster space. He’s been pretty quiet thus far and isn’t playing much with Connor Bedard. Anton Forsberg could be an interesting option instead. The Ottawa Senators look solid out of the gate and they seem to be rotating goalies regularly right now.
Nothing too unusual outside of maybe the Minnesota Wild. I thought that tandem might be closer to a 1A/1B situation because Filip Gustavsson came into the year with such a small sample size, but it appears he’s officially the number one and Marc-Andre Fleury closer to a true backup. It’s probably going to take another couple of weeks or so for someone to emerge in some of the other tandems throughout the league.
I’m keeping Elvis Merzlikins and Joseph Woll out of those two. Merzlikins has had a solid start and he should play quite a bit, while Woll might have a chance to steal starts from Ilya Samsonov the way things are trending. It’s been a slow start for Samsonov and the Toronto Maple Leafs are confident in Woll, so there is upside there. I’d use Karel Vejmelka as more of a streamer because it’s going to be tough for him to get wins depending on the opponent.
These are always tough decisions. If it’s a keeper league I’d say hold onto Adam Fantilli, but if it’s a one-year league, you have to do what you have to do. Fantilli is no doubt going to get better as the year goes by and beyond, though he isn’t producing much offensively and only getting average ice time. You can only hold rookies for so long if you’re in win-now mode, no matter how promising they are or how much talent they have.
I would say Vitek Vanecek and Jack Campbell are your best bets. They have the strongest teams in front of them and should play the most throughout the season. Jonas Johansson is an interesting option, but the Tampa Bay Lightning have started slow and Johansson will lose his value when Andrei Vasilevskiy is healthy.
Mason McTavish is really coming into his own and is getting more comfortable every night. His minutes are way up this season and he’s starting off strong offensively. I think as his career progresses, McTavish is going to start improving more in categories likes hits, blocks and faceoff wins, too. It’s a tough call if you should prioritize him over the other players you listed. I think I’d definitely take him over Gabriel Vilardi, though, with Vilardi now scheduled to miss a fair bit of time.
There’s no reason to keep Matt Duchene if you need the roster space. The Dallas Stars don’t get much production outside of their top line and Duchene’s only really had one fantasy relevant season in the past handful of years, and that came with an inflated shooting percentage. I wasn’t overly high on Duchene coming into the season and have him pegged for around 50 or so points, which means you can usually find someone comparable on waivers.
I’m not sure I would say must-add unless it’s a keeper league. We talked a little bit about the situation Fantilli is in earlier and how that gets tricky in one-year leagues, and Leo Carlsson could find himself in a similar spot. Carlsson definitely is an elite prospect and I would certainly add him if you have the space, but keep in mind, his numbers may not be stellar right away. I just wouldn’t give up an important piece off your roster in case Carlsson takes some to get acclimated to the NHL.
Outside of the obvious names such as Jonathan Huberdeau, Elias Lindholm, Nazem Kadri, Rasmus Andersson and Jacob Markstrom, there are a couple of Calgary Flames to look at. Andrew Mangiapane is a very streaky player, so I think he’ll be up and down the lineup and eventually be a possible drop candidate. The most interesting option to me is Matt Coronato, who had a strong preseason and has looked good early on. Mikael Backlund also has value in deep, multi-cat leagues.
Morgan Frost should be fine, but it’s another reminder about the risks of rostering players on a John Tortorella-coached team. He’s not afraid to scratch anyone on the roster and you’ll have to be prepared for any Philadelphia Flyers you have to miss the odd game here and there if Tortorella doesn’t like how they’re playing.
I would move on from Tony DeAngelo and grab Shayne Gostisbehere. DeAngelo will be fighting for minutes all year on a crowded Carolina Hurricanes blueline and will have to surpass Brent Burns for power-play time. Gostisbehere has a point in every game this season and the Detroit Red Wings are using both him and Mo Seider on the power play. There’s just more upside with Gostisbehere.
Definitely a hold in a league that deep. As long as he’s in-between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman will have value. That’s especially true for multi-cat leagues that have things like penalty minutes, hits and faceoff wins.
Hopefully, you can stash Gabriel Vilardi on IR now that he’s injured, but if you can’t and you have to drop, Artturi Lehkonen isn’t a bad option. He should have decent value this season in the Colorado Avalanche top six.
It’s definitely been a slow start for Pavel Zacha, but I’d give it a few more games. There’s not many players sitting on the waiver wire who are on a top line and first power-play unit on a team as strong as the Boston Bruins. Plus, the Bruins have played only three games, so give Zacha a bit more of a chance before writing him off.
Calen Addison has been fairly productive, so I’d imagine it’s his spot to lose when Jared Spurgeon returns. He was effective last year as well but couldn’t be trusted at times because of his defensive shortcomings. Addison has more upside, so I’d hold him for now and hope he continues to play well in that role.
I’m sure the Tampa Bay Lightning would love to do that, though their hands are kind of tied because of the salary cap. They have some space with Vasilevskiy on LTIR, but he’ll be back at some point and they’ll need room to activate him. Even though Dan Vladar makes only $2.2 million, he’ll still be tough for the Lightning to squeeze in. If they were going to add someone, I thought they might do so through waivers.
He’s starting to find his form and posted solid numbers in his past two games. Dylan Cozens remains in the top six and on the first power play on what should be one of the highest-scoring teams in the league. The Buffalo Sabres are loaded with talent and I think Cozens will be able to take advantage of that again for another strong season.
I’m a big Trevor Moore fan. Despite playing down in the Los Angeles Kings lineup, Moore still gives you 45-50-point potential and is solid for hits and shots. Not to mention, he’s already off to a great start this season scoring-wise.
I can’t say I’m overly optimistic about Hampus Lindholm this season. Keep in mind, the Bruins have lost Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Taylor Hall, Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitry Orlov, so some regression is expected. He also ended last season in a funk, scoring just one goal in his final 15 games and failing to record a point in the playoffs. Lindholm might be worth holding for a little longer since the Bruins have played only three games, but if there are better options available you could consider moving on.
Don’t overreact on either. Stash Alex Pietrangelo on IR if you can for the time being and give Connor Hellebuyck some time to figure things out. There aren’t many goalies who play as much as Hellebuyck and he’s great if you have total saves as a category. If you give up on either this early, you may end up regretting it.
Brock Boeser had the big opening game, but I’d prefer Nick Schmaltz. I think you’ll find Schmaltz is much more consistent, as he should net you about a point per game. Boeser is a bit more streaky to me. The only concern about Schmaltz is if he can stay healthy, but I think his upside is higher than Boeser’s.
Normally I would say Owen Tippett, though his slow start this season has me concerned. I’d probably take a chance on Kirill Marchenko. He may put up a few less hits, but his offence and shot totals should be higher than Tippett’s.
I’d go with Jack Campbell. He has a very strong team in front of him and seems to be getting more of the starts in the early going here. He also outplayed Stuart Skinner in the pre-season and Campbell may be able to work himself into closer to 60 per cent of the starts if all goes well.
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