I read something today saying that Ontario would be the coldest place on earth this weekend, possibly dipping down as far as -50 Celsius in one part of the province. Mitch Marner sure felt that frigidness in the air on Friday as he made his return to Toronto as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Leafs faithful eased up and gave Marner cheers and applause when his video tribute appeared. In the end, Marner was held without a point, but he was still happy with the 6-3 Vegas victory. In his first season with Vegas, Marner is on pace for 85 points, which would be a drop from the 102 points he put up in his final season with the Leafs. Yet it seems like the Leafs miss Marner more than Marner misses the Leafs.
Mark Stone led the way for the Golden Knights with two goals and an assist. My strategy of staying away from the injury-prone Stone in drafts has backfired. Stone is currently on a 14-game point streak in which he has 21 points. Cooling off or encountering another injury seem inevitable, but right now the Vegas captain is absolutely clicking with Jack Eichel.
The Marner return was hardly the only storyline in this game. Rasmus Andersson finally made his Vegas debut, registering an assist while logging 21:33 while being reunited with Noah Hanifin, who he also partnered with in Calgary. On the one power play that the Golden Knights had in this game, they used five forwards again, with Hanifin and Shea Theodore on the second unit. Although he may have no major issues picking up points at even strength, Andersson’s value could be limited if he is held without any power-play time with his new team.
Fantasy Take: Golden Knights Acquire Rasmus Andersson
Anthony Stolarz also made his return to the Leafs’ net on Friday, starting his first game in over two months after battling an upper-body injury. Stolarz allowed five goals on 30 shots, which gives him three really bad starts in a row dating back to early November. Between injuries and overall subpar play, Stolarz has failed to deliver as a top-100 pick in Yahoo fantasy drafts. Joseph Woll holds the upper hand in the Leafs’ goaltending battle, although coach Craig Berube probably won’t be shy about working Stolarz back in.
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In the Lightning’s 2-1 shootout win over Chicago, Nikita Kucherov scored a goal in regulation and in the shootout. Kucherov has an astounding 32 points over his last 15 games. The Bolts also have a 15-game point streak.
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Jason Robertson scored his 30th goal of the season with exactly one minute left in regulation to give the Stars a 3-2 win over St. Louis. Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid are the only two other players to have reached 30 goals this season.
Robertson’s teammate Wyatt Johnston leads the league in power-play goals, scoring his 17th power-play goal of the season along with a power-play assist. No other player has more than 13 power-play goals. Only McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have more power-play points this season than Johnston (28 PPP).
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The Flyers walked into Colorado and did what almost no team has been able to do this season, which is take two points in regulation from the Avalanche. Owen Tippett scored three goals and added an assist, with his hat trick goal coming while the Flyers were shorthanded.
Matvei Michkov entered Friday’s game with just a single point over his last eight games, but he displayed his offensive prowess with two goals and an assist and a plus-3. Coach Rick Tocchet has taken some heat from Flyers fans recently by deploying Michkov on left wing as opposed to switching him back to his natural right-wing position. Tocchet has said that keeping Michkov on the left side boosts his speed through the neutral zone on his forehand while also taking position into consideration. Michkov is on a 45-point pace, which represents a significant downturn from his rookie season, when Tocchet wasn’t the coach. However, Michkov has been knocking on the door recently with 12 shots over his last two games.
Victor Olofsson might be worth adding to your fantasy team. Olofsson scored a goal while both playing on a line with MacKinnon and Martin Necas as well as the top power play, totaling 20 minutes on Friday. We’ll see how long he lasts in that PP1 spot over Valeri Nichushkin or Artturi Lehkonen. Nichushkin has just one point in his last nine games, so a move back up to PP1 for him doesn’t seem imminent.
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Alex Ovechkin scored an empty-net goal while taking six shots in the Capitals’ 3-1 win over Calgary. Ovechkin now has points in three consecutive games. His 21 goals is also one goal shy of Tom Wilson for the team lead.
Patiently waiting for Hendrix Lapierre to finally score a goal? Well, wait no longer! Former first-round pick Lapierre ended a 90-game goalless drought in this game. No, that is not a typo.
Jakob Chychrun left the game late in the third period after taking a hit from Nazem Kadri. Be sure to check his status for Saturday’s late game in Edmonton.
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Filip Chytil returned to the Canucks lineup on Friday after missing three months with a concussion. Chytil is a Band-Aid Boy because of the multiple concussions he has had in his career and is thus hard to trust in fantasy despite his talent. There was discussion on Canucks talk radio this week about whether moving him to the wing would help. Chytil was held without a point while centering a line with Brock Boeser and Drew O’Connor in his return.
Cody Glass led the Devils with two goals and an assist in their 5-4 win over the Canucks. Glass has nine points over his last seven games and 13 goals (but just five assists) on the season. Despite not playing on a scoring line, Glass has taken at least three shots in each of his last four games. Now 26 years old, Glass is now on his fourth NHL team since being drafted sixth overall in 2017. Despite heating up recently, Glass faces an uphill battle as far as reaching fantasy relevance.
Since his healthy scratch, Dougie Hamilton has points in six consecutive games, including an assist on Friday. The Devils need Hamilton right now with Luke Hughes having recently been placed on LTIR with a shoulder injury. Hamilton is even back on the top power play. Dare I say, Hamilton might even represent a buy-low opportunity while the Devils perhaps showcase him.
Jack Hughes has no goals since December 23, the day he returned from his freak hand injury. That’s 15 games ago. Perhaps that hand (finger to be exact) hasn’t fully healed. Despite the lack of goals, Hughes has 11 assists over his last 12 games and is still on close to a point-per-game pace (32 PTS in 33 GP).
The Devils have given Connor Brown a go on the top power play over the past three games. He rewarded them with a power-play goal on Friday. Brown now has points in back-to-back games.
Nico Hischier leads the league in both total faceoffs won (601) and total faceoffs (1085).
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Cutter Gauthier and Pavel Mintyukov each scored a goal and added an assist in the Ducks’ 4-2 win over Seattle. Gauthier now has five points over his last three games. He has also taken 12 shots over his last two games and has a minimum of four shots in each of his last four games. Only MacKinnon and McDavid have more shots this season than Gauthier (190 SOG).
Philipp Grubauer has started back-to-back games for Seattle and now has eight quality starts over his last 10 games. Unlike previous seasons, he has been better than Joey Daccord this season. I am starting to rethink my prediction that the Kraken will buyout Grubauer’s contract this offseason. Grubauer’s resurgence shows that not every player’s career follows a specific bell curve. Grubauer is still available in two-thirds of Yahoo leagues.
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Macklin Celebrini was at it again on Friday, scoring a pair of goals in the Sharks’ 3-1 win over the Rangers. Surprisingly, the goals were Celebrini’s first in seven games. I’ve discussed him in many Ramblings this season, so I’ll just leave it by saying that I’m looking forward to seeing him on the big stage with the Olympics coming soon.
You may have forgotten about Alex Nedeljkovic, so I’m here to tell you that he has five consecutive wins. Four of those wins have been quality starts. He has a 1.99 GAA and .931 SV% over that span. He has been splitting starts this month with Yaroslav Askarov for the up-and-coming Sharks, yet he is rostered in very few leagues (4% Yahoo/16% Fantrax).
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Let’s get you set up for the weekend.
Teams with games on both Saturday and Sunday: Florida, Ottawa. One player from each of these teams stands out as a potential weekend add.
Uvis Balinskis has been on Florida’s top power play with Seth Jones out of the lineup until after the Olympic break. Although Balinskis’ overall point total this season (10 PTS in 40 GP) is meager, he has three points in his last five games, one of which was a power-play goal. Take a flier on him if you need help with scoring from your defense.
Ridly Greig has accumulated seven points over his last five games, including a goal and plus-2 on Thursday against Nashville. The most recent line shuffling in Ottawa works out in Greig’s favor, as he is on a line with Brady Tkachuk and Dylan Cozens. The downside is that he does not receive much power-play time, which makes him a better option for leagues where power-play points don’t matter.
Teams with games on neither Saturday nor Sunday: Dallas, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, San Jose
Igor Chernyshov, who burst out of the gate during his mid-December callup, was reassigned to the AHL after registering just three points in his last eight games. Chernyshov was likely a casualty of the Sharks’ recent acquisition of Kiefer Sherwood – an easy player to demote because he is waivers exempt. Drop Chernyshov in single-season leagues, but hold onto the 20-year-old in keeper leagues if possible.
Still rostering Jamie Benn? He has no points over his last 11 games, with his last point coming on December 23. Even with bangers value, Benn is droppable due to the dip in scoring.
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