Every Sunday this season, we’ll share 20 Fantasy Thoughts from the writers at Dobber Hockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week’s “Daily Ramblings” on DobberHockey.com.
1. Evander Kane scored two goals – one shorthanded and the other an empty netter – in the Sabres’ 5-2 win over Arizona on Friday. So that’s four goals over his last two games, and six points over his last three. If you’ve been patient with Kane, you’ve been rewarded with more points over his last three games than over his first 13 games. He is finally showing why you needed a top-100 pick for him.
2. If you’re looking for a reason for Kane’s recent success, he has formed an effective trio with Ryan O’Reilly and Sam Reinhart. By the way, Reinhart has scored three goals over his past three games. He is just three per cent owned in Yahoo leagues, so deep leagues might want to take note.
3. We’ve been waiting for Max Domi to hit that rookie wall, but it still hasn’t really happened points-wise. Domi has points in five of his last six, although he had been held without a goal in his previous nine games. Still, as a Domi keeper league owner, 23 points in his first 26 games is a lot more than I expected in his first season. But I’d be willing to bet he wouldn’t have that same level of success playing for a team that already had a true first-line center entering the season.
4. Shayne Gostisbehere recorded another assist Saturday. The Ghost Train continues to chug along with points in eight of his first 11 games. Five of those eight points have been with the man advantage, no less. But you’ve been hearing the fine folks at Dobber sing the praises of Gostisbehere well before his November callup.
5. There weren’t many goals in the Panthers/Blue Jackets game. That was in part due to the continued hot play of Sergei Bobrovsky. Hopefully you weren’t impulsive enough to drop him or sell low on him after his nightmarish October. Bob has allowed no more than two goals in each of his last five starts. But because he plays for the hard-luck Blue Jackets, only two of those strong efforts have resulted in wins.
6. Shots on goal have always been an Achilles’ heel for Jiri Hudler, yet he took a career-high 158 shots on goal last season (just over two shots per game). He has dropped off slightly in that department this season (just under two shots per game). But it’s his shooting percentage that has fallen nearly 10 per cent from his outlier 19.6 per cent from last season, which means the 31-goal scorer last season could struggle to reach 20 this season.
7. Zdeno Chara scored goals in back-to-back games. With 14 points in 22 games heading into Saturday, perhaps he’s not declining as fast as we thought. But if I own him, I might try to deal him simply because his name still carries some weight.
8. I added Anders Nilsson yesterday to a team that badly needed goaltending help. He rewarded me by stopping 42 of 43 shots in the Oilers’ win over Dallas on Friday. That’s pretty impressive considering who the opposition was. Nilsson is clearly pulling away from Cam Talbot as the Oilers’ starting goalie. I know the Oilers’ position in the standings hasn’t changed much from where it usually is, but I’d think Nilsson would be owned in more than 12 percent of Yahoo leagues.
9. Two shutouts this week for John Gibson. On Friday, he turned in a 23-save performance against the Sharks. With a 1.55 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage in the six games since his callup, I don’t know how the Ducks can think about sending him back to the AHL, especially when they’ve had as few positives as they’ve had this season. And I say this as a Frederik Andersen owner who is now getting nervous.
10. One of the most frequent questions I have been getting asked is: will Pavel Datsyuk turn it around? YES! We saw a flash Thursday night with a couple of assists. Hopefully this is where he starts to take off.
11. Niklas Kronwall continues to show signs of life. He still isn’t shooting enough but does have 11 SOG in his last six games, which is a huge improvement. Kronwall has two goals and three points in that stretch. Not yet a hot streak but maybe he can salvage things after a cold start.
12. Another guy that I hear a ton of questions about is Mike Hoffman. Is Hoffman for real? YES! Like Datsyuk, we saw Thursday night what makes Hoffman legitimate. His release is awesome. I remember last year hearing a quote from Ken Hitchcock about Vladimir Tarasenko’s shot and how to be an elite scorer at this level you need to be able to beat goalies from a distance. Hoffman can score from a distance. He also gets to skate with some really talented playmaking types in Kyle Turris, Mark Stone, Bobby Ryan and of course the guy whose name is engraved on the next dozen or so Norris Trophies, Erik Karlsson.
13. Braden Holtby has now won eight in a row. He is dancing very closely with being the best goalie in fantasy. He’s not there yet because Henrik Lundqvist is still kicking but the Carey Price injury opens up the second spot. Mind you, the goalie rankings are always in flux. But he is definitely top five and not going anywhere until this iteration of the Capitals turns to dust and they might just be getting started.
14. When I saw that Eddie Lack was starting for the Hurricanes Thursday I just knew it was going to be a good day for the Devils offence. I flooded my daily fantasy lineups with the New Jersey top line of Mike Cammalleri, Adam Henrique and Lee Stempniak. Huge dividends were paid.
15. Instinctively, no one wants to give these guys much credit, but how can you knock what is working? Cammalleri is a proven threat, with an 80-point season under his belt. He flopped for the Devils last year because that team was a disaster with 18 different co-coaches behind the bench and a GM on his way out the door. New coach. New GM. New team. New situation.
16. Will Cammalleri score 80 again? Unlikely but I won’t be shocked if he reaches 65-70 for the first time since his last 80-point season. Is it so hard to believe that he, Adam Henrique and Lee Stempniak could be this year’s “pop-up” line? It happens all the time. I still remember when Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin and Clarke MacArthur had that random season for the Leafs. It didn’t pay to be too skeptical then. And it isn’t right now.
17. Mikko Koivu is now four games without a point after being held off the board just twice previously. I suppose he was bound to slow down eventually. Still a great option with 60-point possibilities.
18. Valeri Nichushkin, come on down! You’re the next contestant on the Stars’ top line! Sparks flew for Nichushkin, skating on the top line last night. He had a goal and an assist and all of his bodacious skills were on display. The size, the speed, the power, the finesse, the vision, OMG. It’s drool-worthy, especially when you think about him teaming up with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn long term.
19. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Consistency is still a huge issue for Nichushkin. There is a reason he only has three goals and nine points on the year. It’s the same reason he so frequently gets buried skating an average of just 13:16 a night.
20. Ryan Strome’s three-game scoring streak came to a close Wednesday night and he only fired one SOG. He’s scored one point in the two games since. That’s OK. I still think he looks vastly improved. Good enough to hang onto his roster slot and produce at a streaky level.
