Have a fantasy hockey question? Ask away! Each week this NHL season, I’ll field your twitter questions and you’ll get your answers every Friday as part of my weekly mailbag. No question is a bad question. (@thegoldenmuzzy)
Even in a capped league such as Sportsnet’s Fantasy Hockey Pool, you’d be crazy not to run with Connor McDavid week after week. The 21-year-old is off to another blistering start and despite a point value of four, he’s still an absolute bargain at that price. It’ll be compelling to see if anyone can challenge McDavid for the Art Ross Trophy this season. Don’t put money on it.
Now to your questions:
Justin Dickenson – @4miles2home
Is Tyson Barrie as useless as he appears?
You may render him useless right now but trust me when I say that Barrie will find his way eventually. Through 10 games, the 27-year-old has notched five points, all of which are helpers.
Due to an increased emphasis on better defensive structure in the first month of the season, I do feel that it takes time for blueliners to find their seasonal groove.
If it helps – even Drew Doughty, Ryan Ellis and Zach Werenski are off to quiet starts. Barrie will figure it out. He’s pretty much a lock for 10-15 goals and 45-60 points. Take it and smile.
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Ryan Miller – @R_Millz_5
How long until I cut ties with Dougie Hamilton?
Judging by his current deployment with the Hurricanes, you’d have no idea Dougie Hamilton led all NHL defensemen in goals last season with 17 tallies.
Carolina’s slow start on the power play has forced head coach Rod Brind’Amour to make some changes. Among them was moving Hamilton to PP2 and utilizing Justin Faulk as the lone rearguard on PP1.
That being said, don’t forget that line assignments throughout the NHL are extremely fluid at the best of times. It’s not pretty right now for Hamilton. I still have plenty of confidence in him to regain form.
Jrcoach – @brownsnf19
I have Kasperi Kapanen. Do I keep him?
Easy answer – YES. Until Kapanen gives you reason not to own him, you hold onto him. As long as he continues to play with Auston Matthews, Kapanen will remain fantasy relevant. The only drawback, of course, is that he’s currently not being used on the power play. I’d still take him 5-on-5 on a line with Matthews and Patrick Marleau all day. I like the Kapanen file considerably right now.
Of course – a lot can change if William Nylander decides to sign. Keep that in mind.
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Nick Campano – @nooch99
Is it already time to give up on Jake Allen?
Let’s keep it positive – it can’t get any worse for Jake Allen. Right?
The turbulent start continued on Thursday night as he was pulled for the first time this season. He’s allowed three or more goals in seven of his eight starts. (2-3-3, 3.93 GAA, .876 SV%)
Those numbers are grotesque but then again – there are plenty of goalies around the NHL underachieving right now.
To be honest, no matter how bad the situation, I don’t like to make bold goalie decisions this early in the season. If nothing improves in the next month, concern will heighten considerably. Until then, chill out and be selective in terms of when to use Allen.
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Sawyer Michel – @Soyer90
Is it time to drop Nikolaj Ehlers yet?
In fairness, this question was filed before Ehlers ripped the monkey off his back on Wednesday night when he finally scored his first of the season. Truthfully, that goal had no bearing whatsoever on my stance. This is merely just a supremely talented player going through a rough patch. He’ll come out of it. Nothing to see here.
KWands – @WandlerKyle
Would you keep Antti Raanta? I’m running Juuse Saros and John Gibson right now.
Yes, I would keep Raanta on my roster. As I discussed earlier this season, I’m a big advocate of holding a third goalie on your fantasy roster.
Raanta has been fighting an illness recently so he’s been primarily serving as Darcy Kuemper’s backup. He’ll get the crease back soon and will continue to do his thing in there too. Given last October’s abomination, the Coyotes (4-5-0) are off to a way better start this season.
I still consider the Coyotes as a sleeper squad. Hold on to Raanta.
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Jimmy S. – @doublejspencer
Who would you rather own in a points only keeper league – Warren Foegele or Alex Tuch?
For a variety of reasons, I’m leaning towards going with Tuch in this scenario. Fresh off inking a fat contract extension, the former Wild draft pick made his season debut in an overtime loss to Vancouver on Wednesday night.
The 22-year-old right-winger is getting a great opportunity to skate with Max Pacioretty – a pure finisher. Tuch should rack up the points. Additionally, he’s also on Vegas’s revamped first power-play unit with William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault.
It’s not like I don’t like Foegele. Heck, he was mentioned in my 20 Fantasy Thoughts a couple weeks back. The sample size on Tuch is greater and Foegele is unlikely to see many high-leverage minutes on the power play either.
Tuch Yeah!
Dad Bod Don Properly – @Yegdb
Will Mathew Barzal hockey this year?
All things being equal, I’m fine with Barzal’s start in regards to the fantasy world. We sometimes forget how young he still is.
With John Tavares now in Toronto, it was fair to expect a bit of a regression for Barzal in his sophomore season. The protection is gone. He’ll still have a monster season. His rookie totals were just a bit inflated.
He’ll hover around a point per game again this season. Love him.
Valhalla – @TheAZViking
What are your projections for Alex Galchenyuk?
Max Domi is off to a steady start in Montreal. With Galchenyuk now healthy and ready to go, it’s time to see what he’ll bring to the table in Arizona.
The 24-year-old picked up his first point with the Coyotes on Thursday night, an assist on Clayton Keller’s game winner in the third period. So far, some encouraging things have come from the Keller/Galchenyuk/Crouse trio.
My projections – 20 goals, 50 points. I still consider Galchenyuk a fringe fantasy own in standard 12-team leagues.
Jeff Perry – @jeffreypperry
What do you think happens in Colorado’s crease between Semyon Varlamov & Philipp Grubauer?
Are the Avalanche off to an impressive start or what? I know they’re top-heavy but it’s the goaltending that has really impressed yours truly thus far.
Through nine games, the Avalanche have surrendered just 20 goals. Granted it’s still early, but there are a lot of positives to take from what that team’s doing defensively so far. They limited the powerful Tampa Bay Lightning to just one goal on Wednesday night, albeit in a 1-0 loss. Go figure.
Only time will tell if those type of numbers are sustainable but how could you not be enthused with how Varlamov and Grubauer are performing right now?
For my money, as long as Varlamov can stay healthy, he’ll get the brunt of the starts. I get that he’s likely to walk at season’s end but Colorado is in the business of winning hockey games.
Picking up Grubauer is a better long-term play. He’ll be the No. 1 in Denver eventually.
