It’s been a frustrating fantasy playoffs if you’ve been rostering Minnesota Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson.
This isn’t to say Gustavsson has played poorly; in fact, he’s continued his strong play, but he’s been the victim of a tough schedule and an unlucky goalie rotation. About a month ago, Marc-Andre Fleury found his game again and worked his way back into an every-other-game rotation with Gustavsson. This became significant for Gustavsson’s value because in each of the past three weeks, the Wild have had just three games, and the rotation favored Fleury.
Two weeks ago, it was Fleury’s turn to start when Minnesota played its first game of the week and the same went for this week, meaning Gustavsson received only one game in both of those weekly matchups for you, if you made it that far. Worse than that? Those opponents in the single-game weeks for Gustavsson were the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche. Not exactly easy competition.
If Gustavsson had been carrying your team this season, you were probably hoping for more of the same in the fantasy playoffs, but he almost became droppable just based on circumstance. As much as you try to put your team in the best possible position to succeed, there’s only so much you can control.
Now, let’s get to your questions:
My favourites for the Stanley Cup finals are the Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers. If the Avs get healthy, they’ll be really tough to beat, and the Rangers added some huge names at the deadline and are a really complete team. It doesn’t hurt having Igor Shesterkin behind you, either.
He might not be doing much on the power play, but Patrick Kane still has nine points in his past 12 games in a loaded Rangers top six. Without seeing your roster, I’m still willing to bet Kane is a much better option than the worst player on your squad. He at least must have more upside.
We don’t usually see too much resting or load management in the NHL, but the Boston Bruins have built such a massive lead on the rest of the pack and have so many veterans, that it just makes sense to rest a few players here and there. It’s hard to say for sure, but the Bruins still have a pair of back-to-backs to play, so expect the second half of those to see a few key players sitting. Boston is still dealing with a few injuries, though, and only has so many callups it can make, meaning the Bruins probably can’t rest everyone they would like. That’s at least one thing working in the favour of keeping valuable players in the lineup.
Look no further than Thomas Chabot’s teammate Jake Sanderson. The rookie has been quiet over the past few games, but with Chabot and Jakob Chychrun both out for the foreseeable future for the Senators, Sanderson should be getting major minutes and a ton of power-play time. He’s shown flashes of his ability in shorter scoring runs that lasted only a handful of games, though perhaps with increased responsibility Sanderson will see a spike in production.
Sanderson is also playing for a team clinging to playoff hopes, so they’ll be a motivated squad and won’t be resting any top players. The likes of Tim Stutzle, Alex DeBrincat and Brady Tkachuk should really aid Sanderson in producing with the man advantage.
Of course, there are others such as Juuso Valimkai and Sean Durzi to consider as well, but few options out there possess the talent, opportunity and upside of Sanderson.
You said it best when you noted you have to get there first. That’s the problem at this time of year, you can’t hold players who aren’t contributing to your roster if you aren’t assured they’ll be back anytime soon, even if they are as talented as Kirill Kaprizov. I may have said this in a previous mailbag, but I always suggest leagues go with IR+ for all injuries. If a player is legitimately injured, you should be able to replace them in your lineup.
There are a couple. I recently voiced my concerns about Erik Karlsson duplicating his monster season and I wonder if you could put someone such as Linus Ullmark in the same category. That’s not to say you shouldn’t draft Karlsson and Ullmark, but don’t reach for them too high because the likelihood of them performing at the same level they did this season seems slim.
As for a player to avoid entirely, I’d probably say Philipp Grubauer. It’s been two very disappointing seasons for Grubauer, even with the Seattle Kraken making an incredible jump this season. Don’t be fooled again.
I think that might be a 32-way tie. When you follow a team closely, you’re bound to get similar complaints about officiating, but I bet if you supported another team and followed a bunch of those fans, the discourse would sound very similar. You can even tell when you see a questionable call and you listen to both teams’ broadcast of the game, as often they’ll see the same play very differently. It’s just human nature, and complaining about officiating is what brings a lot of fans together.
Rasmus Kupari has had moderate results in the Los Angeles Kings bottom six and he’s in a tough spot, given all the young talent they have. It’s going to be a real battle to earn top-six minutes and power-play time in Los Angeles in the coming years with Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala as mainstays, and young players such as Quinton Byfield on the rise. I wonder if Kupari’s best chance to become a better fantasy option is through a trade to get a change of scenery. He certainly has the size and upside where someone may want to take a chance on him.
Both Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray should receive fairly equal playing time down the stretch on a strong team, so neither is really a bad option. I think Samsonov is a bit safer, though, given Murray’s injury history. Samsonov is less likely to miss games due to injury and has been more consistent this season.
As much as the Calgary Flames would like the answer to be yes, it’s hard to say so for an undrafted player who’s barely played 20 NHL games. It would certainly be a nice story if Walker Duehr provided the Flames consistent offense, but given the struggles Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri have had this season, banking on Duehr might be wishful thinking.
I’ll go with a few under-the-radar options in Owen Tippett, Jack Quinn, Barrett Hayton, Thomas Novak and then one that almost everyone knows now in Pyotr Kochetkov. Tippett, Hayton and Novak have been great down the stretch and Quinn has shown glimpses that could make him a great scorer on a potent Buffalo Sabres team.
There’s really only one or two goalies I’d even consider taking in the top 15 of a draft, just because I think you can find so much value with netminders in the later rounds and even off waivers. I wouldn't even take Andrei Vasilevskiy that high, based on his save percentage the last couple of years. He’s still a great choice, but I think there’s more value with skaters in the late first round in deep leagues. Shesterkin and Ilya Sorokin are maybe the only two I would consider, but I’d probably have them just outside the top 10. If the New York Islanders were more consistent, I’d have Sorokin right there with Shesterkin, but for now he’s just a half step behind in value.
If the players are comparable, I would always go with more total games. Obviously, you aren’t dropping Connor McDavid for Alex Kerfoot just because Kerfoot has a couple of extra games, but if the players are anywhere close in value, there is just more upside to having more games on the schedule.
I’m not sure it’s possible for anyone to completely claim the net in Vegas with so many goalies in play. That said, Jonathan Quick has come back down to earth a bit of late and if Logan Thompson and Adin Hill remain sidelined, Laurent Brossoit does certainly have a chance to make an impact. Although, he squandered a bit of an opportunity Thursday with a tough loss to the lowly San Jose Sharks.
As we’ve seen all year, though, anyone between the pipes for the Vegas Golden Knights is a serviceable option, so keep an eye out if Brossoit gets a string of starts.
It’s not impossible, but I don’t really see it happening this year. Even with all the injuries on the Senators blue line, Tyler Kleven would still have to pass Sanderson and Erik Brannstrom on the depth chart to get any significant time on the man advantage. Kleven has only one NHL game under his belt, so it’s probably best to look for other options down the stretch that can help your squad.
There’s only a handful of teams that play four times next week, so yes, someone such as Novak from the Nashville Predators would be a good choice. Pavel Dorofeyev from Vegas would be another name to consider, although he would be a bit more of a gamble. Or maybe you take a chance on Oliver Bjorkstrand and hope his good schedule pays off. His shot volume has been uncharacteristically low recently, but two games against Arizona, and one each versus Chicago and Vancouver is very friendly.
I’m not sure I’m all that confident in any of those options, to be honest. I wonder if you have a look at Mackenzie Blackwood, specifically if he gets the start Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks. It’s part of a back-to-back for the New Jersey Devils, so there’s a chance he gets the call in what would be a very favourable matchup. It’s been hard to rely on Blackwood this season, but the Devils are a strong team and he should have a decent chance at a good outing.
Jeremy Swayman has been excellent down the stretch, so don’t hesitate to start him whatsoever. If you’re worried about the Bruins resting players, keep in mind they are the best team for a reason and will still be very formidable even without a few key players in the lineup. Plus, Boston still has to play St. Louis, Montreal and Philadelphia in the final couple of weeks, who they should be able to do well against, even with a bit of a reduced lineup.
Really tough call here. I would keep Jeff Skinner and Nikolaj Ehlers, even though it pains me to suggest parting with Nick Schmaltz. He’s been so productive on that Arizona Coyotes top line, but he’s struggled to stay healthy and doesn’t provide a tonne beyond points. Skinner should be very productive on and up-and-coming Buffalo Sabres team and Ehlers is the most talented out of the group.
I really like the Seattle Kraken’s schedule next week. They play four times with some very friendly matchups, including a Monday game against the Coyotes. I might look at Jaden Schwartz, who has goals in back-to-back games and strong shot volume over that stretch.
Wednesday is a very quiet night, but Kailer Yamamoto faces the Anaheim Ducks and is worth a look. He has a four-game point streak and seven points in his past seven games. He’s probably the only Edmonton Oiler in the top six who isn’t already on a roster in most leagues.
To me he is. Bo Byram made some big strides this year for the Avalanche while Cale Makar was sidelined, and he’s scored goals in three straight games. Beyond the offence, though, he covers a lot of categories with his play and is good for shots on goal, and strong in PIMs, hits and blocks. In deep leagues, he’s absolutely a must-roster at this point.
