The Frozen Frenzy this week was a hockey fan’s dream, but a bit of a nightmare in the fantasy hockey world.
Having every team play on the same night with staggered start times was a lot of fun, though it made for some difficult decisions with fantasy rosters. Most squads likely faced difficult start/sit decisions on who to bench, as roster space was at a premium Tuesday night, and if you’ve been playing fantasy hockey for any significant amount of time, you’ve probably experienced a player you’ve benched go off for a big game. Having to bench someone always seems like a recipe for disaster.
Plus, there was only one game Monday and one game Wednesday, meaning there was a lot at stake Tuesday. If things didn’t go well for your team during the Frenzy, you didn’t have much to fall back on early in the week and you’re probably heading into the weekend in a pretty decent hole.
How you navigate the NHL schedule with your roster and optimize your lineup can give you a big advantage in your league.
Time for your questions:
I probably would’ve easily answered Morgan Rielly a few weeks ago before the season started, but now it’s a lot closer with the way Jake Sanderson is playing. The Ottawa Senators defender is off to a great start, taking over PP1 duties and producing plenty of points. Rielly, on the other hand, has lost his spot on the top power-play unit, but is still playing big minutes and averaging a point per game. I’d still give the edge slightly to Rielly.
I hear you on Jack Campbell. It’s been a disappointing start for him and the Edmonton Oilers overall, ruining what should’ve been a great timeshare for both Campbell and Stuart Skinner. Lukas Dostal is off to a strong start, though I have a hard time believing he’ll be able to keep that going long-term with a rebuilding team in front of him. That said, it’s hard to have much confidence in Campbell at this point, either. Dostal isn’t really a worse option at the moment.
It’s not looking good for Dawson Mercer. He’s been pushed out of the top six by Ondrej Palat and hasn’t picked up a point yet. His shot volume is also very low. The only way I see it turning around is if there’s an injury in the New Jersey Devils top six, and even then, I’m not sure Mercer would automatically get the promotion over someone like Alexander Holtz. He also isn’t likely to see time on the top power play. I think Mercer is probably a drop candidate at this point.
It’s probably time to panic a tad. Barrett Hayton has no points yet after a decent showing last season with Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, which is concerning. He’s still on the top line and first power play, but Logan Cooley is now lurking. Cooley is off to a great start and you have to wonder how much longer it’s going to be before he replaces Hayton on line one if Hayton doesn’t get going.
I think it could be. I thought Blake Wheeler would flourish in the New York Rangers top six, but he’s been dropped to the third line and isn’t playing with Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider or Mika Zibanejad. It’s going to be tough to make him worth rostering if he’s stuck on the third line. There are probably better options on your waiver wire.
As hard as it is to believe, it might be Johnny Gaudreau out of that group. He hasn’t scored yet and with Patrik Laine injured, it’s hard to see a scenario where Gaudreau becomes a huge factor anytime soon. He is putting up solid shot totals, but doesn’t offer up much in the way of peripherals. I think I have more confidence in the other three.
Jonathan Huberdeau and the Calgary Flames do not appear to be in for a bounce-back season as many had hoped. Huberdeau, specifically, hasn’t recorded a point in four games and isn’t producing a ton of shots. I think a lot of Huberdeau’s value this season is going to depend on how much you invested in him.
Huberdeau is clicking at only a 41-point pace, which is even worse than the dreadful season he had a year ago. So, unless you grabbed him off waivers, that’s not a very good return on your investment. If you drafted Huberdeau outside of the top 150, let’s say, you’d probably be OK with a 60-plus point season or so. But let’s say you reached for him in the first eight rounds, you’d probably need upward of 70 points from Huberdeau to make the pick worth it.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a great path forward for Huberdeau to have a major turnaround. He doesn’t have the best chemistry with Elias Lindholm and there’s no one else in the Calgary forward group that can really help boost his numbers. Not only that, but his trade value is at an all-time low. I’d give him another week or two to see if he can string a handful of strong games together before looking for alternative options.
Drop Tristan Jarry for Joseph Woll?
That’s a tough one. Joseph Woll has been really good recently and it looks like he’s going to be stealing starts from Ilya Samsonov, if not taking over the crease, but he’s still very unproven. If he can’t sustain this level of play, Woll might go back to playing just once a week. Still, those would likely be quality starts more often than not, so if you have enough volume from your other goalies, you could look at Woll. But if you need more total starts, Tristan Jarry may end up playing more.
I think that would be a bit risky and would leave you quite thin when Andrei Vasilevskiy returns. The list of goalies available on your waiver wire at that point might not be great, either. I’d try to hold onto Frederik Andersen as insurance for the time being.
What’s RyJo’s upside if he can remain a fixture on the top power-play unit?
It’s very good. The key for Ryan Johansen will be playing with Mikko Rantanen at even strength and staying on Colorado’s top power-play unit. Maybe he won’t have as much success as someone like Nazem Kadri did there a couple of years ago, but Johansen should still be very productive in that scenario.
Thomas Harley is off to a strong start, so I’d take a chance on him. For the forwards, I’d look at Ridly Greig. He’s played very well with Shane Pinto out and while Josh Norris was sidelined. It also looks like the Ottawa Senators’ plan is to spread out the offence a bit and they’ve used Vladimir Tarasenko with Greig quite a bit.
Probably Zach Werenski out of that group. I just think he’s in the toughest situation and coming off an injury last season puts him in a challenging spot. It’s a difficult call but if you have to cut someone, I’d begrudgingly say Werenski.
In a 14 team h2h league G A SOG BLK HIT SHG – Hronek or Provorov rest of season?
I like Filip Hronek’s outlook this season. He’s in a great spot playing next to Quinn Hughes, and he should be able to stumble into some points from that alone. Hronek should also give you steady hits and blocks production, and is pretty well-rounded for category coverage.
I have Sorokin, Demko and Devon Levi. Should I drop Levi to pick up Logan Thompson?
In this case, if you can get Logan Thompson, I would go for it. He’s a much safer option than Devon Levi and the Vegas Golden Knights are a stronger team than the Sabres. Thompson is playing behind a very goalie-friendly team.
I think Ryan Donato is droppable. He got a bit of a bump from Connor Bedard earlier in the season, but I don’t think that’s going to be sustainable. I’d keep Matthew Knies and Lucas Raymond, and try to see if someone will buy low on Hayton. Knies and Raymond have the most potential and upside out of the group and you should get some solid production out of them over the course of a long season.
I’d keep John Klingberg and Valeri Nichushkin if you’re in a straight points league. If it’s multi-cat, I’d go with Nichushkin and Ryan Hartman. For the goaltenders, I’d keep Andersen. I worry about Jonas Johansson’s consistency, even though he’s been really good lately, and his value will plummet when Vasilevskiy gets back.
What’s your points projection for Matty Beniers this season?
It’s definitely been a slow start for Matty Beniers. Initially, I thought he could get to around 65 after posting 57 as a rookie, though now that might be tough, given the pace he’s on. Keep in mind, the Seattle Kraken started a bit slow offensively, but they’ve now scored five goals or more in two of their past four games. I think eventually Beniers goes on a run and maybe can get to 60 points, but not much more.
Will Timo Meier struggle continue?
Timo Meier has actually picked it up quite a bit since being benched last week and has five points in his past three games. That’s in part to being bumped up to the top line with Jack Hughes. Anyone playing with Hughes can’t help but produce, as he’s started the season on a torrid pace. I’m not really worried about Meier at all, as the Devils have tons of talent in the top six.
What to make of the Leaf’s goalie situation ROS
In an ideal world, it would be nice to roster both Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll to protect yourself, as it’s still too early to tell who’s going to get the bulk of the playing time. Woll is clearly playing better at the moment, but as we know with goalies, things can change very quickly. As good as Woll has played, I have a hard time believing he’s going to completely take over the net and start 55-60 times. So, if you’ve got Samsonov, try to get Woll. And even if you don’t have Samsonov, Woll is a great pickup if he’s available.
The Washington Capitals don’t look to be very strong this season, so you might have to consider alternative options. Evgeny Kuznetsov isn’t the most consistent player and Darcy Kuemper will be in tough to post good numbers on this Caps squad. Kuemper should at least play a fair bit, which is helpful, but quality starts will be hard to come by. You should start exploring what other players are out there.
The points and shots haven’t been there and Ivan Barbashev is posting only average hits totals. He’s still in a great spot on the top line for the Vegas Golden Knights, who are a very good team, so I might give him a few more games to see if he can get it going. If Barbashev doesn’t pick it up over the next week or so, you could open it up for a streaming spot.
It’s still unclear when Patrick Kane will return and we don’t know where he’ll end up, making it tricky if you have nowhere to stash him. I’d say as long as you’re in a good spot in the standings you could keep him, but if you start to slip you may have to give up on him. If you had an IR spot, it would be a different story.
Do I drop bertuzzi for r.johansen?
You have to consider it at this point. Tyler Bertuzzi isn’t as valuable if he’s not playing with Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews on the Maple Leafs, and it remains to be seen if he’ll get bumped back up anytime soon. As we mentioned earlier, Johansen has a lot going for him and is producing well. He’s probably the better player to roster at the moment.
Would you trade Trevor Zegras for Casey Mittelstadt?
It depends on your league. If it’s a one-year situation, you could consider it, but long term I’d definitely prefer Trevor Zegras. I know he’s really struggling and was benched recently, but Zegras is an elite talent who has a bright future. Casey Mittelstadt is a good pickup, too, although he’s been aided by playing with Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner. If that deployment changes, then I think Mittelstadt’s value will drop.
Are Evander Kane and Laine worth hanging onto?
If you can stash Laine on IR, there’s no reason to drop him. Evander Kane, I would be a little more patient with. He had a strong game earlier this week and even though the offence has been slow to start, Kane is still providing good hits and penalty-minutes coverage. Plus, you know the Oilers are going to get rolling at some point.
Schmid has had a rough start … do I drop him or do you think there’s a chance he bounces back?
Effective fantasy goalies are hard to come by, so if it’s a deep league I say keep him a bit longer. The Devils are really talented and should be near the top of the standings again, so Akira Schmid will likely start being an asset eventually. Vitek Vanecek hasn’t proven to be able to completely lock down the No. 1 job in net, so Schmid should keep getting plenty of chances to prove himself.
Mathieu Joseph or Trevor Moore, whom should I keep? 16 team h2h banger.
I haven’t been shy about advocating for adding Trevor Moore recently. He’s up to five goals on the season and continues to provide good coverage for shots on goal. I think Moore has more staying power than Mathieu Joseph.
