Ready for Week 11? Let’s get you set for it.
Four-Game Streamers
Mackenzie Blackwood, G, COL | 51% Yahoo
After a tumultuous start in net, Colorado has successfully acquired a new goalie tandem over the past couple of weeks. Blackwood is officially the starter, and there is a lot to like about this fit. After his value trended down in New Jersey, he has rebounded in San Jose. He saved 11 goals above expected in 44 games last year behind an awful defense. And then he followed it up with a promising start, with another 6.4 goals saved above expected in 19 games. Now, Blackwood will be playing behind his best team yet with the Avalanche. That two-way support should help him collect more wins to go along with his quality net-minding.
Josh Norris, C, OTT | 41% Yahoo
Norris’ production was slow through the first month-plus of action, but it looks like he is finally hitting his stride. Playing between Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson seems to agree with him. It’s a small sample, but in roughly 52 minutes of five-on-five action, the trio has earned a 76 percent expected goal rate. Ottawa is controlling play in their minutes together so far, and their offensive creation has paid off with a 3-0 scoring edge.
Kiefer Sherwood, LW/RW, VAN | 38% Yahoo
With the return of J.T. Miller on Thursday night, Brock Boeser moved back to the second line. That re-opened Sherwood’s place on the top line. Not only does he bring a physical element — no, like super physical with one of the highest hit rates in the league — but he keeps up and complements the Canucks’ best. If he can find that chemistry on the top line again, he should up his fantasy value even more. For those in deeper leagues, maybe Nils Hoglander can find his footing with Boeser and Miller on the second line.
Charlie Lindgren, G, WSH | 33% Yahoo
With four games on next week’s schedule, expect to see Lindgren in action twice, since the Capitals rotate their goalies every other game — Lindgren’s heating up lately, with two consecutive strong outings. After putting up a quality start against Toronto last week, he delivered his best performance yet. Lindgren earned a .970 save percentage against Columbus Thursday while saving 3.6 goals above expected.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/LW, WSH | 18% Yahoo
The problem with Dubois is it’s so easy to associate him with an expensive contract he hasn’t lived up to. But if you set that aside, it’s a lot easier to focus on just how well he fits in with Washington. He is the second-line center this roster craved. And while he generally doesn’t play with Alex Ovechkin at even strength, his return in a couple of weeks should reset the Capitals’ top six. If that reunites Connor McMichael, Dubois, and Tom Wilson, that should benefit his scoring even more.
Speaking of Ovechkin’s potential return, keep an eye on Jakob Chychrun’s usage on the power play — if he loses his role there, it will sink his value.
Shane Wright, C, SEA | 11% Yahoo
Wright is starting to show what an effective NHLer he can become in Seattle. He’s growing into a productive forechecker and scoring-chance creator, which managers in deep leagues or keeper leagues may want to benefit from. The one issue is usage — he’s deployed in a bottom-six capacity. But if Wright can keep building, he should eventually get leaned on more.
Kasperi Kapanen, RW, EDM | 0% Yahoo
Not to be a broken record, but the line of thinking is always the same in Edmonton: try to add players who are skating with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl (and, in some cases, both!). With Viktor Arvidsson still sidelined and Jeff Skinner still underwhelming, no one has run with the opportunity of playing on Draisaitl’s right. Maybe Kapanen will after getting claimed off waivers — he scored in that role against Minnesota Thursday night.
Jesper Boqvist, C, FLA | 0% Yahoo
Speaking of players in favorable positions, Boqvist has been bumped up to the Panthers’ second line with Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett. The trio doesn’t boast overwhelming underlying numbers, but ahead of Thursday night’s meeting in Vancouver, they held a 5-1 scoring advantage in their minutes. The results will likely extend their time together, which buys them time to pick up the pace below the surface to add some sustainability to their scoring. Three of the Panthers’ four games next week are on light nights.
Dylan Guenther and Clayton Keller are putting up points in Utah, but both are rostered in a high percentage of leagues. Managers could instead look to Logan Cooley, who is producing alongside Guenther at even strength and is the team’s best offensive threat on PP1.
There are Tyler Seguin-sized skates to fill on the Stars’ second line. Logan Stankoven tried to fill that role with Mason Marchment and Matt Duchene, and heading into Thursday night, they were driving play with a 57 percent expected goal rate. But the Stars switched their lines around against the Predators, including moving Evgenii Dadonov up to the second line and Stankoven alongside Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson. So, while Stankoven’s exact role moving forward is TBD, he should stick around in the top six for now.
A handful of teams have one light night ahead next week, too. That list of teams includes the Red Wings, who have Cam Talbot back in goal. Speaking of goalies, keep an eye on Joseph Woll next week after Anthony Stolarz left Thursday’s game with injury.
Don’t expect another four-goal night out of Scott Laughton anytime soon, but keep an eye on Matvei Michkov and the second line in Philadelphia. Nikita Chibrikov is another rookie making a strong impression, with three points in two NHL games since making his debut with the Jets.
Everyone in Minnesota is day-to-day. Jake Middleton even joined that club after Thursday night. Keep an eye on his status because the heavy shot-blocker would be a useful pickup on the Wild’s light night against Florida next week. But there are other options to consider there — from Marco Rossi upfront to Jared Spurgeon on the backend.
Monthly Trends
Rest-of-season fantasy hockey rankings and player projections were updated earlier this week. Now we can spot the biggest player swings in each direction.
Brett Leason may lead the way with the most added fantasy value, but take that with a grain of salt — his initial value was just that low. He is in a position to succeed on the Ducks’ second line, and they have a pretty solid schedule next week with two light nights. But this isn’t a hidden gem to necessarily leap on.
Some of the biggest increases are familiar names around these parts — we’ve been hyping up Connor McMichael, Jake DeBrusk, Brandon Hagel and Will Cuylle a lot over these past weeks. Each one is worth adding or acquiring because there is an element of sustainability to all of their value boosts.
Kent Johnson and Dante Fabbro should be considered in Columbus as well. The Blue Jackets probably won’t be a playoff team, but they’re a legitimate offensive threat most nights.
Pius Suter and Conor Garland are productive third-liners, but with Vancouver having a more capable second line, keep an eye on their usage. Aaron Ekblad, on the other hand, is benefiting from quarterbacking the Panthers’ top power play unit. Another blue liner to watch is Alex Vlasic in Chicago. The Blackhawks won’t be four-game streamers anytime soon, but they have a steady slate of three-game weeks for the next month.
As for value decreases, Casey Mittelstadt and Ross Colton are the most glaring. Mittelstadt excelled early on this season. Minutes with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen helped, but as his usage and quality of teammates dwindled, so did his play. Colton isn’t benefitting from that top-line boost since returning, either. But the Avalanche have their best second line of the season with Colton healthy and Valeri Nichushkin back in the fold. We don’t blame managers for dropping these players for now but keep tracking them in case they start heating up.
Nikolai Kovalenko could see better usage in San Jose but don’t leap until that happens. The Kings’ power play struggles have hurt Brandt Clarke’s value, while Noah Dobson doesn’t quite look like the elite defenseman of last year. Dobson isn’t a player to drop, while Clarke is a bit more replaceable.
Mason McTavish’s offensive woes are a major red flag in Anaheim. It’s a team-wide problem to an extent, but he hasn’t progressed enough on an individual level. Team-wide issues are also bringing Steven Stamkos down, but he hasn’t helped drive the Predators enough. Unlike McTavish, most managers can’t just drop Stamkos. Selling low is a less-than-ideal solution. Managers should probably be patient here but bench him for better options whenever you have a full lineup.
(Top photo of Keifer Sherwood: Derek Cain/Getty Images)
