Mark Borowiecki – McKeen's Hockey

CULLEN: 20 FANTASY POINTS – Evgeni Malkin returns to action and Evander Kane might have a new team soon. Jared McCann, Nico Hischier, Clayton Keller, Trevor Moore and more

Scott Cullen — Sat, 15 Jan 2022 22:57:13 +0000

Each week I will dive into the numbers and offer some insights that should help when it comes time to make fantasy hockey decisions.

In this week’s edition of 20 Fantasy Points, Evgeni Malkin returns to action and Evander Kane might have a new team soon. Jared McCann, Nico Hischier, Clayton Keller, Trevor Moore and more.

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 09: Pittsburgh Penguins Center Evgeni Malkin (71) handles the puck during the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers on March 9, 2021, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire)

#1 The Pittsburgh Penguins have waited patiently and finally had Evgeni Malkin make his season debut this week after a long recovery from knee surgery. He has taken his place on Pittsburgh’s first power play unit and is centering Jeff Carter and Kasperi Kapanen. While injuries have plagued Malkin throughout much of his career, he is still averaging 1.17 points per game since 2017-2018, the seventh highest rate in the league in that time.

#2 After the San Jose Sharks waived left winger Evander Kane for the purposes of terminating his contract, the door was open for Kane to sign with any team as a free agent. The Edmonton Oilers may be the landing spot most loudly rumored. That would obviously present a beneficial opportunity for Kane, who might even get to play with Connor McDavid. Alas, before the deal could even get signed, the league was reportedly investigating another potential COVID-19 protocol violation from Kane and that has put any signing on pause.

#3 If you can get past the off-ice issues, of which there are many, Kane has been a very productive player. In the three seasons prior to this one, Kane was tied for sixth among left wingers with 78 goals. He was tied with Tom Wilson for most penalty minutes among forwards (317) and his 405 hits ranked 13^th among left wingers. Kane’s 678 shots on goal in that span ranked third among left wingers. The shots and goals are difference makers in most fantasy leagues, the hits and penalty minutes are typically in the realm of banger-style leagues. Of course, he comes with more risk than the average player for a lot of reasons but, for fantasy purposes, he does have higher upside than the standard waiver wire addition.

#4 Seattle Kraken center Jared McCann had a breakthrough season for the Penguins last year, stepping into a bigger opportunity when Malkin was injured, and he has continued producing with the expansion Kraken. In his past five games, he has six points (3 G, 3 A) and 21 shots on goal and is up to 15 goals in 31 games. He has emerged as the No. 1 centre for the Kraken, which might even be better than was expected when he was selected in the expansion draft.

NEWARK, NJ - OCTOBER 04: New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) skates during the first period of the pre-season National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the Washington Capitals on October 4, 2021 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)

#5 Nico Hischier was limited to 21 games last season and the New Jersey Devils captain started slowly this season, but he has been rounding into form. In the past 23 games, Hischier has 19 points (6 G, 13 A) and 43 shots on goal. Pavel Zacha has been his most consistent linemate this season, though Jesper Bratt, Tomas Tatar, and Jimmy Vesey have skated with Hischier, too. With Jack Hughes picking up the scoring pace, the Devils are starting to see what could happen as their top two centers start to reach their offensive potential.

#6 Goals don’t come easily for the Arizona Coyotes. Their 2.15 goals per 60 minutes ranks 31^st, ahead of only the Montreal Canadiens (2.07), and yet Clayton Keller has really started to hit his stride offensively. In the past 18 games, Keller has 20 points (9 G, 11 A) and 61 shots on goal while averaging 20:49 of ice time per game. He is widely available in fantasy leagues and while the Coyotes are likely to shed some veteran talent before the trade deadline, Keller might just hang around and play big minutes on a bad team for the rest of the season.

#7 Point production has been inconsistent for Blake Coleman in his first season with the Calgary Flames, but the hard-driving winger does offer fantasy value in other categories, too. He had finished 2021 with one point in 14 games but in 2022 he has four points (2 G, 2 A) to go with 24 shots on goal and 15 hits in five games. As a player with multiple 20-goal and multiple 200-hit seasons, Coleman has sufficient fantasy upside.

#8 All of the schedule changes this season have resulted in a dramatic difference in terms of games played, so a team like the New York Islanders figures to offer more appeal going forward. The Islanders have played just 29 games, 10 fewer than the teams with the most games played. Mathew Barzal is the obvious target on the Islanders but, in deeper leagues, consider Oliver Wahlstrom, who has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) and 24 shots on goal in the past nine games, and Kieffer Bellows, who has eight points (3 G, 5 A) in his past eight games.

#9 The Ottawa Senators are another team that has played fewer games, with game No. 30 coming Thursday night in Calgary. Drake Batherson and Brady Tkachuk are the more obvious targets for the Sens but consider winger Alex Formenton, whose role is increasing, and he has produced nine points (4 G, 5 A) and 24 shots on goal in his past 10 games.

#10 If the Islanders and Sens are teams to target because they are low on the games played list, it stands to reason that the team that have played more might come with a buyer beware tag. Those teams include the Anaheim Ducks, Vegas Golden Knights, and Tampa Bay Lightning. Beware Ducks veteran center Ryan Getzlaf, who had a productive start to the season but has four points (1 G, 3 A) and 15 shots on goal in his past 13 games.

#11 The Golden Knights appear to be a team on the rise but there is some reason to be cautious with them, too. Chandler Stephenson, for example, has 36 points (10 G, 26 A) in 38 games. That includes seven points (1 G, 6 A) and 12 shots on goal in the past 11 games but that is not the real reason to worry about Stephenson’s production the rest of the way. The bigger concern is what will happen to his ice time once Jack Eichel is ready to play next month. There may be other line shuffling opportunities for the Golden Knights but if Stephenson drops from the top line to make room for Eichel, that could obviously impact his offensive upside.

#12 Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei is experiencing an offensive surge, putting up eight points (4 G, 4 A) and 21 shots on goal in his past six games. That shot rate is very encouraging and Skjei has a chance to have his best offensive output since scoring 39 points as a rookie in 2016-2017.

#13 Calgary Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington had a breakthrough early in the season and was a hot commodity in fantasy circles but is available in more leagues now. He has seven points (1 G, 6 A) in his past 13 games but 33 shots on goal in that time is a decent indicator that Kylington’s production should continue at a reasonably high level.

#14 When Trevor Moore scored 23 points (10 G, 13 A) in 56 games last season, that counted as the best season of his career. The Los Angeles Kings winger then opened this season with zero points in 11 games. Time has brought about new opportunity, though, and Moore is now skating with Phillip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson on the Kings’ second line and Moore has produced 10 points (3 G, 7 A) and 23 shots on goal in the past seven games.

#15 Florida Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas has long been a fantasy sleeper, but it bears repeating that his hit totals can be a major factor. Since the beginning of December, Gudas is averaging 4.2 hits per game, tops among defensemen that have played at least 10 games in that span. (Edmonton’s Markus Niemelainen had 5.1 hits per game in seven games.)

#16 Other defensemen bringing the boom, with the most hits per game since the start of December, include Montreal’s Alexander Romanov (4.1), Vancouver’s Luke Schenn (4.0), Nashville’s Mark Borowiecki (4.0), Columbus’ Andrew Peeke (3.4), and Seattle’s Jeremy Lauzon (3.4).

#17 A prime fantasy category for defensemen is blocked shots and given its nature as a peripheral type of statistic, sometimes it’s an area which might offer some undervalued players. Chicago’s Connor Murphy (3.0 blocks per game), St. Louis’ Colton Parayko (2.9), Vegas’ Brayden McNabb (2.8), and Montreal’s David Savard (2.8) are the per-game blocked shot leaders since the start of December. Savard and Murphy are both averaging more than 2.4 hits per game in that span, too.

#18 Sometimes it can be hard to find goaltending value at this stage of the fantasy season. Usually, the safe and reliable options are taken but short-term value can come from backup goaltenders getting a chance due to injuries. Some of the best backups this season include Anaheim’s Anthony Stolarz (.929 SV%) and Minnesota’s Kaapo Kahkonen (.915 SV%) who have had some opportunity to play a bit more recently.

#19 Dallas’ Jake Oettinger was not a starter at the beginning of the season, but it sure appears that is the path the Stars have now chosen. Oettinger has earned it, with a .923 save percentage in 17 games.

#20 If there is a backup goaltender who might get a shot at the starting role it is Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner. It is possible that the Oilers make a trade for a more established veteran but, if not, 23-year-old Skinner has a .916 save percentage in 10 appearances for the Oilers this season in addition to a .925 save percentage in eight AHL games. Given the struggles of Mikko Koskinen and injury woes plaguing Mike Smith, Skinner might have some potential to steal the starting job. It is at least enough to make him worth monitoring.

Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick.

Sens-Less – Ottawa Senators 2018-19 Season Preview

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 15 Sep 2018 17:50:53 +0000

REVIEW / STATE OF PLAY – The Ottawa Senators are perhaps a team that could be best described with a long sigh. The worst part is that it wasn’t so long-ago things looked alright for the Senators. They were a single win away from the Stanley Cup Final in 2017 and while you could easily argue that they over performed, at least they went into 2017-18 looking like a franchise that was trending in the right direction.

Everything that could have gone wrong for the Senators last season, did go wrong, including some things that you would have never even considered. The team finished with a 28-43-11 record and instead of being on the brink of contending, are now in a position where they need to rebuild. To make matters worse, just before the Senators’ collapse, they traded an unprotected first round pick for Matt Duchene, so no matter how badly they do in 2018-19, the Colorado Avalanche will control the Senators’ 2019 first round draft pick.

AND IT GETS WORSE – The Ottawa Senators began their rebuild before the 2017-18 campaign ended by trading Derick Brassard to the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of a three-way trade to get, among other things, Pittsburgh’s 2018 first-round pick. Brassard’s contract extends through 2018-19, so trading him away was about more than just Ottawa’s position last season.

After the campaign, the Ottawa Senators dealt away another top-six forward in Mike Hoffman. The reasons for trading Hoffman was due to off-ice matters that are probably best not discussed here, but the consequence of Ottawa being in a position where it had to trade Hoffman was that the Senators got far less than normal market value for him.

Although at the time of writing there hasn’t been another trade by the Senators since they dealt Hoffman, that might not be the end of it. Goaltender Craig Anderson reportedly requested a trade, though he said in late August that he’s fine staying in Ottawa so long as there isn’t any drama. Of more pressing importance is the matter of Erik Karlsson, who can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019. If the Senators aren’t confident in their ability to re-sign him, then it’s important that he be dealt before the trade deadline to avoid suffering a fate similar to the New York Islanders’ with John Tavares.

Speaking of pending UFAs, Mark Stone and Matt Duchene also fall into that category. So, the Senators’ front office has a lot of work ahead of them.

IS THERE A SILVER LINING? – There’s not much of one in the near-term, but no franchise is without hope and that is true of the Ottawa Senators as well. First off, you could work out a scenario where the Senators end up exceeding their low expectations this season with Karlsson and Duchene leading the charge, Marian Gaborik staying healthy, and one of Anderson or Mike Condon bouncing back to provide the team with solid goaltending. However, rather than trying to envision an unlikely, albeit not impossible, set of circumstances where the Senators might have a passable season, it’s probably better to think about their future.

Not having control of their first-round pick in 2019 is embarrassing for the Senators given their circumstances. The upside though is that they do have some promising prospects already in their franchise with two of the most notable ones being Logan Brown and Brady Tkachuk. Both might end up as members of the 2018-19 squad and provide a silver lining in what might be an otherwise difficult season.

The Senators also could potentially turn Karlsson and Duchene into significant prospects/picks through trades that would meaningfully push forward their rebuilding efforts. A trade involving Stone would certainly serve that purpose as well, but the ideal would be to re-sign him to serve as a leader for the next generation given that he’s still just 26-years-old.

Ottawa also only has three players under one-way contracts beyond 2019-20 in Bobby Ryan, Gaborik, and Zack Smith. While in one respect that’s part of the problem, that also gives the Senators a lot of flexibility with how they shape their team going forward and opens the door to Ottawa potentially engaging in trades that involve them taking on some cap burden in exchange for more picks/prospects.

OUTLOOK – This is likely going to be a difficult season for Ottawa on the ice, but an interesting one on the trade front. The moves that are made in the next few months could define the Senators for years to come and for that reason, the Senators are a franchise to keep an eye on even if not much is expected of them right now.

Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire: Goalies and Peripheral Studs

McKeen's Hockey — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 19:14:31 +0000

This week the waiver wire takes a close look at specific needs your fantasy team may have. Goaltending is a precious commodity in many fantasy leagues and there are some under the radar netminders who could provide good value. And if you are in a league which counts peripheral stats such as hits and blocked shots there are some players who can help you stuff those categories.

Garret Sparks, Toronto Maple Leafs – Goalie 11% owned

James Reimer is injured and Jonathan Bernier is struggling so badly that Leafs Head Coach Mike Babcock has recalled Garret Sparks from the Marlies and gave him his first career NHL start. How did Sparks do? He made 24 saves to shut out the Edmonton Oilers for his first career win and shutout. Not bad! How long will Sparks continue to see starts in the NHL with Toronto? Hard to say, but as long as Reimer is out and Bernier is on a milk carton, expect Babcock to ride Sparks until further notice.

Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets – Goalie 46% owned

Like in Toronto, Ondrej Pavelec is down with an injury and Mike Hutchinson is struggling, giving up 17 goals and three losses in his last four starts. Out of necessity (or desperation) Coach Paul Maurice turned to the recently recalled Hellebuyck to make his NHL debut. How did he do? He got his first win allowing only one goal against, not bad. Unlike Sparks who has come from the ECHL, Hellebuyck has a much stronger pedigree playing college hockey and having a breakout performance at last year’s World Championships for Team USA as indicated by his higher ownership percentage. Hellebuyck should represent a stronger long term solution and by seasons end could even be in keeper consideration for some leagues to a must own in others.

Anders Nilsson, Edmonton Oilers – Goalie 40% owned

Nilsson has stolen the starting job away from Cam Talbot who has not played well so far. Nilsson has represented the more reliable option but could really use some run support from the Oilers to help his fantasy cause in the win column. Despite having only one win in his last five starts, his season stats are impressive (for an Oilers goalie) at 2.7 GAA and a .911 save%. When Connor McDavid returns it could fix his win column stat, so scoop him up while he is available.

Category Champions

Leo Komarov, Toronto Maple Leafs – Right Wing 39% owned

Komarov makes this list by virtue of his hits stats, 114 hits is second overall in the NHL. However, it is worth noting that Komarov is playing on a line with Nazem Kadri and James van Riemsdyk and has ten goals and four assists this season already. Not only can you count on Komarov to help you win your hits column, he won’t hurt you win other categories as well.

Kris Russel, Calgary Flames – Defence 41% owned

Russel is leading the NHL in blocked shots with 80 to date. He is logging big time minutes for the Flames at 21:55 minutes a night with over a minute on the power play as well as almost a full two minutes on the penalty kill. Russel has also provided a little offense to boot with six points on the season.

Jean Gabriel Pageau, Ottawa Senators – Centre 29 % owned

A fan favorite in Ottawa who loves to play the Habs, Pageau is tied for second in the NHL with three shorthanded points. While this category alone is not reliable enough to merit recognition, Pageau has also been cleaning up on draws with 196 wins (27^th in the NHL) and has produced nine points in total on the season.

Mark Borowiecki, Ottawa Senators – Defence 30% owned

If you are looking for a player to pad all your peripheral categories, look no further than the Sens Borowiecki. He has 38 penalty minutes, 92 hits, and 39 blocked shots. While he is not at the top of any of those categories, he provides a balanced dose of each giving him extreme value in formats that score those stats.

Bonus Round

Here are some players who are hot, recently recalled, or worth keeping an eye on. Byron Froese of the Toronto Maple Leafs can help win some face off categories, his offense has not yet arrived, and it may never but he is a Coaches favorite and sees lots of minutes for the Leafs. Alex Radulov is in the KHL but will be a free agent this summer. If you are in a deep keeper league and can burn a roster spot on him it may be worth the risk as he may return to the NHL. The population of Pominville just jumped to two. After a very slow start to the season, Jason Pominville now has two goals in the last two games. Defencemen Nikita Nesterov and Andrey Pedan were recently recalled by Tampa Bay and Vancouver respectively and may see some NHL action soon. And finally, Tomas Jurco and Teemu Pulkkinen have been recalled by the Detroit Red Wings. Thanks for reading, and keep your stick on the ice.