Sidney Crosby is aging like a fine wine.
The 36-year-old is pacing for an incredible 90 points this season at an age when most of his peers are rapidly declining. He’s also on pace for 310 shots, which would be a career best. Sure, Crosby has several 100-point campaigns to his credit, but given his age and the state of the Pittsburgh Penguins roster, there’s an argument to be made that this year may end up being his most impressive. Every year that goes by with Crosby, it really feels like we are unquestionably watching one of the greatest players of all time.
Crosby’s campaign puts into focus how important it is to make sure you nail your first- and second-round picks in fantasy. The Penguins superstar had an ADP of 18 this season, well below the likes of Jason Robertson and Kirill Kaprizov, who haven’t been doing it nearly as long as Crosby.
I’m guilty of it, too. I had Crosby at 16 in my rankings, behind Tage Thompson and both of the aforementioned two players. All three are pacing well behind Crosby and making those that drafted them likely regretting their selection. It’s easy to have recency bias and go after the emerging player before targeting someone as consistent as Crosby, and maybe in certain keeper leagues that strategy makes sense. But there’s something to be said about grabbing a player like Crosby early that you can trust.
Sometimes the safest option is best.
1. Things haven’t been going nearly as well for Kris Letang. We all knew the arrival of Erik Karlsson would hurt Letang’s numbers but I’m not sure anyone anticipated things would be this bad, especially with the man advantage. Letang had 21 power-play points last year and doesn’t have a single one this season after being relegated to the second unit. Of course, it doesn’t help that the Pens have the league’s 27th ranked power play. Letang’s coverage for hits and blocks is still good, but he’s pacing for his worst point total over a full season in more than a decade.
2. Kudos to Tristan Jarry for his goalie goal on Thursday. I’m a huge fan of having these count as goals in fantasy. Make them worth like 10 points. Have some fun.
3. It’s getting tough to ignore Trevor Moore. He has six points in his past four games and is up to 11 goals on the year now. Moore is also scoring at nearly a point-per-game pace this season and he seems to have cemented a spot in the Los Angeles Kings’ top six. I’m amazed he’s still barely over 50 per cent rostered. I know Moore is often looked at as a good streaming option, but he’s definitely someone you can keep for the long haul now.
4. Kent Johnson is back in the NHL and rightfully so. He had 15 points in 10 AHL games, including an incredible shootout goal last week. I’m not sure how much fantasy value Johnson will have going forward, but he’ll certainly be motivated and likely have a chip on his shoulder.
5. Very quietly, Patrik Laine has goals in back-to-back games and points in three straight. He’s been a bit better since being a healthy scratch and he still has C/LW/RW eligibility. With the Columbus Blue Jackets playing four times next week, Laine might be worth picking back up.
6. Expectations were sky high for Devon Levi coming into the season, but they were never realistic. A very young and inexperienced goalie on a mediocre defensive team is never ideal. It certainly isn’t over for Levi this season and he definitely has a bright future, but I simply think it’s going to take him a while before he’s a true fantasy presence. Some time in the AHL never hurts.
7. Don’t look now, but Gustav Nyquist has 13 points in his past 13 games. The Nashville Predators play four times again next week, including a couple of friendly opponents like Chicago and Montreal. At only 18 per cent rostered and with left wing eligibility, Nyquist would make a great streamer for offensive-needy fantasy squads.
8. Reports surfaced Saturday that Tyson Barrie was going to be given permission to talk to other teams about a trade and he would be scratched. It’s an interesting situation because on the one hand, it makes him an easy drop candidate if he’s going to be missing time until this is sorted out, but on the other, he could be worth keeping to see where he lands. If he gets top power-play time on his new team, Barrie could provide decent production
9. Jake Neighbours is getting some sweet deployment right now. He’s currently playing on the top line for the St. Louis Blues with Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas, taking advantage to the tune of seven goals in his past eight games. He’s on the top power-play unit as well. Neighbours is another low-rostered player that could be useful at the moment.
10. The return of Adam Fox likely means the end of Erik Gustafsson’s fantasy relevance. Gustafsson always goes on a heater when the defenceman on the top power play gets injured and he takes over the job, but he’s never really in a spot where he gets to quarterback that unit for a full season. He’s one of those players that bursts onto the scene out of nowhere and then his value dissipates just as quickly.
11. It’s definitely been noted how good of a season Filip Hronek is having, but I’m not sure we’re fully appreciating how incredible it’s been. The Vancouver Canucks defenceman has points in 19 of 25 games this season. That’s coming from a guy whose career high is 39 points. Of course, a lot of this production is the benefit of playing with Quinn Hughes, though Hronek deserves some real praise here, too. It’s a remarkable run.
12. We all knew Travis Sanheim’s offence was going to dry up and it’s in a full-on drought right now. Sanheim has been held off the scoresheet in nine of his past 10 games and has been moved off the Philadelphia Flyers’ top power play. He’s also not providing a lot in the way of hits or shots. Sanheim is still getting plenty of ice time, he’s just not doing much with it.
13. Just when it finally looked like the Carolina Hurricanes were going to give Pyotr Kochetkov a run, he had a really rough outing Thursday. It was his third straight start and Kochetkov allowed five goals on only 16 shots. It was very reminiscent of Antti Raanta’s dreadful appearance last week, where he conceded a whopping eight goals on just 14 shots. If you’re facing less than 20 shots, you absolutely can’t have a goalie allow more than two goals. It will destroy your stats for the week. That’s always a risk with Canes goalies.
14. There’s been word that the Anaheim Ducks are going to start ramping up Leo Carlsson’s playing time to three games per week. That would make him worth rostering in my opinion. At most, the Ducks are going to play four times in a week but not often, and they play on so many off nights that having Carlsson will still be a big benefit even if he sits out a game or two here and there.
15. Akira Schmid was starting to get a grasp on the New Jersey Devils’ net before he gave up five goals to the San Jose Sharks on Friday night. Schmid was really good in November, sporting a .922 save percentage in six appearances, while Vitek Vanecek has been under .900 in four straight outings. It appeared like Schmid was starting to take over, but his latest start maybe opens the door again for Vanecek. It seems like nobody wants the net in New Jersey.
16. If you missed out on Luke Hughes after losing Dougie Hamilton injury, do you take a gamble on Simon Nemec? Hughes is on the top power-play unit, but Nemec looked great Friday, picking up a pair of assists and three shots, while playing more than 22 minutes. If my fantasy team was in a good position in the standings and I could afford to take a risk, I’d roll the dice on Nemec.
17. I was hoping Partrick Kane’s arrival wouldn’t impact JT Compher’s spot on the top power play for the Detroit Red Wings, but it appears he already got bumped down when Dylan Larkin returned Saturday. Compher has 15 points in his past 14 games and has been playing very well, but he may have a tough time keeping up that pace after losing his power-play spot.
18. Next week’s schedule is very busy for most teams, with only the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins playing just two games. Everyone else has either three or four. Given the Leafs’ schedule, it might be time to drop Matthew Knies. I recommended him as an add a few weeks ago when he got promoted to the top line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, but he only has two points in five games and his minutes are dwindling. The Leafs have also moved Marner to the John Tavares line as William Nylander came up, and Nylander unfortunately is in his coldest stretch of the season. I could also see Knies being moved down the lineup sooner than later.
19. You don’t see Andrei Vasilevskiy get pulled very often. That’s what happened Saturday during a horrendous outing against the Dallas Stars. Vasilevskiy has had a less than stellar return to the crease, posting just a single quality start in four games. Not all of this is on Vasilevskiy, as he hasn’t been getting much help from the Tampa Bay Lightning lately. Still, Vasilevskiy should be rested after an early playoff exit and missing nearly two months to start the season, so maybe he’s just shaking off some rust. He could be a good buy-low candidate from someone who’s frustrated.
20. It’s not like Elias Pettersson has been completely ice cold lately, but something does look off with his game as he’s only picked up three points in seven games. There was a photo circulating around social media last week that appeared to show Pettersson’s wrist taped on the bench, so perhaps he’s dealing with some type of injury that’s hampering him. Whatever it is, he doesn’t look as dominant as he normally does.
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