So I am sure everyone as heard/seen the update that Elias Pettersson is out. It was recently confirmed a concussion with 7-10 days the minimum missed time. If you didn’t know, well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I did just want to take a moment and second what I have seen some others writing. If you take a look at the actual hit from Michael Matheson it initially doesn’t really look terrible. Petterson is pinned against the boards, slightly from behind, but not enough to seem to do much damage. It’s the second half doesn’t look great, where the much smaller Petterson is slammed to the ice. It looks even worse when you see that a couple of seconds prior Matheson is made to look foolish by the slick hands of Petterson. In that context it looks like a vindictive attempt to injure or at they very least to put the young flashy forward ‘in his place’. It is that action that has riled up Canucks Army, and really has no place in the sport.

That done, on to the fantasy advice.

Potential Pickups:

This week I am eyeing a player with a nice four game schedule over the next seven days.

Zach Parise was left for dead in a lot of fantasy drafts. He has responded with five points in four games with 12 shots on goal.  He has been playing with Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund, and on the second power play unit. The linemates might not be inspiring much fantasy confidence so far this year, but the shots are coming and with four opportunities to cash in this week, he could be worth an audition on your fantasy team.

Line Combos:

 I won’t be covering all the lines in the Western Conference here so make sure to keep an eye over at the Frozen Tool Line Combos section.

This week I wanted to take a quick look over at Colorado, specifically their power play. There are a couple of things to note here. First of all one of the power play lines has scored ten points, while the second line has managed only two. The two groups are listed below.

COMPHER,J.T. – KERFOOT,ALEXANDER – SODERBERG,CARL (WILSON,COLIN)

JOST,TYSON – LANDESKOG,GABRIEL – MACKINNON,NATHAN – RANTANEN,MIKKO

In case the way this was written didn’t give away the game, the unit with MacKinnon and Landeskog has two points. The unit with Kerfoot and Compher has 10 (Colin Wilson was on the ice for most of those, but missed out on a couple). 

Surprised? I was. The Avs are off to a decent start and power play one hasn’t clicked yet. If you own any of them look forward to those percentages to kick back in.

Thing two to note here is that Tyson Jost has a coveted spot on that first power play unit. He hasn’t cashed in yet, but he might be worth a flyer at some point if that unit catches fire.

Drop or Not:

Clayton Keller

Managers and analysts came into the year with high expectations for Arizona and for Keller in particular. Out of the gate those expectations are not looking good. Arizona was shut out in their first two games and Keller has been decidedly human managing only one assist in four games.

To put the cart before the horse so to speak, hold if you own him or buy low if you can.

Keller has been playing almost 20 minutes a game on average (up from 2017-18), spending three and a half minutes a game on the power play (again up from 2017-18), is averaging three shots a game, and got a point on the only goal that was scored when he was on the ice. In short, he is doing all the things you want a player to be doing, the puck just hasn’t been going in. It will. Buy, buy, buy.

Thanks for reading.