Top 10 PP TOI Surprises (Very) Early This Season

Tom Collins

2021-01-18

We're only a couple of games into the campaign, but it's already worth noting which players are starting with more power-play time than many of us anticipated.

No exhibition games made it tough for fantasy general managers to get a firm grasp on plans for many of the teams. Many of us were taking guesses, only able to get information based on line combinations during practices.

Below are 10 players who have been getting a lot of power-play time early. Something else they have in common is that they are available in Yahoo pools. Every player is sitting on the waiver wire in at least one-third of leagues, and six of the names are available in at least 80 percent.

Just remember, and I can not stress this enough, that we are dealing with an extremely small sample size here. Things are fluid and can change rapidly. However, you need to be aware of whether these guys can stick in these spots and be ready to pick them up quickly if you need a replacement.

As a side note, I am not including Nils Hoglander as I suspect he'll be losing his spot on the top power-play unit now that J.T. Miller is back practicing with the squad.

10. P.K. Subban

The Devils are determined to get as much use out of Subban and his massive contract as they can, and are giving him every opportunity to succeed. His 4:46 of power-play time per night leads the Devils (which accounts for about 68 percent of all of the team's power-play minutes), and he's averaging 28:21 of ice time per night. The same thing happened last year until Subban lost that top spot. This year, Damon Severson and Ty Smith are on the second unit, so it might not take much for one of them to move up.

9. Matt Grzelcyk

Much of the debate this summer was whether Grzelcyk or Charlie McAvoy would be the guy running the top power play in Boston now that Torey Krug is gone. Two games into the season, it's easily Grzelcyk, leading the Bruins in power-play ice time at 4:10 per game (that's 78.2 percent of Boston's power-play minutes). Meanwhile, McAvoy is at 1:26 per night on power-play time. Grzelcyk picked up a power-play assist in the Bruins' first game against New Jersey and his overall ice time is at 23:10 per night, up five minutes a night from last year. As a side note, Charlie Coyle is also getting reps on the top unit while David Pastrnak is out with an injury.

8. Paul Stastny

Before we speak about Stastny, let's take a second to note that Mark Scheifele might be this year's Alexander Ovechkin. He's staying on the ice for both the first and second power plays. In the Jets' only game, Scheifele was on the ice for 7:06 of power-play time, or about 99.3 percent of all power-play minutes. Stastny has also been an early beneficiary of the Jets system, getting the team's third-highest amount of power-play time (although it's just been one game). If he keeps this up, he could reach a level of production we haven't seen from him in years.

7. Josh Norris

I mentioned Norris last week about rookies that were slightly underrated heading into the season. In the Sens' first two games, Norris has averaged 5:07 minutes on the power play and has picked up a man-advantage point. About one-third of his ice time has been with the man advantage. He lost some of that power-play usage in the second game when he was replaced by Derek Stepan. However, with the Sens all-in on a youth movement, expect the rookie to get plenty of opportunity.

6. Jared Spurgeon and Matt Dumba

I'm combining these two into one since they play on the same unit. The Wild are a throwback to the old days of hockey, preferring to play two defensemen on both units instead of going with four forwards and a defenseman. Benefitting from this are Spurgeon and Dumba, who have been getting the top power-play minutes. Many are hopeful that Dumba can get back to his former production, while any increase for Spurgeon is a bonus. This means Ryan Suter has been demoted down to the second unit, on the ice for 33 percent of Minnesota's man-advantage minutes (a significant drop considering last year's 56.4 percent was considered low for Suter). It's also worth noting that Jonas Brodin is on the second unit with Suter. That may not seem like a big deal, but Brodin has never been in this position before. Last year he averaged just 23 seconds a night with the man advantage, so don't be surprised if Brodin gets a small boost in production as well.

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5. Ondrej Palat

This year could be the big Palat season that many of us have been waiting for since 2016-17. Originally, he looked like he would be a stud, with a 59-point rookie season and a 63-point sophomore season. He followed that up with three seasons with an 82-game pace of 50-plus points, but injuries limited his games played. Now he's getting an opportunity to replace Nikita Kucherov on Tampa's top unit, and he's responded with a power-play goal. At even strength, he's been mostly with Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point, so there's a very real chance he finishes at a point-per-game pace.

4. Vincent Trocheck

Anyone who is getting an opportunity to play regularly with Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov should be rostered in one-year leagues. However, Trocheck is owned in only 20 percent of Yahoo pools. Trocheck scored a power-play goal Saturday night as the Canes are hopeful he can get back to his productive ways with the man advantage. In four seasons from 2015-16 to 2018-19, Trocheck had at least 10 power-play points each year, including a career-high 27 in 2017-18. Over those four years, he ranked in the top 75 for power-play production.

3. Alex Chiasson

Chiasson is a bit of a strange case for fantasy hockey. Through three games, he's averaging 5:11 on the power play each night, but only 7:27 at even strength with no shorthanded ice time. The issue with Chiasson is that unless you specifically need power-play points, you can't roster him. He doesn't score at even strength, doesn't shoot and doesn't hit. He's also pointless this year. The other crazy thing is that all five Oilers on the top power-play are averaging more than five minutes per night, while those on the second unit average less than a minute per game. That means Chiasson is getting plum minutes while Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto toil away on the second unit. Keep an eye on those guys, because if one of them can usurp Chiasson, they become a must-own.

2. Cody Glass

Glass's overall production won't be high as he's playing on the third line with Alex Tuch and Nicolas Roy, but he could receive a boost through power-play production. Vegas hasn't received many power-play opportunities in their two games, but so far, Glass has been on that top line with Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone and William Karlsson. If he's successful in this role, it could help him get a larger role at 5-on-5 and lead to more opportunities.

1. Andrew Shaw

Sometimes, NHL coaches just can't help themselves. No matter how much of a youth movement a team is going under, a coach will still go with a veteran on the decline. That's the situation in Chicago. Dominik Kubalik, who finished third in Calder voting last year, is averaging 46 seconds of power-play time per night. Meanwhile, Shaw is averaging 4:09 of power-play time per night. Maybe I'm not being completely fair as Chicago is rolling with Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat and Adam Boqvist on the top unit. Shaw does have a power-play point, so he'll probably stay in that spot as long as he's productive.

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