Lining Up: Players who can help like Fabbri, Bratt, and Jarnkrok

Erich Lichter

2021-03-23

Welcome to another week of 'Lining Up'.  Over the past few days, we've learned that the Penguins are quietly playing really well, that the Panthers aren't going away any time soon, and that Colorado can make you look like a beer league team on any given night, or two. Looking at you Minnesota.

OK, let's review what we are doing here.  The forwards below have lower rostered rates (40 percent or less in Yahoo leagues) and therefore are hopefully available on your waiver wire.  We hope to highlight situations where these players are skating on lines with quality teammates and/or on power play units.  And, in general, are performing very well and demanding your attention.

The fantasy playoffs are getting closer and closer, and it may be time for you to take some serious action if you are too far down the rankings in your league.  Below are players that can get in the boat with you and help you plug some leaks.  Let's take a look at the weeks' possibilities.

LU's Top Line  

  • Jesse Puljujarvi EDM – RW (17 percent) – Puljujarvi should be jumping back on your radar after being reinstalled on Edmonton's top line with Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.  He even got a few even-strength shifts Saturday night with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.  Puljujarvi has three points (1G,2A) in his last three games, including one of those points while on the power play.  He also was a plus four, and had seven SOG and three hits during those games.  Puljujarvi has been the best of the many forwards that the Oilers have tried out with McDavid and RNH.  They very well may stay with this combo for the most of the second half of the season.  Throw in time skating with Draisaitl and on one of the league's best the power plays, and you have a player who should not be ignored.  Edmonton also has a Wednesday/Friday schedule this week if they are able to resume play after a suspended game Monday night.
  • Robby Fabbri DET – C,LW,RW (4 percent) – Fabbri is making the case lately that there is another Detroit forward you should be keeping your eyes on.  A lot of fantasy managers only think of Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha as possible Red Wings forward pickups, but don't look past Fabbri who is on the top line with those other two.  He is also part of the second power play unit.  In his last six games Fabbri has six points (5G,1A) including a hat trick last Thursday.  His SOG are average, around two per game lately, but he does also throw in just over a hit per game as well.  Some Fabbri deniers will point out that his 5v5 shooting percentage is 14.2 and is bound to come down from there.  Maybe there is something to consider there, but in the meantime jump on the Robby train and see if he and the Red Wings can keep the points flowing.
  • Oliver Wahlstrom NYI – RW (6 percent) – Wahlstrom continues to make noise in New York.  He has six points (4G,2A) in his last six games, with two of those coming on the power play.  He also provided nine hits and 15 SOG in those games, even after getting blanked in both categories on Saturday.  Wahlstrom seems to have found some good chemistry with linemates Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Michael Dal Colle.  This trio also currently makes up three fifths of the Islanders second power play unit, which continues to produce on a regular basis.  The knock on Wahlstrom would be his time on ice.  With a deep group of forwards, he often does not get nearly as many shifts as you would hope.  That being said, he is making the most of his opportunities, and in his last five games has seen his TOI creeping up closer to the 14-15 minutes per game range.  If the Islanders continue to have success the rest of the year, look for Wahlstrom to be in the mix.

LU's Second Line

  • Joonas Donskoi COL – LW,RW (4 percent) – Coming off of three games where Colorado utterly dominated the Wild and the Coyotes, you may be wondering how to get a piece of their offense.  Assuming a lot of Avs in your league are already scooped up, it's not a bad idea at all to look at Donskoi.  He has seven points (3G,4A) in his last five games played, including one PPP.  He skates on the third line with Valerie Nichushkin and Tyson Jost, and those three have been packing a scoring punch lately with a ridiculous 74.5% CF in their last three games.  Add to this that Donskoi is on the second power play unit and you could have a nice little run with him in your lineup.  His peripheral stats are not great, he will bring in about a shot per game and about a half block per game.  Overall, this looks like a situation to try to pile on some points before the rocket fuel burns out, so jump on him quick if you can.  
  • Alex Iafallo LAK – LW (15 percent) – Iafallo has become a fixture on Los Angeles' top line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown.  They are one of the hotter line combos lately (and this year in general), and Iafallo is doing his part putting up seven points (2G,5A) in his last eight games.  He is also on the top power play unit and has three PPP over those same eight games.  It all adds up to some heavy TOI, as Iafallo averages 19:56 per game on the season.  His SOG have been erratic lately, but he averages just over two per game for the year.  Iafallo will not bring along many hits or blocks to boost your peripheral stats, but if you are looking for consistent points, including from the power play, give the Kings some love and try on Iafallo for size.  
  • Jesper Bratt NJD – LW,RW (3 percent) – We know, it seems like each week there is a new New Jersey Devil that shows up on the hot list.  This week it is Bratt who has four points (1G,3A) in his last four games.  Will he keep it up, or is he just another flavor of the week?  Hard to say for sure, but Bratt also has eight points (1G,7A) in his last 10 games, and has averaged 2.3 SOG for the season.  Another reason to think that he might be able to keep things up is his deployment on the second line with Jack Hughes and the veteran Kyle Palmieri. Bratt is also on the top power play unit for the Devils.  He has stepped up his physical game lately, dishing out 15 hits over his last 10 games.  Bratt will have four more games this week to show he can keep bringing the points, but we think he's already proven he can stick as a fantasy asset.

LU's Third Line

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  • Calle Jarnkrok NSH – LW,RW (13 percent) – Jarnkrok has lately been insisting himself upon the fantasy world with seven points (3G,4A) in his last five games.  As Nashville has started to make the slightest of upswings on their season, Jarnkrok has been there to provide timely scoring.  He's also made a handful of very happy DFS players over the past week.  For fantasy owners he's delivered two PPP, three blocks, and 11 SOG in his past five games. Jarnkrok is definitely an option in deeper leagues, but also someone to stash on your watch list if you aren't ready to buy in just yet.
  • Jason Robertson DAL – LW (7 percent) – Robertson has been doing his part to try to keep the Stars relevant in the Central division.  With four points (4A) in his last four games he has been rewarding the team's continued faith in him this season.  Robertson has also upped his shooting lately with three or more shots in five of his last six games (19 total).  While he only has one PPP on the year it came three games ago and Robertson is now on the top unit for Dallas.  The downside to rostering this prospect is that he really doesn't bring any other stats along for the ride.  But if you are in a dynasty league, or just a deep points league, tip your hat to the man from the Lone Star state.  
  • Jack Roslovic CBJ – C,RW (16 percent) – After a red hot start to his Blue Jackets career, Roslovic slowed down a bit from mid-February to mid-March (as did the Jackets in general).  But there seems to be a bit of a resurgence in Columbus' offense lately and that includes Roslovic.  He has six points (6A) over his last six games, as well as nine hits and four blocks in that time.  Granted, we are talking about a lot of assists, and please don't look at his shot totals, but…  Ok, fine, let's put this one in the hunch category.  Columbus has one more against Carolina and then two versus Detroit this week.  Give Roslovic a nod as a streamer and you may wind up with a few extra points on the week.

LU's Fourth Line  

  • Adam Henrique ANA – C,LW (9 percent) – Admit it, you know you want some Ducks in your lineup.  Maybe Henrique can be the guy for you.  He has five points (3G,2A) in his last four games, including one PPP.  He also had nine SOG and four hits during the same time frame.  Playing with youngsters Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras on Anaheim's second line and top power play unit, Henrique has been stepping up lately.  He could be a nice add as the Ducks have the Wednesday/Friday/Sunday schedule this week.
  • Cal Clutterbuck NYI – RW (1 percent) – Clutterbuck has been doing his fourth line heavy presence thing for years now, but recently he has stepped in up even more in the hits category.  If you need help in that area Clutterbuck is racking them up with 37 in his last eight games.  And that includes one inexplicable goose egg game in the middle of that stretch. That's an average of 4.6 hits per game.
  • Troy Terry ANA – RW (0 percent) – We still know you want a Duck player.  How about Troy Terry?  Seriously, he's actually on a pretty good streak right now.  In his last seven games he has seven points (4G,3A) and is a plus six with five blocks.  Terry's been getting better all year, and he could be the sneaky pickup you need to win a few scoring categories in your league.

That's it for another week.  Give us a follow or a shout on Twitter – @RinkmanHockey, and don't forget to have fun out there!

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UPCOMING GAMES

Dec 27 - 19:12 DET vs TOR
Dec 27 - 19:12 BUF vs CHI
Dec 27 - 19:12 CBJ vs BOS
Dec 27 - 19:12 N.J vs CAR
Dec 27 - 20:12 DAL vs MIN
Dec 27 - 20:12 STL vs NSH
Dec 27 - 21:12 UTA vs COL
Dec 27 - 22:12 S.J vs VGK

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
JJ PETERKA BUF
KIRILL MARCHENKO CBJ
MIRO HEISKANEN DAL
BRYAN RUST PIT
LUKE HUGHES N.J

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
MACKENZIE BLACKWOOD COL
JUUSE SAROS NSH
LOGAN THOMPSON WSH
IGOR SHESTERKIN NYR
PYOTR KOCHETKOV CAR

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency TOR Players
19.4 JOHN TAVARES MITCH MARNER MATTHEW KNIES
15.8 MAX PACIORETTY BOBBY MCMANN DAVID KAMPF
14.3 STEVEN LORENTZ PONTUS HOLMBERG CONNOR DEWAR

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