Ramblings: Jarvis, Mercer, Duchene, Wedgewood, S. Skinner and more from Saturday (Nov 21)

Ian Gooding

2021-11-21

Seth Jarvis has been a popular Frozen Tools search this week because he now has goals in three consecutive games and 12 shots over that span. Jarvis was originally credited with a second goal in this game, but that goal was later credited to Sebastian Aho. The 2020 first-round pick has been playing on Hurricanes' top line with Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, so Rod Brind'Amour has been giving him every opportunity to succeed on his nine-game trial. The Hurricanes play four games next week, and Jarvis is just 2 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues, so he's a player to consider to at least stream. We can probably say this confidently because it looks like he won't be returning to the WHL.

I had to include the second tweet along with the first one because sarcasm doesn’t always translate well over the internet.

In a losing cause for the Kings, Adrian Kempe scored twice. He probably falls into the hot category of players, having scored six goals in his last eight games as well as 10 points in his last 11 games. Kempe has recently been playing on the Anze Kopitar line, which has been boosting his production.

Dawson Mercer scored a beauty goal on Saturday, giving him seven points in his last six games. The Devils fan in my league has already added him, but he's probably still available in your league. At the time of this writing, Mercer is third in rookie scoring with 12 points in 16 games. Having said that, you might have to keep an eye on what happens with his icetime once Jack Hughes returns. But if he continues to produce, I don't see why he is affected a great deal, since New Jersey isn't overflowing with scoring anyway.

You probably dropped Yegor Sharangovich because he hadn't scored a goal all season and hadn't recorded a point in nine games entering Saturday's game. He broke that slump in a big way on Saturday, scoring two goals and adding an assist on Mercer's goal.

Mika Zibanejad was placed into COVID protocol early Saturday, but the test was a false positive, so he will be available for Sunday's game against Buffalo. The Rangers' game on Saturday against Ottawa was already postponed because of the high number of Senators currently in COVID protocol. COVID continues to wreak havoc on your fantasy team, even if it's the inconvenience of false alarms.

The Ducks have returned 2021 first-round pick Mason McTavish to the OHL. McTavish finishes his first NHL stint with three points (2 G, 1 A) in nine games while averaging just over 12 minutes per game. The Ducks have had some better-than-expected returns with their scorers (ahem, Troy Terry), so returning McTavish to the OHL is probably the best outcome for everyone. In addition, McTavish is expected to be made available to Canada for the World Juniors.

Frank Vatrano was the Panthers' scoring star on Saturday, scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist. Vatrano's production can be spotty, as he can be the odd man out in Florida when it comes to icetime and power-play time (only 11:54 TOI and 0:44 PPTOI this season). He has helped his cause recently with four goals and an assist in his last five games, as well as 27 shots over his last eight games (over 3 SOG/GP).

Radko Gudas recorded nine hits in Saturday's game. Only Nicolas Deslauriers has more hits than Gudas (82), who is on both of my teams that count hits. A comment from someone in one of those leagues, who was trying unsuccessfully to argue for more goaltending categories in the league: "Radko Gudas should not be the No. 37 ranked player (in Yahoo)…" I nearly fell over laughing when I read that! As long as you have Hits as a category, he's going to be ranked high. But I get it. Gudas has yet to score a goal this season, and his assist on Saturday was his first point in six games. Any league that makes those non-scorers valuable is interesting. That’s why I love multicategory leagues so much.

For the Wild, Jared Spurgeon left this game with a lower-body injury. According to Dean Evason, Spurgeon won't play today (Sunday) against Tampa Bay. Calen Addison (Dobber Prospects profile) is expected to be called up.

Andrew Mangiapane just keeps on scoring. The Flames winger scored two power-play goals on Saturday, giving him 14 goals on the season (tied for 2nd in the NHL). The Bread Man has now scored a pair of goals in back-to-back games. I wrote more about Mangiapane in the Friday Ramblings.

Interesting split about Mangiapane that I heard on the HNIC broadcast: Only one of those goals was scored at home, making him a true road warrior. Mind you, only six of the Flames' 18 games have been at the Saddledome.  

The Canadiens roared out to a 5-0 lead over Nashville after two periods, giving their fans much-needed respite during what has been a nightmarish season. Then it was the Matt Duchene show in the third period to make things interesting, because nothing can come easy for the Habs this season. Duchene recorded a natural hat trick, which included two power-play goals to make it 5-3 before an empty-net goal secured a Montreal win.

In half the number of games he played last season, Duchene has already doubled his goal total from last season. His 12 goals ties him for fourth in the league, a number that you probably didn't see coming while you were avoiding him round after round in your draft. Duchene has been on fire more recently, scoring 10 of those goals over his last nine games. All of his advanced stats, including a 22.6 SH%, suggest Duchene will eventually fall back to earth. Yet he is obviously a better player than the 13 points in 34 games (0.38 PTS/GP) that he showed in an injury-filled 2020-21 season. In addition, Duchene is being rewarded with more icetime this season over last (over three minutes per game). Given the amount of money they have invested in Duchene, Nashville can't afford another campaign like that.

Tyler Toffoli rescued the Habs with the empty-net goal while adding two assists. Last season's scoring star has been this season's bust, as Toffoli is on pace for just 16 goals after scoring 28 in a shortened season. The points were Toffoli's first in five games. His shot total has decreased only slightly, but his shooting percentage is down about 10% from last season. Toffoli won't replicate last season's pace, but there's lots of room for improvement.

At 1 percent ownership in Yahoo leagues, Derek Forbort and his two-goal performance probably helped very few fantasy teams.

You know what to do, fantasy experts.

📢 advertisement:

Derick Brassard probably helped a few more teams with his two-goal performance, but he's 4 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues, so that's not going to be a huge number either. Brassard has back-to-back games with two points, and he was also on the first-unit power play while on an even-strength line with Claude Giroux and Cam Atkinson. Maybe that 4 percent number could be a little higher.

Tristan Jarry picked up a 26-save shutout of the Leafs, which gives him shutouts in back-to-back games. You might still be thinking about Jarry as that poor playoff performer from last season, but he's helped your team if you managed to ignore that. Jarry has posted quality starts in five of his last six games. Only Jack Campbell and Juuse Saros have a higher quality start percentage than Jarry (71.4%).

With his goal on Saturday, Jake Guentzel now has goals in four consecutive games.

You're probably not out there seraching for positive Coyotes stats, so I'm going to give you one. Since being picked up off waivers from New Jersey, Scott Wedgewood has pitched quality starts in all five of his starts. He has allowed more than two goals only once, and that was in a game where he had to face 46 shots. Moreover, he has earned all three of Arizona's victories this season, including a 33-save effort in a 2-1 overtime win over Detroit. If you're truly desperate in net and/or have a high risk tolerance, you could take a flier on Wedgewood. Just keep in mind that the Coyotes' next game is on Wednesday against Edmonton, which is not a matchup that I would feel comfortable recommending for most goalies, let alone a Coyotes goalie.  

If your league counts shorthanded goals and Roope Hintz was in your lineup, congratulations. You just won that category this week. Hintz scored two shorthanded goals to power the Stars to a 4-1 win over St. Louis. After being held without a goal in his first 11 games, Hintz is heating up again with five goals in his last five games. Hopefully you were able to remain patient.

Jamie Benn scored Dallas's other two goals, giving him goals in three consecutive games. The goals in his last two games have been on the power play. He is obviously not the scorer that he once was, but he still leads the Stars with 40 hits.

Leon Draisaitl now has 18 goals in 17 games. The only Dobber panelist to pick him as the Rocket Richard winner was the one who named a stat after him to use in Frozen Tools. I'm guessing that Draisaitl wasn't the pick among most because his shooting percentage has been incredibly high the last few seasons. Whether Draisaitl can in fact hold on to win the goal-scoring title, it's a good time to mention that no player has scored 50 goals in 50 games since Brett Hull in 1991-92.

Connor McDavid scoring a goal and adding an assist isn't really newsworthy stuff, but it's worth mentioning that he has extended his season-long point streak to 17 games.

With Darnell Nurse out of the lineup, Duncan Keith picked up 25 minutes on Saturday. The 38-year-old d-man skated nearly 27 minutes on Thursday as well. While Nurse is out of the lineup, don't be surprised if Keith logs heavy minutes, even if he shouldn't at this stage of his career.  

Stuart Skinner is making the Edmonton goalie situation interesting. After all, Mikko Koskinen didn't inspire confidence last season. Koskinen has been noticeably better this season, but he has allowed at least three goals in each of his last four games. The Oilers might be able to outscore a lot of their defensive problems (especially with that lethal power play), but relying on a wide-open style won't win them as many games as they are capable of. What worked in the 1980s won't work as well today.

Skinner has started back-to-back games for the Oils, earning wins in both. He followed up a 46-save performance on Thursday with 28 saves in a 5-2 win over Chicago on Saturday. Skinner has been a solid AHL goalie the past couple seasons, so I'm not completely surprised that he is being given the opportunity here. His downside is that even though he is only 23, he may not be viewed as the long-term option in net. For more on Skinner, see his Dobber Prospects profile.  

The Hockey Night in Canada panel listed several goalies that the Oilers could target. To be honest, I don't think most of the names mentioned would be a huge upgrade over what they have. They brought up Alexandar Georgiev, Thomas Greiss, Joonas Korpisalo, and David Rittich. Elvis Merzlikins was mentioned in the same breath as Korpisalo, and I think he's the one goalie they should really target if it works cap-wise.

Conor Sheary and Alex Ovechkin each scored a pair of goals for the Capitals in their 4-0 win in San Jose. Ovechkin now has 14 goals, which ties him for second in the league in goals this season. How many times have we seen him score from that spot?

Ilya Samsonov stopped all 22 shots in the shutout win, which gives him back-to-back shutouts on the road in California. With wins in each of his last three games, Samsonov could finally be taking the upper hand from Vitek Vanecek in the goaltending battle. The Capitals as a team have one of the league's stingiest defenses, so both goalies are worth starting when they receive the opportunity.  

Jonathan Dahlen left Saturday's game after he appeared to injure his arm or shoulder. Keep an eye on his status for next week.

For more fantasy hockey discussion, follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Mar 28 - 19:03 OTT vs CHI
Mar 28 - 19:03 TOR vs WSH
Mar 28 - 19:03 MTL vs PHI
Mar 28 - 19:03 PIT vs CBJ
Mar 28 - 19:03 FLA vs NYI
Mar 28 - 19:03 CAR vs DET
Mar 28 - 20:03 MIN vs S.J
Mar 28 - 20:03 STL vs CGY
Mar 28 - 20:03 WPG vs VGK
Mar 28 - 21:03 EDM vs L.A
Mar 28 - 21:03 COL vs NYR
Mar 28 - 22:03 SEA vs ANA
Mar 28 - 22:03 VAN vs DAL
Mar 28 - 22:03 ARI vs NSH

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
TAGE THOMPSON BUF
JJ PETERKA BUF
JORDAN GREENWAY BUF
ANTHONY DUCLAIR T.B
JURAJ SLAFKOVSKY MTL

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
ALEKSEI KOLOSOV PHI
JOONAS KORPISALO OTT
UKKO-PEKKA LUUKKONEN BUF
KAREL VEJMELKA ARI
JUSTUS ANNUNEN COL

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency N.J Players
23.0 TIMO MEIER NICO HISCHIER JESPER BRATT
21.9 ONDREJ PALAT TOMAS NOSEK DAWSON MERCER
13.0 JACK HUGHES ALEXANDER HOLTZ ERIK HAULA

DobberHockey Podcasts

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: