Ramblings: Seen Stamkos? Broberg and the Blues, Goal Perfetti (Oct 19)
Ian Gooding
2024-10-19
It’s early, but… Steven Stamkos has yet to register his first point as a Nashville Predator. Missing a 100-assist playmaker like Nikita Kucherov might have something to do with it, but Stamkos is at least shooting the puck. With 14 shots over his four games, Stamkos' 3.5 SOG/GP is as high as it has been in a decade. The pucks will start to go in, but there has clearly been an adjustment period to his new team.
The Preds haven't been as advertised so far, as they have not picked up a single point in four games and have the league's worst offense (2.0 GF/GP) at the moment. Another notable name without a point is Gustav Nyquist, whose value was expected to take a bit of a hit anyway after an out-of-nowhere 75-point season and the offseason acquisitions. Yet so far Nyquist has mainly skated on a line with Filip Forsberg and Ryan O'Reilly, which is a stable scoring line. Meanwhile, Stamkos has bounced around the lineup while Andrew Brunette tries to find the right linemates for him.
On a busy Saturday, it wouldn't be too crazy to bench Stamkos if you have a surplus of players. However, note that he is playing in an early game, so you may lose a substitution if you have a last-minute scratch.
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It's early, but… maybe Philip Broberg and the St. Louis Blues were meant to be. Broberg has begun his Blues career with points in each of his first five games, and he has not been on the ice for a 5-on-5 goal against. Injuries to Torey Krug and now Nick Leddy are paving the way for Broberg to contribute, and he has delivered. On top of that, time is running out on Scott Perunovich, who is now 26 years old.
This was supposed to be a make-or-break season for Broberg in Edmonton until the offer sheet, so maybe a fresh start was all he needed. Broberg definitely won't be a point-per-game defenseman if he is averaging 19 minutes per game and is on the Blues' second power play, like he is now. But that might be better than what he would have received with the Oilers. At this point, he might be worth taking a flier on in deeper leagues.
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Of all the players with at least seven points, none have as low an icetime average as Jared McCann (15:55 TOI). That means as far as icetime goes, new Seattle coach Dan Bylsma hasn't changed things much from previous coach Dave Hakstol. New free agent pickup Chandler Stephenson is the only forward averaging at least 18 minutes per game, with only Stephenson, Matty Beniers, and Andre Burakovsky ahead of McCann in average time on ice. Same goes for the power play, where no forward has been on the ice for more than 57% of the Kraken's power-play minutes, and nine Kraken skaters range between 40-57% of the team's available power-play minutes. Everyone is still getting their turn in Seattle.
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This post is from Thursday evening, but you get the idea.
If this keeps up, Frozen Tools will need to redefine what a Really Bad Start is. Currently it is games with a save percentage below .850. This is a Pittsburgh guy posting this, so he may also be trying to point out that Tristan Jarry's start really isn't that bad when other goalies around the league are clearly struggling.
Sticking with Pittsburgh goalies, Joel Blomqvist was given the nod on Friday. He allowed four goals on 38 shots in a 4-1 loss to Carolina. The Penguins as a team are allowing an average of four goals per game, so starting Blomqvist isn't a much better idea than starting Jarry at the moment. The Pens went into Friday averaging five goals per game over their last four games, so they have at least stayed competitive by scoring.
For the first time since opening night, Evgeni Malkin was held off the scoresheet. Malkin entered this game with 11 points over his last four games, which enabled him to at least take a share of the scoring lead. The 38-year-old Malkin had been faded in a lot of drafts this season (Yahoo ADP 163), so he may turn out to be better than expected with a delay in age-related decline. Still, attempting to sell high wouldn't be a bad idea.
Jesse Puljujarvi's preseason success has carried over to the regular season. With an assist on Friday, Puljujarvi has points in four consecutive games. I'd call it a streak, but it was interrupted by a healthy scratch last Saturday. At age 26, Pool Party may be figuring out how to stick around in the NHL post-prospect hype. He isn't riding shotgun with the Penguins' top players – rather, he has mainly been on a line with Lars Eller with PP2 deployment. Dare I say Puljujarvi is a potential streamer for Sunday?
In the Hurricanes' win, Martin Necas scored a goal and added an assist – both on the power play. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who was on Necas' line at even strength, registered two assists.
Frederik Andersen stopped 25 of 26 shots he faced in the win. He now has quality starts in both of the games he has played.
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If Cole Perfetti was your Friday streamer, you cashed in big. Perfetti filled the statsheet on Friday: 2 G, 2 A, +4, 2 PPG, 5 SOG. The points were his first of the season in his fourth game. With the Jets playing again on light night Sunday, you could look to him as a potential streamer again. He's only 12 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues. Since he averages only 13-14 minutes per game, Perfetti shouldn't be considered a player to be added in all leagues, although he should definitely be rostered in keeper leagues.
The line of Perfetti, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Vladislav Namestnikov took a bite out of the Sharks. Ehlers finished with two goals and an assist, while Namestnikov chipped in a goal and three assists.
One of Ehlers' goals was on the power play… the top power play. Imagine that after all these years. In a contract year, could we finally see Ehlers reach his full potential? His career high in power-play points is 13, but he would have a chance to improve on that if he can stay on PP1.
Another Jet with a huge game in the scoring department is Neal Pionk, who scored a goal and added three assists.
The Jets remain undefeated with a 4-0-0 record. Connor Hellebuyck has all four of those wins, with three of them considered quality starts. Friday's game didn't quite make it there, as Hellebuyck allowed three goals on 22 shots.
Will Smith was made a healthy scratch for this game. Seems like load management, as Smith played 19 minutes on Thursday. He has yet to register a point in four games this season.
Mackenzie Blackwood was pulled early in the second period after allowing five goals on 18 shots. Blackwood has yet to earn a win in three games this season, although he had a 38-save quality start in his last game. So far, he has been splitting starts with Vitek Vanecek.
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In their fifth game of the season, the Colorado Avalanche finally made it to the win column. Nathan MacKinnon scored an overtime winner with less than a minute to play to seal the win.
Nate Dogg also fired a team high (and season high for him) nine shots on net.
The Ducks made it interesting, as Troy Terry scored with just 12 seconds left in regulation to tie the game.
I thought this might be a Justus Annunen start with Alexandar Georgiev struggling mightily. However, Jared Bednar wants Georgiev to work out of the slump, starting him again on Friday. Despite the win, Georgiev allowed three goals on just 19 shots. That's four really bad starts in five games, so Friday's win shouldn't seem like Georgiev has turned the corner. Still, Bednar seems committed to sending him out there anyway. The Avs face the Sharks on Sunday, which seems like a winnable game for whoever is standing in the blue paint.
Ross Colton scored a pair of goals for the Avalanche, giving him four goals on the season. In addition, Colton has averaged 3.6 SOG/GP in five games, which is double his average from last season. Colton's icetime has also exploded, as he is averaging 19 minutes per game and skated nearly 22 minutes on Friday. Injuries to other key players have Colton on the top line with MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen (3 A on Friday), which makes Colton worth adding. He's shot up to being 31 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues, so you'll need to grab him quickly. I can't see Colton being on this line forever, so you might want to consider dropping him when the injured Avalanche forwards start returning.
Casey Mittelstadt has goals in four of five games this season, including a goal on Friday. He also added his first assist while firing six shots on net. He's averaging over three shots per game and over 20 minutes per game this season. With all the injuries in Colorado, he's on the top power play as well. Consider him a potential Sunday streamer as well. He's rostered in 30 percent of Yahoo leagues. I have more faith in Mittelstadt as a longer-term add due to his scoring upside, even if he doesn't produce at the pace of Colton in the short term.
On Mittelstadt's goal, Nikolai Kovalenko earned his first NHL assist and point. Even with all the injuries, Kovalenko is still being eased into NHL action, as he is averaging under 14 minutes per game.
I mentioned that Georgiev faced only 19 shots. This game was clearly tilted one way, as Lukas Dostal faced 49 Avalanche shots. That's a quality start for the losing goalie. Without watching the game, you could tell which team was dominating while at the same time squeezing their sticks.
Maybe that’s how you feel about your fantasy team right now. But just hang in there. It’s still early.
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If you're looking to take advantage of the schedule to stack streamers this weekend, you're out of luck. Every team plays one game either on Saturday or Sunday, with the bulk of teams playing on Saturday. Your best bet is to find a player on one of the following teams for off-day Sunday: Anaheim, Colorado, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Jose, and Winnipeg. I mentioned a few streamers from those teams earlier, so hopefully you were reading! Scroll up and have a look if you didn't.
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Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Threads.
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