Welcome back. If this is your first visit, here at the ‘Weekly Wrap, we review the last seven days of fantasy hockey. This includes the latest hot and cold streaks, trends, and anything else that catches my attention.
Let’s dive in!
Fantasy Hockey Week in Review:
NHL THREE STARS:
First Star: Kirill Kaprizov, LW, Minnesota Wild
Kaprizov owners have been waiting all year for him to have a big week. With four goals, three assists for seven points, and back-to-back game-winning goals over four games, it finally happened.
The games on December 19th and 21st stood out, though. He played 25:03 and 29:09. His average ice time is 21:19 on the season. When a coach runs a forward like this, the coach recognizes the player he needs the most is feeling the game.
There’s a lot more of this sitting there. Kaprizov is playing significantly below expectations even after this past week. No one expects Karprizov to end the year with 30 goals and 79 points.
It tells you a lot about a player when they are disappointed he is performing at a point-a-game pace.
Second Star: Mika Zibanejad, C, New York Rangers
Talk about feeling the game, Zibanejad made a couple of insane, high-IQ passes this week. Blake Wheeler is still pulling his jaw off the floor from that one deflection pass off the boards.
Zibanejad had four goals and seven points in three games. It wasn’t the greatest start to the year, but Zibanejad has 19 points in his last 13 games. He now has 33 points in 32 games.
As good as Zibanejad has been it feels like he has another level about to be switched on.
Third Star: Patrick Kane, RW, Detroit Red Wings
It took a couple of games to get the rust. With four goals and four assists in four games, the rust is definitely off. Kane now has ten points in ten games. Unfortunately for the Red Wings, they have two wins in the same span.
Kane’s defense gets lots of knocks, but he can’t be blamed for how poor the Wings’ defense has been over this stretch. He has been a +4 in the last three games.
There were a lot of questions about how good Kane would be upon his return. He is starting to answer them. If Kane plays in all 48 of the Red Wings remaining games, he will have played 58 in total. I don’t think we have seen the best Patrick Kane yet either. I wouldn’t rule out him reaching 70 points when all is said and done.
Austin Matthews, C, Toronto Maple Leafs
He is on a seven-game goal streak and up to 28 goals in 30 games. Hopefully, this little break in play doesn’t interrupt his momentum.
Nathan MacKinnon, C, Colorado Avalanche
Is on a tear. He dropped a tidy four goals and an assist against Ottawa on December 21st. He is up to 54 points in 34 games and sits three points behind Nikita Kucherov for the NHL scoring lead.
John Carlsson, D, Washington Capitals
He hasn’t had the year most were expecting. There’s lots of talk about him hitting the ‘father-time’ regression wall.
I am not quite as convinced. Most of the Capitals have had a down year to date. It is hard to single out Carlsson regressing at 33 when the entire team has underperformed.
He hasn’t been dreadful though, I mean, his one goal and 18 assists, leave him on pace for 50 points. It’s crazy we’re complaining about 50-points
Gabe Vilardi, C/RW, Winnipeg Jets
This guy deserves some love. He has 12 points in his last five games and 15 in 14 games on the year. Shockingly, all 12 points in that stretch came at even strength.
Vilardi has only one power-play point on the season. Without regular special teams production, this kind of pace is unsustainable. If he keeps producing like this though, his role will continue to grow.
We’ll take a deeper dive into Vilardi in the new year.
Juraj Slafkovsky, LW/RW, Montreal Canadiens
Slafkovsky finds himself on a mini-hot streak with five points in his last four games. This includes back-to-back two-point performances before the Christmas break.
The game against Minnesota his most dominant of the year, with a Corsi For of 78.1% and an expected goal for at 5-on-5 of 77.6.
I’m not one to count my chickens before they hatch. This is a nice glimpse of what folks hope Slafkovksy will become. It is still the long game with him. As he looks to find consistency, the buy-low window on Stafkovsky remains wide open.
Anthony Mantha, RW, Washington Capitals
The spotlight has dimmed and most owners have bailed, giving up hope.
Yet, at 447 career games played, Mantha is displaying signs of life. He has eight points in his last ten games and 15 in 27, this season. At 6’5″ it was always going to be a long wait. Fantasy hockey owners don’t have the patience to wait five to seven seasons. Heck, some fantasy leagues don’t last five years.
His Corsi For is the lowest it has been in his career at 47.8%, partly due to spending most of his time with young players, Connor McMichael and Aliaksi Protas.
It is possible we see Mantha slide into the periphery of fantasy hockey relevance. After a slow start, four points in 14 games, Mantha has 11 in his last 13. Currently on pace for 45 points, his recent play suggests he could post a much better season.
Blake Coleman, LW/RW, Calgary Flames
Picked up a power play goal and a short-handed goal in a 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. He now has 4 short-handed goals on the season, all have come in the last nine games.
One big shift for Coleman of note, in the last five games he has started to receive time on the power play, including 3:36 and 3:23 in his last two. He has been a steady contributor in fantasy pools for shots and hits for several years.
We could see Coleman put up a career year. It is the first time in his career he has been given a window for consistent time on the power play. He is also lining up with Jonathan Huberdeau and Mikael Backlund at five-on-five.
Keep an eye on this situation, he could be in for a big second half.
Nick Suzuki, C, Montreal Canadiens
Is riding a five-game point streak. The eight points over this streak gives him a respectable 30 in 33 games.
For those of you who use face-off percentage as a category, Suzuki is a bit of a surprise so far winning 56% of his draws. For someone who has only once averaged 50% in a season, this is a big shift.
Marco Rossi, C, Minnesota Wild
Rossi sits second in rookie points (21) and goals (11) behind super-rookie Connor Bedard. It took a couple of years but Rossi has finally arrived. His emergence gives the Wild a solid 1-2 punch down the middle with Joel Eriksson Ek.
That will do it for this week. Thanks for reading.
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