LEFT WING
Antoine Russell has racked up 18 penalty minutes the last five games helping to pave over his (-2) rating in that time. Russell is a limited player, he’s scored 13/13/14 goals the last three seasons and has never hit 30-points, but he’s also posted 160 penalty minutes, on average, the last three years. If you need help in that category, let ‘er rip.
Matthew Tkachuk, the 18 year old with the Flames, is going to stick with the club as he’s hit the 10 games played level. He’s produced five points his last five games, including two goals his last game, and he’s been a +6 skater in that time. If you’ve been reluctant to add the rookie you need not be any longer.
Jason Zucker is skating with Eric Staal and Charlie Coyle. That’s a certain positive. The last five games Zucker has scored twice while dishing out three assists. He’s also a +6 skater in that time. He’s net to hit 16:30 in an outing in terms of ice-time, and he’s only taken four shots on net, so don’t drop a struggling but established player for him. If you’ve got a nothing/something on your roster though, you can take a look Zucker’s way.
CENTER
Casey Cizikas is kinda just a guy, unless you play in a deep league in which case there might be some interest. He has two points the last three games. He has 26 hits, 15 blocks and 88 face-off wins. Do you know how many center eligible players can match all three of those numbers? The answer is none – other than CC. Hey, it’s something.
Frans Nielsen has seen his role grow with Pavel Datsyuk in Russia and Henrik Zetterberg looking less and less like the all-star we all remember. The 32 year old centerman has six points 11 games and is often seeing time on the first line. He does have a (-7) rating though, that hurts, and he only has 17 shots on net. He has scored 20-goals in 2/3 seasons, but the thing he really has going for him is the average of 2:57 on the power-play each game (he has four assists with the man advantage).
Travis Zajac has three goals, an assist, and is averaging 19 minutes a game his last five games. He is the quintessential guy you add off waivers when you need a boost. When he starts to slow, or your team improves, you drop him. Always the way it is. If your league uses face-off wins he’s a beast too. He’s averaging 10 wins a contest, and his total of 90 total wins is tied for 26th in the league.
RIGHT WING
Nikolaj Ehlers is a 20 year old winger who has produced just two points his last five games. However, note that he’s seen at least 19:27 of ice-time each of the last three games, and he’s also now skating on a line with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler. Would be huge if he sticks there.
Michael Grabner scored 34 goals back in 2010-11. Since then he has vanished. Here are his goal totals since: 20, 16, 12, 8 and 9. This season the 29 year old has already scored six goals in his first season with the Rangers. He’s been particularly hot with a hat-trick, four goals total, and one assist his last three games. He’s seen moderate amounts of ice-time, over 15 minutes just once in five games, so it’s hard to get overly excited.
DEFENSE
The Bruins play five games next week, and we never see that. Might consider Brandon Carlo who has three points and is a +9 in 10 games.
Hampus Lindholm signed a 6-year deal with the Ducks for $31.5 million. The 22 year old produced 28 to 34 points the last three seasons and is coming off a season of a career best 10 goals. Is he on waivers in your league cause he still hasn’t reported to the club? It sounds like he should be able to return next week as he works through visa issues. He’s well worth the add if he’s been dropped because he isn’t skating yet.
What about Zach Werenski of the Blue Jackets? Is he out there? The 19 year old rookie has eight points with four of them coming on the power-play (he is averaging more than two minutes a game on the power-play, a big number for a rookie who is also seeing more than a minute a game on the ice while the Jackets are short-handed). He’s seeing nearly 22 minutes a game on the blue line as well which clearly shows that he has the confidence of the coaching staff.
GOALTENDER
The Starts play three games in four days next week. Look for Peter Budaj to play three games with Jack Campbell getting the other is Jeff Zatkoff isn’t able to return from injury. Budaj has a strong 2.31 GAA even if his save percentage is lacking at .902.
Mike Condon made his Ottawa debut on Thursday against the Canucks and he tossed a bagel at the club from Vancouver stopping all 27 shots (he was acquired from the Penguins this week). Craig Anderson is dealing with his wife’s illness and it’s not clear how much time he will miss. Andrew Hammond has a groin issue and is likely to miss at least another week. Condon appeared in 55 games with the Canadiens last season with a 2.71 GAA and .903 save percentage, very moderate numbers in his first NHL campaign.
Calvin Pickard is 2-0 with a 2.50 GAA and .912 save percentage for the Avalanche. Meanwhile, Semyon Varlamov has gone 2-5 with a 3.30 GAA and .891. He’s not Mike Vernon in the late 80’s with the Flames, so those numbers don’t work. Will the ‘Lanche start giving Pickard more work if the struggles of Semyon continue?
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).
Player News
David Montgomery rushed 12 times for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the Lions’ Week 3 win over the Ravens, adding 13 yards on one reception.
Montgomery played well behind backfield mate Jahmyr Gibbs as far as snap rate and opportunity count are concerned. He put the Lions on his back when it mattered most, however, with carries of 72 yards and 31 yards in the fourth quarter, the latter of which put the Lions up by 14 points with under two minutes to play as he found paint for the second time. The bulk of Montgomery’s fantasy value remains tied to his high touchdown expectancy in one of the league’s top offenses, making him a more difficult weekly start than others drafted around him this offseason.
Jared Goff completed 20-of-28 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown in the Lions’ 38-80, Week 3 win over the Lions, adding six yards on four carries.
Goff’s 28 pass attempts were a product of the team’s successes on the ground, with David Montgomery (151 yards and two touchdowns) and Jahmyr Gibbs (67 yards and two touchdowns) taking over the game in the second half. The veteran signal caller made numerous elite throws, the highlight of which came on fourth down with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when he dropped a dime into the bread basket of alpha wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. That drive would eventually culminate in a 31-yard Montgomery touchdown to push the lead to 14 points, a lead the Lions would not relinquish as they vault into a tie atop the NFC North with the Packers and Vikings. Up next for Goff and the Lions is a matchup against the surprisingly stout Cleveland defense in Week 4.
Ronald Acuña Jr. walloped his 19th home run of the season and walked three times, leading Atlanta to an 11-5 blowout win over the Nationals.
Acuña has caught fire down the home stretch following a prolonged slump coming out of the All-Star break, homering four times in his last 11 games. The 27-year-old generational talent took Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore deep in the opening frame and wound up reaching base safely in four of his six plate appearances in the one-sided affair. He’s looked like a fantasy superstar again of late, batting an absurd .346 (18-for-52) with four homers, 13 RBI and two steals over his last 15 games.
Nasim Nuñez went 3-for-4 with a solo homer in Monday’s blowout loss to Atlanta.
Nuñez walloped his first career leadoff homer when he took Atlanta ace Chris Sale deep to right field. It was his fourth round-tripper since returning to the big leagues back in early September. He came a few feet shy of his second big fly on the night a couple frames later and finished the one-sided affair with a season-high three hits, reaching base safely in four of his five plate appearances. He’s shown enough down the home stretch to be considered a serious contender for an everyday role next spring.
Michael Harris II went 3-for-5 with three RBI and three stolen bases in Monday’s lopsided win over the Nationals.
Harris kicked off an impressive three-hit performance with a 109-mph line-drive to right field that brought home Ha-Seong Kim from second base in the second inning. He scorched a run-scoring single as part of Atlanta’s five-run outburst in the ensuing frame. He wasn’t done yet as he drove in another run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth before adding a sixth-inning single. The three steals matched his previous career-high mark set back on July 16, 2022 during his stellar rookie campaign. It also puts him one theft shy of reaching the 20-steal threshold for the third time in the last four seasons.
Chris Sale was charged with five runs over five innings on Monday in a win over the Nationals.
Sale received a touchdown and a two-point conversion worth of run support from Atlanta’s offense by the fifth inning and was cruising along, despite coughing up early solo homers to Nasim Nuñez and Dylan Crews, before Andrés Chaparro delivered a bases-clearing three-run single with two outs in the frame that slashed the deficit to three runs at the time. He managed to wriggle out of the jam without any further damage, finishing with six strikeouts and two walks in the shortened outing. He’ll close out the season on Sunday with a home matchup against the offensively challenged Pirates.