beginning to see the start of certain trends.
However, we won’t know if these are trends for a few weeks, but it might be too late if you’re hoping to snatch some players off the waiver wire.
Of course, it could be a game or two that skews the numbers. Still, it’s good to scrutinize the top 100 players for leaders in shots, time on ice, percentage of power play minutes played, etc. It might give you a player to follow for a potential candidate, or you might find someone worth having. hiding place.
Most of the players on this list are undrafted in most leagues. I’m not saying you should drop struggling superstars like Patrick Kane and Jack Hughes for some of the names on this list. However, we all have players we can let down. For example, in a 12-team, 25-man Yahoo league I’m in, I took a chance on Sammy Blais, who was supposed to be in the top six but has been injured so far and has yet to game play. .
Below are the top 10 all-too-early takeaways from the opening games of the season.
10. JJ Moser enjoys a lot of ice time
For those who haven’t followed, the Coyotes are opting for a power play unit consisting of three forwards and two defensemen. However, in a move no one may have seen coming, 22-year-old Moser was one such defender. He’s been on the ice for nearly 80% of the team’s power-play minutes so far, which led to two power-play points for Moser in two games. He also plays shorthanded minutes, on the ice for about 64 percent of all Arizona’s shorthanded minutes. That’s led to an average ice time of 25:30 so far for Moser, the fourth-highest average per night among any NHL player. Even on a team as offensively putrid as Arizona, it’s worth keeping an eye on him.
9. Zeros at all levels
There were a few players that it would have been better not to put in your lineup. Jonathan Drouin, for example, has zero points, zero shots, zero PIM, zero over/under, zero power play points, etc., despite only playing one game. The same goes for Nate Schmidt and Shane Wright. Ryan O’Reilly also has zeros, aside from one minus one (although he also has six game wins if your league counts that). Perhaps the most frustrating was Jakub Voracek, who had six shots in three games and not much else. The rest of his stat line reads as zero goals, zero assists, zero PIM, zero hits and zero power-play points. He also has a league-worst minus-six, which is worse than a zero.
8. Rookies don’t have ice time
Anyone who says hockey is now a young man’s game has never met NHL coaches, who seem determined to make sure rookies “earn” their spots and pay for their mistakes, which doesn’t happen. with veteran players. Shane Wright went 6:14 in his first appearance and was knocked out healthy for Game 2. Jack Quinn had the least ice time of any Sabers forward in Buffalo’s first game of the season, then saw his ice time cut by nearly three minutes in the following game. Dylan Holloway was quickly taken out of a top-six role in his opener and is averaging 8:16 minutes in two games. Marco Rossi led the league in preseason points but is in the center of the fourth line during the regular season. Juraj Slafkovsky averaged less than 11 minutes a night in three games with the Canadiens. Alexander Holtz played alongside Jack Hughes in pre-season but is on the third line in the regular season. Kent Johnson averages 12 minutes per game in Columbus. Sure, there are a few exceptions, but this once again proves why you don’t draft rookies in one-year leagues.
7. Daniel Vladar to get more starts
File this one under “news that would have been nice to know three weeks ago before the majority of the drafts happened.” Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter told Calgary media on Saturday morning that he plans to give Vladar one start a week. That might not seem like a lot, but that puts Vladar at around 26 games. This will have a slight impact on production for Jacob Markstrom, who would start around 56 games, down from the 63 games he started a year ago. With a solid game, maybe Vladar can usurp another start or two. Fewer starts will mean fewer wins for Markstrom.
6. Marc-André Fleury continues to struggle
The Wild have done a lot to ensure Fleury is their main player in goal with little competition. Last year, they traded Kaapo Kahkonen to San Jose. During the summer, they sent Cam Talbot to pack his bags in Ottawa. But Fleury struggled with Minnesota, and the Wild found themselves in a situation where they didn’t have a suitable replacement (no offense to Filip Gustavsson). In 11 games with the Wild last season, Fleury posted a below-average 0.910 SV% and a 2.74 goals-against average. But he won nine out of 11 games, while the team scored 44 goals in those 11 games. In the playoffs, Fleury continued to struggle. This year it’s more or less the same for the future 38-year-old, as he allowed seven goals in his opener and four first-half goals on Saturday night before being called off.
5. A Carter Hart Revival
Many thought the Flyers were going to be terrible this year. They were receiving mediocre scores in terms of fan confidence and optimism, and many believed the team was going to be a contender for the top spot in the NHL Draft. It’s still early days, but it looks like John Tortorella has had a major positive impact on Hart. The Flyers goaltender has two wins in two games, a 2.00 goals-against-average and a .940 SV%. Many have let Hart down, but Tortorella has proven he can get the most out of his keepers in the past. This may be the start of getting the most out of Hart.
4. Boone Jenner’s face-to-face prowess
I wrote in pre-season that Jenner could be a long shot for a 40-goal season, mainly because he had to start the season alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine at even strength while also playing in the best unit in power play. While all of that is happening so far (apart from the goal part), he could stay on the front line thanks to his mastery of the face-off. He leads the league with 47 game wins (to go along with just 17 game losses for an incredible win rate of 73%). He won 12 of 13 faceoffs on the power play and won at least 14 faceoffs in each of his three games. He has consistently been above 50% game winning percentage for years, but last year was the first time he finished with at least 10 game wins per game. Right now, it’s 3:67 p.m.
3. Justin Schultz on the power play again
Although he was once a power-play specialist (reaching a 20-point advantage with Pittsburgh one year), he hasn’t been able to recreate that success in recent seasons. In his last two years with the Capitals, he barely saw the ice when the team played on the power play, so Schultz may have been overlooked early in the season. However, he had the opportunity to play on the power play again and he responded with two power play runs in Game 1. He’s been on the ice for about 60 percent of Seattle’s power play minutes so far and is available in 94 (!) percent of Yahoo leagues as of Sunday.
2. Surprising ice times
As mentioned in the introduction, a good strategy is to watch the ice time leaders early in the season to see if there are any surprises there. We’re still at the stage of the season where one game can skew the numbers, so you’ll need to take a closer look at any unexpected upsets to determine if it’s sustainable. For example, did the player see an increase in ice time at the end of last season? Do they only see an increase due to an injury to a teammate? Has the coach said he believes the player has earned it or wants to see what the player can do with more ice time? We’ve already mentioned Moser, but here are five other surprising names among the leaders in minutes per game:
Valeri Nichushkin: 22:04 is fourth highest among forwards, which is increased by 6:05 minutes of power play per night.
Travis Boyd: 20 minutes a night while centering the front line in Arizona while also being on the best power play unit.
Nicolas Paul: 7:20 p.m. per night. While 3:49 of that is shorthanded, he’s playing evenly matched with Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn.
Noah Cates: With an average of 19:37, he seems to have already gained the confidence of John Tortorella. He and Joel Farabee together played 4:44 of Philly’s shorthanded minutes on Saturday night (the second-highest combo was at 1:56). He also averages 2:30 minutes on the power play per game and is second among Flyers forwards in even-strength ice time per game.
Joel Farabee: At 8:52 a night, he’s playing with Cates shorthanded and evenly-strength, but he’s also part of the best power-play unit.
1. Auston Matthews is a hitting machine
In three games, Matthews had 14 hits, making him fifth in the league. He had a career-high 67 hits last season, but it took him 73 games to complete. He’s had at least three hits in every contest so far. He won’t finish with the 383 hits he’s on pace for, but even if he hits 250, it would lead to a crazy fantasy season. We envision Matthews adding another element to his fantasy game that would put him on par with Alex Ovechkin when Ovi was in his prime. Imagine a season where Matthews finishes with 60 goals, 100+ points, 350 shots, 20 power-play goals, 35 power-play points and 250 hits. That could cement him as the number one draft pick in the One-Year Fantasy Leagues next season.
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