Fantasy hockey rankings: A tale of two goalies in Washington
Part of the process is to try not to be too reactionary to short-term success. These rankings are for the rest of the season, so a recent hot streak technically doesn’t play into them other than to help develop the go-forward prognosis for a player.
St. Louis Blues winger Zach Sanford moved into our rankings this week and has had a recent hot streak, but it took more than the hot streak to get him into the mix.
Sanford has been on the periphery of playing time with Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron going back to last season. In fact, he had a strong March with them last season and played with them through the Stanley Cup run. So his arrival here in the top six isn’t from left field.
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It was a bit of a surprise when he didn’t start the season with O’Reilly and Perron. And while he’s checked in and out of that role for much of the season, his ice time will rarely eclipse 15 minutes in a game.
But, all of that history can easily be forgotten with hundreds of players to keep tabs on for your fantasy hockey needs. It takes a hot streak like Sanford’s current run of seven points in five games to remind us that he’s of potential interest.
In that spirit, here are some other players who are just edging onto the radar for these rankings but could still be a couple weeks away from finding their way in.
Kirby Dach, W/C, Chicago Blackhawks: While a lot of the attention has rightfully been on the Jonathan Toews-Dominik Kubalik duo of late, Dach hasn’t been quiet. Playing on a line with Patrick Kane, Dach has four points in three games and has even held down a role on the first power-play unit.
Joel Farabee, W, Philadelphia Flyers: Relatively unheralded among the offensive rookie sto find their way into the NHL this season, Farabee has quietly been playing a role down the depth chart for the Flyers. But with an opportunity to shine on a scoring line, he has responded. Skating with Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek, Farabee has points in five straight.
Valeri Nichushkin, W, Colorado Avalanche: He stayed on the second line even with the offense back to full health. It may have been Joonas Donskoi being eased back into the lineup, but it also may have been a reward for Nichushkin’s steady, if unspectacular play this season. The points alone probably don’t get him on the fantasy radar, but take a look at that plus-20 rating.
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Jared McCann, W, Pittsburgh Penguins: With Jake Guentzel out for the season and Sidney Crosby back to health, the Penguins need to find Crosby a linemate to ride out the campaign. McCann played the role last season and seems to have staked an early claim to the job now. Like Sanford, McCann played this role well late last season, so there is a track record here.
Justin Williams, W, Carolina Hurricanes: While he’s not playing a prime role in the offense at even strength, the Canes have reserved a spot for Williams on the top power-play unit. He could be a specialist for fantasy if the power-play time remains high.
Vincent Trocheck, C, Florida Panthers (up 24 spots to No. 143): While some of this upward momentum is from his own play of late, some of it also comes from concern over the severity of Aleksander Barkov’s knee injury over the weekend. Trocheck will either move up the depth chart or get more responsibility on the power play if Barkov has to miss any significant time.
Max Domi, W, Montreal Canadiens (down 34 spots to No. 130): With the return of Brendan Gallagher and continued success of Ilya Kovalchuk as a Hab, Domi has found himself toiling in a third-line role. This season is going to be a major step back from the 72 points and plus-20 he put up last season.
Kris Letang, D, Pittsburgh Penguins (up six spots to No. 33): The Penguins have not enjoyed a lot of games this season with both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin healthy. But with both centers now on the ice and teaming up on the power play, the expectation is that the Pens will start scoring more on the man advantage. That plays into the wheelhouse of Letang, who is on pace for his most games played since 2010-11.
Braden Holtby, G, Washington Capitals (down 33 spots to No. 117): The only goaltender with 30 or more starts this season who has both a goals-against average and save percentage worse than Holtby’s is Martin Jones. Mackenzie Blackwood, better ratios than Holtby. Linus Ullmark, better ratios than Holtby. Jonathan Quick, better ratios than Holtby. The Capitals, for their part, are still sticking to a fairly even rotation between Holtby and Samsonov, but that can’t continue at this rate.
Ilya Samsonov, G, Washington Capitals (up 19 spots to No. 108): While we used goaltenders with 30 or more starts to look at Holtby, we’ll use goaltenders with 20 or more starts to look at Samsonov. Only Darcy Kuemper and Tristan Jarry have better ratios than Samsonov this season. With such a stark discrepancy between the two Capitals goaltenders, more permanent change has to be coming soon.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, Corey Crawford, Jake Virtanen, Frank Vatrano, Brian Elliott, Zach Sanford, Connor Brown, James van Riemsdyk, Alexander Kerfoot, Kevin Hayes, Damon Severson, Nick Suzuki, Kyle Turris.
Kailer Yamamoto, Alex Iafallo, Alex Tuch, Ondrej Kase, Patric Hornqvist, Mats Zuccarello, Mike Smith, Andrew Mangiapane, Adam Boqvist, Tyler Bozak, Robert Thomas, Carter Hutton, Jordan Eberle,
Tomas Hertl, Erik Gustafsson, Derick Brassard, Calle Jarnkrok, Linus Ullmark, Kasperi Kapanen, Martin Jones, Conor Garland, Chris Driedger, Barclay Goodrow, Alex Stalock, Rasmus Ristolainen, Hampus Lindholm.