Quarter-pole award leaders always elicit conversation, and this year is no different. Even if there's little debate in most categories.
The cream of the crop really is the cream.
The Hart leader is obvious. Nathan MacKinnon (100 percent Yahoo!) is off to the best start of his career. He's racked up 20 goals and 44 points in only 25 games, some seven points ahead of Macklin Celebrini (99 percent Yahoo!), who has the Sharks within a hair of a Wild Card spot.
But I'm not counting the 19-year-old teal wonder. Holy smack, he's incredible.
Cale Makar (100 percent Yahoo!) continues to cement himself as the second coming of Bobby Orr. He's been a Norris finalist each of the last five years and brought home the hardware twice, including last season. Makar leads all defenders in scoring and sat in a tie for seventh mid-Sunday. Plus he's elite in takeaways, blocked shots and runs both special-teams units.
Matthew Schaefer (94 percent Yahoo!) is at 18 points - including eight goals - and 72 shots across 25 appearances. He dominates the ice and just turned 18 in September. I love Ivan Demidov (61 percent Yahoo!), but the NHL hasn't seen a rookie defender like this since Makar.
Andrei Vasilevskiy (100 percent Yahoo!) and Logan Thompson (96 percent Yahoo!) are the elite in net so far with Scott Wedgewood (89 percent Yahoo!) surprisingly in the mix. I love Wedgewood's story and want to give him the edge here, though Vasilevskiy gets my vote.
Quarter-pole award leaders always elicit conversation, and this year is no different. Even if there's little debate in most categories.
The cream of the crop really is the cream.
The Hart leader is obvious. Nathan MacKinnon (100 percent Yahoo!) is off to the best start of his career. He's racked up 20 goals and 44 points in only 25 games, some seven points ahead of Macklin Celebrini (99 percent Yahoo!), who has the Sharks within a hair of a Wild Card spot.
But I'm not counting the 19-year-old teal wonder. Holy smack, he's incredible.
Cale Makar (100 percent Yahoo!) continues to cement himself as the second coming of Bobby Orr. He's been a Norris finalist each of the last five years and brought home the hardware twice, including last season. Makar leads all defenders in scoring and sat in a tie for seventh mid-Sunday. Plus he's elite in takeaways, blocked shots and runs both special-teams units.
Matthew Schaefer (94 percent Yahoo!) is at 18 points - including eight goals - and 72 shots across 25 appearances. He dominates the ice and just turned 18 in September. I love Ivan Demidov (61 percent Yahoo!), but the NHL hasn't seen a rookie defender like this since Makar.
Andrei Vasilevskiy (100 percent Yahoo!) and Logan Thompson (96 percent Yahoo!) are the elite in net so far with Scott Wedgewood (89 percent Yahoo!) surprisingly in the mix. I love Wedgewood's story and want to give him the edge here, though Vasilevskiy gets my vote. Strip off those first five games and he's the platinum option in goal - and by a long shot.
The Jack Adams for best coach is tight. André Tourigny has made the Mammoth watchable. Dan Muse has led the aging Penguins to the fountain of youth. But Joel Quenneville (spit) has the Ducks in the perfect V formation and on top of the Pacific.
The Selke is wide open with Aleksander Barkov (22 percent Yahoo!) on the shelf. I have Nick Suzuki (99 percent Yahoo!) ahead of Nico Hischier (91 percent Yahoo!). I love Anthony Cirelli (37 percent Yahoo!), but he cannot hold an offensive candle to those two.
It's a bit too early to hand out the Lady Byng Memorial, yet there are early leaders. Lane Hutson (99 percent Yahoo!) is showing signs, though the trophy is rarely handed to a defender. Jack Eichel (100 percent Yahoo!), Sam Reinhart (99 percent Yahoo!) and Jason Robertson (100 percent Yahoo!) are all enjoying standout seasons. And in a real surprise, Artturi Lehkonen (84 percent Yahoo!) has impressed. There will be plenty of players in the running by the halfway mark.
Now, let's take a look at who caught my eye this week.
Jake Allen, G, New Jersey (31 percent Yahoo!) -- I'm rostering Jacob Markstrom (80 percent Yahoo!), but I have a queasy feeling about his game. Both Jersey goalies hold similar win-loss records, though Allen's 2.37 GAA and .919 save percentage glitter in comparison to Markstrom's 3.60/.874. The Devils sit first in the Metropolitan, so there's no crisis yet. But that division is the tightest in hockey. At some point, Sheldon Keefe will have to go with the netminder whose credentials are strongest. That's Allen. This is a stash option, if you have the room.
Nick Blankenburg, D, Nashville (2 percent Yahoo!) -- Little Nick is on a roll heading into Tuesday. riding a four-game, five-point scoring streak that includes three goals, three PPP (two PPG), 11 shots and six blocks. Blankenburg is quick and agile while thinking the game exceptionally well. So his 5-foot-9 frame doesn't hold him back. He won't keep this up, yet is on a 50-point pace. And he will give you a solid bump while he's this hot, even on a bad team.
Zachary Bolduc, LW/RW, Montreal (16 percent Yahoo!) -- Bolduc is hard to trust as he goes quiet for long stretches, despite being on the Habs' top trio. But when he's good, he's really good. Bolduc was held off the scoresheet Saturday, yet delivered a three-spot against Utah and two versus Vegas. There's also a power-play goal in there. It's that marker that keeps me coming back to him. Last season in St. Louis, opposing coaches actually started to shape their PK around Bolduc's filthy one-timer. He and Cole Caufield (99 percent Yahoo!) could be tiny twin snipers the Habs have wanted - no, needed - for a long time. I anticipate a bit more inconsistency, but when the jump comes, it's going to come hard. I have Bolduc stashed in one deep league to see if that happens.
Luke Evangelista, RW, Nashville (2 percent Yahoo!) -- Evangelista's game never really grew from his impressive rookie campaign. But he's only 23 and this week was like a flashback to that year as he's on a four-game, seven-point scoring run going into Tuesday while toiling on the Nashville's lead line and PP2. This might be Evangelista's best run of the season. Or it could be his personal carpe diem. Either way, he can help short-term for free, and maybe more.
Joel Farabee, LW/RW, Calgary (10 percent Yahoo!) -- Farabee has really struggled to find his feet in the Alberta cold. Until now. He's registered five goals and six points (15 shots) over five games heading into Sunday, and one of those snipes came on the man-advantage. His last full season in Philly was a 22-goal, 50-point performance. And at that time, Farabee was a winger on the rise. Maybe, just maybe, he can become that in Calgary.
Carter Hart, G, Vegas (22 percent Yahoo!) -- Hart comes off suspension Monday. Sure, his AHL conditioning stint was underwhelming (1-2-0, 3.07 GAA and .839 save percentage) and his history still leaves a sour taste. But talent is talent. Hart could play himself into the starting role in short order, especially behind such a well-structured team. He's like one of those max-FAAB bids in MLB when a star changes leagues. Bid high. Do it now.
Erik Haula, LW/C, Nashville (3 percent Yahoo!) -- Haula is not a second-line NHLer, yet he is right now in Nashville. Remember Vegas circa 2017-18? Haula played up the lineup and delivered 29 goals -- including 12 on the power play -- 55 points and close to 500 faceoff wins. So this week really caught my eye. The Preds suck, though Haula put up one goal, four assists (three PPA), and 37 faceoff wins (54.4 percent). His LW designation means you can really pad those pivot categories on the cheap.
Ville Husso, G, and Petr Mrazek, G, Anaheim (1 and 15 percent Yahoo!, respectively) -- Lukas Dostal (83 percent Yahoo!) is on the shelf for 2-to-3 weeks, and Husso and Mrazek will duke it out for the blue paint. For a team that sat first in the Pacific to start Sunday. Both are capable of reeling off strong runs, so it's a coin toss as to who'll get the nod most while Dostal is down. Both allowed a lot of goals in their respective auditions, so you may need to snag the pair to get the most out of this situation.
Gabriel Landeskog, LW, Colorado (28 percent Yahoo!) -- I have a soft spot for Landy. I shattered my patella six years ago this coming January - it was rebuilt with screws and wires - and I have no cartilage to cushion that joint. So his transplant and recovery journey is always on my mind. Landeskog played five playoff games last season after last lacing them up in Jun. 2022. His slow start was expected, though there are signs he's finally finding his feet. Or his knee, in this case. He heads into Tuesday night on a three-game, five-point streak with three goals (one PPG) and 13 shots. Landeskog will wear down over the year - it's almost inevitable after such a long layoff. But this rise could be real, at least for a bit. I like the odds.
Connor McMichael, LW/C, Washington (30 percent Yahoo!) -- McMichael has scuffled this season. I still think last year's 58-point breakout was real as he's been miserably unlucky with a 7.0 shooting percentage that's half of his most recent number. McMichael has finally started to show signs of life of late by producing a three-game, four-point run (two goals, two assists) that was snapped Sunday, but I was impressed with his 14 shots in three games. Justin Sourdif (1 percent Yahoo!) has recently operated as Washington's 2C, yet McMichael's recent success will almost certainly psuh him up the lineup. And his LW fantasy designation makes him an easier addition.
Ryan O'Reilly, C, Nashville (18 percent Yahoo!) -- O'Reilly is a faceoff machine. And this week, he's also posted back-to-back multi-point outings. 50-point pivots are usually a tough play as there are dozens on the market. But O'Reilly rises the ranks due to his dominance at the dot. Heading into Sunday, he was tied for sixth in the NHL with 258 wins and eighth in winning percentage (57.6) among centers with at least 200 wins. Last week, O'Reilly went 41-for-67 (61.2 percent) from four matchups. The Preds are horrendous, as in last-in-the-NHL horrendous, yet that doesn't mean there aren't any fantasy options on that lineup.
Back to awards. And playoff standings.
The turkey-time playoff trend is going to be sorely tested this season. Since 2013-14, some 77 percent of squads in a playoff spot at U.S. Thanksgiving vie for Lord Stanley. But the entire Eastern Conference is bottlenecked - on Thanksgiving Day, there were only nine points separating first and 16th. And the West wasn't much clearer.
On Sunday, there were just six points between the top and bottom of the Metropolitan. And four among seven Eastern squads for two Wild Card spots. Three points separate the same number of clubs out West.
Maybe the only things that this year's turkey delivered were sleepiness and confirmation that the Preds (and maybe the Sabres) have no shot at the postseason.
So what's going on? Loser points are a huge factor. 28.1 percent of games were tied after regulation. Last year? It was 20.7. Check out this fascinating read on the trends behind the Season of Parity. It's worth the time.
This year's chaos is fun. The most interesting takeaway? More OT means more superstar time on the ice. That and the upcoming Olympics will create a convergence of late-season fatigue, potential injury issues and the likely need to rest the NHL's best as the playoffs loom. And have a massive impact on fantasy playoffs.
That's worth remembering at the trade deadline, especially if we're in the hunt. Some stars may need to move early if there's a risk they'll be rested so they stay fresh come mid-April.
Until next week.
