THN.com/podcast. From THN On The 'A': Keeping Up with AHL Rochester Coach Seth Appert Dawson Mercer. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk2NDU4MDg5NTM1MjUxOTU0/usatsi_20071659.jpg] Dawson Mercer. It’s a busy weekend in the NHL and fantasy hockey, with 14 teams playing back-to-back. With the season coming to a close, most fantasy leagues will start their playoff matchups soon, if they haven’t already. Managers in head-to-head matchups should emphasize games played as much as they can, while managers in roto leagues may want to pick and choose which matchups to start, especially if there’s a max games played limit. Here’s your weekend rundown of the 14 teams playing two games and who’s hot, who’s cold and who’s available for streaming. HURRICANES (SATURDAY VS. KNIGHTS, SUNDAY AT DEVILS) Cold: Sebastian Aho is a point-per-game player, but can he be more than that? The Canes' offense is excellent; they’re shot-generating machines with a ton of skill, but when it comes to No. 1 centers on elite teams, Aho falls a little short in production. He’s scored just three points in his past six games, all of them against the Coyotes in a blowout win, and otherwise has produced little in fantasy. The tough competition this weekend means it might be worthwhile to sit him in favor of another top center. Stream: There’s no shortage of confidence or pizzazz with Pyotr Kochetkov, who was called up to replace the injured Antti Raanta and promptly shut out the Flyers in a relatively easy win. Raanta is not expected to miss much time, and Frederik Andersen is highly unlikely to play both back-to-back games, leaving Kochetkov with another start. WILD (SATURDAY AT SHARKS, SUNDAY AT COYOTES) Hot: This will be a real test for Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson because, without Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild offense is basically non-existent. It’s a good thing they’re easy matchups as the Wild climb back into the race for the division title and have not lost in regulation since Feb. 15. Since then, Gustavsson ranks first in save percentage and GAA (min. 3 GP), while Fleury ranks third in SP and fifth in GAA. Fire up either goalie and sleep easy. Cold: Who’s gonna do the scoring with Kaprizov out? Over the past two weeks, only one player has scored more than one goal, and that’s Marcus Foligno with two. This should be Matt Boldy’s time to shine, but he’s scored just once in 18 (!) games. It’s best to fade everyone on the Wild for the entire time Kaprizov is out of the lineup. Stream: If there really is a need to stream a Wild player, note Sam Steel has joined Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello on the top line. It’s a low-upside play with Steel, however, and the better is Marcus Johansson, who is playing with Boldy and their best center, Joel Eriksson Ek. DEVILS (SATURDAY AT HABS, SUNDAY VS. HURRICANES) Hot: Timo Meier’s been alright, but the player to pick up right now is Dawson Mercer. Since his hot streak started on Feb. 16, he’s scored 11 goals and 19 points in 11 games, trailing only one player – Connor McDavid, of course – and perhaps most impressive is that only five points have come on the power play. Cold: On the other hand, Jesper Bratt has really fallen off with five points and a team-worst minus-9 rating in 11 games. He’s since been displaced in the top six by Jesper Boqvist, but it’s hard to believe the move will be permanent. Bratt’s just going through a tough stretch and deserves to be benched but not dropped. According to naturalstattrick.com, despite his tough stretch and getting outplayed by Boqvist, Bratt still ranks sixth in 5-on-5 CF% since Feb. 16. LIGHTNING (SATURDAY VS. HAWKS, SUNDAY VS. JETS) Hot: As good as the Lightning are, they are also some of the league’s biggest sore losers. From a fantasy perspective, that’s great because they deliver a lot of penalty minutes, and Mikey Eyssimont, in particular, has delivered. But this team is still led by their superstars, and Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov continue to be excellent. The surprise lately has been Alex Killorn, who scored one goal in 12 games in February but already has four in five games in March. Cold: Brandon Hagel fits the mold as a complementary player, but he also hasn't scored in his past 13 games. Linemate Anthony Cirelli is also a very good player but offers little in fantasy. Even when the Lightning stack the top line with Steven Stamkos, Cirelli just doesn’t present much upside as other No. 2 centers. PREDATORS (SATURDAY AT KINGS, SUNDAY AT DUCKS) Cold: Not scoring a goal in five games and having zero points in his past three is like an eternity for Roman Josi, but can we blame him after the Preds gutted their roster? Josi is still an excellent source of shots, but the quality of teammates surrounding him has gotten a lot worse. A consensus top-five fantasy defenseman entering the season, his stock has definitely fallen off a little bit. Stream: The Preds will want to see what their young(er) players have got, which means Cody Glass, Tommy Novak and Luke Evangelista will play significant roles. Glass will get the most playing time since he’s older and more experienced, but Novak and Evangelista have more upside. Sunday’s game against the Ducks should bear fruit. PENGUINS (SATURDAY VS. FLYERS, SUNDAY VS. RANGERS) Hot: Jason Zucker has been a goal-scoring machine lately, with seven goals in his past six games. At his best, Zucker can be a valuable banger league asset due to his goals and hits. This is probably as good as it gets for Zucker’s fantasy value, however, since the Pens’ top six is pretty much set in stone. Cold: Mikael Granlund just hasn’t been that great of a fit so far. He missed a game due to illness, and maybe he’s just adjusting, but there just isn’t much upside when playing with Jeff Carter and Drew O’Connor. Granlund’s fantasy value cratered this season when the Preds couldn’t replicate last year’s success, and it hasn’t gotten any better since the trade. GOLDEN KNIGHTS (SATURDAY AT HURRICANES, SUNDAY AT BLUES) Hot: Few expected Adin Hill to be this good, but also worth noting that Jonathan Quick is now 2-0-0 with the Knights and clearly motivated to prove the Kings wrong for moving him. He’s unlikely to usurp Hill as the starter because his overall body of work hasn’t been good, but he might eat a little more into the timeshare. Things are also easy when the team is providing enough goal support. Cold: He’s a jack-of-all-trades and an excellent fantasy asset this season, but Chandler Stephenson has scored only once in his past six games. He doesn’t shoot the puck much in general, so when he’s not burying what few chances he gets, it’s hard to justify playing him beyond the faceoff wins. Stream: Ivan Barbashev has not scored a point in his past two games, though he’s maintained his spot on the top line with Jack Eichel. Barbashev is miscast as a top-six forward and should ideally play lower in the lineup, but with two games over the weekend and quality linemates, he’s still an attractive streaming option. SENATORS (SATURDAY AT CANUCKS, SUNDAY AT FLAMES) Hot: The entire Sens team has been red-hot on offense, and Tim Stutzle is blossoming into a star player right now. He has three multi-point efforts in his past five games, and even when Josh Norris returns next season, Stutzle should be their top pivot. Cold: Jakob Chychrun has made a huge impact in his short time with the Sens already, and it’s taken some fantasy value away from Thomas Chabot, who has gone four games without a point. Chabot continues to quarterback their top power play, but without high-volume shooting and a steady stream of hits, his fantasy value has really begun to fade. JETS (SATURDAY AT PANTHERS, SUNDAY AT LIGHTNING) Hot: Nino Niederreiter has been an excellent fit for the Jets, possessing enough skill and talent to score points and also plays a hard, physical style that endears himself to his coaches. He’s rostered in less than 30 percent of Yahoo leagues; that’s a travesty with his current production, and note he’s averaged more than 19 minutes in his past three games. Cold: We’ll chalk Connor Hellebuyck’s recent slide as a blip on the radar. Nikolaj Ehlers, meanwhile, has been a frustrating fantasy hold all season. The Jets don’t give him much playing time even though the analytics show Ehlers as an exceptional 5-on-5 player. He has not scored since Feb. 22, and his ice time fluctuating between 10 to 18 minutes per game is too unreliable. His fantasy value is coasting on his reputation, but it’s at the point where Ehlers might be droppable if the Jets don’t turn it around soon. BLUES (SATURDAY AT JACKETS, SUNDAY VS. KNIGHTS) Hot: Pavel Buchnevich is a gem, and Craig Berube is experimenting with him at center. He won nine faceoffs and added two assists against the Sharks, and he’s been one of the lone bright spots during a tough stretch for the Blues. COYOTES (SATURDAY AT AVALANCHE, SUNDAY VS. WILD) Hot: The Coyotes are an underrated source of fantasy assets. Barrett Hayton’s line with Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz has produced points like clockwork for most of the season. Two players deserve a mention: Jack McBain, who has scored three points in his past three games and offers up a ton of faceoff wins and hits for extra value in banger leagues, and Matias Maccelli, the unheralded rookie playmaker who is currently on a three-game point streak. Cold: Interesting decision to scratch Karel Vejmelka, though it worked out with Ivan Prosvetov playing so well. Still, best to shy away from the Coyotes’ goaltending, especially against an offensive juggernaut in the Avs. Even without Kaprizov, the Wild offense will be difficult to contain for a thin Coyotes blueline. RANGERS (SATURDAY AT SABRES, SUNDAY AT PENGUINS) Cold: The ‘Kid Line’ has gone pretty quiet lately, especially Filip Chytil, who hasn’t scored a goal in 13 games and has just five assists during that span. The other player who has gone ice cold is K’Andre Miller – even prior to spit-gate, his production had fallen off after he scored 17 points in 25 games through December and January. The Sabres are weak at home, and that might be a good matchup, but it’s best to wait until both players have gotten back on track before playing them again. BRUINS (SATURDAY AT WINGS, SUNDAY VS. WINGS) Hot: Dmitry Orlov might end up being the best pickup at the deadline. He was always very underrated on the Caps and now has a top-four role and has overtaken Charlie McAvoy as the quarterback on PP1. That presents a tremendous upside because he’ll share the ice with David Pastrnak. Orlov has been one of the hottest commodities in fantasy hockey, and through six games with the Bruins, he has scored nine points. Cold: Jake DeBrusk has gone six games without a goal, and his current spot with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron is not under threat since David Krejci and Pastrnak are pretty much attached at the hip. Tyler Bertuzzi could be a threat, however, having bumped Pavel Zacha to the third line, and if DeBrusk struggles, would it not be conceivable for the Bruins to give Bertuzzi a whirl on the top line? RED WINGS (SATURDAY VS. BRUINS, SUNDAY AT BRUINS) Cold: It’ll likely be a weekend sweep for the Wings considering who they’re playing and which way their play is trending. Nobody on the team is really performing up to expectations. The oft-injured Robby Fabbri will miss both games due to an injury, Moritz Seider’s play has gone sideways again, and nobody outside of Dylan Larkin can really score with any kind of regularity. Given Steve Yzerman’s comments about how this team isn’t ready yet, it’s best not to argue against one of the best minds in hockey and just fade the Wings for the rest of the season.
