Get your tickets to the Logan Stankoven show.
Wyatt Johnston, C/RW, DAL at COL (43% rostered)
Logan Stankoven, C, DAL at COL (3% rostered)
Certainly a big mea culpa on my part for leaving Stankoven out of Monday's players to target; I had (wrongfully) assumed Tyler Seguin would return to the lineup. That being said, Stankoven's a really talented player, and on his birthday yesterday notched his first NHL assist and scored his first NHL goal playing on a line with Johnston and Jamie Benn.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxwxBrY4LCk[/embed]
Without Seguin and Mason Marchment going quiet again, it's Johnston's line who has picked up some of the offensive slack. With a back-to-back and travel, the Stars may be a little fatigued, but they did save Jake Oettinger for this matchup and the Avs' goaltending has not been their strong suit.
Rickard Rakell, RW, PIT at VAN (29% rostered)
This is a hard road matchup for the Pens, but they did just put up seven goals on Flyers in their previous game. The Canucks are not defensively stout but their goaltending has been very strong all season. Rakell has scored five points in his past five games, finally showing some signs of life again after an ice-cold January. He's expected to play L1 with Sidney Crosby with some power play.
Dylan Strome, C, WSH at DET (41% rostered)
Strome's assist Monday against the Caps stretches his points streak to five games, and he'll have a tough matchup against the Wings, who are much deeper at center with Dylan Larkin and J.T. Compher. Still, Strome gets some of the best offensive deployments with even-strength and power-play minutes with Alex Ovechkin on his left wing. Maybe the upside isn't high with a back-to-back, but Strome has been a consistent source of points for much of the season.
Shane Pinto, C, OTT at NSH (20% rostered)
With 16:12 in ice time and three points Monday against the Caps, Pinto is starting to overtake Josh Norris as the clear No. 2 center behind Tim Stützle, if he hasn't already. Pinto's aggressive and physical style has meshed with the like-minded Brady Tkachuk, and Pinto's also a multi-category contributor with faceoff wins and hits. At this pace, Pinto's a great hold for the rest of the season.
Tyler Bertuzzi, LW, TOR vs. VEG (14% rostered)
Bertuzzi has shown good chemistry with William Nylander and Max Domi, and along with his recent hat-trick performance, he's been putting up a good diet of shots, hits and blocks. He's certainly been more productive lately than earlier in the season, and the Knights are undermanned with Mark Stone on the shelf. With some of their top players out of the lineup, Bruce Cassidy mentioned the Knights would be forced to play a more defensive style; that's good for the Leafs because the longer the puck is on their stick, the better it is for them, and their top-end talent is so good it'll be hard to keep them off the board.
Mikael Granlund, C/RW, SJ vs. NJ (12% rostered)
Granlund played 23:27 in his previous game and that's likely a sign of things to come since the Sharks are bereft of quality depth up front. He'll be their top-line center and flanked by the only two players in their current lineup who have scored at least 10 goals: Fabian Zetterlund and Anthony Duclair. Given how shaky the Devils' goaltending has been, I'd be surprised if they can keep the Sharks off the board. There's a little extra motivation, too, with Timo Meier's return to the Bay Area for the first time since the trade.
Tommy Novak, C, NSH vs. OTT (4% rostered)
The Sens are playing the second half of a back-to-back and just allowed six goals against the Caps on Monday, and that was with their better goalie. The struggling Joonas Korpisalo is expected to start, which gives Novak, who's on a four-game points streak, a good chance to extend it to five games. After a poor first half, Novak's offense has come alive and living up to the billing as a middle-six center with some scoring pop.