Games Played This Week By Team

3 Games: ANA, ARI, BOS, CGY, CAR, CHI, COL, CBJ, DAL, DET, EDM, MIN, MTL, NSH, NJ, NYI, OTT, PIT, STL, TB, TOR, VGK, WSH, WPG

2 Games: BUF, FLA, LA, NYR, PHI, SJ, VAN

Streaming Selections

Hope everyone had a good break from hockey and had a happy holiday. If you are wondering, yes, I have talked about Pierre-Luc Dubois, Mathew Barzal, Noah Hanifin, Kevin Fiala, and Danton Heinen before, who all had very good weeks. But here are some players who could be worth a look.

Kevin Labanc – LW/RW – San Jose Sharks

35% Owned on Fantrax

The Sharks are in a weird state at the moment. They are a good team, but they rely a lot on older players, most notably Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, and Brent Burns. However, the Sharks have infused some young players into the mix lately. Kevin Labanc is one of those players. LaBanc has 17 points in 29 games this season. He had five assists and one goal in the three games last week. In 55 games last season, LaBanc had 20 points. He is clearly well on his way to going past that this year. LaBanc is getting an average of 14 minutes of ice time. However, that could be because he had a minor stint in the AHL for a couple of weeks and is currently on the second line and first power-play unit, according to LeftWingLock. LaBanc was pretty good in the OHL for the Erie Otters, with 269 points in 198 games in the three seasons in Erie. LaBanc is one of the more promising young players the Sharks have and will have a larger role in the near future. If you are interested in other young Sharks players, you could see if Tomas Hertl (60% owned) or Joonas Donskoi (22% owned) are still available. Although the Sharks have two games this week, both games are on days that don’t have a big slate of games.

Thomas Vanek – LW/RW – Vancouver Canucks

33% Owned on Fantrax

Vanek has 23 points in 37 games with 70 shots on goal. Eleven of those points were on the power play. He also had a hat trick on Tuesday. However, what makes him interesting is that he isn’t owned in a lot of leagues and has a -13 +/-. Despite being the second line left winger, Vanek averages only 13:34 minutes of ice time. Many of the reasons people are turned off by him are the same reasons why teams didn’t take him in the summer. Simply put, he is not good at defense. Because of this, he gets sheltered minutes on a rebuilding team. However, he is really good on the offensive side of the ice, especially last week when he had three goals and two assists in three games. The Canucks currently have a lot of injuries, and Vanek is given a little more time on the ice. I usually don’t care about the +/- statistic because it is not a true measure of the effect the players have on the ice. So, if you’re like me and don’t care about +/-, Vanek is a good player to have on your team. Be warned that he is known to be streaky.

David Backes – C/RW – Boston Bruins

36% Owned on Fantrax

David Backes didn’t have a great year last season, with 38 points in 78 games. To make matters worse, Backes had diverticulitis to start this season, which required him to have colon surgery. However, since returning, Backes has been putting up a lot of points. Backes has nine points in 17 games this season. Five of those points were in the last four games. He is on a 34-point pace, which is good considering he missed about 20 games already this season. Now, Backes is on the third line, but he is also on the second power-play unit and is averaging 16 minutes of ice time. He is also very good for hits. Like Bjugstad, who is now more of a right winger, Backes can also help out on the faceoff circle. This is helpful considering that it appears David Krejci has been struggling with injuries. He and his wife also just had another baby. Backes is not what he once was when he was in St Louis, but he is still a good addition in deep leagues.

Nick Bjugstad – C/RW – Florida Panthers

32% Owned on Fantrax

It’s been awhile since Nick Bjugstad has even been fantasy relevant if you could call it that. But now that he is on the top line with Barkov and Huberdeau, he is starting to have a bit of a bounce-back season. Bjugstad’s career high was 43 points in the 2014-2015 season. His numbers started to trail off a bit, which led to 14 points in 54 games last season. To be fair, Bjugstad had been dealing with injuries and wasn’t getting a ton of ice-time. Currently, Bjugstad has 18 points in 36 games this season with 103 shots on goal. He’s had five points in the last seven games. This puts him on pace for 41 points. Now, of course, that isn’t great but a step up from last season. Despite being at the right wing now, Bjugstad is pretty good at faceoffs, winning 56% of the 178 faceoff opportunities. Because of those numbers, he is a good player to have in leagues that count faceoff wins and shots. If Bjugstad can continue to play with Barkov and Huberdeau, he is an even better add.

Josh Morrissey – D – Winnipeg Jets

55% Owned on Fantrax

Since Dustin Byfuglien was injured on December 14, Morrissey has three points in six games. He has 14 points in 37 games this season. Now, Morrissey already had a lot of ice-time but has seen his time increased to 20 minutes per game as one of the top pairing defensemen while Dustin Byfuglien has been out. Now, of course, Morrissey hasn’t scored in his last two games and isn’t on either power-play unit. But the positives are that he is given a chance to help out the Jets team while Byfuglien recovers. The Jets are a very offensive-minded team, and he is paired with Jacob Trouba. He is also getting shots. He has 11 shots in the last four games. I’ll be honest, Morrissey may not pan out, but he is worth taking a flier on while he is being given all this ice-time.

Streaming Check-Up

This is where we take a look at the performances of the players I mentioned in last week’s article. Knowing when to drop your streamers is just as important as knowing when to add them. The following guys should be kept in all keeper and dynasty formats unless stated otherwise.

Jesse Puljujarvi – Puljujarvi didn’t score any points in the three games last week, with six shots on goal. But he is still on a line with McDavid, which means he shouldn’t be dropped just yet.

Oliver Bjorkstrand – Bjorkstrand had only one assist in four games last week. He is still in the second line but could be dropped if necessary.

Tyler Johnson – Tyler Johnson had one goal and one assist in two games last week. He missed one game due to the flu. But that didn’t stop his ownership percentage from climbing. He is now owned in 81% of Fantrax leagues. He should be kept.

Anton Stralman – Stralman didn’t score at all in three games. As mentioned last week, Stralman is a good add in deep leagues.

Justin Braun – Braun had one assist in three games last week. He also had seven blocks and three hits. Braun is a good player to have for those peripherals. The assists will probably not last, but he should be kept just because he can get blocks and hits.