There was a collective shudder throughout the fantasy hockey world Friday night as Jack Hughes crashed hard into the boards.
Hughes was leading the NHL in scoring when he went down and is the backbone of many a fantasy squad, so if he misses a few games it hurts. If he misses significant time, it could be catastrophic. There are only a handful of players in fantasy that are irreplaceable, and Hughes is one.
You do have to move forward if Hughes is sidelined, though, even if there aren’t many good options. One is Dawson Mercer, who got promoted to the top line when Hughes went down Friday. However, Mercer still hasn’t picked up a point this year and his grip on that spot is probably tenuous at best. There’s also the waivers route, with a handful of options we’ll discuss in this column like Sean Monahan, Marco Rossi or Quinton Byfield that could be good temporary fixes, even if they won’t provide as much offence as Hughes.
If Hughes is out long term, you could consider attempting to trade for another superstar. That would require moving additional assets, though, which you likely can’t afford to lose. There’s also the option of focusing on other categories until Hughes gets back if you’re in a multi-cat league. Could you grab an extra netminder and defencemen to try and dominate the goalie or hits and blocks categories as a stopgap?
Whatever avenue you go down, you’re certainly going to be far less confident than if Hughes was in your lineup. Just brace yourself and try to make it through.
1. It’s hard to believe we’re almost a week into November and Trevor Zegras still only has two points. I wonder if missing the bulk of training camp is part of the problem here. It’s hard to forecast how these contract stalemates that run close to the season will impact a player, as I’ve seen it go in both directions. Jason Robertson was in a similar situation to Zegras last year and started on a tear, but William Nylander several years ago, who granted, missed almost two months of the season, never really got on track. I’m sure Zegras will be fine and start to produce more as the season goes on, but it’s tough to swallow when other Anaheim Ducks in the top six like Mason McTavish and Frank Vatrano are off to great starts.
2. I remember someone asked me this summer what I thought McTavish’s fantasy outlook was and I answered something like he could be a very valuable option in a year or so when he develops more. Well, I was wrong. He’s already there. McTavish has 12 points in 10 games and is filling the shots, penalty minutes and faceoff win categories as well. He’s not at this level yet, but he reminds me a bit of Joel Eriksson Ek for category coverage. Someone who can do a little bit of everything. The scary thing is, McTavish likely hasn’t even scratched the surface of what he’s capable of. He has a very bright future.
3. Only three points so far for Justin Faulk. That’s not ideal for someone that’s basically been a 50-point blueliner the past two seasons. Faulk is typically a great bargain late in drafts, but it doesn’t look like it’s trending that way in 2023-24.
4. Johnny Gaudreau has just one goal this year and it was an empty netter. He was also benched for most of the third period Saturday. Gaudreau is coming off a strong campaign when he totaled 74 points on a weak Columbus Blue Jackets team, so this start is definitely disappointing. I’m not quite at the point where I’m willing to say he’s droppable, but Gaudreau looks like he needs Patrik Laine back, and fast, to help him get out of this funk.
5. Adam Fantilli has overcome a slow start to record five points in his past seven games. Fantilli also has at least four shots in four of those contests. The Jackets play four times next week, so now may be the time to take a chance on Fantilli if you’re looking for a short-term Hughes replacement.
6. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a team with less fantasy relevant players than the San Jose Sharks. We all knew they would be bad, but they are on a historic pace at the moment. The Sharks have just 12 goals in 11 games and they’ve conceded 10 in back-to-back contests. San Jose has virtually no rosterable skaters at the moment.
7. Jaden Schwartz is someone to look at if you need some offence. The Seattle Kraken forward has eight points in his past six games and has been pretty consistent for shots on goal. He’s also got C/LW eligibility too, which is a bonus.
8. What a start to the season for Sam Reinhart. He’s already got eight goals and is well on his way to besting his previous career high of 33. As good as Reinhart is playing, you have to be careful at this time of year about being caught in a trade from someone in your league trying to sell high. For instance, Reinhart is shooting over 24% right now, which is nearly double his career average. There’s no way he’s going to keep that going. That doesn’t mean Reinhart is going to fall apart, but is he going to suddenly become a 50-goal scorer? Not likely.
9. Hard to believe Clayton Keller didn’t record a point when the Arizona Coyotes scored eight times against the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this week. What’s more frustrating? Barrett Hayton, who hasn’t scored a point yet this season, also failed to find the scoresheet. That was the perfect game for him to break his slump. If you’re rostering Hayton right now, your patience has to be running out.
10. Monahan certainly looks like quite a find for the Montreal Canadiens. After dealing with a myriad of injuries over the past few seasons, Monahan is healthy and is becoming a huge fantasy asset. He already has 10 points and points in five straight games, while providing steady production on the power play and shots on goal categories. Monahan is also racking up the faceoff wins, which makes him even more valuable in league’s that count draws. I think Monahan fell off the radar somewhat in drafts because of the injury issues, but there were signs last season that he would have value in Montreal. He scored at a 56-point pace in 2022-23 in a small sample size with the Canadiens and was very effective when healthy. I’m not sure he ever gets close to 80 points again, but if Monahan can get in the 50-plus point range, that’s extremely valuable for someone that’s sitting on a lot of waiver wires right now.
11. Cam Talbot is quickly turning into a draft steal. The Los Angeles Kings goaltender has been stellar so far, sporting a 6-2-1 record with a .923 save percentage. Talbot didn’t go early in drafts because of his age and the worry that the 36-year-old couldn’t stay healthy enough to be fantasy relevant, both legitimate concerns. So far, though, Talbot and the Kings look great and he’s proving to be a great option.
12. The are a couple of creases still up for grabs in the early part of the season. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had back-to-back strong starts for the Buffalo Sabres, before having a rough outing on Friday night. Stuart Skinner received three straight starts for the Edmonton Oilers, but it doesn’t seem like he has a firm grasp on the net. That should allow Devon Levi and Jack Campbell to get back in the mix. Buffalo and Edmonton are two key spots for goalies and whoever takes the number one job and runs with it will have major value. Stay tuned.
13. Even before Nicklas Backstrom announced he would be stepping away from hockey to take care of injuries, Dylan Strome should have been on your radar. He already has six goals this year and is now playing next to Alexander Ovechkin on line one, which is still a coveted spot despite a slow start from the Washington Capitals superstar. Strome unfortunately is only centre eligible, but if you can find space for him on your roster, you probably won’t regret it.
14. It’s hard to fathom Rickard Rakell had just a single point before adding two assists against the lowly Sharks on Saturday. Coming off a 28-goal, 60-point season where he set a career high in shots, you’d think Rakell would’ve been a huge asset in 2023-24 playing with either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin nearly all the time. Plus, if you look at his total shots, Rakell’s production there seems fine, but a closer inspection shows more than half of those shots came in just three games. He’s been fairly quiet otherwise, including five games with two shots or less. It’s going to be hard to keep Rakell unless he picks it up.
15. If you’re looking for a streaming option at forward next week, give Ilya Mikheyev a look. The Vancouver Canucks are one of a handful of teams that play four times and Mikheyev has points in six of seven contests this season. He’s also playing with Elias Pettersson, which certainly doesn’t hurt. The Canadiens also play four times, so the time is right to give the aforementioned Monahan a shot, too. On the thinner side of the schedule, Vegas, Chicago and New Jersey play just twice. I wonder if it’s time to move on from Akira Schmid and open up a streaming spot on your roster. Schmid has struggled out of the gate and after alternating for the first six games, Vitek Vanecek has taken over the net recently.
16. The Minnesota Wild have finally juggled their lines, leading to some significant fantasy implications. Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman have been a staple as the top group, but recently Matt Boldy and Rossi have been playing with Kaprizov. This obviously bodes well for Rossi and Boldy, with Rossi in particular an interesting waiver wire add. Rossi has six points in six games and the Wild play four games next week, with two on off nights.
17. I mentioned Byfield a few weeks back as someone to keep your eye on because he was playing with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, and now he could be worthy of an add. Byfield has nine points in his past six games and maybe more importantly, he looks a lot more confident this season. Plus, he has C/LW eligibility. There is a roster crunch for a lot of fantasy squads because of so many true centres, so someone like Byfield can give your roster more flexibility.
18. Very quietly, William Karlsson has a nine-game point streak, scoring 13 points over that stretch. Karlsson is amazingly barely over 50% rostered and is great in the faceoff circle. We haven’t seen Karlsson score at this pace since his first year in Vegas and his shooting percentage is a bit high, so I wonder if this could be a sell-high scenario.
19. Erik Gustafsson suddenly finds himself on the New York Rangers top power play due to Adam Fox’s injury and notched two points Saturday. We’ve seen Gustafsson take advantage of similar opportunities before, specifically last year with the Washington Capitals, filling in for John Carlson. He notched 13 points in a seven-game stretch with the Caps in 2023-24 and Gustafsson could easily catch lightning in a bottle again for a short-term run.
20. Things have gone from bad to worse for Tyler Bertuzzi. After being dropped from the top line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Bertuzzi found himself on the fourth line for a few shifts Thursday and barely played in the third period. It’s perplexing things haven’t worked out better for Bertuzzi given his skillset and all the talent around him, but we have seen instances where players simply haven’t thrived in the Toronto Maple Leafs top six. Nick Ritchie a few years back comes to mind and the hope is Bertuzzi won’t follow a similar path. The Leafs have a lot invested in Bertuzzi for this season, so I’d imagine he’s going to continue to get opportunities in the top six, but you can only be so patient. The season is almost a month old and if you’re in a head-to-head league, you can’t afford to fall too far behind. If there are comparable options to Bertuzzi on your waiver wire that are playing better right now, you may have no choice but to make a move.
