Injuries, man. The Devils have been dominant all season but now face their toughest test so far with both of their top goalies (Vitek Vanecek and Mackenzie Blackwood) out with injuries, and that's without including veteran Jonathan Bernier, who's out indefinitely.
Even with smaller workloads than in the past to help combat those injuries, goaltending remains the most difficult position to predict and therefore the most frustrating part of fantasy hockey. Here's a rundown of who to pay attention to this coming week.
Trending Up
Jonathan Quick, Kings (Since Nov. 1: 3-0-1, .936 Sv%, 1.71 GAA)
It was shaping up to be a timeshare in Los Angeles when Quick was struggling early in the season, but he's turned it around over the past few weeks. Quick will turn 37 years old in January but so far no one has been able to supplant him as the Kings' long-time starter, and Cal Petersen's performances have yet to suggest he can challenge for the starting job. The problem now, ironically, is the Kings aren't providing much goal support, scoring more than two goals just once in their past five games.
Relative to their talent, the Kings are underperforming, and their big summer acquisition Kevin Fiala has yet to really add much offensive punch. However, the Kings have a fairly easy schedule coming up against Detroit (a team they've already beaten this season), Vancouver, San Jose and the two struggling Alberta teams. Quick is notoriously streaky; he went
Injuries, man. The Devils have been dominant all season but now face their toughest test so far with both of their top goalies (Vitek Vanecek and Mackenzie Blackwood) out with injuries, and that's without including veteran Jonathan Bernier, who's out indefinitely.
Even with smaller workloads than in the past to help combat those injuries, goaltending remains the most difficult position to predict and therefore the most frustrating part of fantasy hockey. Here's a rundown of who to pay attention to this coming week.
Trending Up
Jonathan Quick, Kings (Since Nov. 1: 3-0-1, .936 Sv%, 1.71 GAA)
It was shaping up to be a timeshare in Los Angeles when Quick was struggling early in the season, but he's turned it around over the past few weeks. Quick will turn 37 years old in January but so far no one has been able to supplant him as the Kings' long-time starter, and Cal Petersen's performances have yet to suggest he can challenge for the starting job. The problem now, ironically, is the Kings aren't providing much goal support, scoring more than two goals just once in their past five games.
Relative to their talent, the Kings are underperforming, and their big summer acquisition Kevin Fiala has yet to really add much offensive punch. However, the Kings have a fairly easy schedule coming up against Detroit (a team they've already beaten this season), Vancouver, San Jose and the two struggling Alberta teams. Quick is notoriously streaky; he went on three separate runs of at least four games last season in which he didn't lose a single game in regulation. When Quick is hot, as he is now, he's worth starting until the music stops, at which point it's time to dump or bench him until the next inevitable hot run.
Spencer Knight, Panthers (5-1-0, .925 Sv%, 2.18 GAA)
Win and you're in — at least that's what it seems like in Florida right now. Knight started for the second straight game after beating the Ducks on Sunday and turned in a 40-save shutout against the Canes on Wednesday. That means Knight may draw the start Saturday against the Oilers, who are missing top winger Evander Kane. We've been calling for Knight to take over for what seems like eons, and perhaps it's taken a new coach in Paul Maurice to realize that Knight might be a better option than Sergei Bobrovsky.
Remember, even when the Panthers were struggling in the playoffs last season, ex-head coach Andrew Brunette didn't play Knight a single minute, though admittedly Bobrovsky was coming off a fine regular season. Fantasy managers have been burned too many times jumping the gun on Knight, but he's still worth at least a hold right now if you have space on your bench just in case the Panthers go on a winning streak, giving Knight an extended run of consecutive starts.
Akira Schmid, Devils (1-0-0, 7 shots in 14 minutes in relief)
Vitek Vanecek was forced to leave the Devils' most recent game against the Senators after taking a knee to the head from Thomas Chabot, and it's unlikely he'll suit up Saturday against the Coyotes. That sets up Schmid for his first regular-season start after he made several key stops in overtime to keep New Jersey's winning streak alive. He now has a chance to extend it in a very favorable matchup, and he already looks much better than he did last season (when he went 0-4-0) despite limited action. It certainly helps that the Devils are a top-five team, but note the Devils will also be playing Montreal and Ottawa soon, so if Vanecek misses additional time, Schmid is worth a streaming start over the next week or so.
Karel Vejmelka, Coyotes (Since Nov. 1: 4-0-0, .950 Sv%, 1.66 GAA)
At least once a year, the Coyotes go on a small run that stuns everyone. That's happening right now with the Coyotes starting their 14-game (!) road trip with a three-game winning streak, but it's going to get harder with the Devils, Rangers, Knights and Canes coming up in four of their next five games. Vejmelka's streak won't last and he's still better left on the waiver wire, but his excellent performance deserved a mention.
Trending Down
Thatcher Demko and Spencer Martin, Canucks (Combined 4-7-3, .882 Sv%, 3.85 GAA)
Something has to give. Even if the Canucks were bleeding shots, Demko was expected to rack up saves, but he's looked awful so far. Perhaps he's still nursing an injury after undergoing a minor procedure during the off-season, but Martin has outplayed him this season and deserves to play more. There's no fixing the Canucks defense — it's easily bottom-five in the league — but it's also not helping Demko's performance and confidence throwing him to the wolves every night. Demko should stay on the bench in most fantasy leagues and Martin is worth a speculative add just in case he forces his way into a bigger timeshare, just as Stuart Skinner is doing in Edmonton and Casey DeSmith is trying to do in Pittsburgh.
Juuse Saros, Predators (3-6-1, .892 Sv%, 3.46 GAA)
As with Demko, not all of the blame should be put on Saros' shoulders, but he's also been very disappointing this season. The Predators' lack of secondary scoring is hurting them again, and it's a double whammy when their top line does its disappearing act. The defense hasn't been very good in front of him, and even though Roman Josi still drives the offense, he has never been an elite defender in his own zone. For both the Preds and Canucks, it's looking like a lost season, and with Kevin Lankinen going 2-0-0 with a .921 save percentage this season, he's looking to force his way into a bigger timeshare as well.
Eric Comrie, Sabres (4-6-0, .885 Sv%, 3.62 GAA)
After a hot start, Comrie's performance and stats have plummeted. He has a good chance to win games because the Sabres provide good goal support, but clearly Comrie just isn't experienced enough to be a consistent starter just yet. Craig Anderson has only appeared in four games and is unlikely to take over the majority of the workload given that he's the oldest goalie in the league. Starting Comrie is the more logical option for the team's future plans, but know that there will be periods during the season where Comrie should be benched on fantasy teams.
Comrie is still worth rostering, but we've learned that we really have to pick our spots with him. The competition has been tough recently — Carolina, Tampa, Vegas — but it'll be much easier next week with Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and St. Louis.
Jacob Markstrom, Flames (Since Nov. 1: 0-2-2, .881 Sv%, 3.46 GAA)
The bad news is the Flames' losing streak is now at seven games. The worse news is that even though the schedule was really hard to begin with, it's not going to let up, either. The Flames went 0-2-1 on a road trip in which they faced arguably the East's three best teams, but their two games at home (where the Flames are 4-4-1) will be against tough Jets and Kings squads.
After their short homestand, it's another six-game road trip to the East, where they'll face the Lightning, Panthers, Flyers, Penguins, Capitals and Hurricanes — six teams who might all end up in the playoffs. Without top left winger Jonathan Huberdeau, who had struggled to score even prior to his foot injury, the Flames have also scored more than three goals just once during their losing streak. Markstrom is a dicey play at this point even though he remains a top-tier goalie, and it might be best to bench him until the Flames show signs of a turnaround.
