Ahead of our Week 9 fantasy hockey selections, let’s take a quick look back at Week 8 and see how we did in predicting success for your team:
Jordan Kyrou – Stud
Kyrou was on an eight-game point streak heading into week 8. That ended in his first match. He would add an assist his next game and then be a scratch due to illness for his third game. He barely shot the puck as well. Needless to say, this was a disappointing performance and not one we saw coming. Nor can you predict illness. It is what it is. He still provides fantasy value going forward, but last week was not it.
Self-grade: D
Charlie McAvoy – Stud
There was caution considering the Boston Bruins would only play two games in week 8. McAvoy delivered. Two assists, one on the power play, and five shots. Where he really shined was in the banger categories. Five hits are about normal for McAvoy, but eight blocks in two games nearly doubled his output from the previous seven games combined. He is still available in some leagues as well.
Self-grade: A-
Devon Toews – Dud
Toews had not been producing much of anything for fantasy hockey value. His ownership was over 90% in both ESPN and Yahoo fantasy leagues. We recommended caution in two of his three games. He did have an outlier game against the Buffalo Sabres where we suggested a favorable matchup. Two assists, one on the power play, proved to be correct. The other two games? Nothing. A couple hits is all that he provided you.
Self-grade: A
Trevor Zegras – Dud
Zegras continued to struggle on the dot, as was expected. The Anaheim Ducks continued to struggle, as was expected. Zegras failed to provide much of anything in his first two outings, as was expected. What we did not expect was a goal and assist in the last game of his week 8. The assist also came on the power play, which was his first power play point in about a month. It still wasn’t much for a player owned by around 80% of fantasy hockey leagues. But it was more than we thought.
Self-grade: B
Rasmus Sandin – Sleeper
Those fantasy hockey owners that were dropping him prior to week 8, which we could not understand, are kicking themselves. Who else can the Toronto Maple Leafs deploy on the blue line? They are decimated by injury back there. Sandin is a wonderful fantasy hockey option for the foreseeable future. A goal, a power play assist, seven hits, and six blocks in three games this week proved that. Oh, and six shots on goal for a player that has had more games with no shots than games with at least one.
Self-grade: A
Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Two of his three games for week 8 are in the books. So far, not quite the sleeper we predicted. However, his game later Sunday is against the Chicago Blackhawks, so this could change by tonight. But there was plenty to love for the banger categories. He threw his body around quite a bit, added a couple blocks, and is still crushing the face-off circle. He could still win somebody their fantasy hockey matchup with a decent performance tonight.
Self-grade: B- (A if Pageau scores tonight)
