Fantasy Hockey Monday: Week 2 Recap

Before I get into the recap of week 2, I want to start with a thought about goalies. And yes, this thought is what I've said before, which is that having two good goalies is not as important as you think. This week brings a great example of what I was talking about.

There is a team in my head-to-head category league (meaning each team accrues stats in a variety of categories and the team with the edge in the most categories wins the matchup) that has Henrik Lundqvist AND Braden Holtby - two of the best fantasy goalies you can have (ranked 2nd and 4th respectively in my Top 10 Fantasy Goalies article). When you face that team, you get nervous thinking that you could easily lose 4, if not all 5, of the goalie categories (Wins, Saves, Shutouts, GAA, SV%). But here's the thing - in Week 1 he went 1-3-1 in the goalie categories (taking the Wins and tying in Shutouts) and this week he went 1-4 (winning the Saves and losing the rest). So, with what I would consider the best goalie tandem in our league, he has thus far gone 2-7-1 in goalie categories.

Now, on to the All About the Jersey head-to-head points league (where I won my game against Ryan Stimson and had the most points in the league by 20.8, in case you were wondering and thank you very much) - John Fischer has the exact same above mentioned goalie tandem, and at the end of his matchup (which covered the first two weeks of hockey), he had 56.6 goalie points against Brian Franken's 46 points (Martin Jones and Tuukka Rask). So, even with what I consider the best goalie tandem in this league, too, John still only had the edge between the pipes by 10.6 points. That's really not that significant, especially considering we're talking about almost two weeks worth of hockey.

And it's not like Lundqvist and Holtby have stunk or anything, either. They've won 6 of their 10 starts as a tandem, their GAAs are 2.05 and 2.16, and their SV%s are .920 and .931. Meanwhile, I have Pavelec in both of the leagues I've mentioned here, and my overall record is 3-0, I am 4-3-3 in goalie categories, and I had 65.4 goalie points versus Stimson's 31.8.

Anyway. Moving on.

THREE STARS

In case you missed this section's description last week or in my very first post, every week I will be dishing out the 3 stars of the week at each position (Forward, Defense, Goalie). These select players will be rewarded points based on what star they received (1st Star gets 3 points, 2nd Star gets 2 points, 3rd Star gets 1 point), and I will keep track of that throughout the season. At the end of 2015-16, we can then see who was the most valuable fantasy contributors at each position.

Forwards

* John Tavares - 2 Goals (1 PPG, 2 GWG), 5 Assists (2 PPA), 12 Shots, 5 Hits

He made his two goals count as both of them were Game Winners, plus he added 5 helpers and 5 hits.

** David Krejci - 3 Goals (2 PPG), 4 Assists (3 PPA), 11 Shots

5 of his 7 points came on the power play, which makes his points even better. The only reason I didn't give Krejci the #1 star is because both of Tavares's goals ended up being Game Winners. Granted, I'm not a huge fan of that statistic in fantasy hockey (since it's often just a matter of coincidence), it is still something that many leagues use.

*** Vladimir Tarasenko - 3 Goals (1 GWG), 3 Assists, +6, 16 Shots, 6 PIM

Tarasenko did all of his damage at even strength, which is odd. But 3 Gs and 3 As is a lot of damage. Not a game has passed this season without him getting at least a point.

Defensemen

* Torey Krug - 5 Assists (4 PPA), 10 Shots, 5 Blocks

His season started slow, as did the Bruins, but notching 5 assists including 4 on the power play, is a great step towards betterment.

** Roman Josi - 2 Goals (1 PPG, 1 SHG, 1 GWG), 3 Assists (2 PPA)

Josi didn't do a whole lot outside of what I've listed above, but he made every one of the above count. Nice spread.

*** Dustin Byfuglien - 2 Goals (1 PPG, 1 GWG), 1 Assist (1 PPA), 11 Shots, 14 Hits, 8 PIM

This is exactly the type of week you hope for out of Big Buff: scoring, shooting, and smashing people.

Goalies

* Carey Price - 3 Starts, 3 Wins, 1 Shutout, 1.00 GAA, .963 SV%

He's the best and he proved it again this week.

** Martin Jones - 2 Starts, 2 Wins, 1 Shutout, 0.48 GAA, .984 SV%

He's the only Star of the Week at any position to make it again this week. This might be a breakout year for Jonesy.

*** Marc-Andre Fleury - 3 Starts, 2 Wins, 1 Shutout, 1.34 GAA, .949 SV%

The Flower JUST edged out Jonathan Quick for the 3rd star award. This is the good Fleury. Unfortunately for his fantasy owners, he isn't always the good Fleury. I also debated putting Cory here because he was awesome in his two starts, but he wasn't as awesome as this week's 2 star was. Congratulations to Cory on the birth of his first child, though. Try and get some sleep, sir. We need you to be awake at all times.

WAIVER WIRE

Remember, I will usually only mention players that are owned in less than 55% of leagues.

Nail Yakupov (RW-EDM) - 5 Games, 2 Goal (1 PPG), 2 Assists, 16 Shots

He's a Right Wing, which is an instant value boost. All 4 of his points have come in the last 4 games. And those points came because he's skating with Connor McDavid. Jump on this guy before someone else does... or before it goes south, which has happened a lot with Nail.

Ales Hemsky (RW - DAL) - 5 Games, 1 Goal (1 PPG), 5 Assists (2 PPA), 11 Shots

Just like Nail, I love that Hemsky's a Right Wing. It's a thin position, so finding help there can be difficult. He had points in his first 4 games, which was encouraging. But he had zeroes across the board in all categories in the Saturday game against the Panthers. That was discouraging. Keep an eye on him for a game or two. If he turns in a nice performance in one or both of those, grab him up.

Brandon Sutter (C - VAN) - 6 Games, 2 Goals (1 SHG), 3 Assists, 17 Shots

I really like Sutter being in Vancouver. It's a great situation for him, as he has thus far seen more ice time per game than he did in Pittsburgh. My fantasy hockey concern is that he's a Center, a position where there are a lot of guys better than him. It should also be mentioned that he's gotten all of his points in just 2 games. Keep an eye on him, though, as the weeks progress.

Anders Lee (C - NYI) - 5 Games, 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 14 Shots, 19 Hits

Anders is currently riding a 3 game point streak. I like that he's getting power play time (notching 1 PPG and 1 PPA this week), but I also like that he hits, averaging almost 4 Hits/Game so far. The downside is the same as Sutter - he's a Center, and there are plenty of those.

Reto Berra (G-COL) - 2 Starts/3 Games, 1 Win, 1 Shutout

I don't like "Cream of" Semyon Varlamov. His GAA last year was 2.56, which isn't great, and he plays on a not so good Colorado Avalanche team. Thus far this season, he has started 3 games, was yanked from one, and is sitting on a 5.07 GAA and a .841 SV%. In comes Berra - he tends a shutout against the Ducks, then makes 38 saves while only giving up 2 goals against the Los Angeles Kings. He's giving the Avs the best chance to win right now, and coach Patrick Roy has to keep that rolling until it's not true anymore. If you are in desperate need of a goalie and/or own Varlamov, I'd think about Berra.

DEVILS FANTASY VALUE

Adam Henrique - 1 Goal (1 PPG), 9 Shots (this week)

Kyle Palmieri - 1 Goal (1 PPG), 6 Shots (this week)

Our beloved New Jersey Devils scored 4 total goals over 3 games this week, so, again, there's not much to talk about. This section may end up being completely useless, but I guess it's still fun since it's our beloved hockey club.

Who did I miss on my Stars of the Week and Waiver Wire lists? Anyone have any fantasy questions they needed tended to? Any topics you'd be curious to hear my opinion on? Let's hear it in the comments below!