Fantasy Hockey Monday: Week 23 Recap

The first round of AAtJ's playoffs are complete. My Letang Clan proved to be nothing to mess with in a win over Shane Kinsley's Jag's Hogs, while Brian Franken's HC Ogilthorpe were on the black and blue and bloodied end of a thumping against C.J. Turturo's The IR.

The Semifinal matchups will be John Fischer and me (the division winners) going face-to-face, and Alex Potts versus C.J. Turturo. Best of luck to everyone except John.

SCHEDULE

It's a fairly moderate schedule this week with only a couple of teams have two game schedules. It's painful to get into the playoffs and have some of your best players skating a limited schedule. I guess it's better than losing your star player entirely (see: Tyler Seguin). Here are the fortunate (Claude Giroux, John Tavares, Anze Kopitar, Henrik Lundqvist, Sedin twins owners) and unfortunate (Matt Duchene, Semyon Varlamov, Evander Kane owners).

Two Game Teams: Buffalo Sabres, Colorado Avalanche

Four Game Teams: Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks

THREE STARS

Forwards

* Sean Monahan - 5 Goals (1 PPG, 2 GWG), 2 Assists, 13 Shots

He's fairly streaky, but he's currently on the good end of one right now. Starting next season, this guy should be hitting 70+ for years to come. This is his first Star of the Week honor of the season.

** Jakob Silfverberg - 4 Goals (1 PPG, 1 GWG), 2 Assists, 19 Shots, 6 Hits, +7

He made a mockery of us on Monday, and that assault made up a bulk of his success this week. I know exactly what he can do with that weird F in his stupid name. This is also his first Star of the Week honor.

*** Sidney Crosby - 2 Goals (1 GWG), 5 Assists, 15 Shots, 11 Hits, +5

All 7 points came even strength. Of the top 5 in points, Sid had the 2nd least amount of PPP (22 of 73 total points, Evgeny Kuznetsov has just 16 of 73). Sid isn't usually shy about physical contact, but those 11 hits were still surprising - over twice his average per game.

Rankings: 12 Points - Patrick Kane, 9 Points - Sidney Crosby, 7 Points - Joe Pavelski

Defensemen

* Mark Giordano - 3 Goals (2 PPG, 1 SHG), 2 Assists (1 SHA), 15 Shots, 10 Blocks

When he made the list last week, I mentioned that he was slightly behind last season's pace for total points. That must've threw some gas on the fire. He has 4 goals and 7 assists in the last 10 games.

** Dougie Hamilton - 6 Assists (2 PPA), 7 Shots, 5 Hits, 4 Blocks, 10 PIM

He had two 3 assist games this week. The youngster is having a pretty nice fantasy season in his first year with the Calgary Flames. You should be able to sneak him onto your roster late in the draft next season for a nice 3rd or 4th defenseman steal.

*** Luke Schenn - 4 Assists, 18 Hits, 10 Blocks

Gio and Dougie Fresh had outstanding weeks, while the rest of the NHL defensive corps didn't standout, so the final star goes to my boy Luke Schenn. Those 4 assists make up just shy of 30% of all of his points this season. While he's certainly the lesser Schenn, he's the only of the two to make the stars list this season.

Rankings: 14 Points - Erik Karlsson & Brent Burns, 12 Points - Kris Letang, 9 Points - Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Goalies

* Jonathan Quick - 3 Starts, 3 Wins, 1 Shutout, 82 Saves, 1.32 GAA, .954 SV%

He may very well pass Corey Crawford in the rankings by the end of the season. Crawford has been stumbling (and now injured), while Quick has rattled off 9 Ws in his last 11 games. 5 of them have come since Crawford's last. Quick now has the 2nd most Wins in the league (Braden Holtby has the most) and is in a 3-way tie for 2nd most Starts (Martin Jones leads with 59, while Pekka Rinne, Holtby, and Quick have 58).

** Marc-Andre Fleury - 3 Starts, 3 Wins, 57 Saves, 1.30 GAA, .934 SV%

A light workload for the Flower with only 57 saves despite three starts, but he handled the few shots he saw and won each start.

*** Frederik Andersen - 2 Starts, 2 Wins, 1 Shutout, 62 Saves, 0.50 GAA, .984 SV%

The Ducks have to do something about moving this guy in the off season. I would presume they'd like to keep John Gibson as their netminder for the foreseeable future, but they obviously have a terrific goalie in Andersen, too, who's wreaking havoc on Gibson fantasy owners [to be read: me]. I can think of at least 10 teams that would love the services of Andersen.

Rankings: 15 Points - Corey Crawford, 13 Points - Jonathan Quick - 13 Points, 11 Points - Craig Anderson

WAIVER WIRE

Devante Smith-Pelly - This week, 4 Games, 4 Goals (1 GWG), 1 Assist, 13 Shots

This dude is AAtJ, yo. In his 9 skates wearing the red and black, he's netted 7 and helped his friends on 3 others. All of this came at even strength, though, so that brings down his fantasy value a bit. However, he's a RW, so it sort of evens out.

Kevin Klein - Last two weeks, 7 Games, 2 Goals (1 GWG), 3 Assists, 10 Shots, 15 Hits, 11 Blocks

He isn't great, but he does have 4 games next week. I probably should've picked this guy up for my AAtJ playoff matchup to fill in for a 2 game Rasmus Ristolainen, but I failed to do so, much like I failed to do a lot of things correctly in that league.

DEVILS FANTASY VALUE

Kyle Palmieri - 2 Goals (1 PPG), 3 Assists (1 PPA), 12 Shots

He's now reached the 50 point mark for the first time in his career. Hopefully he's even 10 points better next season. He now has 4 goals and 6 assists in the last 10 games.

Devante Smith-Pelly -

See above. This surge has to stop soon, right? I hope not.

Tyler Kennedy - 4 Assists, 8 Shots

Three of the 4 were in the game against the Minnesota Wild. He exited the Sunday game in the 2nd period and never returned, which was bad news. We're still waiting on word about his status for the upcoming game(s).

3 Point Players -

Travis Zajac had 3 assists, including one on the powerplay. He is now tied with Mike Cammalleri in points, but of course in 29 more games played. Meanwhile, Adam Henrique snapped a 4 game point-less skid by scoring 3 times this week on just 8 shots, including one with the man advantage and one that won a game. He now has 26 goals - one behind Palms for the team lead. It took Henrique 54 less shots to get to that mark, which is impressive in real hockey, but harmful in fake hockey. And fake hockey is all that really matters in this column. He also has half the amount of PPPs compared to Palms. Reid Boucher also netted 2 goals and helped on another - all even strength.

Keith Kinkaid - 3 Starts, 1 Win, 62 Saves, 6.04 GAA, .827 SV%

I told you he was not a good fancy hockey option. No one listens to me.

If you started your playoffs last week, are you still alive? Is anyone starting this week? I want to hear about it, so comment below.