SMC 12/4/2016   RELEVANT I hope everyone had a good week… A full week of work is always tough to get back into the swing of things. If he knows it or not, Chris Kreider is going to be a huge part of the Rangers offense and how they perform this year. Patrice Bergeron is just too good to be only having 7 points in 22 games.  I expect his production to increase starting in the near future. Philly beat Chicago!   Ivan Provorov to the rescue with 2 goals.  Richard Panik sure has slowed down a bit since his early season explosion out of the gate. Taylor Hall with 3 points last night against Nashville just shows you how important he is to the Devils offense.  Weird saying Hall and Devils offense in the same sentence still. This Michael Cammalleri is hotter than a pistol at the moment with the run he is on since returning to the lineup.  Ride him while he’s hot! Travis Zajac as well while we are on the subject of red-hot Devils. One thing fantasy owners must hate about Ryan Johansen is the intermittent offensive display around periods of invisibility.  Our prayers go out to Craig Anderson and his wife in this trying time. I really like Kyle Turris, I just wish he would put up more points consistently. I’m telling you that Washington is just going to play hard enough to reach the playoffs then make a good run for the Cup. One day Jonathan Drouin is going to start producing like a superstar.  I hope that day comes soon for his, and Tampa Bay’s, sake. Anthony Mantha is playing a pretty good NHL game at the moment. With everyone getting healthy in Pittsburgh, it seems like D-man Justin Schultz is stringing together some points lately.  He’s got 4 points in past 3 games. Alex Steen is back in the Blues lineup and making an immediate impact. As is Winnipeg’s Btyan Little. Rumors floating around of JVR being traded?  Unless they get a great return, why do it? And with the first overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, here are the Colorado Avalanche.  Maybe. Just when you thought the Islanders couldn’t win to save their lives, they go out and beat Pittsburgh and Washington after edging out Calgary to make it 3 wins in a row.  That bides a little time for Capuano. Columbus is going to ruin someone’s plans on making the playoffs this year. I still don’t know why Jack Capuano is still behind the bench in Brooklyn. The Ranges will be playing 8 of their next 13 games for December on the road.   This will be telling. Connor McDavid, WOW!  He is kicking ass!  Even if he ...

Hockey’s almost back folks! Let’s take a look at some possible value picks, starting with the Atlantic Division! Check out our 2016 Expert Consensus Rankings here>>>>>>> Jonathan Drouin – TBL I think the end of last season and the playoffs ... read more »

SMC 1-24-2016 Good morning!  The Northeastern United States got zonked with 2 feet of snow on Saturday but after the big dig, I’m raring to go with my hot cup of coffee. We have not seen the like of this Jonathan Drouin situation since the Eric Lindros debacle.  I just hate to see this get ugly when it didn’t have to be. Ryan Johansen seems to be enjoying life in Nashville so far. The Penguins have come alive of late and people will start calling this the March of the Penguins soon enough. Kris Letang is one of the top 3 offensive defensemen in the league but he just can’t seem to stay healthy. Those Florida Panthers are playing inspired hockey.  They almost remind me of baseball’s Kansas City Royals.  They keep coming at you. Evgeni Malkin and Jannik Hansen both with hatties in the same game. Niiiiiiiiiiiice! The San Jose Sharks are making a move.  They’re swirling so beware. Is Tomas Hertl finally over that leg injury from two years ago?  He is so exuberant, ain’t he? Columbus Blue Jacket goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has ‘officially’ been classified as injury-prone in my book. Carolina’s D-man Justin Faulk might not be too keen that the calendar changed to 2016 since he has no goals so far this calendar year after scoring 14 from October through December. Boston’s D-man Torey Krug had 8 SOG last night.  You just gotta love his potential to crack the 50-point plateau one year soon! You also have to love the direction the Toronto Maple Leafs are going nowadays.  There is purpose behind that blue maple leaf now. Anaheim keeps winning to climb out of that early season hole, but the sad thing is that everyone else in that division is also winning. Jonathan Huberdeau should have a really good second half as he is coming into his own. Who would’ve thought the New Jersey Devils would be making life difficult for many Metropolitan Division team this season? Is Dallas fading? I never would’ve thought that the Colorado Avalanche were in a playoff spot right now.  I thought they weren’t playing that well but I see they have won 4 in a row. Those Arizona Coyotes are pesky little buggers aren’t they? I am getting kind of sick and tired of the Edmonton Oilers sucking for another year.  Come on already! The New York Rangers are starting to find their game and the Eastern Conference better be on alert. The only way to stop the Washington Capitals is with a blizzard. You would think the Ottawa Senators would be better than their record shows. The Chicago Blackhawks and ...

SMC 11-22-2015 Good morning everyone!  The cold, crisp air of autumn has finally arrived making a hot cup of coffee taste even better. Lots of non-scoring on Saturday night with 5 shutouts in 11 games. Rangers’ Rick Nash with a hat trick!  You just knew he was due to break out sooner or later. Flyers are playing for the top pick in the June 2016 NHL Entry Draft it seems. I can see Big Z being traded from the Boston Bruins by the trade deadline.  Loui Eriksson before that. Maybe all that Ben Bishop needed was to play the NY Rangers to get his season on track. Tampa has had a lot of injuries and everyone will tend to forget about them this year and they will get healthy, make the playoffs and be a threat with all the talent they possess. That Jaromir Jagr never seems to get old.  5 shots on goal last night against the Rangers and he even scored a goal. Aleksander Barkov is back from injury and has 2 goals and an assist in 3 games back. The Pittsburgh Penguins have problems and if they don’t shore up their defense, they may miss the playoffs.  I don’t think Sidney Crosby will like that very much. San Jose’s D-man Brent Burns had 7 SOG last night against the Pens.  Who does he think he is, Alex Ovechkin? Kessel, Hornqvist, and Letang had 5 SOG or more and Sid the Kid and Malkin only had one apiece.  That’s not gonna cut it. Washington scored 7 goals last night against Colorado in only 32 SOG.  The Avalanche’s goaltending is not as good as previously thought. Columbus and Anaheim slowly but surely creeping back up the standings. The race for the President’s Cup will be very interesting this year. I think everyone can forget about St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko now that Kevin Shattenkirk is back from injury and in mid-season form already. I am thinking that Detroit Red Wing Teemu Pulkkinen can start to put up some decent numbers now that the team is sorta back to full staff.  Plus he is playing with Tomas Tatar and Brad Richards. What is going on with Jonathan Drouin? This goaltending sharing policy on Dallas is killing fantasy players but doing wonders for the actual team. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are an insane scoring duo!  I didn’t need to tell you that, did I? One would’ve thought that the way the Minnesota Wild were playing of late that they would’ve been the team that was shutout on Saturday and not Nashville. Ryan Suter is having himself a year, isn’t he? It’s nice to see the Sedin twins have a game like they did against Chicago every once in a...

A lot of good matchups tonight with some struggling teams in Pittsburgh and Edmonton looking for their first wins while Montreal & Nashville look to remain unbeaten with games against the NY teams. We all know that the Penguins are ready to burst out in a big way with the amount of offensive talent they have but can they break thorugh against red-hot Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson?  Ottawa did play last night in Columbus and scored 7 goals.  That usally results in a lack of production the next game, so we shall see.  Dallas-Tampa Bay can be very explosive as well with both teams sporting some high octane talent up front.  RAY'S PICKS G: Roberto Luongo-FLA ($8,400) D: Alex Pietrangelo-STL ($5,500) D: Colton Parayko-STL ($3,000) LW: Jonathan Huberdeau-FLA ($5,000) LW: Jonathan Drouin-TB ($4,600) RW: Vladimir Tarasenko-STL ($8,200) RW: Phil Kessel-PIT ($7,900) C; Steven Stamkos-TB ($8,500) C: Teuvo Teravainen-CHI ($3,800)  

The Tampa Bay Lightning had their hands full with Philadelphia in their home opener, but they won't be playing too tight in today's road contest in Buffalo. Steven Stamkos was held off the scoreboard but his line-mates Ryan Callahan and Jonathan Drouin combined for four points. I had a feeling that the top line was going to come out like gang-busters to open season, so Game 2 should be no different. Play Stamkos at top value while the other two can still be had on the cheap. With Robin Lehner out of the Buffalo goal and the much weaker Chad Johnson to take his place, look for the Bolts to give Jack Eichel's Sabres a butt whipping.. Newsflash- the Leafs have hired an elite coach who has inherited quite possibly the weakest squad in the NHL. Look for Kyle Turris and company to hand them a decisive loss in this heated provincial rivalry.. As long as Victor Hedman is healthy, he warrants top fantasy consideration every night as long as the price stays right... Great value with Washington's Matt Niskanen who can pick up an odd assist or two against the rebuilding Devils in their second game in two nights.. MAF in goal should be among the safest bets as the Penguins will exact revenge on the lowly Coyotes after suffering a shutout loss in their opener in Dallas. STEVE'S PICKS C STEVEN STAMKOS, TAMPA BAY C KYLE TURRIS, OTTAWA LW JONATHAN DROUIN LW MIKE HOFFMAN RW RYAN CALLAHAN RW MARIAN HOSSA D VICTOR HEDMAN D MATT NISKANEN G MARC-ANDRE FLEURY  

Winnipeg @ Boston Ottawa @ Buffalo Philadelphia @ Tampa Bay Carolina @ Nashville Edmonton @ St. Louis Pittsburgh @ Dallas Minnesota @ Colorado RAY'S PICKS G: Pekka Rinne-NSH D: Kevin Shattenkirk-STL D: Anton Stralman-TB LW: Jonathan Drouin-TB LW: Valeri Nichushkin-DAL RW: Nikita Kucherov-TB RW: Troy Brouwer-STL C: Tyler SEguin-DAL C: Steven Stamkos-TB  

#5 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING The Lightning reached new heights last season as they finished 2 wins short of the Stanley Cup championship after losing to Chicago. Despite a very quiet offseason, these Bolts look well-equipped for another legitimate run at the title. The only major distraction that may get in the way is superstar Steven Stamkos being in a contract year and whether Steve Yzerman will be willing to ante up big for him while entering his prime. Regardless of that situation, they boast quite possibly the best second line in NHL, a Norris hopeful, and a blossoming star goalie. All the vital ingredients are there for sustained greatness. Goalies  Ben Bishop had his second straight standout season while posting a 40-13-5 record and emerging as an elite fantasy goalie option. Hot prospect Andrei Vasilevskiy has the ability to challenge him for more starts but his blood clot issues ell keep him out for about 2 months. So look for Big Ben to get off to a great start, but all Bishop owners need to handcuff him with the young backup. He's that good!   Defense Blue chipper Victor Hedman could have a Norris Trophy waiting in his path for '15-16 but needs to stay away from injury. Already owning a 55-point season on his resume, he scored 22 points in his first 28 games of '14-15 but ended up with 38 pts in just 56 games played. Look to snag him at a discount price as the elite blue liner will fall a bit due to his abbreviated season.  Don't overrate Anton Stralman who picked up 39 points mainly due to a bump in power-play minutes. His fantasy value rises when Hedman misses time. It's that simple... Jason Garrison is the real wild card here. His huge shot gets him on and off the power-play but his career high in points is a modest 33. Stiill, plus 30 in 3 of last 4 seasons is not too shabby. Well worth a late flier.   Forwards  In what world is 43 goals and 72 points not quite good enough? Well when you are Steven Stamkos and have never scored under a 89 point pace since your rookie year, alarm bells will ring after a significant point drop off last season. On the flip side, the Triplets line- Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, and Ondrej Palat- combined for a NHL high 199 points. However, the talented trio won't be surprising anyone this time around and a slow start to the year could result in a line shake-up. All three are bound for a small regression except if one ends up on the Stamkos line. One thing is certain, SS is in his contract year and he will be ...

Tampa's young guns do the scoring, Tarasenko injured, Hossa leads the way for Hawks It was the Tampa Bay youngsters that provided all the offense that Ben Bishop would need, but we do have to say that Bishop helped his own cause with 2 assists on the night.  The regulation win brought the Bolts to within one point of the team they defeated, the Montreal Canadiens in the Atlantic Division.  Vladislav Namestnikov had 2 goals and Nikita Kucherov and Jonathan Drouin both had goals as the Lightning edged the Habs 5-3.  The future looks very promising for Tampa Bay as they have a stockpile of young talent to be competitive for years to come…. Vladimir Tarasenko took a mid-ice hit in the third period and left the game against the Vancouver Canucks last night.  He did not return.  Let’s hope for his sake, and the Blues’ that the injury isn’t serious and that the team was just being cautious.  Radim Vrbata scored his 31st and added an assist in the 4-1 road win for the Canucks and he has had himself a great season up in Vancouver.  Playing with the likes of Henrik and Daniel Sedin can do wonders for your confidence and game.  Eddie Lack is now 9-4-2 after taking over for the injured Ryan Miller… Two of the NHL’s powerhouses over the past few years took the ice in Chicago last night with the Blackhawks prevailing over the Los Angeles Kings 4-1.  Marian Hossa (G, A) has been playing well of late and should be able to crack the 60 point mark once again, but his 70+ scoring days are over it seems.  But keep in mind that Hossa is still a clutch playoff performer and a tremendous asset to have down the stretch as he has 11 points in last 13 games. A huge second-period staked the Calgary Flames to a lead that they never relinquished,defeating the Dallas Stars 5-3. Another monster effort by the NHL's hottest scorer in March, Jiri Hudler, who collected a goal and an assist for a lofty total of 23 points in the last 15 games. A mid-season scoring drought resulted in him being dropped by many fantasy teams but the few who kept him are laughing last now. Career highs across the board for Hudler... Not much to say about our other two games of little playoff consequence other than both road dogs, Buffalo and Edmonton, prevailed 4-1 over Arizona and Colorado. Still think the Avalanche could bounce back nicely next season as a top-five fantasy juggernaut but much depends on the growth of Nathan McKinnon in Year 3 and a comeback of sorts for Matt Duchene. Those two fuel the ...

WHAT STOOD OUT The goaltending was in high gear last night between Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist as Price continued his mastery over the Rangers with the 1-0 shutout over the Blueshirts. Look for more performances like this for the remainder of the season from both goaltenders as both teams are favorites to go far in the playoffs.... If you haven't noticed, the Boston Bruins are streaking up the standings of late, winning 7 of their last 9 as Tuukka Rask is rounding into form. Good idea to get Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci in your starting lineups as they will provide most of the offense. Perhaps you can take a chance on Reilly Smith who had a goal and 2 assists in the win and now has a 3-game scoring streak.... In a losing effort against Philadelphia, Winnipeg Center Mathieu Perreault had 2 goals to continue his magical season for the Jets. Since the beginning of November, all Perreault has done is go 13-10-23 in 22 games.  The injury right before the All-Star hasn't slowed him down.  Grab him if he's still available on the waiver wire. Tampa Bay Center Cedric Paquette was a Red Wing killer with a hat trick last night. The Lightning have all sorts of talent to choose from when it comes to scoring but Paquette shouldn't be considered one of them at the moment unless the team sustains some injuries....Also of note was rookie Jonathan Drouin chipping in with 2 assists in the victory. That's 3 points in last 2 games and 7 points in 10 January games. Perhaps he is starting to feel comfortable at the NHL level.  Great things lie ahead for Drouin but it may not come until next season.... Another big night for the Dallas "D" as John Kingberg(1G/1A) and Trevor Daley(1G/2A) combined for five points in the road triumph over Ottawa. While held off the scoreboard, Alex Goligoski rang up five SOG. It's become apparent that the rookie Klingberg has surpassed both on the power-play depth chart but their point totals are almost flat-out even during the month of January.(7 for Klingberg/Daley, 6 for Goligoski). All three share modest fantasy value moving forward, but I would expect for the 22-year old Swede to be the superior offensive contributor amongst the Star's blueline during the second half... Zach Parise's game-winning goal in the 1-0 Minny win over Calgary was his 6th in his last sixth games. After coming up empty in three contests after returning to the Wild line-up, the American sniper is looking fully loaded for a strong finish. Not many ...