SMC 11/3/2019 Connor McDavid was held without a point in the Pittsburgh game on Saturday. The fourth time this season already that he has been held without a point in a game. Evgeni Malkin had 6 SOG so he’s back and ready to contribute now that he is back from his injury. Patrik Laine returned after a brief absence from the lineup and had and assist, which he has been doing a lot of this season, but he had 7 SOG which leads me to believe that he will start scoring some goals in droves. Try to grab him from a disappointed fantasy owner. The NY Rangers, after getting drubbed by the Boston Bruins last Sunday, come back to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators.  It’s going to be an interesting season for the Blueshirts. My predictions on playoff teams come April: Eastern Conference-Boston, Washington, NY Islanders, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida, Toronto, and the battle for the last spot between Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Western Conference-Las Vegas, Nashville, Colorado, St. Louis, Vancouver, Dallas, Edmonton and a tossup between Anaheim, Winnipeg and Calgary. Every year it seems 2 new teams make the playoffs and 2 previous playoff teams miss out. Jack Hughes seems so smooth out on the ice as compared to Kaapo Kakko.  Hughes may take more of a beating this year, but he has the skills for sure. Kakko looks a little sluggish so far but has skated better the past few games. Did anyone watch the MLB World Series? Yeah, like who would when hockey is on. The Pittsburgh Penguins are finally getting some healthy bodies back which means that G Matt Murray will get one of his nagging injuries soon. Maybe this Mika Zibanejad injury is a blessing for the Rangers team as the players now can’t depend fully on Mika carrying them and that they all need to contribute. Rangers C Ryan Strome might be the guy you pick up and ride until he comes back to Earth. Elias Pettersson has picked up his game of late! Will he compete with David Pastrnak and his team mate Brad Marchand along with the Oiler Duo for the scoring title?  Or even the Sunshine Boys? Lots of solid pairings. 4 shutouts in Saturday action. NJ Devils needed that win. Big time!  I can see them going on a run now as they head out on the road through Western Canada. Detroit should be much better than what they have shown.  Maybe its time to move on from Jimmy Howard in net sad to say. They have lost 10 of their last 11.  Ugggg-lee! The NHL really must go back to a steady schedule and scrap this week-off ...

SMC 10/28/2018 Good morning everyone!  Happy Halloween!  Some teams look scary so far this year.  Scary good and scary bad! How bad are these Florida Panthers? I expect them to turn things around but 2-4-3? Looks like another second half surge to try and make the playoffs. Mike Hoffman can’t be the curse, can he?  He did have 8 SOG in that game on Saturday against the Devils. Being a Ranger fan it’s tough to swallow that the New Jersey Devils are looking good again this season. Sami Vatanen is getting more time on D but Damon Severson is getting more points so far, 7-4. Cory Schneider may have to fight his way to being #1 with the way Keith Kinkaid is playing. The Flyers are too erratic with their play so far this season.  And Sean Couturier has 3 goals and no assists in 11 games.  Really. Wayne Simmonds has seen a resurgence so far this young NHL season. Waiting for Travis Konecny to kick it up a notch for Philadelphia. Filip Forsberg is a beast on a beastly Nashville team.  Evidenced by his hat trick Saturday afternoon in a loss to Edmonton. If you haven’t noticed, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins really enjoys playing alongside Connor McDavid. I really don’t think the Flames are going anywhere with Mike Smith in goal. Sorry Mike! If you haven’t switched your favorite player in Washington to Evgeny Kuznetsov from Alex Ovechkin, you might want to do that right away. Not taking anything away from Ovi, but Kuznetsov is taking over. I didn’t expect the Montreal Canadiens to be this good but I didn’t expect them to be terrible either.  Beating the big, bad Bruins in Boston was a very good sign that the Habs are a good hockey team. For now. Last night’s game between the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs just goes to show you that you can’t count out the Leafs until the final buzzer.  The Buffalo Sabres are starting to bring it. I stated in my updated team rankings that the Columbus Blue Jackets needed more effort from Pierre-Luc DuBois and Cam Atkinson and they responded with 3 point nights in a 5-4 OT victory against the Sabres. Is Saturday’s 7-3 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks a turning point for the laboring St. Louis Blues? Alex Pietrangelo responded to my AIM HIGH, BUY LOW article yesterday with a 3-point game. Fun to watch that MacKinnon-Rantanen-Landeskog line.  Reminds me a little of the Forsberg-Sakic-Hejduk line years ago. Jake Allen got injured during that Chicago game.  Doesn’t surprise me.  He and Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray have this injury ...

Connor McDavid is one of the night's top plays, per our projections. Which other players should be on your radar for NHL DFS?

Connor McDavid looks to keep his hot streak going against the San Jose Sharks. Which other NHL players are worth a look in DFS contests on Friday?

Connor McDavid's line is in a great spot tonight thanks to a matchup against the Stars. Who else deserves a spot in your NHL DFS lineups?

SMC 2/26/20017 QUICK RETURNS IN TAX SEASON! Goooooooooood morning Hockeynam!  Got my coffee and ready to go!  My apologies for not writing last week as I was away with the family on a ski weekend. Back now with about 6 weeks remaining the regular season. Jonathan Quick is back and that means the LA Kings should be rolling on all cylinders to gain a playoff spot, barring any key injuries of course. Tyler Toffoli took a few games but lit the lamp twice in Saturday’s tilt against crosstown rivals, the Anaheim Ducks. Don’t worry Duck fans, if John Gibson is out longer than expected, they are in capable hands of Jonathan Bernier. 7-11 is Tanner Pearson’s lucky number with 11 points in past 7 games.  Breaking out!  He had the assist hat trick against the Ducks. It was that LA 70’s Show with Jeff Carter, Toffoli and Pearson amassing 7 points appropriately enough. With 5 points in last 3 games it appears that New Jersey Devil Kyle Palmieri is turning around his dreadful fantasy season.  Well, dreadful compared to last season. The NY Rangers are one of the hottest teams in the NHL at the moment with an 8-1-1 record over the past 10.  They are getting scoring from all 4 lines again just like early in the season. The Nashville Predators are a strange team to figure out this season.  They should make the playoffs but it feels like they shouldn’t because of their inconsistent play this season. Speaking of the inconsistency and the Preds, will they rely on Juuse Saros more next season in the slow transition to their #1? Viktor Arvidsson is having the type of season fantasy owners love to predict as their dark horse before the season and take him in one of the last rounds of the draft and puff out their chest when things work out.  I don’t think many had Arvidsson in their sights though. The Columbus Blue Jackets seem well rested in their return from that NHL mandatory break and blew the NY Islanders out of the water with a 7-0 cannon blast. Did Alex Ovechkin not record a shot on goal against Nashville on Saturday?  Has this ever happened before?  I’m stunned. John Carlson was the hog with 10 SOG though….maybe OV was deferring to JC’s accuracy. Seth Jones didn’t record a single point in that 7-0 win over the Islanders. Toronto and Montreal had a tightly fought contest for Hockey Night in Canada with the Habs prevailing in OT 3-2. The battle of Pennsylvania went to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 as Matt Murray helped the Pens keep pace in the Metropolitan division. It ...

Connor McDavid's line is in a good spot against the Flyers. Which other stacks should you check out for tonight?

SMC 1/8/2017 NEW BEGINNINGS! Good morning and welcome to the New Year!  Got my mug of hot coffee and ready to start 2017 with renewed energy! Looks like New York’s Michael Grabner also has found renewed energy with 4 goals and 3 assists in past 6 games.  As streaky as they come as he streaks down the ice in a flash. Nathan Beaulieu is excited to see 2017 with 1 goals and 5 assists in past 6 with some additional PP time added to his game. All the talk in Toronto and the NHL is Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, but don’t forget about Connor Brown.  6 points in last 6 games, 9 in last 8. Don’t hit Patrik Laine too hard because they will protect him as evidenced in Buffalo on Saturday. Mark Scheifele is rounding into true captain material, not only with his offensive capabilities but his standing up for future star Laine. Staying in Winnipeg, this Nikolaj Ehlers is a joy to watch.  Some fantastic goals this past week. Tampa Bay needs Ben Bishop back sooner than later as Anfrej Vasilevskiy has stunk up the joint in his absence. Philly, with 4 goals from their secondary scoring against TB, needs that to continue if they want to be a force in the playoffs this year. Minnesota is having a great season, but that wild, Wild West is tough to advance in come playoff time. Jeff Carter is less streaky this season, but in a good way.  36 points in 40 games. Where have you gone Anze Kopitar? I don’t think teams will be looking forward to playing the Toronto Maple Leafs in the near future, if not already. Montreal prospect Nikita Scherbak scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game.  Congrats! Alex Radulov means a lot to this Canadiens team even though it’s his first year with the team. Who shot JVR out of a cannon?  9 points in last 5 games. Braden Holtby with 2 consecutive shutouts.  He’s a beast on that Washington team that is picking up steam. I can see Pittsburgh faltering a bit as 2016 comes to an end.  It was some calendar year that’s for sure, but the New Year brings change. T-Rask doesn’t get the props he deserves of late but he is a top 5 NHL goalie for sure. Patrice Bergeron is starting to put points on the board more consistently now.  And he had 7 SOG in Saturday’s game versus the Panthers. Where is Colonel Klinkhammer? If the New Jersey Devils can make a bit of a run now, they can be a thorn in some team’s playoff sides. Rangers with a nice comeback win against Columbus going into their mandated break.  Columbus’ second half could possibly be a huge ...

ADD’EM: RED-HOT & FLAME-BROILED 12/11/2016 One of the coldest teams to start the season, the Calgary Flames, are now one of the hottest with an 8-1-1 over their last 10 games and it all began with a switch in starting goaltenders from Brian Elliott to Chad Johnson.  Elliott struggled to find the game he had in St. Louis, so until he does, the Flames will ride the hot hand of Johnson.  Chad still can be had as he is owned by 62% of Yahoo fantasy leagues, but time may be running out.  With only 2 games on the slate in this upcoming week, this could be the last chance to grab the hot Calgary net minder. There are still a few decent Flame forwards available on the waiver wire in Sam Bennett and Michael Backlund, owned by 30-25% of Yahoo leagues.  Bennett’s line reads 2-3-5 while Backlund goes with a 2-4-6, both in 8 games played.  Troy Brouwer isn’t tickling anyone’s fancy, owned by just 19%, but does have 4 points over those same 8 games.  Rookie sensation Matthew Tkachuk (15%) seems to have found his rhythm and has 1 goal to go along with 5 assists but has 22 PIMs to remind us of the toughness his father brought to the game.  Remember, the Flames only have 2 games on their schedule for the upcoming week. On the defensive side of the coin for Calgary, T. J. Brodie is owned in 47% but his +/- is killing fantasy owners that remain holders.  Ride him out on the bench until he corrects his ways, or find other available options if scanning the WW.  Ian Cole of Pittsburgh, never known for his offensive prowess,  has 7 points in past 7 games and may just get points by association playing anywhere near Crosby and/or Malkin and the rest of that high-powered offense.  Andrej Sekera is another d-man flying under the radar but he is playing on the top PP unit with Connor McDavid and that is all you should need to know to go pick him up straightaway. He is only owned in 21% of Fantasy leagues. Other forward options are Andrew Shaw (29% ownership) of Montreal who just may see an increase of responsibility with Alex Galchenyuk being sidelined for the next 6-8 weeks.  Keeping with the Canadiens, Tomas Plekanec (50%) has seemed lost this year trying to replicate last season’s numbers but again, this opportunity just may be the spark he needs.  Two young guns making the most of their latest opportunities, Robby Fabbri (36%) has been struggling in the first past of this season but over the last two games he has picked up his production and now has 4 goals and 3 assists over ...

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 ...