He’s playing straight away. Approximately 32 hours, give or take, after his official trade from the only NHL team he’s ever known, Vladimir Tarasenko – along with defender Niko Mikkola – is expected to suit up for the Rangers against the visiting Kraken on Friday night. Exciting stuff.
A spot on a top New York line alongside Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad appears in immediate order for the 11-year vet, while a position on the club’s No. 1 power play – supplanting Vincent Trocheck, perhaps – could also be in the mix. The fresh duo of a playing-making Panarin and goal-sniping Tarasenko is going to make some beautiful scoring music together and, along with Zibanejad, presents as one of the league’s elite trios, production-wise. Congrats to every manager who’s already rostering one or more of the three, considering they’re already overwhelmingly spoken for in ESPN.com fantasy leagues.
But Filip Chytil is not. Largely available, the 23-year-old is scoring relentlessly of late. Competing on the ‘Kid Line’ with Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, Chytil has seven goals in five games (plus one assist). He hasn’t failed to find the back of the net since Jan. 19. Of course there’s no guarantee the young center pots one against a visiting Kraken club that’s enduring a rough Tri-State Area road trip – losing 4-0 to the Islanders and 3-1 to the Devils – but I like his chances.
Elsewhere, the Auston Matthews-less Leafs visit Columbus, the Jonathan Toews-less Blackhawks host the Coyotes, and the Ducks – likely without their top winger Troy Terry – welcome a healing, and rather desperate, Penguins squad.
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Favorable scoring matchups
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Fatigue isn’t a factor for either team as both the Leafs and Blue Jackets have been off for well more than a week. Even without Matthews – projected to be sidelined at least until next weekend – Toronto sports sufficient firepower to badger one of the league’s most generous sides. Columbus has consistently ranked 30th in goals-allowed all season long. All revved up after the All-Star Game, and wanting to rinse away the taste of his ugly minus-four performance against Boston just ahead of the break, forward Mitchell Marner may be worth the Daily Fantasy salary spurge. Same applies to Morgan Rielly, who recently broke through with his first goal of the season (22 assists).
Also worth watching are Michael Bunting, who fills in on the Leafs’ No. 1 power play – a position he previously held when coach Sheldon Keefe favored the five-forward formation – and Alex Kerfoot who dominoes into the top-six with Matthews out. For the Blue Jackets, Patrik Laine shines as an asset who loves scoring against Toronto. Nine goals in 10 career games and counting for the current Jacket/former Jet.
Mid-tier fantasy forwards
Deep league/Daily Fantasy value forwards
Barrett Hayton, Arizona Coyotes (1.8%): Skating on a line and top power play with Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, Hayton has two goals and two assists on 15 shots in his past four games. This fifth-overall draft selection (2018) is evolving into a quality center, month by month. More importantly for our fantasy purposes, he’s scoring right now.
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Mid-tier fantasy defensemen
K’Andre Miller, New York Rangers (31.5%): Following a five-game lull, Miller returned to scoring form with a kapow, earning three assists in Wednesday’s 4-3 win over the Canucks. Ahead of that dormant stretch – when he still registered a good number of hits and a handful of blocked-shots – the Rangers defender collected three goals and six helpers in seven contests.
Deep league/Daily Fantasy value defensemen
Andrew Peeke, Columbus Blue Jackets (2.0%): The 24-year-old defender blocks lots of shots and throws loads of hits. I expect Peeke to do plenty of both against the visiting Maple Leafs this Friday eve. A goal or assist – not completely out of the question – would only serve as valuable fantasy bonus.
Goalies
Casey DeSmith (projected), Pittsburgh Penguins (4.9%): Probably no Troy Terry for the Ducks, oddsmakers heavily favor the Penguins to escape Anaheim with the ‘W’, and DeSmith is bouncing off a superb outing, stopping 41 of 42 shots in Tuesday’s 2-1 win over the Avalanche. Plus, Tristan Jarry appears set to return at any moment, providing the Penguins’ No. 2 with extra incentive to make the most of opportunities when called upon. I don’t mind the inconsistent netminder in this particular match-up, should he in fact be awarded the start.
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