Ramblings: Ullmark continues fast start, deals with Demko, hockey at Mullett Arena (Oct. 29)

Yesterday I listed the names of some collapsing ducks, courtesy of the Frozen Tools Cold Players list. Well, you can add another game to these players’ dips, excluding the Ducks of Vegas. The name that seems most interesting is John Klingberg, who is now without a point in his last seven games. Jamie Drysdale also left that game with an upper-body injury after suffering a hit on the boards, meaning he has played eight games this season and is yet to score.

Drysdale is likely removable at this point if you can’t move him to IR+, while Klingberg can likely be benched if the Ducks play on a busy night. Heck, dropping Klingberg into a flat league isn’t the worst idea either. In fact, most Ducks players should currently only be considered for off-night streaming, with only Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras making the daily list.

After winning the Ducks’ first game of the season against Seattle, John Gibson has now received either an L or an OTL in six straight games. By allowing four goals on 18 shots, Gibson now has as many really bad starts (2) as quality starts (2). With a GAA north of 4.00, Gibson shouldn’t be in your fantasy lineup right now either.

Logan Thompson posted the Ducks shutout with 29 saves. Fantasy teams should continue to roll with him as his numbers should earn him an early Calder Trophy consideration.

–

Linus Ullmark has been a key component of my Zero-G strategy this season as he’s on the agenda for two of my teams. Ullmark made a 30-saver shutout against the Blue Jackets on Friday, improving his record to 6-0-0. Ullmark seemed to fall into fantasy drafts based on two assumptions: 1) the Bruins would struggle because of their injuries, and 2) Jeremy Swayman is the better goalie and would start more often. By the looks of it, Ullmark has a sub-2.00 GAA this season while holding the larger contract, and Brad Marchand has just returned from injury (although he received a scheduled load management game on Friday). Ullmark has posted a GAA under 2.70 and an SV% over .915 in his last three seasons dating back to his time with the Sabers, so I’m more inclined to hold than try to sell high.

–

Shutouts were the order of the day on Friday as Vitek Vanecek surprised everyone with 24 clean sheets against the Avalanche, his first as Devil. Vanecek has now recorded back-to-back wins, which were his first two quality starts of the season. For now, Vanecek seems to have the upper hand in the goalkeeping battle with Mackenzie Blackwood, who allowed five goals on 18 shots in his last start.

The number of goals The Avalanche have scored in their last four games: 2, 3, 2, 0. Not their best stage of the season.

Top scorer Valeri Nichushkin was also absent from the Avs on Friday with a lower body injury.

With an assist for the only goal of the game, Jesper Bratt extended his season-opening points streak to eight games. As of this writing, he is a top 5 scorer (13 PTS in 8 GP). Although his 13.2 5-on-5 SH% and 5.7 PTS/60 indicate imminent regression, 8 of his 10 assists were primary assists. I’m starting to believe in another 70+ season for Bratt.

–

In his 1000th^th In a career game, Josh Bailey scored the winning goal in the Islanders’ 6-2 win over the Hurricanes. Not known as a goalscorer, Bailey has now scored goals in consecutive games.

Brock Nelson scored his first two goals of the season in that game. Nelson, who scored 37 goals last season, started the season without scoring in his first seven games.

Brent Burns scored his first goal as a member of the Hurricanes with five shots. Only Roman Josi and Zach Werenski have more shots at defenders than Burns (27 SOG), so he keeps doing his thing in Carolina.

–

After Quinn Hughes was out for the fourth straight game, Jack Rathbone experienced a power play time in the first session on Friday. Rathbone only entered the lineup when Hughes went down. So it’s possible he’ll be scraped healthy or sent back to the AHL once Hughes returns. Rathbone was a points-per-game defenseman in the AHL last season (40 PTS in 39 GP), so he has an advantage offensively anyway.

I’ve been asked several questions this week about what to do with Thatcher Demko, so I’ll address his situation here. I was willing to argue that the Canucks would overwhelm Demko if they played him back-to-back games, but they chose to agree to Spencer Martin against the Penguins on Friday. It was the right choice as Martin deserved the win (saving 34 shots out of 35) and Demko got his much-needed break.

Although Martin is a solid goalie himself (no regular losses in 8 GPs as Canuck), you can probably expect Demko to be among the leaders in starts again. Only Juuse Saros and Connor Hellebuyck played in more games than Demko (64 GP) last season, and these two keepers were also the only two with more saves than Demko (1799 SV). Another 60+ season seems likely again, with the unproven Martin or possibly Collin Delia as backups, so Demko is a great option if your league values ​​volume stats.

While the Canucks’ start to the season couldn’t have been worse, expect them to rack up a string of wins throughout the season. At this point I would expect something similar to last season where they don’t make the playoffs but will still play around 15^th overall (the muddy middle of the NHL). Demko could still end up in the top 10 for wins, although in terms of odds (especially goals against average) he will be at the mercy of the Canucks’ holey defense.

According to Yahoo’s Trade Market feature, Demko will be traded for the likes of Zach Hyman and Ryan O’Reilly. Not exactly top notch strikers, but strikers who still have a place in the rosters. He obviously still has value, so I wouldn’t drop him. You might want to take a closer look at his matchups for now, although it’s worth noting that after that nightmare start, the Canucks are now back-to-back wins.

–

The Canucks also made their second trade in as many days on Friday, acquiring Ethan Bear from the Hurricanes. Handing over another draft pick (this one a fifth-round pick) doesn’t seem like the best idea for a team that needs more of them. But if the Canucks want to push the competition as much as possible this season, it makes sense to acquire a right-shot defenseman in Bear, which is the Canucks’ weakest area. I wouldn’t expect that trade to mean much in fantasy leagues, but Bear should at least be a regular addition to the Canucks’ lineup. He has yet to play one game for the Canes this season.

–

Remember back in 2009 when Blackberry guy Jim Balsillie wanted to buy the Coyotes and bring them to Hamilton? Let’s say you found a time machine this year and decided to look at life in 2022. You absolutely cannot believe that the Coyotes would play in a 5000-seat building called Mullett Arena, even if you thought they would. d survive in the desert. But here we are. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. Or Gary Bettman Economics at Work.

I mean, if you’ve seen a junior or minor league game in an arena this size, you wouldn’t really mind the Mullett Arena, would you? Even if it’s clearly not big enough.