Saturday night's game between the Maple Leafs and the Senators sparked one of those timeless sports debates about unwritten rules. Ridly Greig wound up a slap shot for the Senators' empty-netter in a 5-3 win, then promptly received a cross-check to the head from Morgan Rielly. Never mind that this blows up my Lady Byng projection -- it's a reckless play that has no business happening on an NHL rink. It shouldn't happen anywhere, for that matter.
I'm not against players showing emotion. Many of them have spent the vast majority of their lives getting to and staying in the NHL, so there's clearly passion. For the Maple Leafs, losing to a provincial rival for the third time in four games this season has to sting, especially given where the Senators are in the standings.
For Rielly in particular, it was an incredibly poor showing of judgment. The Maple Leafs went into Saturday missing Mark Giordano (lower body) and Conor Timmins (illness), and that's on top of already having a less-than-impressive defense corps. Rielly's likely to be suspended now, leaving his team short at a key position because he couldn't get a handle on his emotions.
There's no excuse for losing your cool in that moment. You don't get to dictate how the other team scores its goals or celebrates. If you don't want to get embarrassed, play better. If you're going to be angry about it, drop the sticks and gloves. No cheap shots. Have a scrum or a fight, or go smash a stick in the hallway. Better yet -- play well enough to avoid having to pull your goalie in the first place. You can't get shown up on an empty-netter if you're winning.
Greig has all the makings of a pest for years to come, and he's now firmly under the skin of the Maple Leafs. It'll make for some good TV next season when they meet again. Rivalries are good for the league, but each rivalry should be built on mutual dislike and a begrudging respect. As for the showmanship and the aversion to running up the score, man up and deal with it. This is professional sports -- feelings are secondary to the scoreboard.
Turning to fantasy moves for the week, it's officially last-call time on Charlie Coyle. What more do you need from a player? He's a first-line center with time in all situations, playing for a top-10 offense in the league. Coyle's 10-game point streak was snapped in Saturday's shutout loss to the Capitals, but he racked up four goals, 11 assists, 21 shots on net and a plus-11 rating during the run. He's not widely available, but he's still out there in too many formats.
That Capitals-Bruins game Saturday also showcased the resurgence of T.J. Oshie. It was a two-point effort for the winger, who now has 11 points over 13 contests since he returned from an upper-body injury after adding another assist Sunday. Oshie is a player I tend to stay away from in fantasy -- his injury history isn't pretty, and it's not likely to get easier for him at 37 years old. His talent level is there when healthy and productive, especially with the Capitals starting to find some success on the power play. Oshie's not for everyone, but he should be considered when he's scoring.
The Golden Knights' thin schedule this week means Ivan Barbashev will likely fly under the radar a bit longer. He's got 12 points over his last eight games while showing strong chemistry with Nicolas Roy and Jonathan Marchessault. Vegas is working toward getting healthy, and that could lead to lineup changes soon. Nonetheless, Barbashev has shown the ability to rack up points in bunches in his time with the team. He'll also chip in hits and shots at a decent rate.
The other forward enjoying a surge for the Golden Knights is none other than Chandler Stephenson. I like Stephenson's overall game, even if it isn't fantasy friendly all the time. With 10 points in his last 10 games, he's gotten back to where his offense should be. Even as a center-only option these days, the 29-year-old was a player I was very hesitant to cut in any format. Patience is sometimes rewarded, though he'd need quite the binge over the last two months to get back to 60 points for a third straight season.
It feels like I could slap a "Thomas Harley is underappreciated" line in each article for the rest of the season. Instead of circling back to Harley, consider another Stars youngster in forward Wyatt Johnston. A move to the top line -- and the corresponding right wing eligibility that's come along with it -- makes Johnston far more interesting now than when he was a middle-six center to begin the season. The 20-year-old has earned 10 points with 30 shots on goal and a plus-7 rating over his last 12 games. The top-line experiment ended Saturday with his move back to the third line, but Johnston's versatility and the Stars' balanced offense makes him a reliable rest-of-season target.
With few defensemen popping off the page, it's time for another round of Radko Gudas attention. Since the start of January, the 33-year-old has three points, 49 hits, 41 blocked shots, 16 PIM and a plus-10 rating over 13 appearances. The physicality is there as always. What stands out is that Gudas has been a massive defensive positive on the ice for the Ducks -- he's at plus-16 on the year. If you need more offense, he's not your guy, but he's doing everything else right this season. Even 13 points in 45 appearances is passable given what else he brings to the table.
In a similar vein, Artem Zub is working his way into the picture for fantasy. He's done it with a little more offense than Gudas -- Zub has seven assists to go with 19 hits, 18 blocked shots and a plus-7 rating over his last 11 outings. Zub is seeing top-pairing minutes for the Senators, but he doesn't get power-play time. That means his offense will ebb and flow, but he's on track for a career year with an outside chance at the 30-point mark while adding solid totals in the physical categories. He's the type of player you can turn to when your depth gets tested, but he's not a long-term hold.
If you want to get more speculative on defense, take a look at Darren Raddysh. He's racked up eight points, including three on the power play, over his last 11 games. A week ago, he would have been an easy drop, but Mikhail Sergachev's severe leg injury changes the calculus for the Lightning's defense. Victor Hedman's still the top blueliner, and Erik Cernak eats a lot of defensive minutes, but Raddysh has emerged as a reliable top-four option who can handle a spot on the second power-play unit. He's at 20 points, 66 shots on net, 57 blocked shots and 48 hits through 53 outings in his first full campaign at age 27. Raddysh isn't the most proven of options, but he'll have plenty of opportunity, barring the Lightning making a trade to shore up the defense.
Much of the first half of Jason Zucker's first season as a Coyote was forgettable. Injuries and a middle-six role led to him falling off the radar. Since his three-game suspension in early January, Zucker has come back with force, racking up nine points and 22 shots over his last 11 games. There's no point in chasing his 64-point campaign from 2017-18, but Zucker can be an effective depth winger in fantasy. He's still in a middle-six role with power-play time, but he has some momentum on his side.
It would be negligent to not mention the Rangers' goaltending controversy. It's fair to criticize Igor Shesterkin this season -- his 2.86 GAA and .899 save percentage are easily the worst marks of his career. The Rangers have occasionally won in spite of him rather than because of him. Let's take this for what it is -- it's a slump. He's 5-5-1 since the start of January, which isn't terrible, but it's not good enough for a team near the top of its division. Jonathan Quick has gone 3-2-1 with a 1.98 GAA and a .925 save percentage over his last six outings, and has rightfully earned more playing time. Quick should be streamed in most fantasy formats. He's not going to keep to No. 1 job. At best, it'll become a timeshare until Shesterkin inevitably leads the way in the playoffs. As usual with goalies, you've got to chase the starts, and it helps when Quick is also providing solid results.
The Hurricanes can't get through a month without an injury to a goaltender. Antti Raanta is on the shelf for at least a couple of weeks with a lower-body injury, so Pyotr Kochetkov is the No. 1 again. He silenced the Devils with a 34-save shutout win in overtime Saturday, so he's a pretty safe add for fantasy managers who can find him on the waiver wire. His 2.50 GAA is promising, and while a .903 save percentage isn't great, the Hurricanes give up the fewest shots per game in the league at 25.1, so he isn't facing as much traffic as the average goalie. Kochetkov should be in position to earn wins and limit goals against.
Digging a little deeper in the crease, Calvin Pickard is worth a look. He's a pure streamer, but it's impossible to ignore his contributions for the Oilers lately -- he's gone undefeated over his last five outings while allowing just 10 goals on 127 shots in that span. Stuart Skinner will continue to get the bulk of the starts, but Pickard looks like a true NHL goalie for the first time since he left the Avalanche. The Oilers' offense makes it easy to earn wins even if his ratios eventually regress.
One more thing on the NHL's unspoken code. It's 2024. It's absurd that there's any of these mindsets still in the game. Way too many people put far too much stock in what the "right" way to play the game is. It's ironic that taking a slap shot for an empty-netter is wrong, but cross-checking the guy who did it is fair game.
These late-game dust-ups are likely to happen every now and then, and that's just part of the deal. If I had my way, pulling the goalie would be heavily restricted -- there are better ways to pump up the offense than adding goals that are meaningless a majority of the time. Nonetheless, like the rest of the code, it's part of the game. Celebrate your wins, deal with your losses, and most importantly, lighten up. Whether it's one game of 82 in the season or a bad week out of 20-plus in fantasy, it's not the end-all, be-all of your hockey interest. Good luck this week, and try to enjoy the games with the schedule back at full speed now.
