Josh Hutchinson (@JustJoshin41)
Injury reports are the name of the game going into week 5. Not just because of the goalies that are getting injured, but also because of the goalies that are returning from injury.
Cam Talbot is back earlier than expected and has performed well in 2 games (one in relief of Anton Forsberg) despite not recording any wins. It will be interesting to see if Forsberg starts becoming more available in fantasy leagues now that Talbot is back. I still believe in Forsberg going forward even with Talbot back. However, regardless of what happens he won’t see the same volume that he’s been getting.
Joonas Korpisalo and Jonathan Bernier are likely a couple names that you’ve forgotten about. Both are returning from injury and both are entering team goaltending situations that are all but clear. Korpisalo enters a brutal Blue Jackets situation where Elvis Merzlikins is struggling mightily with not much help from the team in front of him. Korpisalo has had success in tandem with Merzlikins in the past and it will be interesting to see if the two share starts going forward. Bernier has been practicing and is supposedly near a return which should create an interesting goaltending situation in New Jersey (if it wasn’t already). Blackwood is injured and Vanecek has performed fairly well although not spectacular (although he has graduated from our power rankings as he’s now 53% rostered in Yahoo!). It will be interesting to see what Tom Fitzgerald decides to do with 3 NHL goalie contracts on their roster. Keep an eye on both of these names in the coming weeks. They’re both available in nearly all fantasy redraft leagues.
Week 5 Power Rankings:
- Scott Wedgewood (18% Rostered) – Dallas
- Martin Jones (13%) – Seattle
- Eric Comrie (34%) – Buffalo
- Stuart Skinner (44%) – Edmonton
- Erik Kallgren (9%) – Toronto
- Jake Allen (38%) – Montreal
- James Reimer (38%) – San Jose
- Spencer Martin (4%) – Vancouver
- Arvid Soderblom (5%) – Chicago
- Karel Vejmelka (12%)/Connor Ingram (1%) – Arizona
Martin Jones
Don’t look now, but the Seattle Kraken are 7-4-2 and in a playoff spot. Obviously it’s early but the Kraken have proven that they’re at least relevant this year. The only blemish so far has been goaltending. Martin Jones has been getting the majority of the starts with Grubauer out with injury. His season save percentage is .893. However, Jones has only allowed 3 goals over his last 3 games. Those 3 games include 3 wins, a shutout and a save percentage of .967. These performances were posted against the Penguins (twice) and the Wild so it’s not as if he’s just rising to the occasion against weak opponents. He’s done enough for me to at least give him a chance this week. The Kraken have 3 games against Nashville, Minnesota and Winnipeg and I expect Jones to start all 3.
Stuart Skinner
Jack Campbell continues to struggle. He played 2 of the Oilers 3 games this week. While he did go 1-1-0, he allowed 10 goals and had a save percentage of .831. Stuart Skinner lost his start against the Devils in dramatic fashion. He allowed 2 goals in 7 seconds in the 3rd period as the Oilers blew a 3-2 lead with under 4 minutes to play. Despite this, he still stopped 39 of 43 shots for a .907 save percentage bringing his season total down to a .944. Skinner is still outperforming Campbell and I expect them to split the Oilers 4 games this week. This is still a situation to monitor closely and I think we’re at the point where I would strongly recommend picking up Skinner if you need a goalie.
Erik Kallgren
Here we go again. Both of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ NHL goaltenders are injured. It seems like this has become an annual tradition. Only this year, there won’t be a Michael Hutchinson appearance. Ilya Samsonov went down with a knee injury in Saturday’s game against Boston. The severity of the injury is unclear but the Leafs signed Keith Petruzzelli (one of their AHL goalies) to an NHL contract Saturday night which would indicate that Samsonov is at the very least unable to backup Kallgren on Sunday against Carolina.
Kallgren is definitely a third string goalie. He’s not a guy with NHL starter potential just waiting for an opportunity. He’s someone that can potentially fill in adequately in emergency situations like this. The Leafs have improved their play over the last two games and if they play defense the way that they’re capable of (they were a top 5 team in the league last year in xGA), they should make Kallgren’s life a lot easier. The interesting thing about the Leafs’ schedule this week is that although they only have 3 games, two of them are back-to-back. Will Kallgren start both of those games? Will Petruzzelli get a shot? Or will Samsonov or Murray be healthy enough to play by then? Be sure to watch the injury reports before you pick up Kallgren, but so far all signs seem to lead to him starting at least 2 games next week.
If you have any questions or concerns about my power ranking choices, hit me up on Twitter @justjoshin41 or in the Apples & Ginos Discord Server. Happy streaming everyone!
Stats and player information gathered from:
- moneypuck.com
- hockey-reference.com
- naturalstattrick.com
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