Josh Hutchinson (@JustJoshin41)
Happy New Year everybody! My apologies for not putting out the power rankings for week 12. The holiday season ended up being a lot busier than I expected and between family get togethers, snow storms, and family health issues I wasn’t able to find time to write anything up. However the beautiful thing about missing a week of content is that there’s a lot more to write about when you return so let’s get to it!
There aren’t a lot of home run options this week. I’ve said my piece on John Gibson (good goaltender on a terrible team but will make a ton of saves for you) a number of times. Anaheim has the best schedule by far this week so that’s why he’s my number 1. There are however a number of interesting options due to injury.
Detroit’s goaltending situation certainly fits the bill as an interesting one. Husso has been out with an illness and Magnus Hellberg has replaced him for the time being. Hellberg was signed by Seattle in the offseason. Before he played a game for them he was placed on waivers and claimed by Ottawa, he was then re-claimed by Seattle before being claimed by Detroit. Despite landing in so many destinations, he’s actually only appeared in 4 games this year (1 for Ottawa and 3 for Detroit). Those 3 for Detroit have come in the last 4 days. He was perfect in relief of Husso in a comeback win over the Penguins, and then went 1-1 in his next two starts. While Husso will most likely assume the starting duties again when he returns, this says a lot more about Alex Nedeljkovic’s position with the team. Nedeljkovic has been brutal this year and if the Red Wings have more faith in Hellberg to back up Husso, we may see Nedeljkovic sent down to the AHL. This is something to watch when thinking about spot starts in the coming weeks.
Elvis Merzlikins is healthy again but I’m not sure that he’ll be getting the reigns in Columbus again for the time being. Joonas Korpisalo has only allowed 4 goals across 3 straight appearances. Korpisalo has assumed starting duties at times this year already and I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens here again. He’s very available and similar to the John Gibson situation, he’ll get you lots of saves even if he doesn’t get you wins.
Ever heard of Samuel Ersson? It’s ok, not many people have. I actually wrote up a piece about him for an article earlier in the year when Felix Sandstrom was out with an injury but had to scrap it when the Flyers activated Sandstrom shortly after I finished writing. Ersson has won two straights starts with Carter Hart out with injury and Sandstrom out with an illness. The Flyers play two beatable teams in their next two games (Ducks and Coyotes). Will they ride the hot hand in Ersson until Hart comes back? He may be a short term option in deeper leagues.
I could talk about goalies that no one has heard of all day but let’s cut to the chase. Here are your week 13 #ZeroG Power Rankings:
- John Gibson (35% Rostered) – Anaheim
- Pheonix Copley (36%) – Los Angeles
- Spencer Martin (21%) – Vancouver
- Antti Raanta (46%) – Carolina
- Jake Allen (33%) – Montreal
- Joonas Korpisalo (8%) – Columbus
- Alex Stalock (10%) – Chicago
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (14%)/Eric Comrie (9%) – Buffalo
- Philipp Grubauer (15%)/Martin Jones (43%) – Seattle
- Samuel Ersson (2%) – Philadelphia
Antti Raanta
With the emergence and re-signing of Pyotr Kochetkov and the looming return of Frederik Andersen from injury, Raanta’s time with the Hurricanes seems to be up right? Maybe not.
Raanta has out of nowhere started 4 straight games for the Hurricanes. The first two games were on back-to-back nights against Pittsburgh and Philly (both wins). The next two games were both shutout wins against Chicago and Florida. Raanta seems to be back on track. The question is, are they trying to prop him up for a trade? Or are they trying to help him regain confidence in order to be a viable option to backup Andersen when he returns. In this case, they would be forced to demote Kochetkov to the AHL. He’s the only waiver eligible goalie of the 3 so it makes logical sense but he has certainly played well enough to keep his spot with the big club. Either way Raanta seems to be getting a run so he may be worth an add this week in case they continue to hold Andersen out.
Pheonix Copley
I feel the need to highlight Pheonix Copley because I’m floored that he’s still only 36% rostered. Please, I implore you to pick him up if he’s available in your leagues. He’s provided much needed stability in net for the Kings at least for now. He’s 8-1 with a .905 save percentage (that number is being greatly affected by a 6-0 loss to Buffalo early in his LA stint), and has a quality start in 7 of 9 games. The Kings have 3 games this week and all signs lead to them riding the hot hand. There’s not much else to say, this is just a public service announcement saying, there’s a volume starter on a decent team on your waiver wire right now. Please pick him up!
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen/Eric Comrie
This situation is very similar to the Hurricanes’ goaltending situation right now. Luukkonen has started 4 of Buffalo’s last 5 games. The Sabres won all 4 of those games and UPL had a .935 save percentage despite facing 40 or more shots in 3 of those 4 games. He really seems to be getting comfortable and catching stride with the Sabres. The only problem for UPL is, Eric Comrie is nearing a return.
Comrie was seeing the majority of starts for the Sabres before going down with an injury in mid-November. He’s currently on an AHL conditioning stint and has performed well in one game with Rochester, posting a win and a .944 save percentage. Like the Hurricanes’ situation with Kochetkov, despite UPL being the hottest goalie for Buffalo right now, he’s the only waiver eligible goalie out of him, Comrie and Craig Anderson. I think he’s the goalie of the future for them but the Sabres invested in Comrie this summer and will likely give him another shot which unfortunately leaves UPL as the likely odd man out. Keep UPL for the short term, but once Comrie is back, he’s going to be a very interesting option on a red hot Sabres team.
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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