20 Fantasy Thoughts: Michkov’s stock rising after Tortorella’s departure

As good of a coach as he is, John Tortorella has a shelf life.

He has the ability to get the most out of his players but there will be some hard lessons along the way. Tortorella doesn’t care who you are or at what point of the season it is, he isn’t afraid to send a strong message by benching or scratching a player. No one is off limits.

That made him a curious fit for this iteration of the Philadelphia Flyers, a team trying to navigate its way through a rebuild and become a contender once again. Tortorella wasn’t shy about benching some of the Flyers’ young and talented players, even at a time when Philadelphia is no longer in playoff contention. Those lessons would have perhaps been better served on the ice, with players learning from their own mistakes and getting valuable experience in the process, instead of being stapled to the bench. Tortorella’s tactics may have worked better 15 or 20 years ago, but today, benching future stars of the organization is no longer commonplace.

The veteran coach also made things very challenging when it came to fantasy hockey. It’s tough to roster one of Tortorella’s skaters when you don’t know if that player is going to be up in the press box or only getting a few minutes of ice time on any given night. In fantasy hockey, the best ability is availability.

We’ve seen many examples this year of Flyers that should be good fantasy assets but are tough to rely on. Matvei Michkov, for example, spent a number of games in the press box earlier this season, and Owen Tippett was demoted to the bottom six. More recently, in Tortorella’s final game as Flyers head coach, he gave Cam York just 3:50 of ice time for what was later revealed as a disciplinary issue, benching him for the final two and a half periods. All of those scenarios are less than ideal when it comes to fantasy hockey.

Michkov is a critical piece for the Flyers as well as in fantasy. He could one day be a franchise player, and if you have him on your squad you would much rather him be out there putting up points in a loss than sitting as a healthy scratch. Connor Bedard is going through similar challenges with the lack of talent around him, but at least he’s out there playing every night. Michkov also has the benefit of playing with someone like Travis Konecny, who can help him put up good numbers even in some hard times for the Flyers as a team.

You can see Michkov is playing with more confidence already, with four goals in two games since Tortorella was let go. Move Michkov up your draft boards for next season.

It remains to be seen who the Flyers decide to ultimately replace Tortorella with on a permanent basis, but it’s very likely they’re going to be a lot friendlier when it comes to fantasy. That should hopefully mean you’ll have to worry a lot less about Flyers players being benched or not receiving adequate ice time. A roster that was once risky to draft from is now open with more possibilities.

1. Eeli Tolvanen has been full value this season as a waiver wire pickup. The Seattle Kraken forward is on pace for around 25 goals and 250 hits, which makes him an incredibly important piece in a multi-cat league. You’d like to see him post a few more shots, but there simply aren’t many players who can provide that blend of offence and physicality.

2. Thatcher Demko made his return this week and looked impressive in two starts. The Vancouver Canucks goaltender has struggled with consistency this season, and the team has a tough schedule to close out the year, with games against Vegas, Dallas and Colorado still to come. Kevin Lankinen has also played well and the Canucks are banged up, so temper your expectations with Demko the rest of the way. But if he can keep this up, he’ll be an asset moving forward.

3. Kudos to Pius Suter for taking advantage of an opportunity this week with the Canucks ailing at centre. Suter is temporarily the team’s top pivot and had the great Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday schedule. He immediately delivered, posting seven points in three games so far this week. If the Canucks don’t get healthy down the middle, Suter could be a hold. He can fill a lot of categories for you.

4. So far so good for Andrei Kuzmenko with the Los Angeles Kings. Kuzmenko has been given a chance on the top line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, as well as on the first power-play unit. He’s rewarded the Kings with four points in five games. Even though Kuzmenko runs hot and cold, you may be able to catch lightning in a bottle for a few games during a fantasy playoff matchup. He had seven shots on Saturday night, too.

5. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins picked it up when both Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid were out of the lineup, posting nine points in a four-game stretch. It’s worth noting Nugent-Hopkins played over 23 minutes last weekend against the Seattle Kraken, the most he’s skated in a game since late January. There aren’t many players who will benefit without McDavid and Draisaitl, but Nugent-Hopkins might be one.

6. It appears the Washington Capitals are preparing Logan Thompson for playoff hockey. After rotating goalies essentially all year, Thompson has now received four of the past six starts. That’s not ideal if you’re rostering Charlie Lindgren, as it’s likely he only gets one start a week for the remainder of the fantasy playoffs.

7. Taylor Hall is starting to settle in with the Carolina Hurricanes, notching seven goals and 11 points in his past 10 games. Hall has taken advantage of some top power-play time thanks to an injury to Andrei Svechnikov. Now that Svechnikov is back, I’m not sure how sustainable this is, but ride the Hall wave while you can.

8. It’s been a tough stretch for Zach Werenski, but he’s slowly starting to come out of it with a few assists lately. The Columbus Blue Jackets defender is still getting huge minutes and putting up shots, but he hasn’t scored in 11 games. Columbus as a whole has started to fade, so the timing is really unfortunate given it’s the most important time on the fantasy calendar. It’s hard to complain about what Werenski has given you this season, though, as he’s been a tremendous value pick and was even mentioned in the Hart conversation at one point.

9. I’ve talked about watching for players on teams out of the playoff race who are taking advantage of opportunities late in the season, and Luke Evangelista would certainly qualify. Evangelista is getting a look on Nashville’s top line and has responded with six points in five games.

10. This has been Jack Eichel’s best fantasy season to date by a mile. He has a chance to hit 100 points and has been healthy all year. That was always the one thing holding Eichel back in drafts, as he’s missed a ton of time due to injuries over the past handful of seasons. A healthy version of Eichel that’s a 90-point player with a boatload of shots and faceoff wins could easily be a top-15 pick moving forward.

11. See if William Karlsson is sitting on your waiver wire. He’s posted six points in six games since returning from injury and may have been forgotten about since he was out for so long. Vegas plays four times next week, and Karlsson could be a critical piece that swings a playoff matchup.

12. The Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t making the playoffs this season, but the top line isn’t going out quietly. Sidney Crosby has been excellent since the 4 Nations Face-Off, and Bryan Rust is benefitting, scoring four goals in four games to go along with 14 shots. Add in the fact that Rickard Rakell has had a great season, and Pittsburgh has a chance to return a strong first line, depending on what happens in the summer. Rust and Rakell would be two players to target in the middle rounds of your draft next fall.

13. The risk/reward of Tristan Jarry was in full effect this week. After putting together a nice six-game stretch recently when he was recalled from the AHL, Jarry has now been pulled in his past two starts, allowing eight goals on 19 shots. The Penguins netminder may have helped you get into the playoffs, but he now has perhaps all but eliminated you if you leaned on him this week.

14. What a season for John Tavares. He’s up to 35 goals now and is likely to finish with the second-highest goal total in his career at age 34. Let’s not forget that Tavares missed a handful of games due to injury, too. He’s been a great buy-low this year and as long as he re-signs in Toronto and gets that top power-play time, he should easily maintain similar value next season.

15. You can’t be too pleased if you’re keeping David Jiricek for the long term. Despite the Minnesota Wild’s plethora of injuries at different points during the season, Jiricek was still made a frequent scratch and has now been sent to the AHL, where he suffered a season-ending injury. The Wild gave up a lot to get the former sixth-overall pick, so I’m sure he’s still in their future plans, but it’s a shame he wasn’t provided with more of an opportunity this season.

16. Keep an eye on David Perron. He recently had goals in three straight games and has really flourished on the second line for the Ottawa Senators with Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson. Perron is only six per cent rostered.

17. The Calgary Flames are 31st in goals for, but it isn’t for a lack of trying from Nazem Kadri. With seven goals in his past six games, Kadri is still filling the stat sheet and doing everything he can to keep the Flames in the playoff race. There aren’t many Calgary skaters who are worth rostering right now, but Kadri’s blend of offence as well as hits and faceoff wins make him a must-have.

18. Next week could be the championship for many of you and every game counts. Toronto, Philadelphia, New Jersey and the New York Rangers play twice and everyone else either has three or four games. Someone to look at is Frederick Gaudreau on the Wild. Gaudreau has three goals in five games, fills a lot of other categories, and Minnesota plays Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The tricky part is when Joel Eriksson Ek returns, Gaudreau could get bumped down the lineup, but right now he has some value. It’s also worth noting the Florida Panthers have a pair of back-to-backs, where Vitek Vanecek is likely to get two starts. Vanecek is hard to trust, but the Panthers are a good team, and he could pick up some wins. It’s tough to find a goalie on waivers right now who you can count on for two starts in a week. New Jersey and Philly have the worst schedules in my opinion, with only two games and then four days off in between. I’d look to drop players on the edge of your roster after Monday when both teams play their first game of the week. Players like Dawson Mercer and Owen Tippett could become roster casualties based on the schedule.

19. Amazingly, Karel Vejmelka has now made 16 straight starts for the Utah HC. It’s extremely rare for a goalie to play that much these days, and while that’s great volume, Vejmelka’s numbers have predictably slipped with a couple of really tough outings this week. Even though he’s playing virtually every night, I’d only start him if the matchup is very friendly at this point.

20. It was very weird seeing Brad Marchand in a Florida Panthers jersey Friday night. He picked up an assist on the game-winning goal in overtime in his debut, but I’m very curious to see where he signs this summer. He’s still a 60-plus point player in the right spot and for fantasy hockey purposes, here’s hoping he goes to a strong offensive team.