Weekend Outlook: Comrie shines and a Sharks duo

It’s week two and unlike last week, we’ll have a Sunday’s slate worth of games to look forward to. There are some goalies that should be in good matchups this weekend that can help in fantasy and DFS. Let’s dive in!

James Reimer, San Jose Sharks (Rostered in 9% of ESPN leagues, 36% Fantrax, 27% Yahoo)
4 starts, 1 wins, 1 OTL, 2.78 GA/G, .918 SV%, 0 SO.
Kaapo Kahkonen, San Jose Sharks (Rostered in 1% of ESPN leagues, 36% Fantrax, 6% Yahoo)
2 starts, 0 wins, 0 OTL, 4.10 GA/G, .814 SV%, 0 SO.

Typing out those stats it’s hard to fathom that this duo could be a good play this weekend but I feel like this has to be called out, when there’s a club going into a back-to-back with both goaltenders carrying very low roster numbers. Sure, James Reimer and Kaapo Kahkonen might not move the needle as far as starters you want for the long haul, but this weekend it might be a decent strategy. It is a back-to-back on the road, but San Jose will see New Jersey on Saturday and Philadelphia on Sunday, both winnable games even for this San Jose club. New Jersey has been a bit of a strange team this year as they’ve been putting shots on net with the highest expected goals for in the NHL, but that means, at the very least, you should see plenty of shots on net. Philadelphia on the other hand might be a more manageable matchup because, well, it’s Philadelphia, who has the lowest Corsi for percentage as a club so far here in the early going.

My guess is Reimer is going to get the Saturday start, Kahkonen the Sunday start, so if you are in a league that has add/drops go through same day and have the matchup acquisitions to use, it could be a decent way to help pad the stats. For DFS the plan is pretty simple here, the Sharks will be a punt option in net and may not be a terrible pivot away from higher priced options. This is a bit of a proceed with caution move, but if there’s one silver lining with San Jose is that they have a good penalty kill.

Spencer Knight, Florida Panthers (Rostered in 30% of ESPN leagues, 79% Fantrax, 81% Yahoo)
1 start, 1 win, 0 OTL, 3 GA/G, .889 SV%, 0 SO.

So yes, Knight has higher ownership numbers over on Fantrax and Yahoo, but my guess here is he is rostered in most dynasty leagues or in ones where you can carry more than three goaltenders. In a public league or smaller leagues I think Knight is likely available and in a good spot going into the weekend. With Florida in action on Sunday night, I think it’s safe to assume that we’ll see Spencer Knight between the pipes when the Panthers take on the Islanders at home. Knight started last Saturday vs. Buffalo and looked alright, making some acrobatic saves along the way.

I think last season it was reasonable to think that Florida could potentially split time between Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight, but Knight didn’t have the sophomore season we anticipated him having. He still had an alright year going 19-9-3 with two shutouts but that’s coming off a stellar rookie season where he even saw action in two of Florida’s playoff matchups vs. Tampa Bay, winning one of them.

Keep in mind, the lock for Sunday’s slate will be noon EST so you’ll want to make sure your roster is set but at the very least I don’t foresee having to do any guess work as to who Florida will start. Knight should make an excellent spot starter for you on Sunday.

Eric Comrie, Buffalo Sabres (Rostered in 13% of ESPN leagues, 28% Fantrax, 64% Yahoo) 3 starts, 2 wins, 0 OTL, 3.01 GA/G, .930 SV%, 0 SO.

Comrie might not just be a weekend play but one moving forward as well? I’ve watched the last two Buffalo vs. Edmonton and Calgary and the Sabres might be an NHL Centre Ice favorite to watch? I say these things as questions because I don’t know if I’ve ever said that about a Sabres club recently but with their play and Comrie’s roster numbers, he might be a great early addition to your fantasy club. He has a higher GA/G than we’d like to see but he has gotten unlucky with bounces and redirects, with one bounce going off a line judge. Hey, it happens Comrie.

Comrie has seen 40 or more shots on net in both of his last two games and sure it was versus two of the better teams we have in the Oilers and Flames but if that trend continues at the very least Comrie will hold value just based on the shots on goal themselves. The Sabres will play Vancouver on Saturday, and that’s a team that hasn’t gotten in the win column this season so we can anticipate it’s full-go for them. Let’s talk this out even further though, if Comrie plays well in Vancouver here’s next week’s schedule – road Seattle, home Montreal, home Chicago. There’s a chance that two of those clubs will have only one win going into those matchups and for Comrie those are three matchup’s that are great opportunities to yield wins.

For continued fantasy news and notes throughout the season, follow me on Twitter @ndySanz