Weekend Outlook: Is Stauber a surprise option?

Happy Friday everyone! It’s been a long work week since Monday and it’s now time to sit back and plan out the goaltending situations for the weekend. We have a couple fun slates coming up with some decisions that need to be made.

Jaxson Stauber, Chicago Blackhawks (Rostered in 1% of ESPN leagues, 4% Fantrax, 1% Yahoo) 2 starts, 2 wins, 0 OTL, 32.00 GA/G, .940Sv%, 0 SO

I started to feel like a broken record calling out Casey DeSmith, who would be a decent play with Tristan Jarry shelved, but let’s get some spice. I did not think I’d be writing about a rookie Chicago Blackhawks goaltender in late January but here we are.

I know that I’ve mentioned my Blackhawks text thread and not to open the blinds too much as to what that looks like recently but let me just say, that it’s bleak. Last Saturday the Hawks took the ice versus a healthy St. Louis Blues club and threw out Jaxson Stauber to start on the road which just felt like a decision that’s made for the result to shift towards St. Louis. Sorry Gary Bettman and the mysterious fan survey, players and coaches don’t tank, organizations do. Watching the start though he seemed confident and although St. Louis shot around 10 pucks that missed the net by four feet, Stauber looked alright and earned the nickname in our chat, “Stauber the Stopper”. I told you guys the chat has been bleak.

In our minds it was a one and done start and back to Rockford, but The Stopper was back in net again last night against Calgary and again looked good stopping 33 Flames shots to win his first two NHL appearances. I like him in net for DFS on Saturday maybe a little bit more than fantasy for two reasons, the first being he’s playing Edmonton which can only mean he’ll see a fair amount of shots. The second is that he is going to be if not minimum priced, he’ll be very close to it. This allows you to throw in any stack you’d like, and you should still have the salary left over to roster Stauber. It’s a bit of a risky play and I might not go there in one to three lineups, but if you want to use expensive lines then rostering Stauber allows you to do so. In fantasy I think he’s a good choice but would not be surprised if he remains the team’s backup for the foreseeable future.

This is of course, all dependent that he indeed is starting in net tomorrow versus Edmonton. If we come to find that it’s Petr Mrazek in net, I would strongly advise to fade all things Blackhawks in fantasy or DFS. For now though this is something to keep an eye out for.

Semyon Varlamov, New York Islanders (Rostered in 7% of ESPN leagues, 36% Fantrax, 37% Yahoo) 15 starts, 8 wins, 1 OTL, 2.80 GA/G, .912Sv%, 1 SO

With Ilya Sorokin slated to start tonight against the Detroit Red Wings, we have to assume that tomorrow’s net will go to back up Semyon Varlamov, who could be in a good spot. Varlamov started on Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators and looked fine, stopping 34 of 36 Senators shots and the issue wasn’t if he played well enough to win, it’s that the Islanders offense just looked flat only scoring once against Cam Talbot.

Tomorrow’s slate is larger so odds are you may have someone available in net anyways but keep in mind we are nearing the All-Star Break. Clubs are going to begin to shut guys down for a week or so. With that in mind, I’d circle Varlamov as a potential addition if the goaltenders on your roster do indeed sit tomorrow. I think in fantasy he makes a for a good spot start and in DFS as well, but I’d be leery on pairing him with anything on the Islanders forwards or defensemen.

Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins (Rostered in 62% of ESPN leagues, 81% Fantrax, 77% Yahoo) 17 starts, 12 wins, 3 OTL, 2.25 GA/G, .916Sv%, 1 SO

Jeremy Swayman might be a sure pick here and odds will be one that is a popular addition on Sunday. The Bruins are the only club in the NHL that will play on both Saturday and Sunday this week, leaving the door open for Linus Ullmark to start Saturday against Florida and Swayman to start Sunday against Carolina. This is not your regular small Sunday slate either, this is a very tiny one with only two games on the schedule. The NHL schedule might be unsteady at times, but they knew far in advance that they were not going to go up against championship weekend in the NFL.

Swayman had a good last outing against the Montreal Canadiens earning a win, and I really thought that he kept the Bruins in that game until later in the contest when the they pulled away for a 4-2 victory. Starting him in fantasy is a solid call because of the win factor that plays for Boston along with the fact that he’s played well his last three starts only allowing three goals against over that timeframe.

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