This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
Before the season, I predicted the final standings of every team in the NHL. This is always a somewhat frivolous thing, as even the most astute of prognosticators are guessing about a lot of stuff, and none of know exactly how things will play out. Some predictions turn out looking good, while others don't exactly stand the test of time (I don't use the words "right" and "wrong" because we are talking about predictions and not answering questions with definitive answers). I had some picks that are turning out well, but I was quite off on some teams, and one of those teams was the San Jose Sharks.
I did not have the Sharks going to the playoffs this year. In fact, if I recall correctly, I had them finishing with the second worst point total in the entire Western Conference. I mean, there was some quibbling involved, to me there was a mélange of mediocre teams above the Arizona Coyotes and below the title contenders. That clearly undersold them.
Part of this is as much about teams being worse than I expected. The Edmonton Oilers still aren't good. The Calgary Flames, whom I expected to improve, did not. However, the Sharks have also played better than I expected. I trusted in Joe Thornton, who is still very good, and Joe Pavelski, who is great. They've done all this despite Logan Couture missing a lot of time. In the end, my main concern was in net. Would Martin Jones stand up to being a starting netminder in the NHL? Or would he go the way of Ben Scrivens and other backups who became starters and couldn't keep up the pace.
Well, Jones has been perfectly fine. He's been a league average goalie, all in all, which has clearly sufficed. Alex Stalock, though, has been really bad. Nevertheless, the Sharks are going to the playoffs, in part because their division is truly awful. They could finish as high as second, and either way it looks like they will faceoff with the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks probably won't make it to the Stanley Cup Final, but they didn't fall off a cliff, either, which is kind of what I was predicting. Cheerfully withdrawn.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
Canadiens (Mike Condon) at Capitals (Braden Holtby), 7:00 PM
Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury) at Bruins (Tuukka Rask), 7:30 PM
Sharks (Martin Jones) at Avalanche (Calvin Pickard*), 10:00 PM
Sabres (Robin Lehner) at Ducks (Frederik Andersen), 10:30 PM
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check out our Projected Goalies Grid.
Injury News For Teams Playing Wednesday
Canadiens
Nathan Beaulieu, D (lower-body) – Out Wednesday
Daniel Carr, LW (knee) – Out three months
David Desharnais, C (foot) – On injured reserve
Brian Flynn, C (lower-body) – Out 6-8 weeks
Tom Gilbert, D (knee) – Out for season
Jeff Petry, D (lower-body) – On injured reserve
Carey Price, G (leg) – Out indefinitely, maybe out for season
Dale Weise, RW (illness) – Day-to-day
Capitals
Jay Beagle, C (hand) – Out Wednesday
Marcus Johansson, LW (illness) – Unlikely to play Wednesday
Penguins
Beau Bennett, RW (upper-body) – Out indefinitely
Nick Bonino, C (hand) – Out Wednesday
Eric Fehr, RW (lower-body) – On injured reserve
Ben Lovejoy, D (upper-body) – Out long-term
Evgeni Malkin, C (knee) – Out Wednesday
David Warsofsky, D (concussion) – Sent to AHL on conditioning assignment
Bruins
Chris Kelly, RW (leg) – Out 6-8 months
Sharks
Brenden Dillon, D (upper-body) – May play Wednesday
Matt Tennyson, D (concussion) – Day-to-day
Tommy Wingels, RW (upper-body) – On injured reserve
Avalanche
Reto Berra, G (ankle) – On injured reserve
Ben Street, C (chest) – On injured reserve
Brad Stuart, D (back) – Out long term
Semyon Varlamov, G (illness) – Day-to-day
Jesse Winchester, LW (concussion) – On injured reserve
Sabres
Tyler Ennis, LW (upper-body) – Out indefinitely
Cody Franson, D (neck) – Day-to-day
Cody McCormick, C (blood clots) – Out indefinitely
Ryan O'Reilly, C (lower-body) – Out 3-4 weeks
Ducks
Shawn Horcoff, C (suspension) – Suspended 20 games
Chris Stewart, RW (jaw) – Out 4-8 weeks
Hot
Jordan Staal, C, CAR – I had Staal in the "Recommended Pickup" section a little while back, and since then, he's done his best to make me look like a genius, which I appreciate. Staal lit the lamp Tuesday night, giving him a six-game point streak, and he has a goal in four of his last five games. He's been excellent in the month of February, but there is no reason to believe this will stop when the calendar turns. Staal is going to have his best season with the Hurricanes, and probably will put up career best totals in a lot of statistical categories.
Filip Forsberg, C, NAS – The Predators scored three goals on Tuesday. All three came off the stick of Forsberg. He now has six points in his last five games, five of them goals. Forsberg has 23 goals now, and actually is almost certainly going to score more goals than the 26 he had last year. It would seem that Forsberg is not only hot now, but one of the more promising forwards in the NHL currently.
Cold
Bobby Ryan, RW, OTT – Ryan was enjoying a bounce back year, and he does have 20 goals on the season, but any bouncing back has been put on hold recently. He has three points in his last 10 games, two of them goals, and if we cut off the two games at the end of that, he has one point in his last eight games. Ryan is also a minus-5 in his last five games, making him minus-8 on the season. At this point, it's hard to get a real read on Ryan and what kind of player he is.
Mathieu Perreault, C, WPG – The last couple of years, Perreault has been a solid fantasy player, as he has scored 18 goals in both of his last two seasons despite not playing more than 69 games in a year. This year, though, Perreault has suffered a fall in play. He only has one point, a goal, in his last seven games. That gives him a mere nine goals on the season, and he's a minus-5 in those seven games as well. Winnipeg was a feel good story last season, but the thrill is gone, and Perreault is a part of that.
Recommended Pickup
Rickard Rakell, C, ANA – Rakell may not even be on your radar, but the 22-year-old in his second full year in the NHL is starting to show some real promise. Would you be surprised to find out he has 15 goals and 18 points in 55 games? These are already career highs, and he has six power-play points as well. He's playing over 16 minutes a night this season, a major increase on past seasons. Rakell has been playing well, too, because he's got a four-game point streak going at the moment. He's available in most leagues, so odds are he's available to add a little punch to your fantasy lineup.
