Coffee in the Crease: Injuries and spot starts

Happy start to the week everyone! Around this time of the season when American Thanksgiving rolls around, I think we have a pretty good idea of who will and won’t be there for the long haul in the NHL, the same goes for fantasy. As a reminder as well, with American Thanksgiving on Thursday (24th) there will be no games played on that day. Unless you’re the Detroit Lions, which c’mon NFL…either way, let’s dive in!

Merzlikins hurt, Korpisalo in

Along with the multitude of injuries to Columbus skaters this season, it looks like starting goaltender Elvis Merzlikins will also miss time with a lower body injury he sustained on November 15th. I had this thought in my head that Korpisalo’s numbers were better than they were last season and when I dove in, well let’s just say it didn’t take me long to realize I was imagining things. This season though, just off eye test of what Columbus I’ve seen, it has looked to me like Merzlikins hasn’t been comfortable whatsoever in net and I wondered why Korpisalo didn’t get more of a chance to start the last couple of weeks.

Merzlinkins ranks last in goals saved above average and goals saved above expected, and it’s been that way throughout the course of the regular season. I’m not saying here that going out and rostering Joonas Korpisalo is necessarily a good idea, but if he plays better, and by better, I mean literally marginally better, it’s hard to fathom why he won’t get more consistent starts in net on a club that allows shot volume from virtually anywhere in the defensive zone. If you’re in need of support in net, Korpisalo could provide some support for the next week or so.

Comrie’s injury

When the Sabres went out on their western Canada road trip I recommended Comrie as a temporary addition, the only issues really being that it seemed like every outing he had one or two goals he would want back. The other issue being, just when it made perfect sense for the Sabres to start Comrie in net we get confirmation that Craig Anderson was starting.

It was always going to be an uphill battle for the Sabres here with their goaltending situation but now with Comrie out with a lower-body injury it provides us with a possible opportunity to get some lower rostered starts in net. Sure, Craig Anderson might not move the needle much but if you need a goalie in a pinch or have a stacked DFS lineup and need a cheaper option in net, Anderson at least provides that. Throw him in, couple hours and three goals allowed later you have somewhere in the neighborhood of 5.4 points, so at least better than nothing? Who I’m interested in though is 23-year-old, Ukko-Pekka Luukonen not only because of the low roster numbers he’s currently at, but because he could be someone to keep an eye out for.

I have some Sabres friends in my life and they’re high on most of their prospects (for good reason), as well as UPL and I can see the upside with him in net. Look, it’s hard to identify how a young goaltender will grade out in the NHL but one stat that I think resonates with future potential is high danger save percentage and going back to last season UPL has a .831% HDSv%, that’s higher both Craig Anderson and Eric Comrie. I think the Sabres go to Anderson here on most night’s while Comrie is out but if Luukkonen puts together a couple strong starts in a row it's likely that this could be more of a 50/50 split in net.

Pyotr Kochetkov

On Saturday’s 15 game mega slate Carolina/Minnesota unfortunately did not make the round robin of games I had on, but I did keep tabs on this one and noticed that once again, Kochetkov didn’t allow anything to get by him up until late in the third period and eventually losing in overtime. I did however watch his start previous to that in Chicago where we not only had a Pyotr versus Petr (Mrazek) matchup, but he looked fantastic recording his first NHL shutout.

Kochetkov has allowed only four goals on 70 shots so far this season and is currently 2-0-1. It's only three game sample size but a .961 Sv% is nothing to scoff at. It’ll be curious to see how Carolina uses him and Antti Raanta in net going ahead with Freddie Andersen still out of the lineup, but if the Canes move to more of a split in time, Kochetkov makes a strong early case for a must play.

Goalies to target this week

Jake Allen, Montreal Canadiens (Rostered in 1% of ESPN leagues, 59% Fantrax, 59% Yahoo) 11 starts, 6 wins, 0 OTL, 3.33 GA/G, .898 SV%, 0 SO

I wrote him up last week and it looks like this might be the end of the road for our lower rostered darling, Jake Allen. Even following a disastrous start versus New Jersey, allowing four goals followed by another four-goal start against the Flyers that ended in a shootout win, Allen provides a strong case for a spot start or two this week. The Habs are in action three times this versus Buffalo, Columbus, and Chicago. Allen will in all likelihood get two of those starts versus weaker competition, making him an intriguing addition this week.

Karl Vejmelka, Arizona Coyotes (Rostered in 10% of ESPN leagues, 51% Fantrax, 34% Yahoo) 11 starts, 5 wins, 1 OTL, 3.23 GA/G, .909 SV%, 1 SO

Vejmelka has allowed four goals in his past two starts, both losses, but this is a schedule play more than anything this week. Fourteen of the 30 clubs in the NHL will play back-to-back games following American Thanksgiving but Arizona gives us the opportunity for starts in net as they play Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. With a day off in-between each start, it’s more than likely we’ll see Vejmelka in net at least twice, if not three times. The Yotes will be on game six game of a brutal 11 game road trip tonight when they take on the Predators, so if you need a goaltender this week Vejmelka should make for a good option.

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