Coffee in the Crease: Kochetkov's value

Welcome back everyone and I hope that you all had a very happy and safe New Year’s! Let’s have a great 2023 and maybe win a fantasy matchup or two along the way. Let’s dive in!

Goaltending in Carolina

I know there’s a very large portion of you all out there who don’t want to read this next sentence but are probably well aware where I’m going here. Fantasy and DFS darling Pyotr Kochetkov has not started a game since last year, or well, December 20th. Apologies for the Dad joke but all kidding aside, one of the most added players in fantasy has sat the bench the past five Carolina contests and those missed starts have been tough spots to fill on fantasy rosters.

You know a player is loved when they get a nickname. Marc-Andre Fleury, Flower. Juuse Saros, Juice. Karl Vejmelka, Veggie. Now we have Pyotr Kochetkov who I have seen on Carolina blogs and Tweets as “Koch”. Does say Spencer Martin have a nickname? I think young talent is tantalizing on what a potential ceiling could be and for the NHL rookie of the month in December with a 7-0-1 record with two shutouts, it’s interesting to see where the road leads. For Kochetkov, or sorry Koch, we have to speculate just what the situation is and if adding Carolina’s other netminder Antti Raanta is an advantageous move.

There are a few moving parts here, yes Pyotr Kochetkov had a stellar December, but I do wonder if this lack in starts is Carolina’s way to either give Kochetkov a break or possibly be trying to show off Raanta as a potential trade piece. Raanta in his own right has also been excellent. He has won all of his previous five starts which sure, is easier to do on a club that has won 11 straight games with points in the past 17, but two of his three most recent wins have been shutouts which is hard to do at any level, let alone the NHL.

The other piece of this is Frederik Andersen’s eventual return. The Hurricane’s team website on Dec. 16th quoted that he would not dress for that night’s game versus Dallas but that he was back at practice. There’s a roadmap to where Andersen returns to play within the next week or so and is the player that the Hurricanes look to trade, possibly a move that’s made to get a good return in picks/player and more importantly free up salary.

What I do moving forward - I think if you are rostering Kochetkov or Raanta they are well worth holding on to and I think either goaltender for Carolina is a must start on most nights just given the club that’s in front of them on the ice. I would however keep up with any news coming out of Raleigh here in the next month or so of games. I think there’s a real path to someone being dealt near the deadline and it will be better to be prepared for that in the even that a player that your rostering is involved.

Winter Classic start ‘em sit ‘em

I just want to comment here on what to do when juggling starting goaltenders for the NHL Winter Classic, which takes place later this afternoon. I tend to stay away from starting goaltenders in the game if I can help it and that’s not as much to do with the matchup but more ice and weather conditions than anything else. Before the cloud cover came over during the Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium, it would have been very difficult for a goaltender on one side of the ice to stare into the sun for a period or two (I think it would have been Boston that would have been tasked with that end of the ice twice), as well as warmer Winter Classic’s that we’ve seen where the corners are much slower for a goaltender to potentially leave the crease to play a puck.

For this year odds are you won’t have to do much juggling or have to make a decision, possibly if you have say, Linus Ullmark and Logan Thompson for example, but given the size of today’s slate you likely only have one goaltender set to play. We have a large enough sample size now of outdoor games but just personally I tend to stay away from them in fantasy or DFS.

Goalies to target this week

Karel Vejmelka, Arizona Coyotes (Rostered in 19% of ESPN leagues, 65% Fantrax, 51% Yahoo) 25 starts, 11 wins, 4 OTL, 3.16 GA/G, .907 Sv%, 2 SO

More of a DFS play here, but I think Vejmelka makes a lot of sense this week with an upcoming game against Florida tomorrow. Vejmelka will be on the cheaper side of the slate to help mix and match lineups and should see a fair bit of volume, as he has led the league in high danger saves the past month. It’s Arizona so I don’t want to completely discount wins, but they did beat a Toronto club in the past week and also had a lead going into the third period versus Tampa Bay. Small victories but victories none the less.

Scott Wedgewood, Dallas Stars (Rostered in 2% of ESPN leagues, 17% Fantrax, 6% Yahoo) 11 starts, 6 wins, 3 OTL, 3.03 GA/G, .910 Sv%, 0 SO

This is a schedule play here, the Stars have a back-to-back on the road tomorrow and Wednesday versus Los Angeles and Anaheim and I would guess that Wedgewood will get the Wednesday start against the Ducks. The bad news is that he has not started in a game since December 17th but the good news being that he is more than likely available in your fantasy league for a spot start.

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