Monday Morning Ramblings: News On Alex Lyon, Quick's Increased Value And Swayman Makes His Case

Good morning everyone and welcome to another edition of the Monday Morning Ramblings. The league’s teams and players got back to business this week after the break, with some interesting storylines to keep an eye on as we continue to make our way through the second half of the season. Let’s get to it!

The Lyon King

Career journeyman Alex Lyon sure knows how to remain relevant. Between his standout performance last year to get the Florida Panthers into the playoffs and his exceptional play to this point in the season, he is becoming a reliable source of production for fantasy managers which only strengthens the idea/concept of a Zero G strategy.

After posting a respectable 14-9-4 record and six game win streak to propel the Panthers to the big dance, General Manager Steve Yzeraman signed Lyon to a two-year deal worth $1.8M ($900,000AAV) in the offseason, which is proving to be a stroke of genius and one of the league’s best bargains to this point in the year.

Lyon is currently rocking a 14-6-2 record to go along with a 2.54 goals against average and .921 save percentage, and has firmly entrenched himself as the Detroit Red Wings number one option in goal as they continue to hold down the East’s second wild card spot. Lyon has made the most of his opportunity with injuries to incumbent starter Ville Husso and free agent signing James Reimer. That said, he certainly deserves the bulk of the starts moving forward.

From a fantasy perspective, it is never optimal when a team carries three goaltenders on the roster as things can become a little crowded. All that being said, with the combination of the Red Wings currently in a wild card spot and coach Derek Lalonde going with the hot hand in nets bodes well for Lyon, but do be cautious of Ville Husso and his $4.75M price tag as the team will look to extract at least some value out of their investment.

Quick Ups in The Big Apple

What is going on with Igor Shesterkin? He has not looked right all year in the New York Rangers crease and has seemingly lost all confidence in his game with his superb 2021-2022 Vezina trophy winning season now all but a distant memory.

Shesterkin’s 20-12-1 record this season isn’t horrible, however, the peripheral numbers tell a different story altogether as he currently owns a 2.86 goals against average along with a .899 save percentage. This of course has led to the team turning to backup Jonathan Quick who has responded in kind with some of his best numbers in years, sporting a 12-4-2 record and stellar 2.27 goals against average and .919 save percentage, offering fantasy managers added value as a solid streaming option in times of need.

The combination of Shesterkin’s poor play along with Quick’s resurgence even led to the team starting Quick in three consecutive games which bookended the All-Star break in order to give Shesterkin a minor “reset”. Of even greater concern is the fact that since Igor’s Vezina winning season, his numbers have been in decline year over year, which has some fantasy managers wondering if the league's shooters are beginning to figure out the former KHL standout.

2021-2022 - 36-13-4 2.07GAA .935SV% 6SO
2022-2023 - 37-13-8 2.48GAA .916SV% 3SO
2023-2024 - 20-12-1 2.86GAA .899SV% 0SO

Rather pedestrian numbers this year from what was in many cases the first goaltender off the board in fantasy drafts last September/October. So, where does that leave fantasy managers as we approach the stretch run of the 2023-2024 season? Shesterkin will continue to get his opportunity to right the ship and will be given plenty of leash in order to do so (look no further that his 5.66M AAV as the reason) but if he continues to struggle, coach Peter Laviolette has shown that he will not hesitate to turn to his backup if need be.

Until such time that Shesterkin has strung together a couple of quality starts, I would advise to proceed with caution and look to more favourable matchups when possible.

Swayman Making His Case To Become The Bruins Undisputed #1

Over the past few seasons the Boston Bruins have enjoyed the comforts of rostering two exceptional goaltenders in Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark. Ullmark has been the team’s de facto 1A to Swayman’s 1B, however, that may be coming to an end with the young netminder’s play this year.

Swayman has put together a rather impressive 16-5-7 record with a 2.35 goals against average, .922 save percentage and three shutouts in 28 games so far this year. His career stats offer even greater context as he has fashioned a phenomenal 70-28-14 record accompanied by a 2.27 goals against average, .921 save percentage and 12 shutouts, which has led many to believe that the organization may be grooming the 25-year old as their future number one.

The combination of Swayman’s age, his level of play as well as both goaltender’s current contract status would seem to support that theory. There is of course the small matter of a contract extension that needs to be addressed moving forward, however, with Ullmark heading into a contract year in 2024-2025 I would expect to see both Swayman and the Bruins come to terms on an extension before too long.

All that said, from a fantasy perspective, managers will need to be mindful that as long as Ullmark is around Swayman’s true value will be somewhat limited in part to a continued timeshare/tandem situation.

Will The New Jersey Devils Move On Markstrom?

The New Jersey Devils season is hanging in the balance in large part due to their poor goaltending. It has been a point of contention for the fanbase all year and seems to be at a fever pitch with the team’s recent play. Over their last 10 games played, the Devils are 3-6-1 and falling further from a wild card spot which has General Manager Tom Fitzgerald looking for an upgrade in goal.

You certainly can’t blame him with how things have played out in the New Jersey Devils crease this year with Vitek Vanacek, Akira Schmid and Nico Daws all struggling mightily to find any sort of consistency, with Schmid even being sent down earlier this season. To say that things are a bit of a mess would be an understatement while only being exposed further when you consider Markstrom’s stat line of 17-13-2, 2.54 goals against average and .915 save percentage.

Hence, the trade chatter surrounding Jacob Markstrom.

It does make some sense in the fact that Markstrom carries another two years after this year at a reasonable $6M AAV for a number one goaltender while also lining up with the Devils contention window. The Devils do have pieces the Flames covet as well (Mercer/Nemec/Holtz/2024 1st) in order to get a deal done.

After last year’s big leap in the league’s rankings, GM Tom Fitzgerald will be feeling the pressure to continue the team's ascension into becoming one of the elite organisations in the NHL.

Does Fitzgerald see Markstrom as his team's missing peice? We’ll find out between now and the March 8th trade deadline.

Be sure to pick up Dobber’s annual mid-season guide for projections, sleepers and historical trends to help your fantasy team surge in the second half of the season here

Thanks for reading and feel free to follow me on X @mikeouellet9

See you all again next Monday!