Risers and Fallers: Court Jesper No More

It’s a wrap for month one of the ‘25-’26 campaign with disparity league-wide still when it comes to netminding. Big names like Connor Hellebuyck have come around from mediocre starts but the likes of Andrei Vasilevskiy are still underperforming albeit better than initially.

Two weeks ago I mentioned that if you felt in dire straits at the midway point of this month it would be time to start kicking the tires on a trade. I stand by that but many leagues still have great options on the wire. Lukas Dostal should be at or near 100% owned in my opinion so seeing him just above 80% ownership on Yahoo is comical.

If you're straddling a .500 record you need to right the ship before you fall out of contention incapable of recovery. Don’t overpay by any means but don’t insult a potential trade partner with a lowball offer either.

Risers

Jesper Wallstedt

The Minnesota Wild backup had his first back-to-back start of the season this past weekend, winning both with a shutout Sunday against Calgary. The tide may be turning to the former first round picks favor in the state of hockey as Filip Gustavsson continues to struggle.

As I have mentioned before, many a fantasy manager fell victim to the assumption that since Gustavsson got paid, he was assured to replicate last season’s performance devoid of a track record. If I’m a Gus owner I would be shaking in my boots as Jesper is a first-round pick so he’ll continue to get looks.

Even though one must “follow the contract” when it comes to goaltending, Filip needs to bring the peaks and valleys of his play to a more consistent plateau quickly.

Akir Schmid

The 25-year-old Swiss native has been rock solid in Adin Hill’s absence, making a case to continue seeing the lion’s share of starts even once he’s back in the fold. Carter Hart is still three weeks away from being eligible to play making Carl Lindbom, yet to collect a win, his only competition for starts.

A 6-1-1 record along with solid enough ratios makes the former New Jersey Devil a serviceable option for you even while alternating starts with Lindbom. That could change with a four-game slate this week though. Perhaps the workload tilts in Akira’s favor and he easily gets two starts if not three.

Arturs Silovs

Now that Tristan Jarry has been deemed week-to-week I’m doubling down on the young Latvian. Although the Penguins are expectedly trending down now, with losses in four of the last five, the former Vancouver Canuck has provided quality starts in all of them.

Maybe don’t look for him to be a world beater but certainly you can have a workhorse for free off the wire. We didn’t know his full potential coming into the year, only having 19 starts total over three seasons prior to ‘25-’26. Now we’re getting a better picture of it and Kyle Dubas may have pulled a fast one on Vancouver.

Fallers

Karel Vejmelka

The 29-year-old Czech has hit a bump in the road after a wonderful start to the campaign. A revelation in net to start the season, the Mammoth have now lost three of their last four with Vejmelka giving up three or more goals in each.

While I expect him to rebound, only two games this week gives him minimal chances to make up for his recent shortcomings. Some additional practice reps should help to right the ship quickly here.

Frederik Andersen

The 36-year-old Dane has been a middling option going back to mid-October for Rod The Bod's squad. The former Toronto Maple Leaf is 2-3-0 in his past five starts with 17 goals allowed so he’s been porous to say the least. Now past his prime he may not be as consistent an option as he once was.

The bright side is that he’s remained healthy in the early going. Regardless, the inevitable injury will come. Therefore hope for improvement whilst still an option for your fantasy crease(s). Carolina is too good for him not to collect wins with better ratios in time.

Jeremy Swayman

This time around the University of Maine product doesn’t have the convenient excuse of missing all of training camp to blame for his modest performance thus far. A SV% just below .900 and GAA above three in ten starts doesn’t scream brick wall unfortunately.

Now 68 games into his starter era we’ve yet to see anything that resembles handling the load. Perhaps he is best served in a 1A/1B scenario. Time will tell but the early returns say league average not elite. At only 26 years of age there is still room for improvement of course.

Other Thoughts

Andrei Svechnikov is heating up.

Add Mats Zuccarello if in need of assists and powerplay points.

Alex Wennberg is making the most of his L2/PP1 deployment in the Bay Area.

If you count FOW/HIT Jean Gabriel-Pageau has been a must-own since late October.

Nathan MacKinnon plays in a league of his own.

Anders Lee has turned things around over the past month.

When did Jake McCabe reinvent himself as an offensive defenseman?

Use Jaden Schwartz before he gets injured.

Michael McCarron is a great cat stuffer if you need peripheral help.

Andre Burakovsky and Tyler Bertuzzi are cooking in the Windy City.

Ben Kindel doesn’t look out of place with a L1/PP1 deploy in Pittsburgh.