Weekend Outlook: Freddie's Return

Happy Friday everyone! There are three goaltenders to highlight this week and with no time to waste, let’s dive in!

Casey DeSmith, Pittsburgh Penguins (Rostered in 5% of ESPN leagues, 20% Fantrax, 22% Yahoo) 15 starts, 5 wins, 2 OTL, 3.18 GA/G, .914Sv%, 0 SO

Leading off this week’s Weekend Outlook is again Casey DeSmith who should in all likelihood be the starter tomorrow for the Pittsburgh Penguins. DeSmith had a shaky start last time out allowing three goals on five shots…yes, five shots, and was benched for backup Dustin Tokarski. Sure, not really a ringing endorsement here but with starting goaltender Tristan Jarry on injured reserve there’s reason to like DeSmith this weekend.

I believe I’ve said it before, but I’ve often felt that the Penguins have tried to rotate DeSmith into the regular goaltending rotation at times in Pittsburgh but have been held back from doing so either by injury, or Jarry playing too well to deny him starts. If DeSmith gets the start tomorrow when the Penguins are on the road in Carolina, it may help his case to potentially see more starts in net upon Jarry’s return. And speaking of Jarry’s return! The Penguins have retroacted his injured reserve time back to January 2nd, which does leave the door open for a possible return this weekend.

My guess here is that DeSmith gets the start on the back-to-back. With the Penguins likely not skating tomorrow morning we may not get confirmation before lock but one way to tell is if there is a report that Jarry either did or did not travel with the club. For those in need of a spot start in net I think DeSmith provides a decent option and in DFS he may be on pricier side but could be a unique play.

Frederik Andersen, Carolina Hurricanes (Rostered in 71% of ESPN leagues, 93% Fantrax, 91% Yahoo) 14 starts, 9 wins, 1 OTL, 2.25 GA/G, .924Sv%, 1 SO

The news we’ve all been waiting for, Frederik Andersen has made his return to the Carolina Hurricanes roster. I know, I know, he’s not Pyotr Kochetkov but Frederik Andersen does provide an opportunity in fantasy and DFS this weekend.

Andersen looked good in his first start back from injury, allowing just two goals on 23 shots in a 6-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus is far from the most dangerous team a goaltender would see but it is always difficult to come back to regular game speed, so I take away Freddie’s last start as a very encouraging sign if I’m Carolina. My guess moving forward is that Carolina just carries three goaltenders unless there is a trade that’s made closer to the deadline. Maybe a little unorthodox to roster three goalies but just like in fantasy, if your roster dictates things towards a certain position it’s not a bad idea to play to your strengths.

I would assume that we see Freddie in net at some point this weekend as the Hurricanes have a home back-to-back against Pittsburgh and Vancouver. For fantasy if you’ve been rostering Andersen, he now becomes a must-play. Carolina is possibly the deepest team in the league so there’s excellent potential to come away with a win each time he steps on the ice. For DFS I will say this, yesterday on DraftKings he was the goaltender minimum which I would suspect will not be the case this weekend. I think he’s in a decent option especially if you have some sort of Carolina power play stack.

Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators (Rostered in 99% of ESPN leagues, 99% Fantrax, 98% Yahoo) 31 starts, 15 wins, 5 OTL, 2.65 GA/G, .922Sv%, 1 SO

This is my DFS darling for the weekend! For those of you out there that are rostering Juuse Saros in fantasy I don’t have to tell you that he is a must play each time out. He will go up against a good offense in Buffalo on Saturday which helps check the shot volume box. He’ll likely be a bit more expensive on each site, but I like the start just because it’s a great way to get unique on a loaded Saturday slate. On larger slates they’ll be plenty of paths to victory, but I think a viable option would be paying up for Saros with two mid-priced stacks.

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