Joe Pavelski Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

In his third season in the NHL, Timo Meier has taken a huge step forward. He has put up career-best offensive numbers across the board with 30 goals, 36 assists and 66 points besting his previous highs of 21, 15 and 36. He's spent most of the season playing on the San Jose Sharks top line with Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski and with the trio healthy and back together again, I expect this line to dominate the Edmonton Oilers tonight. The Sharks have been solid from a possession standpoint over the last month as their 55.24 CF% ranks 6th in the NHL. However, their goaltender Martin Jones has been terrible and that is the storyline as the Sharks head to the playoffs.

Since February 1st, the San Jose Sharks PP has converted at a 27.9 percent clip — tied for the second best over that time. Their opponents — the Minnesota Wild — have a league-worst PK over that time with an abysmal 69 percent success rate. This is noteworthy as Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture and Timo Meier play together at even strength and Pavelski and Couture are both on the top power play unit which gives the two-man mini-stack some intrigue.

Logan Couture is centering Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl on the San Jose Sharks top line as they host the Carolina Hurricanes. This could be a back-and-forth game as both teams are producing a lot of CF/60 and giving up a ton of CA/60. The Sharks, over the last three weeks, have the 10th highest CF/60 at 59.28 and their opposing Hurricanes have a 59.31 CA/60 which is the sixth worst mark in the NHL. This line makes for a great stack because the trio remain together on the top power play unit which gives them elite upside and correlation.

Joe Pavelski has never been shy about shooting this puck, but his point distribution (goals to assits) this year are unlike any he's had in his career. He has 17 goals compared to just 6 assists, a strange contrast to last season where he had 22 goals and 44 assists. His goals are a little inflated thanks to an unsustainable 21% shooting percentage, but the assists are under expectation, so I expect it to all even out from a fantasy perspective. While the Sharks are known to mix up their lines on the power play, he benefits from having the same linemates (Hertl and Couture) at even strength and with the man advantage. They make for a great stack this evening at home.

If you want to go for the hot hand then Timo Meier just may be your guy. The addition of Erik Karlsson and the return of Joe Thornton have given the Sharks a lot of leeway. So much so that they look like they have abandoned the one-line power play attack and have gone to a more practical two line approach. This allows Meier some flexibility as he has notched two power play goals over the last six games. This is important because their opponent in the Philadelphia Flyers have given up a whopping eight goals in the last 21 attempts at killing off a penalty. Sure his linemates in Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton are the more recognizable names but Meier is at the top of the heap with nine goals where the Sharks scoring is concerned.

We have a matchup between one of the best possession teams and one of the worst possession teams in the San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers respectively. The Sharks are 3rd in the NHL with a 58.56 CF% and the Rangers are 27th with a 46.49 CF%. The top line for the Sharks has been great and Evander Kane has been great for them since he was acquired at the Trade Deadline last season. He's playing with Joe Pavelski and Kevin Lebanc. Additionally, he's on the top power play unit with Pavelski, Logan Couture, Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson. There is so much offensive talent on this power play unit that it gives Kane another boost.

We talked about the Hurricanes already, not it's time to focus on the other side of the game. The San Jose Sharks are the best possession team in the NHL and their top line of Evander Kane, Joe Pavelski and Kevin Labanc are the third-best possession line in the NHL (after two Carolina lines) at even strength with a 65.57 CF%. Kane has four goals and an incredible 38 shots in just nine games so even if he doesn't get on the scoresheet offensively he has the shot volume to really raise his floor. Though on games he does get some points, the shot volume gives him an elite ceiling as well. Kane and Pavelski play on the top power play unit together which is great for their correlation and while Labanc is on the other unit, they are so good at even strength that there is no reason to leave him off your line stack.

The San Jose Sharks play host to the New York Islanders tonight. The Sharks currently have the highest implied goal total set at 3.71. Joe Pavelski and Evander Kane were reunited on the top line last game, along with Kevin Labanc. They looked great together last game posting a combined one goal, three assists, and nine shots on goal. However, they were over shadowed by Logan Couture’s hat trick. While both Shark’s top lines are definitely in play, I expect the first line to go slightly lowed owned given the second line’s recent performance. With Kane and Pavelski, you also get two-thirds of the team’s top power play unit. Pairing them up with Erik Karlsson or Brent Burns, gives you elite upside in this matchup.

One has to figure that Toronto, San Jose and Washington will be looked at tonight when selecting core players. With Anaheim’s Corey Perry out with an injury you can bet that you will see a lot of San Jose players in your opponent’s line-ups this evening. Joe Pavelski checked in with 22 goals and 44 assists last season and that was with his line mate and power play mainstay Joe Thornton missing 35 games. This makes a pretty nice tandem especially since San Jose has even added more firepower to the back line. Mitch Marner is the top play on the wing, but Pavelski makes a great addition to any lineup in any format this evening.

The San Jose Sharks are in Edmonton to take on the Oilers and couldn't be in a better spot, other than the fact that they are on the road. However, in this situation it is not that bad. The Edmonton Oilers are on the tail-end of a back to back in which they were shut out by the Flames last night. On top of that, over the Oilers last 10 games they rank dead last in the NHL allowing 35.54 SCA/60. The Oilers currently have a historically bad home penalty kill in which they have only killed off 61.4 percent of their penalties. The Sharks have a top 10 power play, a unit that Joe Pavelski is a main contributor to. Since January 1st, he leads the team with 32 points in 33 games including seven with the man advantage. He is playing with Evander Kane and Joonas Donskoi and this line stack is definitely in play tonight. Use a Kane and Pavelski mini-stack if you just want power play correlation as well, as Donskoi is relegated to the second unit.