With November finally over, the St. Louis Blues have ended the month on a bumpy road. However, it didn’t stop some of their top stars from tearing it up in fantasy hockey. November was full of great Blues players to pick up and stream for fantasy hockey. Let’s look at the top five best players on the Blues with the potential to be big point producers for your fantasy team going into December.
Honourable Mention
Brayden Schenn
One of the top three forwards on the Blues in November, Brayden Schenn peaked and then fell through the cracks until Nov. 30. Schenn’s November totals resulted in 13 points with eight goals and five assists to finish the month. If you look at Schenn’s totals so far through his 22 games played, most of the points he accumulated are in November. For the season, Schenn has 14 points with eight goals and six assists.
Schenn is on the second line for the Blues and is playing well with linemates Kevin Hayes and Jordan Kyrou. On Nov. 30, Schenn scored three points in the game against the Buffalo Sabres. Before that Schenn reached 600 career points against Arizona Coyotes on Nov. 22 before going pointless for three consecutive games. Now back to his regular point production, Schenn is worth streaming for fantasy as he seems to fall into small point droughts here and there.
5. Jake Neighbours
Jake Neighbours took November by storm, climbing the ranks on the Blues lineup from the fourth line on the verge of being sent down to the American Hockey League (AHL), to the first line with Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas. He was quiet to begin November with only one point recorded on Nov. 3, and went pointless for six games until igniting his point streak on Nov. 18 against the Los Angeles Kings. In November alone, he scored nine of his 10 points this season, which is very good considering he only had one goal in October.
Neighbours’ point streak lasted five games, scoring five goals and one assist within that span. Recently, head coach Craig Berube has opted to keep him in the first line, which means he’ll have plenty of room to grow and get back on the goal-scoring wagon in no time. In fantasy, it’s best to stream him for now to see whether he will be a sure thing after receiving top-six minutes.
4. Justin Faulk
Justin Faulk is one of the more versatile defencemen on this squad who can produce points while adding some grit to his game with hits and blocks. Although he has 11 points this season and has yet to score a goal, his hit-and-block production is where most of his fantasy points come from. This makes him good for those extra points to add to any goals or assists he records in-game.
This season, Faulk leads all Blues defenceman in hits and blocks while averaging about four hits and six blocks per 60 minutes. Overall, he hasn’t been the best checking defenceman for the Blues. However, blocks-wise, he is in the top 20 category with 53 blocks this season and is on pace to reach the top 10 if he continues. Faulk hasn’t been much of a points defenceman but can generate a lot of points if he amasses goals, assists, and blocks in a game, definitely worth holding onto.
4. Jordan Binnington/Joel Hofer
Jordan Binnington has been hot and cold in November, going from a decent starter to being pulled halfway through the game. However, with Joel Hofer performing the same, Binnington still finds a way back as the starter for most of the Blues games. In November, Binnington posted a record of 5-4-0 followed by a .903 save percentage (SV%), 3.29 goals against average, and a shutout through 11 games played, 10 of which he started.
Related: Blues’ 3 Up, 3 Down: Goaltending, Buchnevich, Scandella & More
But Binnington’s starting position was a struggle to hold on to with Hofer posting a better record of 4-2-0 while producing a .902 SV%, a 3.03 GAA, and no shutouts through six games (five starts). Like Binnington, Hofer was pulled from a game after allowing four goals on 15 shots against the Nashville Predators on Nov.26 in a disappointing 8-3 loss. In this case, it’s better to pick up both goaltenders as a tandem, considering they both had positive and negative trends.
2. Pavel Buchnevich
Buchnevich started November with only two points until Nov. 11, when he scored a hat-trick in an 8-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. After that, he took off that point onward, scoring 14 points between Nov. 11 and Nov. 30, setting him back in motion after suffering an upper-body injury in October. For all of November, Buchnevich scored seven goals and nine assists (16 points), ranking second on the Blues in points for the month. This season, Buchnevich has 18 points through 20 games played and was projected before the season to be a threat on offense.
Playing on the first line with Thomas has worked well, especially when playing on the first power-play unit with him. Although the Blues’ power play hasn’t been the best in the league, Buchnevich leads the team in power-play goals for November. His power-play contributions are good enough to earn some extra points in fantasy, and he is worth holding onto if you need a winger that gets power play and even strength points.
1. Robert Thomas
A surprising forward for this season, Thomas is leading the Blues with 23 points through 22 games played. On the power play, he’s been good, one of the top point producers for the Blues with four power-play points in November, and it could increase while he leads all Blues forwards in minutes and plays alongside Buchnevich on the first power-play unit. In November, Thomas recorded 18 points with seven goals and 11 assists.
Let’s not forget that he has six points in his last five games of November and contributed four assists on Nov. 11 against Colorado. With his sharp playmaking, racking up assists and points, and his ability to shoot the puck more this season, there is no doubt he could be in the 80-point club if he keeps this up. In fantasy, Thomas is a keeper, and if he continues to lead the Blues in points, it could be well worth it.
