Matthew Stienburg

June 2022 – By season’s end, the big center Stienburg totaled 13 goals and 29 points in 28 games, not bad for a player who missed the entire previous season. Now listed slightly taller and heavier by Cornell, the pivot still has room to fill out and will likely remain in the NCAA for another season to prove this performance jump is for real before securing an ELC. Hayden Soboleski

December 2021 – Stienburg lost a year of college hockey to Covid despite some jumping around to try and dodge it, but now returned to the NCAA for the 2021-22 campaign he looks better than ever. His 8 goals and 10 assists in 11 games both lead his Cornell squad, and his 14 PIM aren’t far behind. He is averaging over two SOG/game, seeing first-unit PP time, and his goals are coming in clutch thanks to two OT winners already so far this season. These are good signs for fantasy owners keeping an eye on the former third-round pick. One knock to watch before he goes pro – his faceoff winning rate (currently 36%)  will need improvement in order to stay at center ice. Hayden Soboleski

September 2020 – Stienburg is changing leagues once again, moving from the NCAA to the BCHL. This will be the 4th league in three years for the soon-to-be 20-year-old who has gone from Canadian prep school hockey, to the USHL, to the NCAA, and now to the west coast. This has given him experience in a number of different systems which may have some value, but overall he hasn’t had the chance to carve out a role anywhere and has often been forced onto the RW as a result. He was an unexpected pick in the 3rd round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and isn’t looking promising from a fantasy perspective. Still, to go that high there must be belief in him somewhere in the organization and his family has hockey roots (his father was a Quebec Nordique) so hopefully this is just a case of slow and steady development in need of the right situation to find his ideal role on a team. Do not draft in any formats at this time. Hayden Soboleski