Sunday, October 29, 2017

NHL 2017 Week 4 Fantasy Hockey Report

Players to watch, all formats:

1) Vincent Trocheck, Florida (53% Yahoo ownership): I just added him in a 12-team standard league. He’s got 11 PTS in 10 GP to start the season, which is excellent.

2) Evgeni Dadonov, Florida, (30% Yahoo ownership): He’s got 8 PTS in his last 7 GP and is getting top line minutes in Florida. 30% ownership is too low for what he’s been doing. Dadonov may be part of the reason for Trocheck’s early success, or perhaps that’s the other way around.

3) Brandon Montour, Anaheim, (42% Yahoo ownership): He’s got 6 PTS in his last 6 GP and is the most added player in all of Yahoo fantasy today. He’s got plenty of offensive upside if he keeps getting the ice time. He was their leading D in ice time tonight with Lindholm in the line-up and Vatanen scratched. It looks like he could still log tons of ice even when everyone is healthy.

4) Sean Couturier, Philly, (58% Yahoo ownership): He’s got 10 PTS in his last 7 GP. He may also qualify for the “sell high” category, but he’s worth adding even in standard leagues so long as he keeps producing at this level.

5) Josh Bailey, Islanders, (21% Yahoo ownership): He’s got 9 PTS in his last 6 games and has been playing on the first power play unit. It also looks like he has replaced Jordan Eberle on the first line with Tavares, and so long as that keeps up he’s worth considering in standard leagues.

Going Deep: players to add in deeper leagues:

1) Sven Baertschi, Vancouver, (5% Yahoo ownership): After starting the season with 3 scoreless games, he’s now got 8 PTS in his last 7 GP playing on Vancouver’s top line. I drafted him in an 18-team league and was dangling him often in early trade offers, which I’m happy were all rejected.

2) Devante Pelly, Washington, (4% Yahoo ownership): He’s been promoted to the first line, which strikes me as a huge surprise. He’s not on the standard league radar quite yet, but he needs to be owned in deeper leagues so long as he’s playing with Ovechkin and Kuznetsov.

3) JG Pageau, Ottawa, (6% Yahoo ownership): After scoring just 1 point in his first 6 GP, Pageau now has 6 PTS in his last 5. He was a hero in last season’s playoffs and should probably be owned in more than 6% of leagues.

4) Pavel Buchnevich, Rangers, (5% Yahoo ownership): He’s got 8 PTS so far to start the season and is still only owned in 5% of leagues. He’s a young player with significant offensive upside.

5) Phillip Danault, Montreal, (4% Yahoo ownership): He recently had a 4-point night against the Rangers, which is more than he had in the previous 10 games combined. He’s worth a look in deep leagues, but probably not shallower leagues anytime soon.



Sell High:

1) Dustin Brown, LA, (75% Yahoo ownership): He has started the season on fire but that won’t continue. He’s not going to finish the season with 80 PTS. That ownership is way too high. If I owned him (which I don’t), I’d be shopping him intensely.

2) Jesper Bratt, New Jersey, (22% Yahoo ownership): He had 6 PTS in his first 3 GP, then had no PTS for 5 games, now has 4 PTS in his last 2 GP. His “sell high” value may never be higher.

3) Derek Dorsett, Vancouver, (35% Yahoo ownership): He’s provided great value to your team thus far, but don’t expect him to finish the season with 70+ PTS. That production should slow down and hit a wall sooner rather than later.

4) Mike Green, Detroit, (79% Yahoo ownership): He’s started the season scoring at nearly a point per game pace. If I owned him (which I don’t). I’d be shopping him in multiple trade offers right about now.

5) Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia, (92% Yahoo ownership): His scoring pace of 16 PTS in 11 GP to start the season is unlikely to continue. I’m not suggesting that you need to get rid of him, but if you wanted to leverage him to acquire an even better elite talent, it might work.

Buy Low:

1) Carey Price, Montreal, (99% Yahoo ownership): If you’re looking to acquire a former Vezina trophy winner, the Price may be right. That being said, I did have to debate whether to put him on the “buy low” or “be concerned” list, because if Montreal is truly a bad team, this could be a painful season for Price owners.

2) Ryan Johansen, Nashville, (83% Yahoo ownership): No goals and 6 PTS in 11 GP to start the season. I fully expect that scoring rate to pick up eventually.

3) Torey Krug, Boston, (77% Yahoo ownership): He has started the season with 2 PTS and -10 in 8 GP. At this rate he may not be ownable in a standard league, but you could probably get him cheap in a trade in deeper leagues.

4) Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg (67% Yahoo ownership): Just 3 assists and -6 in 9 GP to start the season is not what you drafted him for.

5) Patrick Sharp, Chicago, (25% Yahoo ownership): In 12 GP to start the season he’s got 4 PTS. Given the fact that he’s 35 years old he might belong in the “be concerned” section. Either way, if you want to pitch some trade offers at the Sharp owner, it probably won’t take much to get him. Just don’t offer too much.

Be concerned:

1) Semyon Varlamov, Colorado, (58% Yahoo ownership): He started the season 3-0 with a shutout, and fantasy owners may have forgotten how bad he’s been the last two seasons. Since that start he’s 1-3 and has given up 16 goals in 4 GP.

2) Thomas Greiss, Islanders, (43% Yahoo ownership): If you drafted Greiss to be your #1 goalie, be warned that right now he’s not even the #1 goalie on his own team. He’s sporting a 3.69 GAA and .889 SV% on the season.

3) Sam Bennett, Calgary, (7% Yahoo ownership): Count me on the list of people who drafted Sam Bennett (in an 18-team league) and has been very disappointed with his start to the season (11 GP, 0 PTS). He’s been moved to the wing, which hopefully will get him scoring. Until that happens he’s only a speculative play in the deepest leagues.

4) Jakub Vrana, Washington, (22% Yahoo ownership): He is no longer on the top line with Ovechkin and the PTS have dried up. If you added him in a standard league you may safely drop him.

5) Kyle Okposo, Buffalo, (26% Yahoo ownership): 2 PTS and -7 in 10 GP to start the season. He may still be experiencing health problems. I would not be buying low on Okposo.

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