This is my week twenty-three fantasy hockey report for those competing
in head to head categories or rotisserie leagues. This will be the championship
week in Yahoo standard leagues, and semi finals for many others. Tuesday,
Thursday, and Saturday will be very busy, so any extra games you can get on
Monday Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday will be crucial. Any players who will be
on your bench during the busy nights are droppable. The Vancouver Canucks have
an incredible schedule at the start of the week, with Chicago Mon, Ottawa Wed. The Jets have a very enticing Southern California road trip.
Best Standard League Adds (20% to 60% Yahoo ownership):
1) Alex Edler, D, Van, (39%
Yahoo ownership): The Canucks may have fallen out of the playoff race, but
their dependence on Edler has not diminished. The team has once again run into
injury problems on the blueline and need Edler to log a ton of minutes. Over
his last 6 GP, he has scored 3 PTS with 18 shots, 23 hits and 21 blocks. They
will play Chicago on Monday and Ottawa on Wednesday. The first half of the week
is a great time to buy stock in the Canucks, who are otherwise in a nose dive.
2) Kevin Hayes, C, Wpg, (30% Yahoo
ownership): Hayes scored 5 PTS in 5 GP after arriving in Winnipeg at the trade
deadline, but has since gone pointless in 4 games. What I like most about Hayes
this week is schedule and availability. They play LA on Mon, then Anaheim on Wed.
Trips to Southern California aren’t as tough as they used to be. I’m buying stock
in the Jets for those 2 games, then you can drop him. The Jets have Vegas and Nashville
on Thu and Sat, which are not desirable days or opponents to start Hayes.
3) Phillip Grubauer, G, Col,
(26% Yahoo ownership): This spot came down to Grubauer or Petr Mrazek, but
Grubauer has a moderately better schedule. It was a terrible start to his season
for the guy pegged to replace Varlamov. Now all of a sudden in his last 5
games, Grubs has posted a 0.99 GAA and .965 SV% with 2 shutouts. It doesn’t get
much better than that. The Avs are currently 6 PTS back of the wildcard, making
it unlikely they’ll qualify for the playoffs, but close enough that they’re
going to keep trying to win. Grubauer is both the hot hand and their goalie of
the future.
4) Dylan Strome, C, Chi, (30%
Yahoo ownership): Check to be sure that you can actually fit Strome into your starting
line-up on Thu and Sat (which can be tricky with centers), but those Mon and
Sun games look great. I might add him as a Monday stream just for that
Vancouver game. Over his last 13 GP, Strome has scored 13 PTS, albeit with weak
peripheral production.
5) Jakub Vrana, W, Wsh, (20%
Yahoo ownership): The best thing about Vrana this week is that he plays 4 games
and none of them are on Thursday or Saturday. He hasn’t exactly been shooting
the lights out lately, but he’ll be easy to fit into your starting line-up. Vrana
has scored 8 PTS in his last 14 GP and Washington as a team has been playing
great hockey.
Last Week: James Van Reimsdyk, Jason
Zucker, Ivan Provorov, Mikko Koskinen, Ryan Donato
Best Deep League Adds (under 20% ownership):
1) Lawson Crouse, Ari, (12%
Yahoo ownership): I added Crouse last week in a 12-team standard league and am
going to let this ride for another week. The kid has been dominating the hits
category over the last 30 days. He has gone pointless in his last 6 GP (after scoring
5 in his previous 6), but has also produced 62 hits in his last 12 GP. You aren’t
adding him for points, only rostering if you need to win the hits category
next week. The Coyotes play 4 games.
2) Dmitry Orlov, Wsh, (6% Yahoo
ownership): The Caps have a good schedule this week and Orlov has scored 9 PTS
in his last 10 GP. In addition to deep league appeal, you can even stream Orlov
in shallower formats as he will play on Wed, Fri, and Sun. He has also produced
22 hits in his last 10 GP and was a +6. Orlov can help in multiple categories,
most importantly points, and will be easy to fit into your starting line-up.
3) Brendan Perlini, Chi, (5%
Yahoo ownership): Brendan Perlini is on a roll. Despite uninspiring ice time
numbers (under 13 minutes per game avg), over his last 7 GP this kid has scored
10 PTS, with 8 of those being goals. He’s been playing on a line with Strome
and DeBrincat, and the Hawks play 4 games this week. Great deep league
streamer, especially for that Monday game against Vancouver.
4) Alex Killorn, TB, (13%
Yahoo ownership): Yesterday against the Capitals, Killorn netted a hat trick,
giving him 6 PTS in his last 7 GP. Tampa plays on Mon and Wed, so it should be
easy to squeeze him into your line-up at the start of the week, where the Thu-Sat
games will be more crowded. As the playoffs get closer, the Lightning may choose
to start resting their top stars and giving the lower line players more ice
time.
5) Sam Montembeault, Fla, (9%
Yahoo ownership): The Florida Panthers had found themselves in a free-fall, losing
six games in a row, then this rookie made his 2nd career start, and
they have now won four in a row. In those 4 wins, Montembeault has posted a
2.00 GAA and .920 SV%. Neither Reimer or Luongo are currently listed as
injured, but both have been banged up throughout the season. For the time being
it looks like Florida will ride the hot hand, and there aren’t many better
goaltending options in your really deep fantasy leagues.
Last Week: Lawson Crouse, Travis
Sanheim, Alexandar Georgiev, Troy Terry, Vinnie Hinostroza
The 1% (best adds 1% owned or less):
1) Tyler Motte, W, Van: The
offensive production for Motte hasn’t been good, scoring only 2 PTS in his last
12 GP, averaging 12:24 minutes of ice time on a terrible team. But in those 12
GP, he has produced 26 shots and 37 hits. The Canucks have very appealing
Mon-Wed games. I was going to stream him in my 18-team league for the hits, but
somebody else scooped him up today.
2) Carl Hagelin, W, Wsh: This
has been a dismal season for Hagelin who has been traded twice in the last few
months. That being said, his production has started to rise since being traded
to Washington, scoring 5 PTS in his last 7 GP. As discussed earlier, the Caps
play mostly on “off-nights” so he’ll be easy to fit into your line-up and is
available in 99% of leagues.
3) Connor Murphy, D, Chi: This
will be a good week to own Blackhawks, as previously discussed. Over his last
13 GP, Murphy has produced 4 PTS with 24 shots and 26 hits. The point
production is nothing special, but the peripheral numbers are really good.
Murphy’s streaming value does drop if you are unable to add him in time for
that Monday game against Vancouver.
Last Week: Robert Thomas, Adam
Pelech, Marcus Sorensen
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