January 2019 Fantasy Hockey Stock Market Report

Since the beginning of the season I have been tracking player ownership and statistics month by month on Yahoo. At the end of every month posting the top risers and fallers in ownership.  I've decided to combine the two into a monthly Fantasy Stock Market Report while adding some all-star teams and not-star teams. All the numbers listed below are entirely for the month of January (unless stated otherwise).

Best Value:

January All-Star Team: Best players for the month by position.

C) Sebastian Aho, Car: 12 GP, 18 PTS

W) Patrick Kane, Chi: 10 GP, 21 PTS

W) Johnny Gaudreau, Cgy: 11 GP, 18 PTS

D) Brent Burns, SJ: 11 GP, 15 PTS

D) Mark Giordano, Cgy: 11 GP, 15 PTS

G) Carey Price, Mtl: 8 GP, 5 wins, 1.51 GAA, .953 SV%

Best Value Under 50% Owned All-Star Team:

C) Travis Zajac, NJ, (7% owned), 12 GP, 11 PTS

W) Mats Zuccarello, NYR, (26% owned): 11 GP, 13 PTS

W) Blake Coleman, NJ, (47% owned): 12 GP, 10 PTS, 40 hits

D) Jared Spurgeon, Min, (46% owned): 12 GP, 10 PTS

D) TJ Brodie, Cgy, (39% owned): 11 GP, 11 PTS

G) Jordan Binnington, Stl, (43% owned): 7 GP, 5 wins, 1.57 GAA, .936 SV%

Top Ownership Risers:

Which NHL players had the biggest jump in fantasy hockey ownership for the month of January 2019? Goalies not included.

1) TJ Brodie, Cgy, +27%: After 3 PTS in 14 December games played, Brodie put up 11 PTS in 11 GP in January, helping his ownership climb from 12% to 39%.

2) Frank Vatrano, Fla, +25%: By the end of December, Vatrano had scored 16 PTS in 37 GP and sat at 5% ownership. A 4-point night heading into the All-Star break helped his ownership skyrocket up to 30%.

3) Blake Coleman, NJ, +24%: In 12 January GP, Coleman produced 10 PTS with 39 shots and 40 hits. That’s very useful in most formats, rising him up to 47% ownership. He was only 3% owned at the start of November.

4) Vincent Trochek, Fla, +20%: Trochek was dropped in several leagues after a gruesome injury. He’s been scooped up in many of them after a speedy recovery, but still only sits at 71% (he was at 88% pre-injury).

5) Nino Niederreiter, Car, +20%: Nino has been a hot commodity since getting traded to Carolina. Scored 8 PTS in 12 Jan GP.

6) David Perron, Stl, +19%: Perron finished January injured and 38% owned after a nice little hot streak. His equilibrium ownership is around 18% and then he spikes with hot streaks.

7) Jacob Trouba, Wpg, +14%: The injury to Byfuglien has provided Trouba with more playing opportunities and he’s been playing well. Those numbers should start to fall when Buff returns.

8) Jared Spurgeon, Min, +13%: He stepped into the Matt Dumba void and is on pace for 48 PTS.

9) Brandon Tanev, Wpg, +13%: Tanev is at his most valuable in leagues that count hits. He started the season 0% owned and currently sits at 20%. In 12 Jan GP, he scored 6 PTS with 23 shots and 58 hits.

10) Erik Gustafsson, Chi, +12%: For a guy that was 0% owned heading into the season, he’s done well to climb up 39%. I’m not sure anyone was expecting him to become Chicago’s top offensive defenseman.

Worst Value:

*goalies not subject to minimum GP.

January Not-Star Team: Most Disappointing Players Over 60% Owned Feb 1, min 8 GP

F) Patrik Laine, Wpg, (99% owned): 12 GP, 3 PTS

F) Yanni Gourde, TB, (66% owned): 10 GP, 2 PTS

F) William Karlsson, LV, (85% owned): 10 GP, 2 PTS

D) Jake Gardiner, Tor, (61% owned): 8 GP, 1 PT

D) Ryan McDonagh, TB, (79% owned): 10 GP, 4 PTS

G) Sergei Bobrovsky, Clb, (98% owned): 7 GP, 2 wins, 4.18 GAA, .857 SV%

January Deep League Disappointment Team: Biggest January busts between 10% and 50% ownership. Min 8 GP.

F) Kyle Okposo, Buf, (11% owned): 10 GP 3 PTS

F) Patrick Marleau, Tor, (29% owned): 10 GP, 2 PTS

F) Andrei Svechnikov, Car, (32% owned): 12 GP 3 PTS

D) Josh Manson, Ana, (15% owned): 10 GP, 0 PTS

D) Cam Fowler, Ana, (22% owned): 9 GP, 0 PTS

G) Philip Grubauer, Col, (27% owned): 4 GP, 1 win, 4.71 GAA, 0.816 SV%

Top Ownership Decliners: 

What NHL players have seen their ownership drop the most in the month of January? Goalies are not included and there is an 8 GP minimum to avoid listing those who simply missed significant time with injury. Yes, some of these guys did miss a few games, but still played the majority. I want to look at the healthier players who dropped significantly.

1) Neal Pionk, NYR, -30%: Pionk produced 11 power play PTS in Oct and Nov, and then just 1 in Dec and Jan. He reached 60% ownership at the end of Nov, and fell to 30% by the end of Jan.

2) Jake Gardiner, Tor, -13%: It’s been a tough season for Gardiner, scoring just 1 point in January and getting booed at home.

3) Nate Schmidt, LV, -12%: Schmidt’s production has dropped since December (10 PTS in 12 GP), still producing 4 PTS in 10 Jan GP. Maybe he went off the juice…

4) Brady Tkachuk, Ott, -12%: The rookie was nearly a point per game player in the month of November, but saw his production drop off in Dec and Jan (7 PTS in 24 GP), ending Jan 25% owned.

5) William Nylander, Tor, -11%: Holding out the first two months of the season probably didn’t help. He did manage to double his Dec point total in January, so he’s at least trending in the right direction.

6) Jonathan Drouin, Mtl, -10%: He was awesome in Dec and mediocre in Jan, seeing his ownership decline from 61% to 50%

7) Patrick Marleau, Tor, -10%: Scoring only 2 PTS in 10 GP in January did not help Marleau’s fantasy ownership. Pat started the season 48% owned and that number has shrunk each month, down to 29% Feb 1.

8) Ilya Kovalchuck, LA, -9%: Kovlachuck started the season 91% owned and has plunged all the way down to 37%. Part of that was due to injury, the rest due to disappointing production.

9) Brent Seabrook, Chi, -9%: Seabrook had reached 60% ownership by the end of November, falling down to 38% Feb 1. His ice time has been slowly shrinking each month of the season. I’m not buying stock in Brent Seabrook going forward.

10) Yanni Gourde, TB, -9%: Gourde had a very inadequate January with 2 PTS in 10 GP while playing on the best offensive team in the league. The only reason he’s still owed in 66% of fantasy leagues is because people want to own stock in that Tampa team. At this point he’s not much better than a streamer in shallow leagues.