Sunday, December 22, 2019

2019 Week 12 NHL Fantasy Hockey Report


This is my week twelve fantasy hockey report for those competing in head to head categories or rotisserie leagues. There are both standard and deep league acquisition targets. This is more of a “waiver wire” report, looking for those who are more likely to be available in your league as opposed to the universally owned players. I also do not recommend any players who play 2 games or less over the next 7 days (Monday to Sunday), with a preference for those with 4 or more games.



Best Standard League Adds (20% to 60% Yahoo ownership):


1) Alex Killorn, TB, (41% Yahoo ownership): Killorn has been making frequent appearances on the Yahoo most added player list over the past few weeks, as he was just 15% owned on Dec 1st. Over his past 13 GP, Killorn has produced 12 PTS with 34 shots (averaging 19:07 of ice time) and has been playing on a line with Stamkos and Cirelli. The winger has also been seeing time on the top power play unit in Tampa, which would give any player a tremendous boost in value. The window to add Killorn is closing fast. They do have Detroit coming up this week.

2) Erik Gustafsson, Chi, (50% Yahoo ownership): After a fantastic breakout season, Gustafsson stumbled out of the starting gate, seeing his ice time diminish, even sitting out as a healthy scratch. That bad start is now in the rear-view mirror. Over his past 15 GP, the defenseman has scored 8 PTS (44-point pace), with 32 shots and 27 hits while averaging 22:09 of ice time. A big reason for his scoring resurgence is power play deployment. I added him as a streamer 2 weeks ago in a 12-team standard league and he’s been too good to drop.

3) Christian Dvorak, Ari, (26% Yahoo ownership): If you put any center in the league on a line with Taylor Hall and Phil Kessel, I would be recommending you add them to your fantasy team. Insert Christian Dvorak. We have no idea how long this assignment will last, but I want to own stock in Dvorak so long as it does. He has produced 10 PTS in his last 14 GP, and obviously most of that was done without the Hall-Kessel combo. Ergo he was still pretty good before landing this dream deployment, having made previous appearances in my deep league waiver targets section.

4) Clayton Keller, Ari, (59% Yahoo ownership): While Keller might not be playing on the top line with Hall and Kessel, he does see the ice with them on the power play, which can only help his production. It also means that other teams will be deploying their best shutdown pairings against a different target 5 on 5, which could provide an indirect boost to Keller’s numbers. If they ever do put him on a line with Hall, you’ll find him near the top of the most added player list. This recommendation is not necessarily a short-term streaming target, and more a guy that I’m interested in owning permanently for the second half. Dual wing eligibility helps. High shot volume, but doesn’t hit much.

5) Joonas Korpisalo, Cbj, (58% Yahoo ownership): If Korpisalo is still on your waiver wire, you need to consider making him a permanent addition to your roster. He’s been good enough for long enough to elevate him above streamer status. Over the last 30 days he has posted 7 wins with a 1.89 GAA and .929 SV %. I’ve owned him over that entire span in a 12-team standard league, and Korps has helped dig me out of a hole dug by Bobrovsky’s bad start. There’s probably a cold streak coming at some point in the future, but I’m going to continue riding this wave while it has momentum.


Last Week: Anthony Duclair, Joonas Korpisalo, Andre Burakovsky, Ryan Graves, Zack Kassian


Best Deep League Adds (under 20% ownership):


1) Noel Acciari, Fla, (12% Yahoo ownership): Acciari has scored 7 goals in his last 3 games. It’s worth pointing out that he’d gone pointless in his previous 6 games before this outburst, and this kind of success is not sustainable. That being said, I’m a big proponent of “ride the hot hand” and it doesn’t get much hotter than this. The Panthers have the Red Wings on the schedule next week and have been playing on a line with Trocheck and Huberdeau, and that’s a nice place to be. I’m just not sure how much longer they’ll keep Hoffman and Dadonov on the 3rd line. Also, Noel is French for Christmas, so now seems like the perfect time to add him...

2) James Reimer, Car, (17% Yahoo ownership): Reimer landed in Carolina as a salary dump after a subpar season in Florida. The expectations could not have been lower. I even saw a fantasy magazine that listed James as the Hurricanes #3 goalie behind some AHL standout. Despite these low expectations, Reimer has been having his best season in years with a .927 SV% in 14 GP. Over his past 6 GP, he’s posted a 1.34 GAA and .957 SV%, earning himself a greater time share with Mrazek. This level of success may not be sustainable, but I’m certainly jumping on the bandwagon in the meantime.

3) Dmitry Orlov, Wsh, (6% Yahoo ownership): Orlov has been a safe bet in fantasy over the past few seasons to score 30 PTS with 120 hits. 37 games into this season he’s on pace to set a career high in PTS, and may approach the 40-point threshold. The defenseman does have more appeal in bangers leagues, but is still useful in a variety of formats, albeit the deeper ones. I’m still not adding him in a standard sized league unless the schedule looks really good as a short-term streamer.

4) Zach Hyman, Tor, (12% Yahoo ownership): That ownership is too low for a player playing on a line with Tavares and Marner.  Hyman has not been hitting as much as past seasons, which does hurt his banger league appeal, but the good news is he’s scored 9 PTS in his last 13 GP with 32 shots, averaging 18:05 in ice time. That type of production warrants more than 12% ownership. His equilibrium ownership value was around 30% last season, so he is currently under-owned.

5) Nino Niederreiter, Car, (20% Yahoo ownership): If you listen to the Daily Faceoff podcast, they loved this guy heading into the season, and for the first two months was a major disappointment in the wake of an impressive 2nd half after being traded to Carolina last season. Yet over his past 6 GP, the winger has posted 6 PTS with 15 shots. He’s currently listed on a line with Aho and Teravainen, which helps explain his recent boost in production. I’m buying stock in that combination. Aho has been red hot.


Last Week: Gustav Nyquist, Samuel Girard, Calle Jarnkrok, Anders Nilsson, Oliver Bjorkstrand

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