Buy/Sell for Week of Nov. 23
Some bigger names seem to be rounding in to form right now, and believe it or not, most of them are still available. Check out their status in your league if you need a flyer for the coming week…
BUY
Max Afinogenov (Atlanta)- There may be no one in the league hotter than Max right now. Over his last nine games he has just one scoreless outing and has amassed 6 goals and 7 assists over that span. This is a guy who sees a decent amount of powerplay ice time and is right around 20 minutes a night overall. Great value here and with Atlanta continuing to score quite a few goals, I like his outlook. (45% ownership in Yahoo! leagues)
Tomas Fleischmann (Washington)- Currently riding a nine game point streak, Fleischmann is a viable candidate at forward in almost every league. Most would argue that nearly all of this points this season came when Alex Ovechkin was out of the lineup. True, but even when #8 returned to face the Rangers on Tuesday, Fleischmann still netted an assist and landed over 19 minutes of ice time. Grab this hot hand while you can. (26% ownership)
J.P. Dumont (Nashville) – Having seen his share of time on the bench this season with a couple of injuries, owners were a bit frustrated with the Predator winger. Since coming back from his most recent injury though, Dumont has four points in four games (all assists) and has really sparked the Nashville offense in the process. Although he’s not a guy to really blow you away in ice time, he’s a remarkable passer and can land you the all important helper, especially in power play situations. (45% ownership)
Keep an eye on…
Radim Vrbata (Phoenix)- While the Coyote offense is nothing to bank on, Vrbata has been one of the bright spots thus far. He’s got five points in his last five games and has a pair of power play goals to go with a pair of game winning goals. Another good sign is he isn’t afraid to take the shot when the chance is there. Radim’s had seven games this year where he’s landed five or more shots on goal. (19% ownership)
Antero Niittymaki (Tampa Bay) – Still in a situation where he’s splitting time with Mike Smith, Niittymaki is making his case to be the #1 guy for the Lightning. With wins in three of his last five and overtime losses in the other two, he’s only given up three even strength goals in those games. The downside with him is that he faces a lot of shots night in and night out, so if he’s on, expect a good SV%, but if he’s off, you’ll be hurting. (50% ownership)
SELL
Stephane Robidas (Dallas) - While he has decent numbers for a defenseman, Robidas has only two points in his last eight games and is a -4 rating. Another huge concern is the amount of ice time he gets. Because he is averaging about 23 minutes a night, he’s more of a liability in the +/- column than anything. Also consider the fact that with the talent at forward the Stars have, their defensemen don’t land a ton of shots; Dallas defenders have a combined six goals this season.
Dustin Brown (Los Angeles)- The Ryan Smyth injury looks like it will hurt this team more than initially thought, Brown included. In the two and a half games since Smyth went down with an upper body injury, the Kings have looked disorganized and there has been a lot of line shuffling going on. Brown has just two points in his last six games. While he is fifth in the league in SOG, expect him to get fewer chances as defenses will be looking to stop him in Smyth’s absence.
Scott Gomez (Montreal) – Just two goals and nine assists this whole season have made the owners who drafted him furious. They expected a lot because of the Montreal acquisition of Brian Gionta, but with Gio sidelines with a broken foot, Gomez will be looked to to pick up the slack. The Canadiens really didn’t have a powerful scoring presence to begin with, but it looks like all visiting teams will have to do is shut down Mike Camalleri and Gomez in order to keep the Montreal offense in check.
Be very cautious…
Devin Setoguchi (San Jose) – By no means and I endorsing dropping Seto all together, but looking at possible trades wouldn’t be a bad idea. With the nagging injury he’s had so far this season, you might be able to round up a more reliable goal scorer from an owner chomping at the bit to get a big piece of the Shark offense (when he’s healthy).
Sheldon Souray (Edmonton) – It’s good to see the big Oiler defenseman back on the ice, but don’t be so fast to throw him in on a daily basis. He hasn’t really looked like himself in the six games he’s played this year, netting just two assists to date. He might be a bit hesitant to throw his weight around still, so the better option would be waiting for him to show signs before you plays him regularly.
November 21, 2009
