Watch List

Those who play fantasy hockey with me know that I keep one of the most accurate and up to date watch lists that there is. Chances are if you just picked up a player, he was already on my watch list. I’m the guy that snagged Peverly before he got hot and traded him for a top tier player. I’m the guy who had Quick sitting on the bench before you heard of him – and lucky for you I’m the guy who’s going to tell you who the next pickups in your league will be.

Cam Ward is out for 4 to 5 weeks and the Canes have called up 36 year old Manny Legace to be their go to guy in his absence. Legace’s played 6 games for the AHL Wolves so far, and has posted a dismal 3.21GAA with a .898 SV%. Carolina is struggling though, and Legace is of interest because if he plays good, he may just stick around and steal some starts from Ward. Never underestimate the veteran who feels like he’s got something to prove.

Milan Michalek was dropped in a lot of leagues at the start due to his poor performance, but the LW has 10 points through 12 games and should be owned in every league out there but is only owned in about 70% of Yahoo leagues. If he’s not owned in your league pick him up before somebody else does.

David Clarkson (owned in 40% of leagues) is seeing a lot of pickups now, but his role on the PP will probably decrease as soon as Elias returns to playing full time. I’d look elsewhere for powerplay help.

Antero Niittymaki is starting to see increased playing time with Mike Smith Struggling, and he’s making the best of it. Antero is 4-1 with a 1.95 / .940 but it only owned in 30% of leagues. If you’re stuck with a struggling Carey Price or Chris Osgood, Nittymaki may be the reason you’re looking for to leave those guys on the bench against tougher matchups.

Update:Okposo has just been quarantined from the team since it was discovered he’s also come down with the H1N1 swine flu. Given that, I’d leave him benched in daily leagues for a while. Kyle Okposo has really benefited from playing alongside Tavares and has managed to put up 10 points in the last 12 games as well. As a general rule, I tend to avoid drafting anybody on the Islanders (mainly because I haven’t heard of any of them) but Okposo should see some heavy ice time and powerplay chances as the season goes on. He’s worth stashing away on the bench on daily leagues. I wouldn’t quite play him in weekly format yet though.

Ian White, despite being a the #3 defenseman in Toronto, has been seeing his fair share of powerplay time. The leafs are still god awful, but White may be worth taking a flyer on in deep daily (ones with 5 or more D per team) leagues. I wouldn’t use a high waiver here though.

Jay McKee is currently one of the top 100 players in the league. I never thought I’d say that, but he does usually lead in blocked shots and always posts a positive plus minus. With Letang being out for about 2 weeks, McKee should see a slightly increased role as well. If you’re really hurting in the +/- and PIM category, you could do a lot worse than McKee. Just don’t expect too much offensive stats – as shown by his 5% ownership in Yahoo leagues.

Chris Neal is somebody who a lot of people will end up picking up based on rank alone. That rank is due to his extremely high number of penalty minutes – which are artificially inflated by his 21 minutes against Tampa. Pass on Neal and laugh at those who only play based on Yahoo ranks.

Alexei Ponikarovsky is the guy you’ll want to target if you insist on owning a Maple Leaf this year – but unless you’re one of those who likes to draft players who you can watch regularly on CBC, I wouldn’t touch anybody on Toronto’s roster. Even Blake is a free agent in my league (and he’s the only one worth drafting.) Still, 8 points in 12 games and powerplay time… there are lots of worse players you could pick up. See above.

Mike Comrie has come back to life after a long battle with the flu to score 2 goals last week. Look for him to heat up and get back to his regular self once the Oilers can finally get past their flu outbreak. Keep him off your bench for now to avoid infecting your other players, but keep an eye on him in the coming weeks. A 7% ownership is way too low for him – diseased or not.

Ryan O’Reilly 14 points in 18 games, and whopping +13. The Avs are hot and the 2nd round draft pick is off to an even hotter start. Eventually Colorado is going to simmer down and O’Reilly won’t be able to sustain these numbers, but for now things look good so pick him up if he hasn’t already been added and try to trade him for somebody who’s slumping. You may get a hell of a deal from an Elias, Lecavalier, or Datsyuk owner who has grown impatient with their high round draft choice.

Niklas Kronwall should see some increased powerplay time now that Jason Williams is out. Brad Stuart also becomes the #4 D man on the PP. Kronwall is 2/4/-1/16 so far this year while Stuart is posting a 1/1/-3/6. There’s better D out there than Stuart, but Kronwall is worth a serious look in most leagues.

Want to know my opinion on other players? Have a question for me? Follow me on Twitter at @HGcheesehole

November 10, 2009

Buy/Sell for Week of Nov. 9

BUY

Jerome Iginla (Calgary) – This probably comes as nor surprise to many of you, but consider the fact that his slow start may have made him available by his owners in some leagues.  Last week he posted 4 goals (2 of them on the PP), 1 assist, and ended the week +1.  This week, the Flames are on an east-coast trip with visits at Montreal, Buffalo, and Toronto.  The Montreal and Toronto games look like good spots where Iggy might see quality even-strength and multiple PP chances.

Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles) – Last week’s leading point scorer netted 3 goals and 3 helpers.  The surprising thing about those numbers is that none of his goals came on the PP (which by all accounts was his M.O. the majority of the season thus far).  Again, Anze is probably owned in most leagues, but his owners have to be wondering just how long the Kings plan on maintaining their baffling start to the season.

Alex Tanguay (Tampa Bay) – At last check, he was only owned in about 40-50% of fantasy leagues.  Following a 5 point week (2 goals, 3 assists) and looking ahead to a this week where the Lightning are at home for their only two meetings against Minnesota and Los Angeles.  The Wild have seen their share of road struggles this season and the Kings will be playing the second game of a back-to-back schedule in the midst of a five game, 8 day road trip.  In his career, Tanguay has 38 points in 43 games against the Wild to go with 23 points in 28 games against the Kings.

Take a flyer on…

Pavel Kubina (Atlanta) – Scored his first 3 goals of the season (2 on the PP) and added 8 PIM last week.  Playing well at a good time with Peverly, Little, and Antropov scoring as well.  Games @NYR, vLA, and vEDM.

Brendan Morrison (Washington) - Filled in nicely in a bigger role with some of the Caps’ star players injured.  Only a 3 point week, but the bigger picture shows he’s getting more ice time and better scoring chances.  Games vNYI, vMIN, and @NJ.

Jeff Tambellini (N.Y. Islanders) – The Isles hovering around .500 this far into the season is more surprising overall, but JT has been a huge part of that.  Tavares, Moulson, and Okposo seem to be the big names, but Tambellini has 6 goals and 3 helpers thus far.  Games @WAS, @CAR, and @FLA.

SELL

David Backes (St. Louis) – After what was a red hot start, the Blues have faded off, somewhat dramatically, and now find themselves at 5-6-4.  Backes was expected to be one of their biggest contributors along with Brad Boyes, Paul Kariya, and a host of younger talent.  Unfortunately, Backes has just 2 points in 15 games and more surprising for his fantasy value, only 15 PIM to date (a far cry from the 165 PIM he spent in the box last season).  A tough stretch of games this week against Vancouver, Nashville, and San Jose doesn’t have me any more optimistic that things will change.  Unload him via trade or drop.

Olli Jokinen (Calgary) – You may be asking yourself, how can he like Iginla but not Jokinen when they are back on the same line together?  Well, having scored only 2 goals in 15 games this season has a lot to do with that.  Granted, you’ll find your Calgary faithful out there who still feel that the Olli who had 15 points in 19 games at the end of last season with Calgary will eventually show up.  Unfortunately, I’m not holding my breathe any longer.  Sell him now if you can for a mid-level or second-liner and consider yourself lucky.

Ray Whitney (Carolina) – It goes without saying that Carolina is off to a horrific start, but Whitney, who was coming off of a 77 point campaign in 2008 was expected to lead this team.  So far, he has only 4 goals and 4 assists in 14 games and is a -4.  We can trace his woes this season back to the fact that he just isn’t getting the scoring chances like he was last season.  With only 28 shots on goal, he is on pace for 164 this season compared to last year where he landed 219 on net.  His ice time isn’t going down, and now the ‘Canes are without Cam Ward in net, so dumping Whitney seems like a great move.

Be very cautious…

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg (Detroit) – For the moment, both are still “must starts” in almost all leagues.  However, a recent run of injuries to the Red Wings will put significantly more pressure on the stars to perform.  No Filppula, no Franzen, and now no Jason Williams, could make these two hard to start with any confidence.  Games @CLS, vVAN, and vANH.

Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh) – Pointless in four straight games now, it is evident that the Pens miss Evgeni Malkin opposite of Crosby.  During his scoreless streak, Sid is a -4 and has just 9 SOG.  Malkin is at least one more week away from returning, but I still think Crosby gets in most starting lineups anyways.  Games @BOS, vNJ, and vBOS.

Dennis Wideman (Boston) – A lot was expected out of Boston following their finish a year ago, but so far, they’ve fallen drastically short.  Wideman is pointless in 10 straight games, and is a -1 to boot.  The Bruins are obviously in an offensive funk at the moment, so until they bust out of it, use extreme caution with any Boston player.  Games vPIT, vFLA, and @PIT.

1 Comment November 9, 2009

Cleary Scores Number 100.

Congrats to Dan Cleary on scoring his 100th career NHL goal. It was an ugly loss to the Leafs, but Cleary’s goal was a pretty one. Check it out:

November 8, 2009