Watch List
November 10, 2009 HockeyGod
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.
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Filed under: Weekly Notes
