Week 9 Watchlist
December 9, 2009 HockeyGod
With the holidays coming posts may be a little slower here, but rest assured we’ll still be doing them. The next few weeks will be a great time to snag the prime waiver prospects while the rest of your league is busy spending time with their families. As a true fantasy hockey guru though, you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice the little things ( like family and showers) to stay on top. Here’s who I’m busy watching while you’re out there leading productive lives and interacting with people without a keyboard in between.
Before we get to that though, I want to do a special, one time section:
Players named Alex worth keeping an eye on:
Alex Goligoski is getting set to return.
Alexander Edler is declining into a sad disappointment. He’s still putting up OK numbers, but nothing like where you drafted him or what you expected out of him.
Alexei Ponikarovsky is technically an Alex, so I don’t want to hear your bitching. He’s also got 11 goals and is only owned in 50% of leagues. Get on that.
Alex Kovalev has only managed 4 goals so far for the Sens. Buy Low. Buy Very Low.
Alexei Kaigorodov is in the minors for Phoenix, and probably won’t see any playing time this year – but I bet you can’t pronounce his name 5 times fast. Try it.
Week 9 Watchlist
I just picked up Nick Antropov in an attempt to raise my dismal plus minus rating. He’s out there in a lot of leagues, and actually has value now that he’s not playing in Toronto.
Brian Boucher is taking over as the Flyers goalie for the next 6 weeks or so while Ray Emery is out injured. Stop reading now and go submit your waiver request if you owned Emery or desperately need help in net. Go ahead, I’ll wait. You don’t want what happened in my league, where a fellow Cheesehole editor who already has 3 prime goalies beats you to the waiver wire….. yes Carp, I hate you.
Mikael Samuelsson has been moved down to the 3rd line, and is seeing less ice time, but hasn’t stopped producing (10/10 with 5 on the PP as of today) His demotion may have caused some paranoid owners to drop him. It may also make him ripe for an under-value trade proposition.
LA is hot right now, and much of that is due to their goaltending, but many of their forwards like Stoll, Simmonds, and Williams are starting to gain traction. Ride them while they’re hot, or trade them if you can. I’m not sure how long this will sustain itself. Personally, I might take a chance on Dustin Brown.
I’ve mentioned him before, but Kyle Okposo (who?) is still only owned in 29% of Yahoo leagues. Yes, he plays on the craptastic Islanders, but he’s got 18 points, 16 PIM, and he plays on the powerplay. He’s not a bad off-day option.
Cam Ward returns from injury today, and may have been dropped in your league. His numbers haven’t been great so far, but I have a feeling he may rebound. He can probably be attained for little more than a bag of pucks right now in your league. It’s worth a shot.
Jimmy Howard is slowly taking over the starter role from Chris Osgood. It’s really tough to own Wings goalies in fantasy. They’re always good for Wins, but Detroit lets up so little shots against that they’re not really worth it for SV% and other categories. But, if you need wins….go wings.
Ryan Whitney has slowly been raising his stock with 13 helpers from the blue line – yet is still seeing a sub 50% ownage rate.
Marek Zidlicky shouldn’t be available in your league. For some reason he is in mine. Waiver claim submitted.
Filed under: Weekly Notes
