Every week our Fantasy staff will evaluate the landscape around the NHL and how it pertains to Fantasy owners in Fantasy Stockwatch.
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| | Tomas Vokoun, G, Florida I didn't have Vokoun as a down earlier this season, but I did have his teammate Craig Anderson as an up when he appeared to have his mitts on the No. 1 job. Well, Vokoun has started three of the last four games for Florida and has produced solid numbers in those games. He will likely get the start again Tuesday against his old team, Nashville, and a decent outing in that contest will mean the No. 1 job is clearly his once again. Treat him as a No. 2 Fantasy option for now, but one with the potential to be a low-end No. 1. |
| | Joey MacDonald, G, N.Y. Islanders Staying with the goalie theme to start my column this week, MacDonald was playing very well earlier this season but I managed to refrain from naming him an up because I had a fear about what was to come. Well, that fear has turned into reality as the Islanders have been awful of late and MacDonald has lost eight straight starts. He's still ranked 10th among goalies in my experts league, so many people might be swayed by that fact and think of him as still start-worthy. However, wins are where it's at in Fantasy Hockey, and MacDonald might not be picking many of those up over the rest of this season. Cut him in most leagues, as he barely has any Fantasy viability right now, except for the fact he gets most of the starts for the Islanders. |
| | Drew Stafford, RW, Buffalo Stafford has yet to be much of a scorer in the NHL, but this is a guy who put up 44 points in 34 games during his brief AHL stint and clearly has some offensive talent, as he was quickly moved up to the NHL after leaving the University of North Dakota. After a brutal start (four points in first 18 games), Stafford now has 13 points in his last 12 games, mostly thanks to the resurgence of Derek Roy. Hopefully these two can stick together on the same line in Buffalo and continue to produce like this for an extended spell. Stafford, who is only owned in 39 percent of leagues, is a great sleeper addition for deeper leagues, simply because of his potential. |
| | Kristian Huselius, LW, Columbus Huselius is one of those most annoying Fantasy Hockey players. One week he can explode for eight points, but then can just vanish the next. Thing is, you just never know when those hot and cold streaks are going to happen. Since a nine points in nine games streak ended on Dec. 4, Huselius has been living up to his 'useless' nickname with just one goal and one assist in his last eight contests. He also has just three goals in his last 14 games. Owned in 71 percent of leagues, Huselius could legitimately be benched in all of those leagues until he starts to show some kind of consistency. |
| | Shane Hnidy, D, Boston I know, it seems like I put a Bruin in my column every week, but they are the top-scoring team in the NHL right now. Hnidy averaged about 13 minutes a game in October, a month in which he only managed one assist in 10 games. Things didn't go much better in November (two points), but Hnidy has really turned things up a notch in December. He is playing over 18 minutes a game this month and has four points and a plus-7 rating in nine contests. Of course, he's been helped by injuries to Aaron Ward and Andrew Ference, but while Hnidy is in the top pairing with Zdeno Chara, he's definitely worth a flier in super-deep leagues when the Bruins have three or four games in a period. |
| | Niklas Kronwall, D, Detroit Many Fantasy owners jumped on the Kronwall bandwagon in drafts this season after he put up 35 points in 2007-08, his second NHL season. Well, after a decent first couple of months (13 points in 22 games), he's really cooled down in December with only one point in nine games. He's now on pace to match his total from last season, which makes him a No. 3 Fantasy defenseman in 12-team leagues or thereabouts. While he's clearly worth holding on to, there are hotter options out there at the moment that should be starting ahead of him in smaller formats. |
| | Scott Hartnell, LW, Philadelphia After a pedestrian start this season (13 points in 23 games), Hartnell has been banging the puck in left and right since the calendar turned to December. He has two hat tricks in his last six games and 12 points in his 10 games this month, and is sporting a ridiculous 20.6 shot percentage since the first. While he's unlikely to keep up this pace for too long, Hartnell is on pace for a career-best season and is certainly worth starting as a low-end winger in deeper formats right now. |
| | Joe Pavelski, C, San Jose Pavelski was superbly consistent back in October, with points in seven of 11 games, but he's been as streaky as a slice of Canadian bacon since then. If you take away his back-to-back three-point efforts in mid-November and his three straight two-point games either side of the calendar flip, he has just three assists in his last 14 games. Owners are figuring him out lately, as his starting percentage has dropped 22 points in December, but he should still be owned in less than 76 percent of leagues. He's worth holding on to in deeper leagues, but he's just too unreliable to be wasting your time on in 10-team formats. |
| | Peter Forsberg, C, Free agent Yup, he's at it again. After leaving his NHL return late last season and then disappointing with just one goal in nine games, Forsberg is apparently targeting a return to North America as early as late January, according to one report. While Forsberg didn't score much last season, he did manage 13 assists in those nine games, and the Avalanche could surely use his offensive skills right now as they rank 23rd in goals and were blanked by the poor Panthers on Sunday. He's only owned in 11 percent of leagues at the moment, so go grab him in deeper formats if you have an available bench spot. You could be richly rewarded come the spring if he does return. |
| | Michael Nylander, C, Washington With all the injuries that have ravaged the Capitals squad over the last month, you would have thought Nylander might have got some extra ice time to see if that would help his slumping offensive game. Well, that hasn't come to fruition and the veteran has just a paltry three goals and 16 points through 33 games. Luckily, Fantasy owners are paying attention and he's only starting in 24 percent of leagues right now, but the fact he hasn't shown any signs of life yet lead me to believe this drought could last for a while. |
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