Each week during the season, we'll survey the Fantasy Hockey landscape and provide you with a list of players whose Fantasy value has increased or decreased over the course of the past week.
Mike Green, D, Washington A coaching change, lack of production from Tom Poti and a few injuries have cleared the way for Green to join the top defensive pairing in Washington. How has he responded? By scoring six times and adding nine assists since Dec. 8. He has been exceptionally strong in his last six games with three goals and six assists. Head coach Bruce Boudreau is cuckoo for this kid and so should Fantasy owners. |
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Carey Price, G, Montreal The Canadiens sent shockwaves through the NHL Tuesday when they sent Price down to Hamilton of the AHL. Price, the No. 5 pick in the 2005 Draft, began the season with Montreal as a surprise pick over Jaroslav Halak, who was recalled to take Price's backup role to Cristobal Huet. Price went 9-7-3 with a 2.90 goals-against-average and a .907 save percentage in 19 games. He even had a stretch in December where he started seven straight games when Huet was out with an injury, but he really struggled in his last three games, going winless (0-2-1) and allowing 12 goals. Huet has been hot, so this is the right time to send Price down to the minors for more seasoning. He still remains a solid long-term Fantasy keeper. |
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Andrei Kostitsyn, RW, Montreal The Canadiens were looking for an offensive spark and they found one when they paired Kostitsyn on the second line with Tomas Plekanec and Alexei Kovalev. Also, bringing up little bro Sergei from the minors in mid-December really motivated the third-year forward. Since Dec. 6, he has scored eight goals and added seven assists. He has managed a point in 12 of 14 games through Monday. He has also scored in three straight games and four of the last five. |
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Michael Cammalleri, C, Los Angeles The fifth-year pro out of Michigan wishes he could go back in time and return to the beginning of the NHL season when he was on top of his game. He began the season with 10 goals in 10 games, but since has scored five in his last 26 contests. To add injury to insult, he has missed the last six games through Monday with bruised ribs and remains day-to-day. |
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J.P. Dumont, RW, Nashville The Predators have put Dumont among their top power-play skaters and the move has paid dividends. Since Dec. 18, he has scored four of his five power-play goals. He also has scored in eight of 11 games, including a goal in each of his last five contests, which he continued by scoring a power-play goal Monday against the Ducks. Dumont, now skating with Jason Arnott and Alexander Radulov, has also helped his linemates by adding four assists in his last nine games. |
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Cory Murphy, D, Florida Murphy appears to have one of the worst shoulder injuries in history. The rookie defenseman has not played since mid-November and continues to be listed as out indefinitely. He is skating with the team in practice, and an MRI cleared him of serious damage, but he is still having trouble shooting the puck. Murphy burst onto the scene when he scored one goal and added eight assists in his first 11 games. He was quickly moved to the top power-play unit in Florida and won over many Fantasy owners as well. |
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Kristian Huselius, LW, Calgary The Flames have until July 1 to sign Huselius to a contract extension or the sixth-year forward will become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. If Calgary is smart, they will lock him up to a long-term deal. Huselius has bumped Alex Tanguay from the top line. Huselius now skates with Jarome Iginla and Daymond Langkow on most nights to make up one of the top scoring lines in the NHL. Huselius has been a real gem for the Flames since coming to them from Florida in 2005. He has 153 points in 178 games with Calgary and after Monday's games and ranks 13th in the NHL in points with 20 goals and 27 assists. He has been on a real tear in his last five games with six goals and six assists. |
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Filip Kuba, D, Tampa Bay No one misses Dan Boyle (wrist) more than Kuba. The ninth-year defenseman experienced a career season in 2006-07 with the Lightning, his first season playing alongside Boyle. He scored a career-high 15 goals and added a career-high 22 assists. He initially played well when Boyle left the lineup in early November. Kuba had a point in 12 of 16 games from Nov. 7-Dec. 11. However, he has struggled since by managing just one assist in his last 11 games to go along with a minus-12 rating. Boyle's expected return in late January/early February can't come fast enough. |
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Mike Fisher, C, Ottawa Fisher should get injured more often. He sat out a few games in mid-December with an abdominal strain, but returned to the lineup Dec. 22 against the Blackhawks. He failed to record a point in his return, but he has since managed a point in seven straight games through Monday. During that span, he has scored in five of seven games, including a streak of four games where he scored at least one goal and six total. During his points streak, he has seven goals and three assists. Being on one of the top offensive teams has its perks. Fisher is on track for a career high 59 points. |
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Nik Antropov, C, Toronto We knew it was too good to be true. Antropov was having some start to the season when he managed 15 goals and 20 assists in his first 33 games. He was headed for a career season. While the career season is still possible for the eighth-year center, he has gone cold since mid-December. He is without a point in his last nine games through Monday and skated on the second line Jan. 5 against the Flyers with Kyle Wellwood and Alexei Ponikarovsky -- two players also stuck in scoring slumps. |
Do you have a trade you'd like reviewed by our experts, or feel that we're missing someone from our Stockwatch? You can e-mail us at DMFantasyPucks@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Fantasy Pucks in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware we do not guarantee personal responses to all questions.