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.
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| | Mike Comrie, C, N.Y. Islanders It wasn't all that long ago that Comrie was Fantasy relevant. At one point he was a holdout with the Edmonton Oilers, had posted 53 goals in two seasons and was a player who was wanted by NHL teams and Fantasy owners. After a couple of disappointing and injury-plagued seasons in Philadelphia and Phoenix, he bounced back with 30 goals with the Coyotes in 2005-06 after the lockout. He slipped back to 20 goals and 45 points, missing 17 games splitting time between Phoenix and Ottawa last season. Now, he is skating with the Islanders, sitting with four goals and six points through three games. He sunk the Sabres with two game-winning goals in their home-and-home series to open the regular season. The ability has always been there, but sometimes he seems a little disinterested. |
| | Jere Lehtinen, W, Dallas Lehtinen has posted just one assist and a minus-3 rating in three games with the Stars, who are stumbling a little bit out of the gate. Lehtinen is a solid veteran who should be able to bounce back, but right now he is doing very little to warrant Fantasy consideration. The Finn rarely takes a penalty, so if he is not going to score and take a minus each night, he is mostly useless to owners in leagues that reward penalty minutes. The Stars will get it together eventually, but so far during the early season they are looking very old. Might this be the team that does an imitation of the 2006-07 Philadelphia Flyers? |
| | Dan Hamhuis, D, Nashville The Nashville Predators are off to a great start because of their defense and goaltending. However, their defensive corps took a hit when Shea Weber suffered a dislocated kneecap last Thursday. That loss for the Predators will be the gain of Hamhuis, who is expected to team with veteran Greg de Vries to pick up the slack. de Vries, Hamhuis and Marek Zidlicky will all see an increase in power play time, at least for the next three to six weeks until Weber can get back on the ice. |
| | Paul Mara, D, N.Y. Rangers What happened to Mara? Was the Phoenix system that good for him? He managed 21 goals and 89 points in two seasons from 2003-06, but before those two seasons in the desert and ever since, he has been lost offensively. The Boston Bruins gave up on him last season, shipping him to the New York Rangers at the trading deadline. So far, he has been unable to jump-start his career and was a healthy scratch over the weekend. Coach Tom Renney appears to think of him as nothing more than a sixth or seventh defenseman, which does nothing for his Fantasy appeal. If you drafted him, cut bait now and pick up someone who can help you. His teammate and Marek Malik is hated in New York, but at least he plays, is available in 60 percent of CBSSports.com leagues and can help in the plus/minus category. |
| | Jaroslav Hlinka, W, Colorado The 30-year-old rookie from the Czech Republic has been promoted to the team's top scoring line with Andrew Brunette and Joe Sakic. He has looked anything but lost, too, posting two assists in three games with the Avalanche. As long as he skates with the dynamic duo of Brunette and Sakic, we expect his first NHL goal to come soon and for him to continue to gain confidence. Meanwhile, coach Joel Quenneville is combining Milan Hejduk, Ryan Smyth and Paul Stastny for a second super line. The Avalanche are looking like the Senators of the Western Conference, with a plethora of Fantasy options. |
| | Fredrik Norrena, G, Columbus The Columbus Blue Jackets have two goaltenders who are capable of winning in spurts in the NHL, but have yet to produce consistent results over a long period of time. Norrena stepped in last season and had a decent run before fizzling down the stretch. Now, he is in a battle with Pascal Leclaire and he clearly sits as the No. 2 guy for the Jackets. His Fantasy value is limited to those leagues that average points per game in a scoring period, as coach Ken Hitchcock is going with the hot hand and that's not Norrena, at least for now. |
| | Pascal Leclaire, G, Columbus If you are an owner of Norrena, you'll likely find Leclaire available in a lot of leagues. Fantasy owners tend to shy away from the Columbus netminders, even when there is a clear cut No. 1. People are starting to take notice of Leclaire, however, as his ownership has jumped to 32 percent from 18 in CBSSports.com Fantasy leagues. People are snapping him up because he blanked the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks in Friday's opener. However, that's one game and the Ducks might be a bit tired after an extended road trip that saw them start out the season in London. Don't overvalue Leclaire and drop another goaltender who is struggling but does not have a solid backup. Leclaire's leash is a lot shorter than most because Norrena has proven capable last season when Leclaire was down with a knee injury. Consider him a low-end No. 2 at this point. |
| | Mason Raymond, W, Vancouver We trumpeted Raymond's arrival into the NHL in the first Stockwatch, but our interest has since cooled on him. We still think he is a nice long-term investment for owners in keeper leagues, but the fact that coach Alain Vigneault made him a healthy scratch for Brad Isbister throws up a huge red flag. Isbister? There didn't seem to be a good reason, either, since Raymond had an assist in the team's regular season opener against the Sharks. Perhaps Vigneault is just trying to ease the youngster into the NHL or he saw some sort of hole in his game that made him turn sour immediately. Either way, we don't like a guy being on the top scoring line one night and then in the press box the next. There are too many options out there for you to have to deal with that type of uncertainty. |
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.