Week 4 Fantasy Stockwatch

Our Ross Devonport talks up the recently rejuvenated Peter Budaj and Jeff Carter and worries about rookie Steven Stamkos in his latest Fantasy Stockwatch.

By Ross Devonport

Oct 27, 2008 at 11:40 am ET • 4 min read

Every week our Fantasy staff will evaluate the landscape around the NHL and how it pertains to Fantasy owners in Fantasy Stockwatch.

	Peter Budaj, G, Colorado Budaj was a breakout pick of mine heading into this season, but the 26-year-old Slovak then went out and lost his first three games. I admit I was worried, but now things are looking up as Budaj has settled down and evened his record at 3-3. He limited the Oilers and the Sabres to only one goal each in his last two starts, but this week will be a stern test as the Avs take on both Calgary and San Jose.
	R.J. Umberger, C, Columbus The Blue Jackets surely expected more from their offseason acquisition than two assists in his first eight games. Umberger was supposed to contribute on the scoring lines for Columbus, but instead he has now been relegated to the checking line. He might end up being a useful fill-in guy as the season progresses, but you should certainly bench his unproductive behind for the time being.
	Jeff Carter, C, Philadelphia Carter has scored in four straight games and will be one of the Flyers forwards who benefits most from the absence of Daniel Briere. While Carter failed to really impress in his first three NHL seasons, he showed in the minors that he can be a capable scorer when given plenty of ice time. These next few weeks will show us what Carter really has to offer.
	David Booth, LW, Florida Well, so much for that hot start. Booth, who scored only one point in October last season, hasn’t picked up a point in the month this year since he scored twice on Oct. 11 -- the Panthers’ second game of the season. With Stephen Weiss out and the Florida blue line also dealing with some injuries, Booth might well have to help out on the defensive end a bit more over the next week or two, so you should probably bench him until his situation improves.
	Nikolai Zherdev, RW, N.Y. Rangers It looks like a dose of the Big Apple is just what Zherdev needed to perform like we all think he's capable of. While his points have come in bunches so far this season, Zherdev has shown enough promise to be starting in 82 percent of leagues. The Rangers are playing extremely well right now, and you should take full advantage of that by starting the Russian in all formats. His pace might level off a little as the season goes on, but 60 points certainly isn't out of the question.
	Steven Stamkos, C, Tampa Bay It's always hard to live up to your hype, and maybe everyone expected a little too much out of young Mr. Stamkos early in his rookie season. We’re seven games in, and Stamkos has yet to register a point. He's also not playing that much, especially on the power play. While he probably won't get sent down before his contract officially starts in a couple of games, Stamkos should be benched in all seasonal formats until he starts to earn more minutes either via his play or through an injury to someone else.
	Filip Kuba, D, Ottawa Kuba was a serviceable offensive defenseman in Tampa Bay, but now he's in Ottawa and getting plenty of power play time with the trio of stud forwards in Canada's capital. He's managed a point in all eight Sens games so far, which is a record for NHL blue liners, and is tied for the league assist lead with Evgeni Malkin and Andy McDonald. The fact he's only starting in 88 percent of leagues right now is a travesty.
	Tobias Enstrom, D, Atlanta All of Enstrom's owners who thought the sophomore could build on his rookie season have to be scratching their heads right now, as the Swede only has one assist through his first seven games. The big reason for his poor production is that his power play time has been cut thanks to the arrival of Ron Hainsey and Mathieu Schneider. While Enstrom clearly has talent, he should be considered nothing more than a reserve blue-line for the foreseeable future.
	Christian Ehrhoff, D, San Jose With the departure of Brian Campbell to Chicago, someone in the San Jose defensive unit needed to step up their offensive game for the Sharks and so far it’s been Ehrhoff, who has eight points in his first eight contests after finishing with only 22 last season. The German was never much of a points-getter in his junior days, so we're not exactly sure where this outburst has come from. He's not getting a huge number of power play minutes, so he's clearly just playing well overall. Get him active while he's this hot.
	Lubomir Visnovsky, D, Edmonton Visnovsky scored 67 points three seasons ago as a member of the Kings, but his totals have slipped each season since and he only has three points through seven games this season. OK, so the Oilers aren't exactly an offensive machine, but were the Kings during Visnovsky's heydays? Maybe his 31 years are catching up with him, but NHL blue-liners can be productive well into their late 30s. Keep an eye on his stats over the next couple of weeks and be prepared to bench him if this scoring slump continues.

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