Week 8 Fantasy Stockwatch

Our Ross Devonport flip-flops on Jiri Hudler -- again -- and is beginning to take notice of Scott Clemmensen in his latest Fantasy Stockwatch.

By Ross Devonport

Nov 24, 2008 at 2:13 pm ET • 5 min read

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

	Jiri Hudler, RW, Detroit I swear, Hudler's name is in this column as often as mine! I had him up earlier this season, but then he cooled off so I made him a down. His roller coaster campaign is likely to continue for a while, but it looks like he's found his niche on the third line for the time being. He currently has three straight two-point games and 11 points in eight November contests. And while he's not on one of the Wings' scoring lines, he is seeing plenty of power play time with the likes of Johan Franzen, Mikael Samuelsson and Henrik Zetterberg. Think of Hudler as a nice low-end starter in deeper leagues.
	Cristobal Huet, G, Chicago OK, so it might be a bit early to panic, but the rotation system in Chicago went out the window last week as Nikolai Khabibulin won all of his three starts. The Russian and Huet had been splitting starts almost exactly 50/50, but now the hot hand has emerged. While Huet is clearly worth holding on to in Fantasy leagues for the foreseeable future, you probably should leave him on your bench for now unless you're in a league that rewards average points. With Khabibulin's age, it might only be a matter of time before he gets dinged up somehow, but the veteran clearly has the edge between the Windy City pipes.
	Bobby Ryan, RW, Anaheim Doesn't his name alone just exude class? It's like a combo between Bobby Orr and Nolan Ryan, after all. Ryan has a lot to live up to, but he's not showing any signs of nervousness so far in his second NHL trip and is already skating on the top line in Anaheim with Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. If he can keep his AHL pace up (19 pts in 14 games), this kid will vanish from waiver wires everywhere. Pick him up now in all leagues before it's too late.
	Maxim Afinogenov, RW, Buffalo When Afinogenov put up only 28 points in 56 games last season, we blamed it on injuries. OK, so what do we attribute this slow start in 2008-09 to then? Afinogenov has been a healthy scratch the past two games and has only one goal, eight assists and a minus-8 rating. The fact he started the season owned in 60 percent of leagues tells us many folks thought he would bounce back nicely from his disappointing campaign in 2007-08. Oh well. You're better off dropping him in most leagues right now, but he could still have some value in deeper formats as a bench warmer.
	Loui Eriksson, LW, Dallas My fellow Fantasy Hockey writer, Michael Hurcomb, listed Eriksson as a nice waiver-wire pickup last week, but now that Brenden Morrow is out for the season, Eriksson's value has suddenly sky-rocketed. Eriksson is currently tied for fourth on the Stars with 13 points, despite having only 40 in his previous 128 NHL games. He seems to have cemented himself on the Dallas scoring lines for now and could see his power play time increase with the absence of Morrow. He's definitely worth owning in 12- and 14-team leagues as a nice bench option with plenty of upside.
	Erik Cole, RW, Edmonton Cole has averaged 53.3 points over the last four seasons, but it looks like he might struggle to reach 35 this season if things continue the way they are going. Cole has only seven points (3G, 4A) in 20 games, a number which ranks him below four defensemen on his own team. Ouch. Cole clearly hasn't made the offensive impact Edmonton thought he would when it traded for him in the offseason, and he is barely worth using outside of the deepest Fantasy leagues right now.
	Scott Clemmensen, G, New Jersey I had Kevin Weekes as a down arrow last week, but wasn't quite ready to put Clemmensen as an up because I wanted to see how he did over a few starts first. Now that he has won three straight games and the Devils are playing some great hockey, I can safely suggest Clemmensen as a nice bench addition in deeper formats. Don't start him in Fantasy Week 8 (Nov. 24-30), however, as the Devils only play twice. Stupid schedule.
	Pierre-Marc Bouchard, RW, Minnesota If I didn't know any better, I would think Bouchard was French for 'flop'. After putting up 63 points last season, the Wild winger only has two goals and three assists in 15 games this campaign. While he was always likely to be a bench option in Fantasy play, he's barely even living up to that standard at the moment. He is still on the second line in Minnesota, but only because no one else behind him is producing. There are plenty of better options out there, so you're better off just avoiding Bouchard for the time being.
	Chuck Kobasew, RW, Boston Kobasew has only played in nine games this season after recovering from an ankle injury, but he has 10 points in those nine games, which is a superb pace for a guy who has never reached the 40-point mark in a season. He also has a superb plus-9 rating so far for a hot Bruins squad. While you shouldn't expect this kind of output from Kobasew to continue, he's certainly worth adding in deeper formats as a solid bench option.
	Lee Stempniak, RW, Toronto I did have Alexander Steen penciled in this spot, but after Monday's trade between the Leafs and the Blues, I changed my mind. Stempniak, whose output dropped 14 points to 38 last season, was playing on the second line in St. Louis, but might not be able to break into the top six immediately in Toronto, as their young scoring units are playing quite well recently. While Stempniak has a solid 12 points in nine November games, you should temper your expectations for him until he settles into a scoring-line spot with the Leafs, if that even happens.

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