OTHER STRUGGLING FORWARDS
Beyond that list, other guys who are struggling top forwards are Eric Staal (mainly that hideous -13 rating), Zach Parise (is he totally healthy?), Jeff Carter, Alexander Semin and Ilya Kovalchuk. Most, if not all, should “figure it out” but it’s disheartening to lose almost a month of production from expensive draft picks.
DISAPPOINTING DEFENSEMEN
Here’s a quick look at some blueliners who are making their fantasy owners blue.
Drew Doughty – The contract holdout was a red flag, and to be honest, last season didn't consistently show off his best work. Hopefully he’ll get it together once he bounces back from his injury issues, though.
Lubomir Visnovsky – The speedy scoring D played over his head in 2010-11, so a little drop-off was to be expected. He’s likely to regain value, although his days of being a true elite might be short lived.
Alex Goligoski – Originally, my guess was that Sheldon Souray was stealing too many of his PP minutes. Maybe “Studly Wonderbomb” is indeed taking some of that time, but Goligoski hasn’t been very productive in the post-Brad Richards Era. The Dallas Stars are getting their points outside of the power play anyway, so “Gogo” might be in the same “serious downgrade” pile as Lubo.
Tyler Myers – Getting Robyn Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff in the mix will help Myers’ development, but it won’t make him a big difference maker on D.
Niklas Kronwall – I cannot believe I’m even saying this, but maybe finally getting his big contract will make him snap out of his funk.
GOALIES
When it comes to the high-end goalies, the smart move is to stick with guys like Roberto Luongo and Carey Price even if it’s uncomfortable in the early goings. If it makes you feel better to add some goalie insurance – especially if it’s that goalies backup, like Cory Schneider in Vancouver – then just do it.
The only truly worrisome case of a legit guy (to clarify, Steve Mason isn’t legit) is Ilya Bryzgalov. He’s in a new system, his confidence is waning and his backup was the number one last season. I don’t think Breezy’s totally hopeless in the big picture, but fantasy owners might be forced to navigate some treacherous waters with the talented Russian in goal.
INJURY SNIPES
Nick Spaling is day-to-day with a lower-body injury … Daniel Alfredsson will miss at least a week with his concussion issues. (Click here for the full list.)
Monday’s edition of the Hockey Daily Dose focused on quick-starting players who may or may not be able to maintain their torrid early season paces. To complete the circle, let’s take a look at normally strong performers who have been anything but to see if some of them can bounce back.
FORWARDS STUCK IN PLACE
Jason Brough of Pro Hockey Talk listed 10 players who are “killing” fantasy teams, but I’ll take a look at the guys whose expectations were especially high (sorry, Saku Koivu). Much like Monday’s column, I’ll use shooting percentage as one barometer for how they’re faring so far.
Henrik Zetterberg: 2 G, 1 A for 3 P in 9 games; -4 rating; 42 Shots on Goal with a 4.8 percent rate. (Last season: 80 pts; 11.1 shooting percentage)
Ville Leino: 1 G, 1 A, 2 P; -4; 5 SOG and 20 shooting % (Last season: 53 points; 14.4 career shooting percentage)
Derek Roy: 1 G, 3 A, 4 P; 20 SOG and 5 shooting % (35 pts in 35 GP last season; 13 shooting %)
Jarome Iginla: 2 G, 2 A, 4 P; 22 SOG and 9.1 shooting % (Last season: 86 pts; 13.3 career percentage)
Chris Stewart: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P; 37 SOG and 5.4 shooting % - 25 PIM (Last season: 53 pts and 13.3 shooting %)
Michael Grabner: 3 G, 0 A, 3 P; 13 SOG and 23.1 shooting % (Last season: 52 pts; 13.8 career %)
Looking at that list, I’d break those forwards into three categories.
1. Shooters who should start getting bounces
Zetteberg, Roy and Stewart are the polar opposite of guys like Phil Kessel: their shots just aren’t finding the back of the net at the rate that they should. Each one of them should have about twice as many goals as they've ended up with, while various factors (Detroit’s scoring drought, Roy’s rustiness, etc.) should work themselves out. Stewart also brings impressive penalty minute totals to the table, so he hasn’t been a complete waste.
2. Slow starters
The former group might fit into this category as well, but Iginla has become notorious in fantasy circles as a slow starter. It doesn’t necessarily happen every season, but for whatever reason, he tends to score at a higher rate as the year goes along. Of course, at some point he’ll inevitably go from “slow starter” to just flat-out past his prime, so that habit makes fantasy owners nervous.
3. Post-contract year letdowns
During the 2010-11 season, Leino and Grabner were a) playing over their heads for new deals and b) in really fortunate situations. Leino received easy matchups in Philly (not to mention quality teammates) while Grabner received a lot of opportunities by default because the Islanders had limited options.
Both boast high shooting percentages but low results, which means two things: either they need to start firing the puck on the net more often or their hot streaks are over. It might even be a combination of those two factors.
Then again, Leino’s luck might resume in a similar way to his nice breaks in Philly; he’s getting a plum job beside Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek, at least for the time being.
OTHER STRUGGLING FORWARDS
Beyond that list, other guys who are struggling top forwards are Eric Staal (mainly that hideous -13 rating), Zach Parise (is he totally healthy?), Jeff Carter, Alexander Semin and Ilya Kovalchuk. Most, if not all, should “figure it out” but it’s disheartening to lose almost a month of production from expensive draft picks.
DISAPPOINTING DEFENSEMEN
Here’s a quick look at some blueliners who are making their fantasy owners blue.
Drew Doughty – The contract holdout was a red flag, and to be honest, last season didn't consistently show off his best work. Hopefully he’ll get it together once he bounces back from his injury issues, though.
Lubomir Visnovsky – The speedy scoring D played over his head in 2010-11, so a little drop-off was to be expected. He’s likely to regain value, although his days of being a true elite might be short lived.
Alex Goligoski – Originally, my guess was that Sheldon Souray was stealing too many of his PP minutes. Maybe “Studly Wonderbomb” is indeed taking some of that time, but Goligoski hasn’t been very productive in the post-Brad Richards Era. The Dallas Stars are getting their points outside of the power play anyway, so “Gogo” might be in the same “serious downgrade” pile as Lubo.
Tyler Myers – Getting Robyn Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff in the mix will help Myers’ development, but it won’t make him a big difference maker on D.
Niklas Kronwall – I cannot believe I’m even saying this, but maybe finally getting his big contract will make him snap out of his funk.
GOALIES
When it comes to the high-end goalies, the smart move is to stick with guys like Roberto Luongo and Carey Price even if it’s uncomfortable in the early goings. If it makes you feel better to add some goalie insurance – especially if it’s that goalies backup, like Cory Schneider in Vancouver – then just do it.
The only truly worrisome case of a legit guy (to clarify, Steve Mason isn’t legit) is Ilya Bryzgalov. He’s in a new system, his confidence is waning and his backup was the number one last season. I don’t think Breezy’s totally hopeless in the big picture, but fantasy owners might be forced to navigate some treacherous waters with the talented Russian in goal.
INJURY SNIPES
Nick Spaling is day-to-day with a lower-body injury … Daniel Alfredsson will miss at least a week with his concussion issues. (Click here for the full list.)