UNDER 50
Jiri Hudler (19 percent owned) - When it comes to cruising the waiver wire, don’t forget to occasionally glance at averages over totals. Guys who dealt with injuries or signed late might be making a bigger difference than it seems. Hudler is a good example; he has three goals and eight points with seven games, with an average of 18:26 minutes per game. The Flames made a big investment in him this offseason, so he should continue to receive golden opportunities to succeed. With two 50+ point seasons and two 23+ goal seasons already in his career, he could be quite useful. He's not a huge peripheral guy, though.
Alexander Steen (40 percent) - The St. Louis Blues haven't been playing well lately, but Steen is finally finding the net. Even so, his two goals represent a low yield for his impressive 46 shots on goal, so things could very well continue to progress for the underrated forward. I like that he's dual eligible (C/LW) and that he gets plenty of SOG, with an average of at least three per game the last three seasons and 2.5 in his career. He won’t cover your PIM needs, however.
Jamie McGinn (10 percent) - If you’ve noticed a theme about peripheral stat guys getting favorable reviews, you’re paying attention. For me, that’s the tie-breaker with a lot of fringe guys; would you rather have a player who’s a coin toss to register a point or an almost sure-thing to help you in predictable categories? McGinn is shaping up to be the latter, but I wonder if he could also provide a nice amount of the former, too. He has just a single goal on 36 shots this season, connecting on a mere 2.8 percent of his shots. Even so, he has a solid six points and a more-than-solid 13 PIM.
He should be a decent source of hits and could really climb in those other categories if he continues to average close to 18 minutes per game like he is. I'd say hold off on adding him if you're on the fence, but keep an eye on this interesting all-purpose forward as the season rolls along.
INJURY NOTES (full list) and QUICK HITS
Jaroslav Halak seemed to tweak his groin on Monday, opening the door for Brian Elliott to step back in (and lose badly) … Are you a Miikka Kiprusoff owner? If so, stay tuned to news today; the team is supposed to make an announcement about its goaltending situation. Uh oh … Dare I ask if the Philadelphia Flyers are rounding into “team you dress your players against if at all possible” form? … James Reimer went down with an injury Monday, but the early word is that it isn’t too severe. As always, keep your eyes open for updates, though … Brandon Dubinsky finally scored a goal on Monday. He has good all-purpose potential, but do note that 20 of his 37 PIM came in a single game … Keep an eye on Jiri Tlusty. He had four points riding shotgun with Alexander Semin and Eric Staal last night … Marcus Johansson is day-to-day with an upper-body issue … Jeff Skinner now has a five-game point streak. My favorite part of his stats? He’s fired 51 SOG, so it’s not just luck. Can the kid stop smiling so much, though? Kinda rubbing it in on the rest of us … The San Jose Sharks losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 is surprising, but regression is not. The biggest worry is that the team is struggling to find depth scoring. Outside of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Dan Boyle, no one has more than five points … Gotta hand it to Matt Moulson. He keeps getting it done about as quietly as you can. He also might be the best example of referrals in the NHL. It sounds like he got his foot in the door because of John Tavares’ good word and he’s really run with that shot … Can’t help but ask: shouldn’t the Los Angeles Kings at least consider giving Jonathan Bernier more starts? Things aren’t going too well for Jonathan Quick right now, and they can boost the once-hyped backup’s trade value in the process … Michael Cammalleri is day-to-day with a hip injury … Roberto Luongo’s up tonight in Vancouver’s goalie carousel.
Last night presented a bevy of action, but nothing really stood out. (It’s probably safe to point to Rotoworld’s Season Pass and the fact that you can still draft a team in a Yahoo league, then.)
With that lack of an overpowering narrative in mind, I thought I’d address the fun story of the weekend - Mikhail Grabovski chomping on Max Pacioretty’s forearm - and thus, a few fantasy hockey bits that might or might not really impact the box scores.
The NHL decided not to fine or suspend the hungry Russian for his transgressions, which seems totally fair since other players - most notably Alex Burrows burrowing into Patrice Bergeron - have gotten away with a little on-ice consumption. While civilized folks like us (emphasizes tasteful bow tie) look down upon trying to eat one’s opponent in the literal sense, fantasy wise, it’s beneficial if no one misses time with a suspension - at least if the “victim” doesn’t miss any either. (It sometimes feels good to see a player miss time if one of your players does miss time, on the other hand.)
(Full disclosure: I think it would be cute if the NHL fined Grabovski for the precise cost of Pacioretty’s tetanus shot, though.)
Anyway, beyond the notion that a slap on the wrist is generally beneficial to fantasy owners, I think it circles back to one of my favorite philosophies: draft the guys you “hate" rather than putting too much stock in players you "love."
Even before the horrific Steve Moore incident, I frequently added Todd Bertuzzi to my fantasy teams back when Big Bert was a high-end guy. For whatever reason, the burly forward always rubbed me the wrong way in reality, but he was a great source of points and PIMs before he was afraid to really hit anybody. It was also, in all honesty, a lot of fun to troll my Bertuzzi-loving friend by picking him before she could.
(That points to another fantasy opinion I have: if you can stage a draft in person, do it. Sure, you might drink too much and add a guy based on nostalgia or other emotions, but it’s just plain more fun than the “sitting in front of your computer possibly just wearing underwear” approach. This is as much about having fun as it is about proving your overpowering wisdom, right?)
This is a long way of saying that guys like Grabovski might not be your favorite humans in the world,* but who cares? You’re here to win it all or at least win enough to parade your victories in front of wins at your dorm/the company water cooler, so why not enlist the guys who can get it done?
Hopefully the Daily Dose will help guide you to the depth guys who will assist you in that journey.
* - I think it’s pretty benign and funny, really.
After the jump: setbacks and possible breakthroughs.
UNDER 50
Jiri Hudler (19 percent owned) - When it comes to cruising the waiver wire, don’t forget to occasionally glance at averages over totals. Guys who dealt with injuries or signed late might be making a bigger difference than it seems. Hudler is a good example; he has three goals and eight points with seven games, with an average of 18:26 minutes per game. The Flames made a big investment in him this offseason, so he should continue to receive golden opportunities to succeed. With two 50+ point seasons and two 23+ goal seasons already in his career, he could be quite useful. He's not a huge peripheral guy, though.
Alexander Steen (40 percent) - The St. Louis Blues haven't been playing well lately, but Steen is finally finding the net. Even so, his two goals represent a low yield for his impressive 46 shots on goal, so things could very well continue to progress for the underrated forward. I like that he's dual eligible (C/LW) and that he gets plenty of SOG, with an average of at least three per game the last three seasons and 2.5 in his career. He won’t cover your PIM needs, however.
Jamie McGinn (10 percent) - If you’ve noticed a theme about peripheral stat guys getting favorable reviews, you’re paying attention. For me, that’s the tie-breaker with a lot of fringe guys; would you rather have a player who’s a coin toss to register a point or an almost sure-thing to help you in predictable categories? McGinn is shaping up to be the latter, but I wonder if he could also provide a nice amount of the former, too. He has just a single goal on 36 shots this season, connecting on a mere 2.8 percent of his shots. Even so, he has a solid six points and a more-than-solid 13 PIM.
He should be a decent source of hits and could really climb in those other categories if he continues to average close to 18 minutes per game like he is. I'd say hold off on adding him if you're on the fence, but keep an eye on this interesting all-purpose forward as the season rolls along.
INJURY NOTES (full list) and QUICK HITS
Jaroslav Halak seemed to tweak his groin on Monday, opening the door for Brian Elliott to step back in (and lose badly) … Are you a Miikka Kiprusoff owner? If so, stay tuned to news today; the team is supposed to make an announcement about its goaltending situation. Uh oh … Dare I ask if the Philadelphia Flyers are rounding into “team you dress your players against if at all possible” form? … James Reimer went down with an injury Monday, but the early word is that it isn’t too severe. As always, keep your eyes open for updates, though … Brandon Dubinsky finally scored a goal on Monday. He has good all-purpose potential, but do note that 20 of his 37 PIM came in a single game … Keep an eye on Jiri Tlusty. He had four points riding shotgun with Alexander Semin and Eric Staal last night … Marcus Johansson is day-to-day with an upper-body issue … Jeff Skinner now has a five-game point streak. My favorite part of his stats? He’s fired 51 SOG, so it’s not just luck. Can the kid stop smiling so much, though? Kinda rubbing it in on the rest of us … The San Jose Sharks losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 is surprising, but regression is not. The biggest worry is that the team is struggling to find depth scoring. Outside of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Dan Boyle, no one has more than five points … Gotta hand it to Matt Moulson. He keeps getting it done about as quietly as you can. He also might be the best example of referrals in the NHL. It sounds like he got his foot in the door because of John Tavares’ good word and he’s really run with that shot … Can’t help but ask: shouldn’t the Los Angeles Kings at least consider giving Jonathan Bernier more starts? Things aren’t going too well for Jonathan Quick right now, and they can boost the once-hyped backup’s trade value in the process … Michael Cammalleri is day-to-day with a hip injury … Roberto Luongo’s up tonight in Vancouver’s goalie carousel.