NHL Stock Watch: Kris Letang jump-starts the Penguins
My esteemed colleague Dalton Del Don is the stock guy for the hardwood. I'll be your caddy on the ice. Let's get to it.
STOCK UP
Kris Letang, D, Penguins: So many things have gone wrong in Pittsburgh this year, Letang’s scoring might be lost in the shuffle. Letang missed a few weeks in December with an undisclosed injury, but he’s been on a 3-8-11 tear over his last six games (and not coincidentally, the Pens have a result in five of the six, despite a tricky part of the schedule). Letang hasn’t been shy with the hits (19) or the shots (24) over this span, and he’s also helped jump start the Penguins power play. Letang was merely the 11th blue liner off the board in Yahoo leagues this fall, but he’s poised to return a notable profit on that — health permitting.
Nazem Kadri, C, Maple Leafs: The overall haul doesn’t look like much — eight goals, 14 assists through 39 games. But Kadri is on pace to finish with around 280 shots, which would be over 100 more than he attempted in any previous season. And when you see a paltry 5.7 shooting percentage — his career mark is around 11.1 percent — you see the argument for positive regression here. Kadri is still part of Toronto’s power-play rotation and the Leafs have started to play better hockey as they get more comfortable with head coach Mike Babcock. Now could be a good time for a YYZ investment. Kadri is unowned in about two-thirds of Yahoo leagues.
[Yahoo Daily Fantasy: $10 could win you $15K in our $150K wild-card contest]
Shane Doan, LW/RW, Coyotes: A tip of the cap to the Arizona captain, still chugging along at age 39 (15 goals in 31 games). A glittering 19-percent shooting percentage is too good to be true, but nonetheless Doan has already passed last year’s goal total. Of course we have to accept leakage in other areas — he has just six assists, and his physical play is on the decline. But Doan is one of those rare players who will be a difference-maker until the day he retires.
Jake Muzzin, D, Kings: Most of his numbers are in line with last year’s breakout, with one interesting exception — Muzzin’s collected 38 penalty minutes, racing past last year’s 22-minute total. Maybe Darryl Sutter doesn’t appreciate that, but in standard Yahoo leagues, we’ll take the full package. Los Angeles has the second-best goal differential in the Western Conference, and while goaltender Jonathan Quick receives a lot of credit for that, the deep corps at the blue line is also driving the story.
Justin Faulk, D, Hurricanes: He’s already collected a silly 12 power-play goals through 42 games; keep in mind, no defenseman has ever hit the 20 mark (Sheldon Souray had 19 in 2006-2007). And it’s not like Faulk is getting a boost from some superlative speciality unit — Carolina currently ranks 27th in power-play percentage. Faulk was a second-round pick in his 2010 draft class, but he’s playing like a lottery pick now.
Jonathan Bernier, G, Maple Leafs: For a while I was hoping he’d beat someone, anyone, just once — you hate to see a bagel under anyone’s win column. The Leafs were completely justified when they sent Bernier down to the minors, too. He’s come back a different player, a confident player — Bernier has a 6-2-2 mark since the recall, with two shutouts and a .916 save percentage. And as we noted in our Kadri section, the Toronto team as a whole is playing much better hockey. Four of Bernier’s victories on this run have come on the road (Islanders, Avalanche, Penguins, Ducks). Beware the underdog.
STOCK DOWN
Claude Giroux, C/RW, Flyers: We’ve come to expect the Philadelphia power play to be one of the best in the league — it’s ranked third, seventh, third and sixth over the last four years. It’s crashed down to 28th this year, and Giroux’s uneven play (he recently had a six-game pointless streak) has been a major reason why. Giroux missed a couple of practices last month for undisclosed reasons — you have to wonder if he’s playing through an unreported injury.
Jake Allen, G, Blues: He’s outplayed Brian Elliott every step of the way, and with that the club has given Allen about two-thirds of the work in front of the loaded St. Louis roster. Alas, Allen suffered a knee injury Friday at Anaheim and was forced out of action. Looks like Elliott could get a chance to make this more of an even time-share.
Trevor Daley, D, Penguins: It looked like the move to Pittsburgh was going to save his season — Daley picked up a quick three points in his initial four games. Alas, Kris Letang came back into the fold and now Daley is left with scraps of power-play time. Daley doesn’t have a point over his last seven games, along with a paltry six shots. Let’s chase someone else’s upside.
Kyle Turris, C, Senators: Plus-minus is a stat with some noise baked into it, so Turris’s minus-11 rating over the last month can’t immediately be taken as a red flag. That said, he’s also not scoring through that stretch (1-4-5). At least Turris is trying to make an impact in other ways — after just ten hits through his first 23 starts, he unleashed 20 body blows in December. Ottawa doesn’t have the look of a playoff team right now.
Mark Streit, D, Flyers: He’s getting a shot to solidify himself on the power-play unit, healthy again while Shayne Gostisbehere (lower-body injury) isn’t here. But Streit’s first four games left a lot to be desired: zero points, just one shot on goal. Keep in mind Streit turned 38 in December.
