Pick-six: Late-season hockey grabs for the title run
It's getting to be winning time in the fantasy hockey season and I want that imaginary trophy on your mantle. Let's look at some skaters worth picking up in deep, medium and shallow leagues.
Deep: Henrik Zetterberg(notes) has been on a tear since the Olympic break (16 points in 11 games), and while you obviously can't pick him up, you can make a move on his two current linemates. Valtteri Filppula(notes) has a 4-4-8 run going over his last three starts, and Todd Bertuzzi(notes) is coming along for the line as well (five points, 10 shots, plus dual-wing eligibility). Don't worry about Danny Cleary(notes) getting in the way of this trio; he returned to action Wednesday and immediately fell to the third line.
Medium: We liked Andrei Kostitsyn(notes) as a pickup back in December and he justified the faith nicely before a knee injury took him out of commission. He's back in play now and off a two-goal game Wednesday at Buffalo. There's a lot to like here; first-round pedigree, regular power-play time, enough of a mean streak to pick up some penalty minutes.
Michael Del Zotto(notes) seemed to hit a wall after a quick getaway (12 October points), but he's back in good standing on the Rangers power play, collecting two man-advantage points Wednesday and a goal (even strength) on the weekend). He's also been a lot more assertive shooting the puck of late after a stretch of games where he seemed to lose his confidence. He's currently available in over two-thirds of Y! leagues; time to fix that number.
Shallow: If Peter Mueller(notes) and Alex Steen(notes) are still floating around your waiver wire, shame on you. These are strong plays who should be owned in any self-respecting group. Mueller's career has woken up nicely since the deal to Colorado; he's got a 5-10-15 line over 11 games, reminding us why he was tabbed as the No. 8 overall selection in the 2006 draft. Steen didn't figure in the scoring at Detroit Wednesday despite five shots, but he's posted a 9-10-19 line since February, another post-hype sleeper makes good. Get these guys in there.
