Fantasy Hockey: Why Kyle Turris is a stud, Sergei Bobrovsky is a dud

Dobber checks in every Thursday to force-feed you the latest fantasy hockey trends. The founder of DobberHockey.com and a columnist for The Hockey News website, he long ago immersed himself into this rollercoaster world and is unable to escape.

I wish this info came out 36 hours earlier so I could give the faithful Puck Daddy reader the best waiver pickup of the year. But the news from practice came out on Friday, missing my weekly PD column but I did get it out on Twitter:

Since then, two games and five points (and plus-5). Coach Jon Cooper is a fan - "I thought he was outstanding". Alex Killorn is still only 34% owned in Yahoo and if he's available in your league, snap him up.

For this week's report, I ran the Roto Ranker from Frozen Pool, but this time I used Hits as sixth category instead of PIM. For the last two weeks, here's how the skaters shook out:

Studs...

These fellas are wielding a hot stick. Take that into consideration when you go after them in trade talks...

Kyle Turris, Ottawa Senators (5-1-6-7, plus-5, 0 PIM, 17 SOG) - It's unanimous. Ottawa gave up way too much (David Rundblad and a second round pick) for Turris. Oh wait, this is 2013 and not 2011. In that case, I'll give you a moment to erase your two-year-old Bryan Murray-bashing comments, Tweets and forum posts.

Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks (17-3-17-20, plus-9, 16 PIM, 31 SOG) - Henrik has points in 16 of his 17 games and both his shots and penalty minutes are on pace for near career highs. He may not be a 100-point player anymore, but he's obviously still good for 85.

Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators (5-4-5-9, plus-4, 2 PIM, 28 SOG) - Yes you read that right - 28 shots in five games. He's on pace for 284 SOG. The last time a defenseman topped 300 pounds was in 2010-11 when Dustin Byfuglien turned the trick.

Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (3-1-0, 1.00 GAA, 0.964 SV%) - You weren't thinking of dropping him, were you? Over eight bad games to start the year? And those of you who actually traded King Henrik, in the immortal words of Nelson Muntz - "Ha-Ha!"

Duds

Somebody wake these guys up – their fantasy owners are counting on them...

Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets (0-2-0, 5.12 GAA, 0.844 SV%) - The reigning Vezina winner will be back between the pipes Thursday night after getting the last two games off. He spent much of that time getting pumped up by Jay Onrait yelling his name.

Jason Garrison, Vancouver Canucks (7-0-0-0, plus-2, 2 PIM, 20 SOG) - The 30-point, steady defenseman is to this day still considered by some as a 45-plus point guy and those same people were suckered into acquiring him after he surged to nine points in his first 10 games. Can you spell 'market correction'?

Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers (14-1-3-4, minus-2, 2 PIM, 25 SOG) - One of these weeks this section of my column will not include any Flyers. Unless of course you think that Philadelphia will end the season with around 120 goals? That's not going to happen. No matter how terrible this team ends up come April, they are still topping 200 goals. Voracek has been moved back onto the Claude Giroux line so perhaps last year's magic will return.

Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins (7-1-1-2, minus-1, 4 PIM, 26 SOG) - Bergeron has produced at a points-per-game rate between 0.71 and 0.79 in each of his last four seasons. His current 0.43 is an anomaly that will fix itself over time.

The Wire...

Mostly short-term grabs here, but as always some potential steals...

Reto Berra, Calgary Flames (1-1-0, 3.44 GAA, 0.897 SV%) – This is a roll-of-the-dice bench play, since Berra is unproven. But good goalies are hard to acquire so if you can afford to grab him and keep him on your bench for a couple of weeks, it's well worth it.

Devan Dubnyk, Edmonton Oilers (3-1-0, 2.74 GAA, 0.932 SV%)) – Ownership for Dubnyk has dropped to 40% in Yahoo leagues and Oilers fans are clamoring for an upgrade in net. But Dubnyk is a slow starter and at this point makes a good "buy low" asset to have as your No.3 or No.4 goalie.

R.J. Umberger, Columbus Blue Jackets (7-2-4-6, plus-2, 4 PIM, 8 SOG, 3 PPpts) – Umberger's points-per-game average between 2007-08 and 2010-11 was 0.65. In 139 games since, it is 0.47. At 31, his skills haven't declined. Call it a couple of off years. His production should be somewhere in between the two numbers and he's currently on a hot streak .

Curtis Glencross, Calgary Flames (5-3-2-5, plus-2, 0 PIM, 16 SOG) – The only problem with Glencross's latest run is the fact that he's been staying out of the box. Fantasy owners can usually count on bonehead penalties from him, but he's smartened up and it's resulted in more production.

Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers (7-1-6-7, plus-5, 4 PIM, 18 SOG) – Since being a healthy scratch on October 24, Zuke has been a point-per-game player, clicking with Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider. This has potential to last awhile.

Tommy Wingels, San Jose Sharks (4-2-3-5, plus-6, 4 PIM, 10 SOG) – The versatile winger has had "checking line" stapled to his back since he first broke into the NHL, but he's slowly Frans Nielsening his way out of that pigeonhole. It's early yet, but Wingels is on a good run.

Valeri Nichushkin, Dallas Stars (2-1-1-2, plus-2, 0 PIM, 7 SOG) – The most underrated player drafted in the Top 10 last summer, Nichushkin started off slowly. But he's picking his game up while playing on the big line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. In some drafts, he would have been a Top 3 pick regardless of birth certificate.

Heating Up?

Here's where I'll fire off a few names of players who may be at the very beginning of a nice little run. Just a gut feeling, but worth looking into and/or taking a chance on:
Gustav Nyquist, Detroit; Cam Fowler, Anaheim; Mattias Ekholm, Nashville; Thomas Greiss, Phoenix; Viktor Stalberg, Nashville

For more fantasy hockey tips, take a gander at DobberHockey. And while you’re at it, follow Dobber’s fantasy hockey musings on Twitter.