NHL Fantasy Hockey: Mike Cammalleri MVP, Alex Ovechkin Least Valuable Player for Week 21
Deadline day is a dot in our rear-view mirror at this point and each new acquisition by now has had the opportunity to play a few games with their respective new squads. Every year there are always some trades that leave you scratching your head, and this year was no different. Perhaps the biggest shocker was Roberto Luongo getting dealt to the Florida Panthers. Mike Gillis must have been trying to ship him out of town for so long that he may have overlooked the fact that he already traded away Cory Schneider as well last summer. If you had Eddie Lack winning the Luongo/Schneider battle for the Vancouver No. 1 job, your powers of prognostication are on another level.
Let’s look at this week’s MVPs and LVPs.
The MVP
Mike Cammalleri – C –31% Owned
It’s only fair after bashing the Flames several weeks back when they were dreadful, we show them some love now for continuing to fight hard even though they have been long out of the playoff race. Cammalleri is heating up at the perfect time for fantasy owners, posting four goals and a pair of assists last week. He’s still playing plenty of minutes in Calgary and is somehow only 31% owned, so Cammalleri could be a valuable boost to your squad as you head into the playoffs.
The Runners Up Mark Giordano – D – 61% Owned
The fact that two Flames made the list this week is rarer than snow in July. Still, looking at Giordano’s numbers it was impossible to leave him out. He had a goal and four assists to go along with 18 shots in four games. Nine of those shots came in one outing against Phoenix on Saturday. He really deserves more recognition league wide for posted a strong campaign despite a dismal roster around him for the most part in Calgary.
Kyle Okposo – RW – 82% Owned
Okposo turned in a seven-point week as he began life without John Tavares and Thomas Vanek. Any rumors of Okposo’s success being a product of his linemates this season have been greatly exaggerated. Maybe they were just holding him back?
Alex Burrows – RW – 9% Owned
Burrows had six points last week, which is more like the equivalent of 16 when you look back at how his season has been going. Prior to the last seven days he hadn’t scored all year and posted just one point in 10 games. Burrows should have probably spread those points out a bit because there’s a good chance that was his allotment for the rest of the campaign. Don’t expect him to score again until 2015.
Honorable Mentions: Zach Parise, T.J. Oshie, Jaromir Jagr, Mikael Backlund, Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dion Phaneuf, Jason Pominville, Jarome Iginla, Alexander Semin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Frans Nielsen, Tuukka Rask, Mike Smith, Ryan Miller, Antti Niemi, Jason Spezza, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien
The LVP (Least Valuable Player)
Alex Ovechkin – RW – 100% Owned
Ovechkin did score a goal this week, but that was the only point he managed in four games. That’s not going to cut it from a top fantasy pick at this time of the year when some leagues are already in the playoffs and others have teams fighting for post-season spots. To make matters worse, Ovechkin was also a minus-6. Hopefully Evgeny Kuznetsov is not paying too much attention because that’s not the fantasy hockey example you want to be learning from.
Not Last But Certainly Least
Nail Yakupov – RW – 54% Owned
Yakupov went pointless last week and finished as a minus-3. In fact, he hasn’t found the score sheet in six straight games at this point. He’s in a constant battle with the wintery Edmonton weather forecast over what can drop lower, the city’s frigid temperatures, or his plus/minus.
Jay Bouwmeester – D – 77% Owned
Bouwmeester has never been a huge points guy, but not notching one in 11 games is troubling. On the plus side, he recently appeared in his 700th straight game, which is quite remarkable given the frequency of injuries in hockey. If your league counts crazy iron-man streaks as a category, you’re in good shape.
Nathan MacKinnon – C –79% Owned
It seems criminal to put MacKinnon on this list after his incredible 13-game point streak, but fantasy hockey is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ business. And lately MacKinnon has struggled, picking up just a single assist in five games.
Dishonorable Mentions:
Alex Edler, Cory Schneider, Ryan Suter, Eddie Lack, Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Milan Michalek, Andrei Markov, Thomas Vanek, Cody Hodgson, Valeri Nichushkin.
Michael Amato is an Associate Editor for DobberHockey and a News Editor for theScore. You can follow him on Twitter at @amato_mike
