NHL Skinny: Waiting game

I have a theory that fantasy hockey ownership figures in Yahoo! leagues will start making sense once fantasy football season is out of the way. Folks will wake up the morning after Week 16 and miraculously some of those roster alerts will start to get some attention. Brenden Morrow still owned in 42 percent of Yahoo! leagues? Are there that many keeper leagues out there? Devin Setoguchi a free agent in 12 percent of leagues? Kyle Quincey’s hot month overlooked in 64 percent? As many as six newly anointed No. 1 goalies (or challengers to incumbents) available in more than 50 percent of leagues?

I don’t get it. I’m in some leagues where an undrafted rookie defenseman gets two assists and he’s signed before the scoring of the second goal is announced at the arena. Is fantasy football really that time consuming? I’ll give the masses the benefit of the doubt and say yes – truth be told I may have a fantasy hockey blind spot of my own on Tuesdays. Just don’t let me down once football is out of the way.

Weekend UpdateNeed-to-know info from the past few days

• The Detroit Red Wings may have some new line combinations Wednesday when they host the Calgary Flames. According to several reports out of the Detroit area, coach Mike Babcock fired up the Cuisinart and made several changes, the most notable being Valtteri Filppula joining Pavel Datsyuk’s line and Marian Hossa switching centermen to play alongside Henrik Zetterberg. Babcock told the Detroit Free Press that he just wants the team to play better. An interesting observation coming from the coach of an 18-4-4 team, but Babcock has a point when you consider the Red Wings rank 25th in the NHL in goals-against average.

Fantasy-wise the Red Wings are full of mild disappointments. Gone are the days of the Dominik Hasek 14-save shutout. Chris Osgood and Ty Conklin are winning games, but thanks to ugly supporting numbers neither is a top-25 fantasy goalie right now. Nicklas Lidstrom is a modest plus-7 this season which has him ranked just outside the defenseman top-10. He’s not the only Detroit player struggling in that category, at least relative to Detroit tradition. The moves present an opportunity for Filppula, who after a slow start has four points in two games. Of course Babcock says the practice combos may not even see the light of day Wednesday, so I guess we’ll have to tune in to see how things play out.

• Fantasy owners love to play chicken when it comes to injured players in the free agent pool. Everyone knows the players are sitting out there, everyone knows the players will return eventually, but nobody wants to sacrifice that roster spot until it’s absolutely necessary. So they wait for that one definitive injury update and pray nobody gets an itchy trigger finger in the interim. Of course in this game of chicken, the one who flinches first may just win. Take the case of Ryan Whitney, a 40-50 point defenseman who is currently a free agent in about 53 percent of Yahoo! leagues. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Whitney could return to game action as early as Christmas week. That’s only two full shopping weeks away, so you know Whitney will gradually begin making his way onto rosters in the coming days.

If he’s still a free agent in your league, stash him now. Pittsburgh is dying to have him back in the lineup and his power-play upside is rivaled by only a handful of blueliners. If Whitney is already parked on your IR, now might be the time to clear a spot for him by trading the likes of Marc-Edouard Vlasic or Kyle Quincey or any other unexpected defense gems you may have acquired. The circumstances are slightly different with undecided players, but I’d rather have the 31-percent owned Mats Sundin on my roster when he makes his decision than rely on my reflexes when news hits the wire. Even in an abbreviated season he probably has more upside than the worst forward currently on your bench. There’s no shame in losing this waiting game.

One-timers: Radim Vrbata (12-percent owned) has decided to return to his native Czech Republic. … Lightning teammate Ryan Malone will miss his second straight game Monday (upper-body injury). … Disappointing Chicago forward Dustin Byfuglien led all Blackhawks skaters with 12 shots the last two games. … Thirty-six percent owned Shawn Horcoff has a six-game point streak (2 goals, 7 assists). … Blues forward Patrik Berglund has 13 points in 12 games since Nov. 1. Four of his six power-play points have come in the last four games. …

BARGAIN BIN: Top player available in 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues
Doug Weight , C, NYI – For a supposed plus/minus killer, Doug Weight’s minus-5 rating is only a slightly irritating category drag. His weakness there is downright palatable when you consider that only Teemu Selanne and Evgeni Malkin have more power-play points than the 38-percent owned Weight (16). He’s got a ton of miles, yes, but right now he’s on pace for 60 assists, a total he hasn’t reached since his Edmonton days. Center is deep, yes, but perhaps you can slide a multi-positional pivot to the wing to replace an underachiever there.

MARKET MOVERS: Charting player values
Clay Wilson, D, Cls – There is offensive upside here. Wilson was leading all AHL defensemen in goals (8) before joining the Columbus lineup for Sunday’s 5-3 loss in Anaheim. He’s being asked to jump-start the power play from the right point, and in that respect he delivered with an assist on the man-advantage, but he’s also a bit of a swashbuckler and time will tell if coach Ken Hitchcock has the patience for his defensive lapses. He may eventually settle in at forward, which could be beneficial, fantasy-wise.

Carlo Colaiacovo, D, Stl – Like Wilson, Colaiacovo was brought in to help invigorate a stagnant power play. So far he’s justifying the trade with Toronto with four power-play helpers in six games. St. Louis doesn’t have a ton of healthy offensive assets on its blueline, so you have to figure the opportunities will be there for the new arrival. His NHL track record wont’ blow you away, but this kid was a first-round draft pick (No. 17 in 2001) and he had some decent offensive totals on his road to the NHL.

Phil Kessel, RW, Bos – He’s got an 11-game point streak (9 goals, 5 assists), which is hard to ignore, even if he’s only available in about 17 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

Matt D’Agostini, RW, Mon – Our season’s first stock rising holdover, D’Agostini’s nose for the net has resulted in a three-game goal streak. Sergei Kostitsyn will keep watching from the press box as long as this three-percent owned 22-year-old keeps it up.

Michael Leighton, G, Car – He’s started three straight, and the confidence appears to be growing after Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Caps. Stopping Alex Ovechkin on a penalty shot has that effect. Cam Ward (groin) has declared himself “ready to rock,” which could be fine with Leighton as the ‘Canes face tough road tests in Philly and New York (Rangers) to start the week.

Dustin Penner , LW, Edm – The healthy scratch bounce is in effect here, as Penner has responded to a recent benching with a three-game point streak and nine points in eight games overall.

Andrew Ladd, RW, Chi – This 2004 first-round draft pick (No. 4 overall) always seems to be good for 1-2 pockets of production and little else, so I don’t want to read too much into this hot streak. That said, seven points in three games shouldn’t be ignored entirely and he’s been a nice fit on a line with Martin Havlat and Dave Bolland.

Kevin Bieksa , D, Van – I can’t think of a single reason why he’s available in 25 percent of Yahoo! leagues, but he is. I shudder to think where those ownership numbers were before he embarked on his current four-game point streak.

Rob Schremp ,C, Edm – Edmonton’s first-round pick in 2004, Schremp has three assists in three games in his third taste of NHL action. He’s really only an option in leagues starting three or more centers.

Sami Lepisto, D, Was – His hot offensive start gave way to some defensive struggles and finally resulted in a demotion to the AHL. He’s expendable with some Caps blueliners getting healthy.

Mike Ribeiro, C, Dal – His recent slump of two points in nine games coincides with Brenden Morrow’s injury.

Yahoo! Friends and Family League update
We have a new leader as RotoWire’s Janet Eagleson knocks Rocky Bonanno from the top spot. Eagleson got a big week from Jonathan Toews (4 goals, 2 assists) and made a big jump in the goalie rankings thanks to the arrival of Pekka Rinne. League-wide add/drops involved Ryan Smyth, Jason LaBarbera, Manny Fernandez and the infamous Sean Avery.