Big Board: Hockey
By Scott Pianowski, Yahoo! Sports Wednesday, Dec 22, 2010
Big Boards: Football | Baseball | Basketball | Hockey
The Big Board takes into consideration past returns, current performance and expected future gains in determining who should be included among the top 50 fantasy hockey players. Essentially, the Big Board is a cheat sheet designed for a fantasy owner who is planning to participate in a draft today. Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey default scoring settings are used as the baseline for the Big Board, which is updated on a regular basis.
| Big Board 50: Hockey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Player | Stock | Pvs. |
| 1 | Sidney Crosby(notes), PIT, C | There's no doubt that he owns the NHL again. | 2 |
| 2 | Steven Stamkos(notes), TB, C | Legit stud, though it's difficult to maintain shooting % (20.3). | 3 |
| 3 | Alexander Ovechkin, Was, LW | A puzzling slump, but potential upside keeps him here. | 1 |
| 4 | Daniel Sedin(notes), VAN, LW | Not quite as dynamic as last year but we'll take it. | 7 |
| 5 | Tim Thomas(notes), BOS, G | Time to accept his strong start as a dominant year. | 21 |
| 6 | Dany Heatley(notes), SJ, LW/RW | December lull (2-4-6 through 10 GP) but deserves benefit of doubt. | 6 |
| 7 | Dustin Byfuglien(notes), ATL, RW/D | Monster scoring, ton of shots, tidy plus-11. | 48 |
| 8 | Corey Perry(notes), ANA, RW | On pace for career marks in goals, PIMs, PPPs. | 20 |
| 9 | Martin St. Louis(notes), TB, RW | A key part of the league's best power play (24.6 percent). | 14 |
| 10 | Evgeni Malkin(notes), PIT, C | Hopefully 2-3-5 push on Monday (12/20) gets him going again. | 15 |
| 11 | Henrik Zetterberg(notes), DET, C/LW | Love LW eligibility, but can he hold up for full schedule? | 27 |
| 12 | Alexander Semin(notes), WAS, RW | Just about ready to return from lower-body injury. | 13 |
| 13 | Pavel Datsyuk(notes), DET, C/LW | Magician and defensive stopper, but no PIMs and shots are down. | 8 |
| 14 | Roberto Luongo(notes), VAN, G | Not dominant in the percentage stats but a safe play. | 12 |
| 15 | Carey Price(notes), MON, G | Habs were patient and now they're rewarded. | – |
| 16 | Nicklas Backstrom(notes), WAS, C | Shooting the puck more in December, encouraging sign. | 4 |
| 17 | Bobby Ryan(notes), ANA, C/LW | What's wrong with the home cooking? Just 6-3-9 in the OC. | 26 |
| 18 | Henrik Lundqvist(notes), NYR, G | Starting less but percentages are strong (along with 5 SHO). | 19 |
| 19 | Jeff Carter(notes), PHI, C/RW | Second in shots, only behind Ovechkin. | – |
| 20 | Jonathan Quick(notes), G, LA | Belongs in the Vezina discussion. | 29 |
| 21 | Drew Doughty(notes), LA, D | Mojo has come back of late (1-5-6 over last 4). | 16 |
| 22 | Henrik Sedin(notes), VAN, C | Can't go that high on a center with just six goals. | 5 |
| 23 | Tomas Vokoun(notes), FLA, G | Team isn't going anywhere but he's been outstanding anyway. | – |
| 24 | Kris Letang(notes), PIT, D | Turning into a star in fourth full season. | 50 |
| 25 | Ryan Miller(notes), BUF, G | How much can he help us with this supporting cast? | 18 |
| 26 | Marc-Andre Fleury(notes), PIT, G | October mess is long gone; he's 14-2-1 since. | – |
| 27 | Jarome Iginla(notes), CGY, RW | A nifty 8-10-18 run over last month. | 43 |
| 28 | Jimmy Howard(notes), DET, G | Stole some games last year, hasn't been case in 2010-11. | 17 |
| 29 | Miikka Kiprusoff(notes), CGY, G | Not having much fun on the road (3-10-1 mark). | 44 |
| 30 | Eric Staal(notes), CAR, C | Steady Eddie but center is not a difficult fantasy fill. | 23 |
| 31 | Brad Richards(notes), DAL, C | He's close to last year's pace, and a plus-player as well. | 28 |
| 32 | Ryan Getzlaf(notes), ANA, C | Shooting less but enjoying it more (20.3 percentage). | 24 |
| 33 | Anze Kopitar(notes), LA, C | May have plateaued but it's a nice neighborhood. | 34 |
| 34 | Patrick Kane(notes), CHI, RW | Not the only Chicago player with a Cup hangover. | 9 |
| 35 | Patrick Sharp(notes), CHI, C/LW | Loves shooting the biscuit and the wing eligibility helps. | 30 |
| 36 | Rick Nash(notes), CLS, LW/RW | When he's blanked, Columbus loses (2-4-6 in 15 defeats). | 22 |
| 37 | Nicklas Lidstrom(notes), DET, D | May we all age so gracefully. | – |
| 38 | Mike Green(notes), WAS, D | I'm open to theories here, discuss in comments. | 10 |
| 39 | John-Michael Liles(notes), COL, D | Last year, doghouse; this year, penthouse. | – |
| 40 | Alex Goligoski(notes), PIT, D | When in doubt, raid the blue line from a scoring club. | – |
| 41 | Jaroslav Halak(notes), STL, G | Cooled off considerably but still worth the dough. | 25 |
| 42 | Ryan Kesler(notes), VAN, C | Could make a run at 40 goals, still on escalator. | – |
| 43 | Ondrej Pavelec(notes), ATL, G | Be aggressive with those early goaltending pickups. | – |
| 44 | James Neal(notes), DAL, LW | Rick Nash-lite, comes screened in Dallas. | – |
| 45 | Dan Boyle(notes), SJ, D | Don't sweat the goal count, everything else is in line. | – |
| 46 | Tobias Enstrom(notes), ATL, D | Unimposing physically but makes great decisions. | – |
| 47 | Duncan Keith(notes), CHI, D | Struggles of team take a chunk from his plus-minus. | 39 |
| 48 | Christian Ehrhoff(notes), VAN, D | Could be the deepest blue line in the league. | – |
| 49 | Jonathan Toews(notes), CHI, C | More valuable to the Hawks then he is to us. | 37 |
| 50 | Patrick Marleau(notes), SJ, C/LW | If you chased the career year, you got burned. | 32 |
|
DROPPED OUT: Antero Niittymaki(notes), G, SJ;
Niklas Backstrom(notes), MIN, G;
Chris Stewart(notes), COL, RW ;
Michal Neuvirth(notes), WAS, G;
Paul Stastny(notes), COL, C;
Jason Spezza(notes), OTT, C;
Sergei Gonchar(notes), OTT, D;
Martin Brodeur(notes), NJ, G;
Ilya Bryzgalov(notes), PHX, G;
Ilya Kovalchuk(notes), NJ, LW/RW;
John Tavares(notes), NYI, C;
Mike Richards(notes), PHI, C;
Joe Thornton(notes), SJ, C
ON THE BUBBLE: Sergei Bobrovsky(notes), PHI, G; Zdeno Chara(notes), BOS, D; Craig Anderson(notes), COL, G; Marian Gaborik(notes), NYR, RW; Milan Lucic(notes), BOS, LW; Ryan Whitney(notes), EDM, D; Nathan Horton(notes), BOS, RW; Sergei Bobrovsky, PHI, G; Lubomir Visnovsky(notes), ANA, D; Jonas Hiller(notes), ANA, G; Jack Johnson(notes), LA, D; Scott Hartnell(notes), PHI, LW; Cam Ward(notes), CAR, G; Loui Eriksson(notes), DAL, RW; Brian Rafalski(notes), DET, D; Claude Giroux(notes), PHI, RW; Chris Pronger(notes), PHI, D; Brandon Dubinsky(notes), NYR, C; Erik Karlsson(notes), OTT, D |
Updated Wednesday, Dec 22, 2010