Big Board: Hockey
By Scott Pianowski, Yahoo! Sports Wednesday, Feb 1, 2012
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 | Evgeni Malkin, PIT, C/RW | He's stepped it up with Crosby out | 2 |
| 2 | Daniel Sedin, VAN, LW | As always, the safest power-play to invest in | 1 |
| 3 | Steven Stamkos, TB, C | Hard to maintain that 19.5 shooting percentage | 3 |
| 4 | Claude Giroux, PHI, C/RW | Makes the power-play go: 20 helpers on the man advantage | 5 |
| 5 | Henrik Lundqvist, NYR, G | Start clearing room on the mantle | 7 |
| 6 | Pavel Datsyuk, DET, C/LW | Chara knows how valuable he is | 8 |
| 7 | Jonathan Quick, LA, G | Pride of Massachusetts makes it 3,000 miles away | 10 |
| 8 | Alex Ovechkin, WAS, LW | Karma won't stop kicking him | 4 |
| 9 | Phil Kessel, TOR, RW | Homeboy: 19 goals in TOR, 7 outside of YYZ | 11 |
| 10 | Marian Gaborik, NYR, RW | Puck bounced his way in December; payback in January | 15 |
| 11 | Corey Perry, ANH, RW | Team is rallying, he's in typical ornery mood | 22 |
| 12 | Jonathan Toews, CHI, C | He'll play through the wrist injury | 12 |
| 13 | Pekka Rinne, NAS, G | The best keeper who hardly gets talked about | 18 |
| 14 | James Neal, PIT, LW/RW | Love to hit, be hit, shoot the puck (210 SOGs) | 23 |
| 15 | Marian Hossa, CHI, RW | Finally has mojo back for good | 16 |
| 16 | Jimmy Howard, DET, G | Always feels like it's the team more than it's him | 13 |
| 17 | Henrik Sedin, VAN, C | Playmaker nonpareil, but should shoot a little more | 9 |
| 18 | Marc-Andre Fleury, PIT, G | Shootout star: six wins, just one loss | 20 |
| 19 | Tim Thomas, BOS, G | Can't deny skills but Rask steals a lot of the work | 14 |
| 20 | Joffrey Lupul, TOR, LW/RW | Mild dip this month but we'll take 3-9-12, 29 SOG | 17 |
| 21 | Ilya Kovalchuk, NJ, LW/RW | Fourteen goals over last two months, shootout ace too | 32 |
| 22 | Anze Kopitar, LA, C | Road-heavy schedule comes in second half | 33 |
| 23 | Erik Karlsson, OTT, D | Went too early in ASG draft, but nonetheless a stud | 39 |
| 24 | Patrick Sharp, CHI, C/LW/RW | Wrist problem stops the momentum | 6 |
| 25 | Patrick Kane, CHI, C/RW | You don't tug on Superman's cape | 28 |
| 26 | Antti Niemi, SJ, G | More wins at home, better percentages on road | 26 |
| 27 | Roberto Luongo, VAN, G | Not standing on his head, but bankable numbers | 24 |
| 28 | Tyler Seguin, BOS, C/RW | Smart at both ends of the rink (plus-34) | 27 |
| 29 | David Backes, STL, C/RW | Dynamic power forward fills all the categories | – |
| 30 | Scott Hartnell, PHI, LW | Not an assist hoarder, but otherwise a versatile option | 31 |
| 31 | Miikka Kiprusoff, CGY, G | At this point, you trust the save-percentage spike | 29 |
| 32 | Zach Parise, NJ, LW | Watch out for him on the shorthanded unit (seven SH points) | 34 |
| 33 | Jarome Iginla, CGY, RW | Shooting percentage bouncing back, as expected | 43 |
| 34 | Martin St. Louis, TB, RW | He's been consisent in every month | – |
| 35 | Thomas Vanek, BUF, LW | No show in January: two points, minus-6 | 19 |
| 36 | Shea Weber, NAS, D | That howitzer is going to hurt someone someday | 35 |
| 37 | Tomas Vokoun, WAS, G | Has to go into the disappointment file | 36 |
| 38 | John Tavares, NYI, C | He's a possible keeper-league chip now | – |
| 39 | Drew Doughty, LA, D | Fifteen points over last 26 games, getting there | – |
| 40 | Patrick Marleau, SJ, C/LW | Lowest shooting percentage in four years | 38 |
| 41 | Johan Franzen, DET, LW/RW | Will all-out style burn him out by playoff time? | 37 |
| 42 | Teemu Selanne, ANH, RW | He's not the problem in Anaheim | 47 |
| 43 | Dan Boyle, SJ, D | Pride of Miami (OH) seldom makes a bad decision | – |
| 44 | Zdeno Chara, BOS, D | Shot pace down, hits are up | 41 |
| 45 | Henrik Zetterberg, DET, C/LW | Just one goal over last 19 games | 21 |
| 46 | Brian Elliott, G, STL | Surging Halak forces a committee | 40 |
| 47 | Carey Price, MON, G | Volume is nice but team isn't helping much | 25 |
| 48 | Jordan Eberle, EDM, RW | Back from knee injury, plug and play | 44 |
| 49 | Alexander Edler, VAN, D | Notable shot dip in January, keep an eye out | 48 |
| 50 | Mike Smith, PHO, G | A working class hero is something to be | – |
|
DROPPED OUT:
Sidney Crosby, PIT, C;
Mike Green, WAS, D;
Rick Nash, CLS, LW/RW;
Dion Phaneuf, TOR, D;
Nicklas Backstrom, WAS, C;
Niklas Backstrom, MIN, G
ON THE BUBBLE: Loui Eriksson, DAL, LW/RW; Dustin Byfuglien, WPG, RW/D; Matt Moulson, NYI, LW; Keith Yandle, PHO, D; Bobby Ryan, ANH, LW; Jamie Benn, DAL, C/LW; Daniel Alfredsson, OTT, RW; Nicklas Lidstrom, DET, D; Jaroslav Halak, STL, G; Ryan Kesler, VAN, C; Jason Pominville, BUF, RW; Ryan Getzlaf, ANH, C; Taylor Hall, EDM, LW; Jeff Skinner, CAR, C/RW; Brad Richards, NYR, C; Jason Spezza, OTT, C; Eric Staal, CAR, C; Joe Thornton, SJ, C; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM, C; Nathan Horton, BOS, RW; Cam Ward, CAR, G; Brad Marchand, BOS, C/LW; Alex Pietrangelo, STL, D; Jonas Gustavsson, TOR, G; Duncan Keith, CHI, D; Brian Campbell, FLA, D; Kari Lehtonen, DAL, G; Craig Anderson, OTT, G; Vincent Lecavalier, TB, C; Kimmo Timonen, PHI, D; Corey Crawford, CHI, G; Kris Versteeg, FLA, LW/RW |