Fantasy Nuggets
Only a week of NHL hockey has been played and yet there are already a boatload of storylines worth following. The first few weeks of any campaign are typically crucial for identifying sleepers who might end up contributing all year long. Consider that players such as Ryan Johansen, Ondrej Palat and Chris Kreider went undrafted in virtually all leagues last season and you’ll realize how important it is to identify trends before your competitors do.
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Reilly Smith was considered by many to be a regression candidate entering the year after he seemingly came out of nowhere to post 51 points for the Bruins last season, but I think it’s more likely that Smith actually improves on his 2013-14 performance. Acquired from Dallas along with Loui Eriksson in the Tyler Seguin trade, Smith was used rather sparingly by coach Claude Julien last year as he skated for less than 15 minutes of ice time per game, but the reins have been loosened this season with Smith’s ice time receiving a healthy bump of nearly two minutes per outing. More notably, the former NCAA standout has become a fixture on a line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand while also earning a role on the Bruins’ top power play unit. Smith won’t soon make Bruins fans forget about superstar Seguin, but his emergence proves that GM Peter Chiarelli didn’t get fleeced in the swap.
Raise your hand if you expected this offensive outburst from Johnny Boychuk. Okay, you’re all lying. James O’Brien covered the Boychuk emergence in his Daily Dose earlier in the week so I won’t parrot everything he wrote, but it’s astounding to me that the former Bruin amassed a measly total of 23:15 of power play time in 75 contests last year, but has skated for more than 10 minutes with the man advantage in his first three games as an Islander. Another interesting Boychuk tidbit: With two goals and four assists in his first week on Long Island, he has already matched his career best for points in a month, which he set way back in January 2010. It’s easy to dismiss his early-season performance as a fluke, but the Isles claimed to want to use him in an offensive role immediately after acquiring him so maybe there's something here. If nothing else, he’s certain to blow past his career bests as long as he stays healthy. He may not have an offensive track record, but Jason Garrison and Bryan McCabe are two examples of players who have made a living as power play specialists despite possessing little more than a heavy slapshot. My money is still on Nick Leddy or Lubomir Visnovsky to lead Islander defensemen in scoring when the dust settles, but Boychuk may be here to stay.
When trying to project playing time for Devils defensemen prior to the season, it was challenging for me to predict how premium offensive minutes might be split between Marek Zidlicky, Andy Greene and Eric Gelinas. One player I failed to account for in my equation was Damon Severson. Available in 96 percent of Yahoo leagues, the former second round draft pick is serving as a member of the team’s top power play unit after spending last season dominating the Western Hockey League with the Kelowna Rockets. There’s certainly no guarantee that he’ll hang on to this role all year, but given how little it takes to roster him right now I think it’s worth the mild gamble. Considering players such as Justin Faulk, Jay Bouwmeester and Jack Johnson are all owned in greater than 65 percent of leagues, I think a market correction is forthcoming.
Speaking of players who have earned surprising power play assignments, the Rangers have placed 19-year-old Anthony Duclair alongside veterans Martin St. Louis and Rick Nash to start the season, a sign the franchise is very high on the youngster’s talent. After being drafted in the third round of the 2013 draft, Duclair returned to junior hockey last season and enjoyed by far his best season, racking up 99 points with the Quebec Remparts. With three points and six shots on goal in his first four NHL games, he certainly has not looked out of place. The fact he’s owned in just 4 percent of Yahoo formats is evidence your leaguemates aren’t hip to him yet.
I’ve got my fingers crossed in the hopes that the injury suffered by Anaheim forward Patrick Maroon is not a serious one because he’s one of my favorite sleepers to emerge early in the campaign. Not only is the 26-year-old coming off a season in which he very quietly racked up 36 points and 139 penalty minutes in 75 games between the regular season and playoffs, but he had just recently been handed one of the league’s best assignments playing on the Ducks’ top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. As if that weren’t enough, he had been skating on the team’s top power play unit before succumbing to a knee injury of indeterminate severity after colliding with Josh Gorges Monday. Keep an eye on his status and scoop him up once he returns. He should be owned in all leagues, but especially in those formats that reward PIM.
He may have been a trendy sleeper this preseason and has been one for a couple of years, but Brayden Schenn is not a player I’m especially enamored with. After starting the year on the Flyers’ top line alongside Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek, the team quickly scrapped that plan and replaced Schenn with Michael Raffl, pushing him to the second line and removing him from their top power play unit. The Flyers have tried the former fifth overall selection in a scoring role on many occasions prior this one, but last year’s 41 points still represent a career-best. I don’t deny that he has yet to reach his full potential, but despite his pedigree I’m not convinced he’ll ever be an elite player in the NHL. Even if he does pick up his scoring pace, Schenn doesn’t figure to offer much in the way of shots, hits or plus/minus.
If you follow me on Twitter you’re aware of my affinity for Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson, who I discussed at length in my preseason predictions column last week. If you’re new here, I’ll recap for you: he’s awesome. Playing on the Blue Jackets top line and top power play unit, Atkinson is on the cusp of stardom and the window to buy in your league is closing narrower by the day. Some may suggest that my noticeable bias clouds my objectivity, but I think opening a bottle of wine and reading his tweets aloud is a perfectly fine way to unwind after a long day.
Don't forget, there is still plenty of time to join a Yahoo! Hockey Pool.
Bargain Bin Finds
As always, I’ll use this space to highlight players owned in fewer than 20 percent of Yahoo leagues that I believe warrant your attention.
Cam Atkinson (17 percent) – Seriously, people? See above. This number is destined to be much higher, and soon.
Antoine Vermette (17 percent) – Another player I discussed in last week’s piece, I think Vermette is going unnoticed in way too many leagues because he plays in relative anonymity with the Coyotes. A position on the team’s top line and top power play should be sufficient for him to easily surpass 50 points.
Kevin Bieksa (14 percent) – He’s perennially underrated in leagues that reward penalty minutes, but most fantasy teams should be able to find room for a blueliner of his ilk who also contributes a good amount of shots on goal and hits.
