Fantasy Hockey Risers/Fallers: Things are coming together for Chris Kreider
By Jan Levine, RotoWire
Special to Yahoo Sports
This week’s article includes a hot winger on Broadway, a polarizing winger back in action, AA for the Winged Wheel, a major loss in Tampa and a 2014 high draft pick struggling in Calgary.
First Liners (Risers)
Matt Duchene, C, OTT
Duchene continued his red-hot play Saturday with a pair of goals, then followed that up by potting two more and adding an assist Monday. Those three points gave Duchene 15 points in his past seven contests and 27 in 21 games on the season. Duchene leads the Senators in assists with 17 and has adjusted well to Ottawa after his acquisition from Colorado last year.
Valtteri Filppula, C, NYI
Filppula has gotten off to a surprisingly strong start, posting 12 points through his first 19 games of the season. On a line with Anthony Beauvillier and Leo Komarov, the trio dominated the Rangers on Thursday, posting nine points (four goals) in a victory. Filppula is New York’s third-line center and receives no power play time, so be careful not to overreach here. He’s worth a look as a plug-and-play or occasional cheap DFS option nonetheless.
Chris Kreider, LW, NYR
Kreider, to the joy of all Rangers’ fans, finally seems to be figuring it out. His goal Saturday gave the power forward seven in the past 10 games and 11 on the season. Kreider’s two assists in addition to his tally Saturday upped the winger’s point total for the year to 18 in 21 games. New coach David Quinn appears to have found the key to unlock Kreider’s potential, as he is playing a 200-foot game and using his size and speed to generate offense.
Tom Wilson, RW, WAS
Wilson is a polarizing figure. His talent is undeniable but his questionable-at-best hits and recent reduction of his 20 games suspension to 14 — which to me was the right call — hasn’t been viewed favorably by most. Since rejoining the Capitals, Wilson has notched a goal and four assists while dishing out six hits in four games. Wilson was a major factor in Washington’s Cup-winning playoff run, and if he can stay on the straight and narrow, he’s an effective power forward.
Mark Giordano, D, CGY
After posting 47, 48 and 56 points from 2013-14 through 2015-16 and looking like an elite defenseman, Giordano scored only 39 and 38 points the next two seasons. Coming into this year, Giordano was likely devalued in most leagues as 35-year old blueliners with lots or wear and tear coming off back-to-back so-so campaigns don’t garner a ton of interest. How wrong we were. Giordano has already posted 18 assists in 21 games and is averaging 3:45 on the power play.
Ben Bishop, G, DAL
Bishop has had a somewhat up-and-down start to the season. Despite the occasional dud, he now boasts a .923 save percentage through 13 games to go along with a solid 8-5-2 record. Entrenched as the top option in net in Big D even with the presence of Anton Khodobin, Bishop should start at least 50 games and will likely come close to 30 wins (late note: Bishop left Monday’s game after two periods with a soft-tissue injury, so monitor his status).
Pheonix Copley, G, WAS
Copley’s value will last only as long as Braden Holtby is sidelined with his illness. Ilya Samsonov was called up to provide Washington with a backup goalie. For now though, Copley is seeing the action between the pipes. In his last four games, he’s is 3-1-0 with a .927 save percentage and 2.00 GAA. Overall, Copley was 4-2-0 with a .908 save percentage and 2.65 GAA, but he allowed four goals Monday and was replaced by Holtby. As such, the clock might have struck 12 on Copley depending on how healthy Holtby is.
Others include Brock Nelson, Tyler Seguin, Mikko Koivu, Elias Pettersson, Sean Monahan, Ryan O’Reilly, Brayden Point, Nazem Kadri, Alex Kerfoot, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Filip Chytil, Drake Batherson, Tanner Pearson, Cam Atkinson, Anthony Beauvillier, Matthew Tkachuk, Kyle Connor, Mikael Granlund, Oskar Lindblom, Matthew Tkachuk, Filip Forsberg, Mark Stone, Blake Wheeler, Nikita Kucherov, Mike Hoffman, Morgan Rielly, Noah Hanifin, Neal Pionk, Thomas Chabot, Brandon Montour, Roman Josi, Carter Hutton, Henrik Lundqvist, Pekka Rinne, David Rittich, Jonathan Bernier and Roberto Luongo.
Buy Low
Andreas Athanasiou, LW, DET
Up to 12 points in 16 games, Athanasiou is on pace to far exceed the disappointing 33 points he tallied last season. Moving from center to wing alongside Dylan Larkin has paid major dividends for the speedy Ontario native, who was drafted 110th in 2012. Ride the hot streak while it lasts.
Aaron Ekblad, D, FLA
Ekblad appears to have turned the corner of late. His marker Saturday was the third straight game in which the 2014 Calder Trophy-winning blueliner scored. Finally seeing Ekblad get off the schneid was a relief for owners, and his top-line pairing, as well as copious amount of power-play time, makes Ekblad a fine fantasy rearguard option in all but the shallowest of leagues.
Training Room (Injuries)
Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, TB
Vasilevskiy will miss 4-6 weeks with a fractured left foot suffered in a “freak accident” in practice Wednesday. At the time of the injury, the 24-year-old was second in the league in wins (nine) and was sporting career bests in GAA (2.30) and save percentage (.927). Vasilevskiy, despite slowing down late in his first campaign as a starter, won 44 games last season. Louis Domingue will try and hold down the fort between the pipes for the Lightning until Vasilevskiy is ready to return.
Others include Sidney Crosby (upper body, sat out Monday’s game), Evgeny Kuznetsov (concussion, missed Monday’s game), Nico Hischier (upper body, missed third straight game Saturday), Patrice Bergeron (upper body, returned to Boston for further examination), Auston Matthews (shoulder, injured October 27, skated with team Thursday), Brock Boeser (groin, remains sidelined), Mats Zuccarello (groin, missed Saturday’s and Monday’s games after re-injuring groin in return to action Thursday), Jaden Schwartz (upper body, missed Saturday’s game), John Klingberg (hand, will now miss at least five weeks), Zdeno Chara (left MCL, will be checked out again in four weeks), Brian Elliott (lower body, will miss two weeks) and Antti Raanta (lower body, could return to action this week).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Evan Rodrigues, C, BUF
Rodrigues made the most of his additional playing time last season, posting 25 points in 48 games. He looked to be the prototypical third-line forward, someone who could post some offense while also seeing time in a defensive role. In 15 games thus far this season, Rodrigues has six points (all assists) and was a healthy scratch Friday and Monday. It’s probably best to look elsewhere for scoring help in most leagues.
Sam Bennett, LW, CGY
Bennett, selected fourth in the 2014 draft, has been a major disappointment. After tallying 18 goals and 36 points in his 2015-16 rookie campaign, Bennett posted 26 points in each of the next two seasons. With new coach Bill Peters in Calgary and a second-line placement, the hope was that Bennett would take a step forward. That has yet to occur, as the young winger has just three goals and three assists in 21 games. He is currently on pace to score less than he did in each of the past two seasons and could end up in the press box for a game or two if his production remains sporadic.
Martin Jones, G, SJ
Jones is 8-2-1 in his last 11 after a slow start to the season, but his ancillary numbers leave a lot to be desired. His 2.94 GAA and .894 save percentage are by far the worst marks of his career. Aaron Dell posted a shutout Saturday but to date, he has not been a threat to Jones’ job. That is unlikely to change, but if Jones continues to struggle, Dell could see an uptick in crease time.
Others include Adam Henrique, Joe Thornton, Bryan Little, Milan Lucic, Chris Kunitz, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Kevin Fiala, Ryan Spooner (unless he is put on a line with Connor McDavid), Warren Foegele, Christian Djoos, Jake Muzzin, Colton Parayko, Mike Smith, Cam Talbot, Matt Murray and Cory Schneider.
Sell High
Josh Manson, D, ANA
Manson enjoyed a breakout 2017-18 season, racking up career highs in goals (seven) and assists (30) through 80 games. His production tailed off as the season wore on, making him a risky bet for this season. That decline has continued into this year, even with the absence of Cam Fowler lately, as Manson has notched just four points in 18 games. Manson still has 42 hits and 20 blocks, giving him value in leagues that count those stats. But in regular scoring leagues, he is best left on the wire for now.
