Week 15 - Free Agents and Trade Targets

For week 15, we are back in Yahoo! Land. And what a great place it is to be! Kinda like traveling in South America: Target-rich and low-cost! Let's take a look at who might bolster your lineup this week...

Left Wings

Variously owned LWs worth adding (depending on the size of your league) or worth targeting via trade:
Taylor Hall (83%), Patrik Elias (75%), Matt Moulson (73%), Milan Michalek (72%), Curtis Glencross (41%), David Perron (16%).

Gabriel Landeskog, LW

Landeskog has seen his TOI creep up over the past few weeks, and his production has as well. In his last 13 games, he is scoring at a 50-point (4 goals, 4 assists), 200 SOG pace, with a stout +6 rating, and nearly a PIM per game.

Availability: Owned in 30% of leagues.
Forecast: Depending on the size of of your league, 50 points may or may not seem significant, but he's a multi-cat contributor who is improving as the season progresses.

Deep league specials (owned in a small % of leagues):

Benoit Pouliot, LW

Pouliot had put up 9 points (4 goals, 5 assists) and a +9 rating in 9 games before the 5-game suspension to Brad Marchand. With Marchand being Shanabanned for 5 games, Pouliot gets elevated to the Bergeron-Seguin line, more TOI, and more PP time.

Availability: Owned in 6% of leagues.
Forecast: In his first two games in a Top 6 role he hasn't found the back of the net, but he still makes a good short-term option at the shallowest position in fantasy.

Centres

Variously owned Cs worth adding (depending on the size of your league) or worth targeting via trade:
Patrice Bergeron (78%), Mikhail Grabovski (56%), Ryan O'Reilly (24%), Sam Gagner (9%), Mike Fisher (9%), Kyle Turris (7%).

Saku Koivu, C

The Finn Line is hot. Since returning from injury, in 7 games, Saku has 9 points (4 goals, 5 assists) and a +6 rating. He's a heart and soul guy who is doing all he can to help the Ducks out of their funk.

Availability: Owned in 15% of leagues.
Forecast: Won't put up huge numbers, but if a 45-point pace will help you, Koivu could be your guy.

Deep league specials (owned in a small % of leagues):

Dave Bolland, C

With Patrick Sharp out of the lineup, Bolland has been elevated to 2C. Playing with a red hot Marian Hossa, he has produced 6 points in his last 4 games (4 goals, 2 assists), a +4 rating, 3 PPPs, and a 1 SHP.

Availability: Owned in 10% of leagues.
Forecast: A fringe fantasy asset in most leagues when he's relegated to third line duty, Bolland has the chops to remain productive as long as Sharp is out (another couple/few weeks).

Right Wings

Variously owned RWs worth adding (depending on the size of your league) or worth targeting via trade:
Alexandre Burrows (89%), Radim Vrbata (68%), Daniel Alfredsson (57%), T.J. Oshie (52%), Steve Downie (44%), Michael Ryder (43%), P.A. Parenteau (40%), Rene Bourque (38%).

Justin Williams, RW

A top line, #1 PP sniper who is available in nearly half of Y! leagues?!? Williams typically plays with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. He had 22 goals and 35 assists last season, and, after a sluggish start, I expect his production will continue to rise in line with those totals.

Availability: Owned in 55% of leagues.
Forecast: Over his last 10 games, Williams has 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists), a +2 rating, 5 PPPs, and a whopping 35 SOG. He won't maintain quite this pace, but something close is not out of the question.

Deep league specials (owned in a small % of leagues):

Troy Brouwer, RW

Cam's favorite player! It is true that he's more valuable in leagues that count hits. He's 5th in the NHL in that category. In standard scoring formats, his value is lower; however, for someone with ownership in the single digits you could do worse. In his last 5 games, Brouwer has 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist), 4 PIMs, and 3 PPPs.

Availability: Owned in 9% of leagues.
Forecast: Brouwer is a notoriously slow starter. He's heating up now.

Defencemen

Variously owned D-men worth adding (depending on the size of your league) or worth targeting via trade:
Alex Pietrangelo (83%), Dennis Wideman (82%), Jack Johnson (76%), Alex Goligoski (63%), Ryan Ellis (11%), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (11%), Jay Harrison (4%).

Mark Giordano, D

Calgary gets it's PP QB back right around the same time they re-acquired sniper Michael Cammalleri and Jarome Iginla is heating up. Gio's numbers this season are not extraordinary. He missed a huge chunk of the season to injury, so last year's numbers are a better source for projecting his output: 43 points, 67 PIMs, and 165 SOGs.

Availability: Owned in 39% of leagues.
Forecast: Should be owned in all but the shallowest leagues. Even though he's not the most prolific, #1 PP QBs don't grow on trees.

Deep league specials (owned in a small % of leagues):

Francois Beauchemin, D

Originally, I had Jay Harrison (4% owned) in this spot, but he sounds like he'll be featured in Luke's "Three Stars of the Week" post tomorrow, and in any case he is noted above. So, I'm highlighting Francois Beauchemin. In his last 4 games, he has 4 points (all assists), a +4 rating, and a colossal 21 PIMs.

Availability: Owned in 5% of leagues.
Forecast: Ride him while he's hot.
For those of you in leagues that count blocks and hits, Beauchemin is a Top 20 multi-cat defenceman.

Goaltenders

Variously owned Gs worth adding (depending on the size of your league) or worth targeting via trade:
Jaroslav Halak (71%), Craig Anderson (69%), Tuukka Rask (62%), Jonas Gustavsson (33%)

Sergei Bobrovsky, G

Featured in this column a few weeks ago, Bobrovsky continues to shine. Justin Goldman recently tweeted that, in his estimation, Bobrovsky is the #1 most improved goaltender in the NHL this season. His numbers are excellent: a 2.42 GAA and .921 Save%. "Bob" is significantly outplaying high-priced free agent Ilya Bryzgalov (3.07 GAA and .891 Save%).

Availability: Owned in 29% of leagues.
Forecast: Some say the Flyers want Bryzgalov for the playoffs. Those folks ought to watch his playoff performance from last season.

Deep league specials (owned in a small % of leagues):

Matt Hackett, G

This is admittedly somewhat of a reach, but for those of you in deep leagues and/or who have a spot to use speculatively, consider Hackett. Minnesota is stacked in net, several teams need help there, and the deadline is approaching.

Availability: Owned in 1% of leagues.
Forecast: Hackett is a Top 10 prospect who acquitted himself extremely well in NHL action this season.

Now check your wire, good luck, and enjoy the games!

NOTES:
*Availability data from Yahoo! leagues.
**Player analyses are based on their projected value in standard scoring categories: Goals, Assists, Power Play Points, Shots on Goal, Plus/Minus, Penalty Minutes, and Average Time on Ice.