We're back in Yahoo!Land for this week's edition of Free Agents and Trade Targets. Yahoo! always conjures visions of Gulliver's Travels (or Burning Man) for me, and it definitely feels like an adventure to be prospecting for players in that strange, strange land. The most exciting aspect of journeying to Yahoo!Land is that there are inevitably bounteous nuggets of pure gold just laying about for the taking...

Left Wings

Variously owned LWs worth adding (depending on the size of your league) or worth targeting via trade:
James Neal (94%), Patrik Elias (80%), Evander Kane (66%), Ray Whitney (66%), Max Pacioretty (58%), Alex Tanguay (46%) Clarke MacArthur (24%), Ryan Malone (9%).

Gabriel Landeskog, LW

Landeskog may already be the Avs MVP. The rookie is clutch and he puts forth a superb effort each and every night. I know you guys don't care much about effort, but he also puts up pretty prolific #s. On the Avs, Landeskog is 3rd in goals (13), 1st in plus-minus (+15), 8th in PIMs (30), 3rd in ATOI among Fs (18:15 -- and rising), 1st in GP (1 of 4 who have played ALL 56 games), and 1st in SOGs (172). For those of you in advanced formats, Landeskog is also 1st in Hits (169), 1st among Fs in Blocks (37), 2nd in Takeaways (46), and 1st in GWGs (3). Wow. Calder, anyone?

Availability: Owned in 37% of leagues.
Forecast: He's improving and being rewarded for it. Landeskog's ice time has crested above the 20 minute mark in 4 of his last 6 games. Over his last 9 games, he's put up 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists), a +4 rating, 3 PPPs, and a Brobdingnagian 29 SOGs.

Continue reading this post »

Preparing for Week 17, after the extended matchup for the All-Star break, we will again focus on ESPN leagues. For some reason, most of this week's recommendations (7 of 10) are affiliated with Canadian teams.

Left Wings

Variously owned LWs worth adding (depending on the size of your league) or worth targeting via trade:
Steve Ott (82%), Rene Bourque (48%), David Booth (18%).

Clarke MacArthur, LW

Recently reunited with his usual linemates, Grabovski and Kulemin, and seeing time on the #2 PP unit, MacArthur has turned up the volume. In his last 4 games he has 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists) a +5 rating, and 9 SOGs.

Availability: Owned in 16% of leagues.
Forecast: Watch his assignments. So long as he stays in the Top 6, he will produce. A 50-point pace from here on out would not be a shock, and he provides a bit of upside from there.

Continue reading this post »

For week 16, we return our focus to ESPN leagues. 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:
Tuomo Ruutu (51%), Jussi Jokinen (36%), Viktor Stalberg (33%), Todd Bertuzzi (23%), Ryan Malone (23%).

David Booth, LW

After missing 18 games with a knee injury, Booth returned to the Canucks lineup last Sunday. He's playing primarily with Ryan Kesler, and has 3 points in the 3 games since his return (2 goals, 1 assist). On the PP, the only Canuck forwards receiving more ATOI are Kesler and the Sedins.

Availability: Owned in 16% of leagues.
Forecast: Booth is being treated as a bust or near-bust by most owners, however, even dealing with a significant injury and transition issues, he's scored 15 points in 22 games in Vancouver. Not bad. And odds are that his rate of production will increase going forward (injuries and transition being in the rear view), in which case Booth may score at a 60-point pace from here on out.

Continue reading this post »

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.

Continue reading this post »

Damn! It's getting ugly out there...

James Neal, Jordan Staal, Jordan Eberle and Derek Roy are the lastest to be out "weeks, not days." (Condolences to fans of the flightless birds). Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Matt Duchene, and Christian Ehrhoff also went out recently joining other fantasy stars Dustin Byfuglien, Jeff Skinner, John-Michael Liles, Mike Green, Chris Pronger, Mark Giordano, Kris Letang, and, of course, Sidney Crosby.

As a GM you have to do whatever you can to improve your team while your proven commodities are on the mend. Let's see who's available this week on the wire.

Left Wings

Variously owned LWs worth adding (depending on the size of your league) or worth targeting via trade:
Curtis Glencross (89%), Brenden Morrow (83%), David Perron (64%), Ryan Malone (2%)

Brandon Dubinsky, LW

Over the last 10 games, Dubinsky has spent about half his TOI with Callahan and Richards. In his last 8 games he has 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists), a +6 rating, and a prolific 26 SOGs.

Availability: Owned in 81% of leagues.
Forecast: He appears to have regained his form from last season, and the Rangers are one of the best--and hottest--teams in the NHL.

Continue reading this post »

Welcome to 2012, Puckheads!

To celebrate the new year, we are changing things up a bit and sharing the love with the Yahoo! faithful. This week, instead of perusing the ESPN wire, I will be culling through options on Y!

Right Wings

Commonly owned RWs worth adding or worth targeting via trade: Patrick Kane (100%), David Backes (92%), Dustin Brown (84%), Jordan Eberle (79%), Ryan Callahan (75%), Justin Williams (53%), T.J. Oshie (43%), P.A. Parenteau (36%), Blake Wheeler (27%).

Steve Downie, RW

Back on the #1 line with Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis. Is there a better situation in the entire NHL? With his new assignment, Downie has really picked it up the last 3 games with 2 goals, 5 assists, 4 PIMs, a +5 rating, and 8 SOGs. And, perhaps even more noteworthy, Stamkos is absolutely tearing it up. A happier more prolific superstar indicates that Downie will be riding shotgun for the forseeable future.

Availability: Owned in 33% of leagues.
Forecast: Always one of the top PIM monsters in the league, he can also contribute on the scoresheet--esp. when drawing his current assignment. Should be owned in virtually all leagues.

Continue reading this post »

Merry Christmas and Hockey New Year!

There are some good players available on the wire as well as some players who may be had at considerable discounts. Take advantage if you are offered an "after Christmas discount" on the likes of Sidney Crosby or Brenden Morrow. They are injury risks, but are currently carrying favorable risk-reward ratios.

Centres

Commonly owned Cs worth adding or worth targeting via trade: Sidney Crosby (100%), Jordan Staal (96%), Travis Zajac (64%).

Kyle Turris, C

Wow. I really thought the Sens overpaid for this heretofore underachiever, but they need a 2C and so put the turkey on the table for Turris. In his first three games, he has 3 points and a +3 rating playing primarily with Foligno and Condra. I'm not a huge believer, but it is rare that a player with his talent level walks into a brand new Top 6 role and is so universally available.

Availability: Owned in 1% of leagues.
Forecast: That is not a typo. If you want him, you are very likely to be able to get him. Don't expect the point-per-game pace to continue, but he's landed in a very favorable situation and 50-60 point pace is possible.

Continue reading this post »

No Dio this week so I'll try to fill this mighty big shoes. (Already failing as I'm a day late with this).

I'm going to tweak things up a bit this week and with a slightly different format. Eventually Dio and I are hoping to tag team these monster posts so we might be seeing even more changes in the future. Change is good.

Left Wings

Shallow Leagues

Patrik Elias (70%) - 13+16=29
25th in the league in scoring and only owned in 70% of leagues. That doesn't make sense. Travis Zajac's eventual return to a scoring line role can only help Elias (maybe he won't be stuck with Petr Sykor and Danius Zubrus anymore?)

Alexander Steen (65%) - 11+11=22
Add in his plus-20, 22 PIM's and 100 shots and you've got somebody that's going to contribute across the board.

Max Pacioretty (52%) - 11+13=24
The PIM's are down a bit from last year but everything else looks great.

Ray Whitney (48%) - 10+18=28
This guy never gets the respect he deserves. Yes he's 39 years old but he's on pace for 71 points. If he's your fourth winger you should be very happy. He has 11 points in his last 11 games.

Continue reading this post »