Each week (or so) we'll dip a toe in the fantasy pool, test the water, and find out which players are hot and which ones are not over the past fortnight.
Statistics cover the period from Dec 2nd to Dec 17th.
TOP FORWARDS
Player
GP
G
A
PTS
PPG
Comment
Richards, Mike C PHI
6
3
8
11
1.83
15 points in last 8 games…Richards and Flyers are heating up
Kessel, Phil C BOS
6
6
5
11
1.83
Now one of the elite wingers
Ladd, Andrew LW CHI
6
3
8
11
1.83
11 of 19 points in Dec…should smash career high of 30
Sykora, Petr RW PIT
6
5
5
10
1.67
Has been much better in Dec...but very streaky
Malkin, Evgeni C PIT
6
2
8
10
1.67
Just keeps rolling…
Krejci, David C BOS
6
1
9
10
1.67
He's for real. Top 30 in scoring.
Kovalchuk, Ilya LW ATL
5
3
5
8
1.60
Good buy low candidate…skills still there
Ovechkin, Alex LW WAS
7
6
5
11
1.57
He could be here every week
Elias, Patrik LW NJ
7
5
6
11
1.57
Devils and Elias are scoring in bunches
Crosby, Sidney C PIT
6
0
9
9
1.50
Same as Ovechkin
TOP DEFENDERS
Player
GP
G
A
PTS
PPG
Comment
Green, Mike D WAS
3
1
3
4
1.33
Back from injury…big news for Cap fans and Green owners
Timonen, Kimmo D PHI
6
1
6
7
1.17
Has scored 40 or more points in last six seasons
Rafalski, Brian D DET
6
1
6
7
1.17
Hot Oct, Cool Nov, Hot Dec
Keith, Duncan D CHI
6
1
5
6
1.00
Playing ~25 min per game on a good team
Jovanovski, Ed D PHO
7
1
6
7
1.00
Jovo-Cop is back, baby
OTHERS OF NOTE
Player
GP
G
A
PTS
PPG
Comment
Parise, Zach C NJ
7
5
5
10
1.43
Breakout season for Zach
Backstrom, Nicklas C WAS
7
4
6
10
1.43
After a four point Oct has scored 29 points
Kunitz, Chris LW ANA
5
3
4
7
1.40
On pace for 56 points
Roy, Derek C BUF
7
3
6
9
1.29
Looks like second line job isn't hurting numbers
Brown, Dustin RW LA
7
4
5
9
1.29
Second in league in shots and hits
Streit, Mark D NYI
7
2
5
7
1.00
Montreal needs him more than he needs Montreal
Hunwick, Matt D BOS
6
0
6
6
1.00
Looks like he's in the NHL to stay
Wideman, Dennis D BOS
5
1
4
5
1.00
Getting 25 min + per night
Oystrick, Nathan D ATL
5
1
4
5
1.00
Not getting much time on PP (~1 min / game) so this may not happen again
Bieksa, Kevin D VAN
7
1
5
6
0.86
Looks to be back to being the guy we saw in 2006-07
PICK UP OF THE WEEK:
KEVIN BIEKSA D VAN
Bieksa is probably already taken in your league but he would be a good guy to try to grab in a trade. Last year's 12 points in 34 games may be a good bargaining chip because we expect him to score along the lines of 2006-07 when he had 42 in 81 games. He's missed a few games this year with injuries so there's a bit of risk here but PP QB's don't grow on trees (he has the second highest PP ice time on the 'Nucks).
COLD
| WORST FORWARDS | ||||||
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PPG | Comment |
| Pavelski, Joe C SJ | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.25 | Few injuries caused the bad stretch? |
| Grabovski, Mikhail LW TOR | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.20 | Cooled down from a hot streak in Nov |
| Cole, Erik LW EDM | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.17 | After seasons of 51 & 61 on pace for 22 |
| Stamkos, Steven C TB | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.17 | Still stinks |
| Kostitsyn, Andrei RW MON | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.17 | Must be a stressful time in the Kostitsyn house |
| Afinogenov, Maxim RW BUF | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.14 | This guy needs a new team…or new league? |
| Rolston, Brian C NJ | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.14 | Talent wasted on third line |
| Dubinsky, Brandon C NYR | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.14 | Quick start seems like distant memory…1 point in last 11 |
| Sheppard, James C MIN | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | Six points on the year…just not cutting it for second line center |
| Kostitsyn, Sergei LW MON | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | No points now swinging stick at Komisarek |
| Samuelsson, Mikael RW DET | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | With Holmstrom back his top line time has suffered |
| WORST DEFENDERS | ||||||
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PPG | Comment |
| Burns, Brent D MIN | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.17 | Hopefully move back to 'D' gets him going |
| Visnovsky, Lubomir D EDM | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.17 | Looks like 60 points seasons are long gone |
| Blake, Rob D SJ | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.17 | We'll assume it's just an bad stretch for Blake |
| Girardi, Daniel D NYR | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.14 | Our 'Drop of the Week' last week is making us look smart |
| Johnsson, Kim D MIN | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 40 point seasons are thing of the past |
| Kronwall, Niklas D DET | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | Hoping to build on last year's 35 points…not happening with stretches like this |
| Ehrhoff, Christian D SJ | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | No points in December |
DROP OF THE WEEK:
SERGEI KOSTITSYN LW MON
We could have called Kostitsyn our 'Drop of the Week' last week but we were holding out hope for the sophmore. He's got mad skillz (as shown by last years 27 points in 52 games as a 20 year old rookie) but nine points in 27 games is just too much for you to be holding onto him. Add that to the fact he's getting the ol' healthy scratch from time to time and he's time to cut bait on the third liner.