Kukla's Korner Hockey
1st Month Fantasy Disappointments & Surprises
by Hippy Dave on 11/09/09 at 05:00 PM ET
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Well I just wrapped up bottling my hyper-experimental espresso-oatmeal stout (I’m calling it “Breakfast”), and as a result am wired at midnight. The mixture of suds and caffeine is giving me an itchy trigger finger on Yahoo and I figured I’d write another article to boot.
So the season is just over a month old and after 15 or so games in we’ve finally got enough data to see who look to be top producers this season, and who are dropping like stones. I polled my own fantasy league to find out what our armchair GMs thought about their most disappointing players; how did that early-round draft pick turn into wire-bait? Will they bounce back? Voice your own frustrations and prognostications below.
Myself (The Raging Hippies):
- Well I was wrong about Ville Leino. After an impressive start last year with 9 points in 13 games, he’s been invisible on the ice this year on a team that needs him to step up, scoring only 3 points in 14 games and languishing at a -4. Ugh.
- Ditto with Nikita Filatov. 2G, 0A, wire bait. I dropped his ass, picked up Ales Kotalik and haven’t looked back.
- Speaking of Blue Jackets, I drafted Derick Brassard, only to be forced to dump him to the wire when I realized he wasn’t taking faceoffs anymore. If only Yahoo gave him some winger eligibility.
- I put a lot of stake in the likes of Jonas Hiller and Pekka Rinne. Although the two are getting a fair amount of starts, they’re just not delivering at the level they were in last year’s playoffs. Rinne only has 4 wins in 9 starts, with a 2.81 GAA and .904%; it’s beginning to look like the starting job may be slipping away from him. To Hiller’s credit, even though he’s got a 2.76GAA, he’s posting a .919% after 13 starts; that beats Marty Brodeur - the man’s seeing more rubber than a homecoming queen. Anaheim must be missing Pronger badly.
- It looks like Alex Kovalev is still “living up” to expectations in Ottawa, 4G, 2A, -5.
- I’m so glad I didn’t pick up Thomas Vanek again this year. He should come with a bottle of Rolaids in any trade.
- Jordan Staal - 4G, 3A; at least he has 117 faceoff wins. Keep an eye on this kid, as long as Malkin’s hurt, he’ll have plenty of ice time to prove himself.
- Martin Havlat - After a 77 point season in Chicago, Havlat has struggled on the Wild, posting only one goal and 6 assists with a horrific -12. If I were you, I’d make a trade for this guy as he is buy-low now and can only improve on these numbers.
- Steve Mason - I really feel for you if you drafted this goalie early. I was very tempted after the showing he had last season, but with a 3.27GAA and a .891% this year, I wouldn’t blame you if you felt like jumping off a bridge. I believe he’ll put things back together eventually.
Team Filth
- Eric Staal: “My first pick after our 3 keepers. 13 games, 3 goals, 2 assists and -5. Not what I expected. He usually finishes better than he starts though so I will stick with him.”
- Denns Wideman: “Two points and a -2 in 12 games after 50 points and +32 last year? WTF?”
- David Backes: “31 goals and 150 PIMs in a monster fantasy year last year. This year 2 points and 13 PIMs in 13 games. WTF?”
- TJ Oshie: “Thought he was set for stardom, but he started slow and I couldn’t keep a center with no faceoffs so I dropped his ass.”
- “Had a good feeling about Stamkos, that if he got a little stronger that he would be great. Glad that I got him in the draft.”
Team Tragically Hipcheck
- Roberto Luongo: “He was supposed to be my main man, but this season he started off by sucking really bad, and then just when I thought he was coming around he got injured.”
Team Finnish your Czechs
- “Do Franzen and Malkin (injured) as keepers count?”
- “How about those poor bastards that kept Vinny?”
Looking Forward…
Since a month ago, the likes of the following have all hit the wire: Seabrook, Pitkanen, Toskala, Brassard, Filatov, Schneider, Langenbrunner (later re-aquired), Rolston, Lucic, Saku Koivu, Olli Jokinen, Conroy, Hainsey, White, Cleary, Oshie, Gagner, Fedotenko, Perron, Ryder, Drury, Blake, Brind’Amour, Ladd, Pavelski, and Jason Williams.
Though some of these are due to one of the biggest injury seasons in recent memory, seeing perrennial fantasy standards such as Saku Koivu, Olli Jokinen, Chris Drury, and even Rod Brind’Amour slide into the waste bin is to me a little surprising. Keep an eye on these guys for a late-season rebound.
Also keep an eye on who’s coming off injury. One example: Joe Pavelski. In the 5-0 blowout against Pittsburgh on Saturday he had a goal and an assist in his first game back since October 3rd. He assisted Dany Heatley, and scored on the power play; and that was only with 14 minutes of ice time.
If you’ve got an empty IR spot or two, you may want to consider stowing away a few of the casualties of the latest crop of injuries that may have dropped to the wire. Milan Lucic just got snatched up in our league, with Blake, Hedman, and Drury hitting the wire; no doubt you’re seeing some similar activity in your leagues.
For the rest of you who are clinging on to your picks waiting for them to turn around, I’d love to hear what you have to say. Let the bitching begin!
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