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Under The Radar: Underrated Fantasy Free Agents
by Hippy Dave on 09/23/09 at 02:04 PM ET
Comments (8)
Perhaps one of the most valuable bits of knowledge to be armed with going into your fantasy hockey draft is a clear idea of who the talented players will be this year that did not produce last year. This can be due to season-hampering injury in the prior year, or because a player is a rookie just beginning to ramp up their production. Knowing who isn’t showing up in your auto-ranked draft list can yield you some great mid to late round steals.
Today we’ll look at 20 of the most promising producers this year who weren’t even on the radar statistics-wise last year due to injury.
Most of these players were injured last year and most likely won’t be this year. For the most part I’m looking for guys who played 50 games or less but recovered in the off season and are ready to play. Obviously the fact that these guys were injured before and could be subject for re-injury makes some of them a risky venture; so be sure to do your homework before picking any of them.
Stats are formatted as follows:
Games Played - G - A - (+/-) - PIM - PPP - SHP - GWG - FW
Centers:
- Paul Stastny, Colorado, 45GP-11-25-(-9)-22-19-0-2-440
Stastny was on track for over 800 faceoffs and 72 points last year. This year, Colorado will be looking to him to be their top producer.
- Daniel Briere, Philadelphia, 29GP-11-14-(-1)-26-10-0-0-68
Briere was more of a winger last year so his value as a Center is lower. Though he wasn’t a big producer over the last couple of years when healthy, I think this year will be a big rebound year for him.
- Derrick Brassard, Columbus, 31GP-10-15-(+12)-17-7-0-1-161
Brassard was on track to win the Calder last year when he injured his shoulder in a fight. This year he looks to be a key ingredient on a scary Columbus top line. I see at least 65 points for the youngster.
- Brad Richards, Dallas, 56GP-16-32-(-4)-6-19-2-2-461
Richards seemed to lose some steam when he was traded to Dallas. With potential linemate Brendan Morrow back in the lineup, he could bounce back this year.
- Andy McDonald, St. Louis, 46GP-15-29-(-13)-24-19-1-1-213
McDonald shot out of the gate this preseason, continuing his trend he started at the end of last season by having 9 goals and 17 assists in 30 games. This is his year.
- Tim Connolly, Buffalo, 48GP-18-29-(+12)-22-18-1-5-229
When healthy, coach Lindy Ruff says Connolly is his go-to guy. The problem is, he’s seldomly healthy. I wouldn’t draft Connolly but I’d pick him off the wire when he’s healthy.
- Jason Arnott, Nashville, 65GP-33-24-(+2)-49-17-0-5-525
Arnott would be a good pickup in the later rounds.
Left Wingers:
- Brendan Morrow, Dallas, 18GP-5-10-(-4)-49-2-3-0-0-0
If penalty minutes are good thing in your league, Morrow is going to be a valuable pickup. The score sports forecaster has Morrow scoring 31 goals and 39 assists this year. He was on track for 200 PIMs as well.
- Alex Tanguay, Tampa Bay, 50GP-16-25-(+13)-34-16-0-3
The Tampa Bay Lightning will be looking to Tanguay to replace some of the scoring they lost when they traded Richards. With his new supercharged linemates, this could be a decent year for the 30 year-old winger.
- Paul Kariya, St. Louis, 11GP-2-13-1-2-9-0-0
Kariya’s healthy this year, and will be a key ingredient in turning St. Louis around. Before he was injured he was scoring more than a point per game. He’ll be a great mid-late round pick-up who should be off everyone’s radar.
- Steve Sullivan, Nashville, 41GP-11-21-(+2)-30-10-0-2
After coming off a major injury, Sullivan was a scoring force in the latter half of the season. He’s shaken off major injury issues and will play a full season this year.
Right Wingers:
- Marian Gaborik, New York Rangers, 17GP-13-10-(+3)-2-7-1-2
While I have big issues with Gaborik’s work ethic, he does score like a fiend. I would be careful not to draft him too high, however, until you see how he gels with his new teammates in New York.
- Justin Williams, Los Angeles, 0GP
Williams seems to have a career pockmarked with serious injury. Knee, hand, achilles tendon, watch out. He did have a 76 point season 5 years ago however. I’d pick him up very late in your draft or fish him off the wire, he’ll be all but invisible to your opponents on draft day.
Defensemen:
- Sergei Gonchar, Pittsburgh, 25GP-6-13-(+6)-26-13-0-1
Two years ago Gonchar was the best defenseman in fantasy hockey. Last year was a wash. Will Sergei get his groove back?
- Thomas Kaberle, Toronto, 57GP-4-27-(-8)-8-19-0-0
Kaberle had a decent season up until spring when he was plagued with injury, breaking his hand. Hopefully this season he has shaken off the injury and will produce up to the levels we expect out of him.
- Ryan Whitney, Anaheim, 48GP-2-22-(0)-28-11-0-1
With the exit of Chris Pronger, Whitney will be expected to step up on the depth chart this year. Don’t be surprised to see a 45+ point season with some power play time.
- Erik Johnson, St. Louis, 0GP
Coming off a season-blocking knee injury, Johnson is back on the ice and will likely be a key element of St. Louis’ blue line. In his 07-08 campaign, he had 5 goals, 28 assists, and 18 PPP in 69 games. That’s impressive for a rookie.
Goalies:
- Pascal Leclaire, Ottawa, 12GP-4 Wins-3.83GAA-.867%
Remember 9 shut outs 2 years ago? Leclaire’s numbers slipped precipitously last year until an ankle injury kept him off the ice the rest of the year. Based on his numbers last year I wouldn’t draft him very high, but he runs a chance of being Ottawa’s starter.
I believe most of these guys will regain their rightful place in the higher echelon of fantasy hockey rankings this year. Knowing that you can probably wait a round or two extra before drafting them should give you the edge. Good luck!
-Dave
Filed in: Fantasy Hockey and Gaming | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
What he said. Those are all good sleepers in the league I’m in. Nice work.
Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 09/23/09 at 02:53 PM ET
Don’t forget Brent Burns, was moved to the fourth line wing, played with a shoulder injury and undiagnosed concussion, then missed a lot of time at the end of the year. He should bounce back very nicely.
Posted by Jarick on 09/23/09 at 03:20 PM ET
I`d hardly call Statsney a sleeper. He was a first rd pick in all of my pools last year. This year, expect him to hit at least a point a game and maybe into the high 90`s baring injury.
Others are pretty decent picks.
Posted by Luongo-is-my-hero on 09/23/09 at 03:23 PM ET
Thanks Drew, fluffy! Yep Paul has been nice enough to give me a crack at posting about fantasy hockey. I’ll try to not let anyone down.
Luongo I didn’t mean to imply that these were sleepers - you’ll see no mention of that word on my post (otherwise I wouldn’t have posted Gaborik on that list either), but merely went about itemizing impact players who were injured last season that may not show up player rankings based on last year’s stats.
The post on sleepers is coming up later…
Posted by Hippy Dave from Portland by way of Detroit on 09/23/09 at 03:34 PM ET
In the league I’m in, everyone overlooked Stastny. That was just fine by me as I picked him up late.
Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 09/23/09 at 04:11 PM ET
Dude, you’ve obviously looked at my team from last year and posted my mid round gems. Just because you covet a few of the previous players from my roster doesn’t mean I won’t have a knack again for adjusting talent according to draft rank.
Oh yeah, congrats on making front page on Kukla’s! I’m still ahead of you though in the Kukla’s contest winnings!
Posted by Puck from San Francisco, CA on 09/24/09 at 07:33 PM ET
Puck, just because you were Stastny’s boyfriend last season doesn’t make you Nostradamous.
I’ll see you in hell! (He’s the Zamboners, I’m the Raging Hippies)
And thanks…
Posted by Hippy Dave from Portland by way of Detroit on 09/25/09 at 03:11 AM ET
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