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Waiting in the Wings: Fantasy Right Wingers
by Hippy Dave on 11/25/09 at 10:00 AM ET
Comments (10)
Let me guess—your fantasy team is weak at right wing. Everyone’s is; it seems like every three years or so strength from one wing vacillates over to the other as coaches and general managers load up on the other wing to compensate for shortcomings on their respective teams. What was a blight in left wing a few years ago is now a glut, with promising young talent like Matt Moulson, Loui Eriksson, Wojtek Wolski, Ryan Malone, Mason Raymond and so many more boiling up on the left, we’re left wondering what happened to all the guys on the right.
This article will attempt to find a few up-and-coming promising players on the right wing that are either buy-low’s or may still be on your wire. Don’t fool yourself, there are no easy options here, but by examining trends, impending line combinations, playing time, who’s getting hot, and who could eventually continue a trend they started last year, perhaps we can find a few gems.
Stats: G A +/- PIM PPP SHP GWG FW
Early season surprises
Justin Williams - 5 11 4 25 4 0 1 2
If this guy is still on your wire, you must be in a very shallow league; he’s raging alongside Anze Kopitar and you should aquire him now if you’ve got room. Just keep an eye on his health, he’s already gone down once this year.
Ales Kotalik - 6 11 -11 26 13 0 2 0
Nobody’s more surprised than me at what a monster this guy has become on the Rangers’ power play; he’s slowed down over the last few so beware.
Let’s take a look at the buy-low’s. Players who may be owned in your league but could probably be traded for a song or may drop to the wire any day now, but may rebound soon.
Bryan Little - 2 6 1 2 1 0 0 26
Litte’s been suffering with the absence of Ilya Kovalchuk on his top line. Can he make a comeback happen?
Drew Stafford - 6 3 -1 4 4 0 0 6
Stafford hurt his hip vs. Calgary on November 13th, but prior to that he was seeing some top-line time with Tim Connolly and Thomas Vanek. The guy is due for an offensive breakout once healthy, keep an eye on him.
Mike Knuble - 5 10 10 18 3 0 1 0
Knuble just broke a finger and will be out three to four weeks. Prior to that, he was putting up respectable points across the board on his new Washington team, with 15 points in 19 games and a PIM a game. He already has been dropped to the wire in my league and if I were you I’d try and scoop him up now.
Now let’s see who’s beginning to show some promise on the wire.
David Jones - 10 5 3 2 2 2 3 2
“Kid from Guelph, Ontario. In a few years, mark my words, Davey Jones’ locker is going to become a thing we all hear at one point or another; I’m calling it now—the back crossbar behind the goalie’s left hand. I suppose they need this.”
Richard Park - 1 8 -11 6 1 0 1 169
A faceoff monster, Park is particularly valuable in leagues that value faceoffs; on top of that, he is beginning to light it up on the Islanders top line. While this could hurt his faceoff winning value (currently in the top 30 in the league), Park had a 3-assist night Monday last week, and has 8 points in the last 12 games.
Troy Brouwer - 6 5 0 18 5 0 3 2
Currently rolling on Chicago’s second line, Troy has been on fire with 7 points in 7 games, this could be a rare sophomore breakout for this big guy. However, Hossa’s return will no doubt rain on his parade.
Radim Vrbata - 7 5 2 8 4 0 2 0
Bounced back and forth between Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Chicago, Carolina, and Colorado, this journeyman put up his best numbers in Phoenix in ‘07-‘08. Now back with the ‘Yotes, Vrbata could start producing again. At this point he’s batting just under .500 so I wouldn’t pick him up yet, but he’s worth adding to the watch list.
Chris Neil - 4 1 3 76 0 0 0 0
I try not to have one-dimensional players on my team, but in leagues that value penalty minutes, Neil has shot out of the gate with 76 PIMs in 21 games. While this trend is likely to slow (Neil has 146 PIMs last year and 199 the year prior to that), with bully stalwarts like Daniel Carcillo taking up that valuable left wing position, Neil is the more attractive option here. Just watch out for injury.
Matt Carkner - 2 3 4 61 0 0 0 0
Same PIM goodness here as Neil, however in Yahoo leagues, he can fill a D spot too.
Wayne Simmonds - 5 6 4 36 0 0 1 1
In just his second year in the NHL, Simmonds plays on the third line for LA with Handzus and Frolov. Simmonds is mostly a checking-role player who posts decent PIMs; he’s got 34 in 22 games this year, and had 73 in 82 games last year. What strikes me as interesting is he’s doubled his point production from last year, scoring 11 points in 22 games. Keep an eye on him; with an injury risk like Justin Williams on the team, he could get bumped up the next time Williams goes down.
Lee Stempniak - 5 6 -5 6 6 0 1 5
Lee’s still on the third line in Toronto, but he sees some power play time (6 PPG in the last month), and scores in clutches. He’s due for a breakout and this might be his year.
A lot of guys who were previously floating on center have now gotten right wing eligibility, such as Briere and Joe Pavelski, so if you see them on your wire, put down the snickers bar and click “add player” now.
Anyone got anything else?
Is this thing on?
Filed in: Fantasy Hockey and Gaming | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
Nik Antropov is a (C, RW) in Yahoo leagues and his 1 G and 19 A’s as well as a +10 mark has to have surprised some people. If he’s available in your league, snap him up. He’s only showing as being started in 38% of Yahoo leagues. I have no idea what people are thinking by not playing him…. 19 Assists, people!
He’s obviously now suspended… but Danny Briere at last check was still available in a surprising amount of leagues as a (C,RW). Even now as I type this Yahoo shows him as starting in only 35% of leagues—and that’s not because owners are so savvy they’ve benched him for his suspension. He’s been around or just over that 40% mark for some time. When he actually plays he produces. Trick with him (much like Justin Williams) is to get him actually playing.
Nathan Horton is another (C,RW) guy and is coming around after a slow start. He’s valuable because he’ll get you some PIMs as well.
I’ll second Giroux. I nabbed both he and van Riemsdyk on the same fantasy team and neither has disappointed me yet.
Bryan Little (2G, 6A, +1) has been a huge disappointment for me personally so far, and many owners have waived him and run away as fast as they can. He’s only starting in 10% of leagues at this point. If you’re desperate to get some numbers at RW, you could take worse gambles I guess. It’s unlikely he’ll continue the rest of the season at this slow a pace, I think.
Posted by Primis on 11/25/09 at 10:34 AM ET
Hossa’s waiting in the IR wings for me, and I’m still high on Bobby Ryan.
Also if playing Yahoo!, Bertuzzi and Fleischman have LW/RW status and both playing on top 2 lines for respective teams. I think both these guys will pick up good points second half of the season, as fantasy depth players.
Posted by Puck from San Francisco, CA on 11/25/09 at 11:01 AM ET
Well I think the most obvious former top-flight RW turned lost soul turned comeback story would have to be Max Afinogenov. His 82 game pace last year was 10G 34A and this year thru 20 games he has 9G 11A, a point-per-game pace. He seems to be rejuvinated playing on an all Russian line, and you know playing with Kovie he’ll continue to rack up the assists. I got him from FA 2 weeks ago and he’s been solid gold.
I thought it was strange you said that RW were hard to come by, it’s been my strong suit this year with Semin, Hemsky, Afinogenov, and the struggling Havlat I got in FA last week. I figured him as my 4th stringer I can bench him until he comes around. I must have gotten all the RW, as I’ve been using them to trade for other positions.
It was the LW position I found to be toughest to improve in, but I got it a little more respectable when I traded Dustin Brown for Ryan Malone. My LW now are Malone, Neal, Versteeg, and Fleischmann (LW, RW) who I’m trying to trade for a better LW using his hot start as bait.
Posted by John W. from a bubble wrap cocoon on 11/25/09 at 11:07 AM ET
My team still seems long on RW, and I see serviceable talent on RW, so I’m not really seeing the weakness there. I’m having a hard time at LW still though.
Lil joe just got C,Rw status in yahoo, that’s another one.
Posted by Navarath on 11/25/09 at 01:20 PM ET
Ill second what s already been said, ive been having trouble with my LW. Im stuck with whitney, huselius and 2 weeks ago i picked up van reimsdyk as my 3rd. Before him, i was shuffling thorugh players desperate to find another LW, while the right is filled with good contributors
Posted by Chronsky from Calgary on 11/25/09 at 08:48 PM ET
Really? Trouble at left wing? Really?
There are so many talented guys out there on LW. Borrow a lead from my opening statement - Matt Moulson. Wolski. Malone. Eriksson. Raymond. Still need help?
Screw it I’ll write a LW article next.
Thanks for all the positive comments folks, it warms me.
Posted by Hippy Dave from Portland by way of Detroit on 11/26/09 at 04:05 AM ET
Btw good call on Giroux - he escaped my radar. The guy’s great for someone named Claude.
Posted by Hippy Dave from Portland by way of Detroit on 11/26/09 at 04:07 AM ET
yeah, LW trouble I’m in a deep league, all those guys you mentioned are long gone.
It doesn’t help that Zetterberg moved to just C in yahoo.
My LWS are:
Heatley (no problems here)
But then it gets really weak - Avery, Sturm, Sullivan, Leino
All these guys are pretty much DOA.
On the Right side, Giroux, Aflredsson, Selanne, Vrbata, Stafford, lil Joe Pavelski, Voracek - and there’s a ton of depth on the wire. Not much on the LW, except for Chimera….
Posted by Navarath on 11/26/09 at 02:11 PM ET
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sullivan pick up the pace…
Posted by Hippy Dave from Portland by way of Detroit on 11/26/09 at 06:23 PM ET
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Depending on the league, you could look at players like Claude Giroux, Dustin Byfuglien and Blake Wheeler. So far Giroux would be the better acquisition.
Posted by Moq from Denmark on 11/25/09 at 10:15 AM ET