Each fantasy season is full of injuries and players that just don’t meet your expectations. Being able to adjust on the fly and find studs on your league’s waiver wire is critical in a short season. Here are five players owned in less than 30% of Yahoo leagues that can help your team:
Patrik Berglund (30%): For some reason, the leading goal scorer for the St. Louis Blues is owned in less than a third of Yahoo fantasy leagues. He has shown good chemistry with Chris Stewart, carrying a three game goal-scoring streak leading into last night’s game against Columbus. Although his contributions in plus/minus, shots on goal, and hits aren’t mind-blowing, he has nine goals this season with the potential.
Troy Brouwer (18%): Alex Ovechkin plays the point on the Washington Capitals top power play unit. What does that mean for Brouwer? Opportunity – and Brouwer’s taken advantage of it. Brouwer has seven power play points for the 3rd-ranked team in power play percentage.
Brouwer is also among the top 50 players in hits with 39. Among players with 39 hits or more, Brouwer (11) has more points than players that are owned in most leagues, including Shane Doan (8) and Milan Lucic (8).
Brad Boyes (18%): If plus/minus is important to you, look elsewhere – the Islanders have exactly one player who is above even, and it’s not Boyes. However, he does play on the top line and first power play unit with John Tavares and Matt Moulson, and has had three seasons with 25+ goals and 65+ points in his career. He hasn’t come near those numbers since the 2008-09 season, but he’s in an excellent position to return to that form this season, with 13 points (seven on the power play) in 17 games. He’s definitely worth a look.
Jamie McGinn (16%): McGinn has been playing on a line with red-hot Matt Duchene, and leads the Colorado Avalanche in shots on goal (53). With Gabriel Landeskog returning to the lineup yesterday, teams won’t automatically be putting their best defensive pairings against the McGinn-Duchesne-Parenteau line, which could mean more scoring chances.
Benoit Pouliot (16%): Going into last night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Pouliot had scored seven points in his previous five games. He has taken advantage of a top six role in Tampa Bay, scoring 13 points on the season, including three assists on the power play. As long as he plays on a line centered by either Steven Stamkos or Vincent Lecavalier, he will continue to be relevant in fantasy circles.
