It’s fantasy hockey crunch time and the trade deadline has come and passed you by so it’s time to find some fantasy hockey sleepers. Here are five players owned in less than 30% 20% of Yahoo leagues who can help your team: Â
Jussi Jokinen (15%):Â One team’s trash is another team’s treasure. Jokinen had fallen out of his usual top six role in Carolina, and Pittsburgh happens to have a slot open where some guy named Sidney Crosby usually plays. The change of scenery has done him wonders; he has 3 goals and 2 assists in 3 games donning a Penguins jersey. Whenever Crosby returns to the line up, a third line of Jokinen-Sutter-Kennedy has some potential, too.
Josh Bailey (4%):Â The New York Islanders have been playing impressive, playoff-caliber hockey the past couple weeks. Whenever teams get hot like this, it’s a good indication that they’re getting good defense and secondary scoring from unlikely suspects. Bailey falls into the latter category. He’s consistently scored between 25-35 points in each of his first 4 NHL seasons, and he only has 16 points in 31 games this year. But he has 7 points in his last 7 games now, and the Islanders need him to keep it going as they jockey for playoff positioning down the stretch.
Gregory Campbell (2%):Â Another unlikely fantasy contributor, Campbell has won the linemate lottery thanks to Brad Marchand‘s recent concussion. Playing on a line with Jaromir Jagr can do wonders for your stats – just ask Claude Giroux about last year – and Campbell’s no different. In his last 4 games, he has 5 points and a fighting major to go with a +4 rating.
Alex Chiasson (2%): Where did this guy come from? The Dallas 2nd round pick from 2009 has started his NHL career with a bang – 5 goals and 1 assist in his first NHL games. Playing on the top line with Jamie Benn and Ray Whitney sure doesn’t hurt, either. He’s a risky add since he’s an unknown commodity on an unsustainable tear (his shooting percentage is just under 42%!), but he’s basically auditioning for a role on next year’s team at this point, so he’ll be working hard on that top line. Give him a look.
Mikael Backlund (1%): If plus/minus is a concern to you, then look away – the Calgary Flames haven’t been strong in that category lately. But if you need a lottery ticket and you’re desperate enough to bank on some potential, then Backlund’s your man. He broke a 4-game pointless streak Friday night with a pair of assists, so that’s good news. Backlund’s also seeing way more ice time and has been shooting a ton since Calgary hoisted their white flag on the 2013 season. He could get 5 points and 20 shots on goal next week, or he could get nothing and go -8. Neither scenario would really surprise me. High risk, high reward here.
Star-Dropping to add Fantasy Hockey Sleepers
You can’t add new players with that slumping star on your roster, and these guys have been driving you crazy, but you can’t let them go. You know the saying – “April Showers Wash Away Underachievers” or something. These two guys have been dumped from my fantasy roster (Clarkson was sent packing weeks ago) and I suggest you (finally) do the same.
Scott Hartnell: I’m not going to lie – I wasted a 2nd round pick on him. The past few years, he’s been severely underrated with his significant contributions in scoring categories (especially the power play last year), PIM, and plus/minus. This year he’s regressed substantially, and I’ll never get that 2nd round pick back. I’ll cut him some slack since he had a significant injury and the weird shortened season, and project him to fare much better next season. But I’ve been burned too badly to roll the dice here again. #Hartnelldown goes his draft stock.
David Clarkson: Another goal scoring/PIM-collecting hybrid, Clarkson started off the year better than his owners could possibly have imagined. But since the beginning of March, he’s only been good for 3 goals and an assist. Alex Chiasson did that in his first 4 games in the league. When you play with guys like Patrik Elias, Travis Zajac, and Adam Henrique, it shouldn’t take a month and a half’s worth of games for a meager 4 points. If he’s still on your roster, you must be depending on those PIM pretty badly.
