Each fantasy hockey season is full of injuries and players who just don’t meet your expectations. Being able to adjust on the fly and find studs on your league’s waiver wire is critical to fantasy success. Here are five players owned in 30 percent or less of Yahoo leagues who can help your team:
Teemu Selanne (27%): The “Finnish Flash” hasn’t scored with flash for awhile now, but he keeps on scoring. He now has a goal in three straight games, tallying his first power play goal of the year Sunday night against the Dallas Stars. Despite rarely logging five-on-five ice time with either Getzlaf or Perry, Selanne has gotten it done at even strength. Not bad for a 43-year old.
Derek Roy (26%): Derek Roy just can’t any love from the fantasy community. The past two years haven’t been up to his usual standards – only 72 points in 122 games – but he’s started the 2013-14 season with six points in seven games. His playmaking has been most effective on the power play, where he has a goal and three assists.
Frans Nielsen (18%): Secondary scoring outside of the John Tavares line has been a weakness for the New York Islanders. This season, the other center in their top six is only two points shy of Tavares. Nielsen has four goals and four assists to go with a plus five plus/minus rating.
Antoine Vermette (17%): With the arrival of Mike Ribeiro in Phoenix, it was reasonable to assume Vermette would be the odd man out of the top six. But Vermette has found himself back alongside Shane Doan and Mikkel Boedker, and his numbers speak for themselves: three goals, four assists, plus six, and two power play points. His dual position eligibility (C, LW) is an added bonus.
Mark Arcobello (12%): Who? The undrafted rookie has eight points in nine games for the Edmonton Oilers, with a bunch of those assists coming off Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle goals. However, I’d consider Arcobello to be a high risk investment. It will be hard to get assists on Hall’s goals with Hall day-to-day with a knee injury. And once Hall returns to the lineup, his spot alongside Hall and Eberle could be re-occupied by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. There’s also that Nail Yakupov guy. Arcobello may have already peaked, but his output warrants monitoring.
Last Week’s Picks
The Calgary Flames only had two games last week, but Jiri Hudler scored a goal in each of them. He has registered a point in every game this season, leading the Flames in scoring. I recommended Matt Read based on his past results and talent, banking on him coming on strong, and was completely off the mark. Read is still scoreless for the punchless Flyers. Shane Doan had only one assist, but added seven hits and six shots on goal. Nathan Gerbe had only one power play assist last week. Ryan Malone had a goal and an assist, and still resides on the top line with Stamkos and St. Louis.
