Fantasy Hockey Analysis

Fantasy Hockey Scouts: The Fantasy Five - Week #8

#1 Give 'em a Look

Brandon Sutter has been filling in for Eric Staal on the top line (with Ray Whitney & Erik Cole) and is making it count as he's tallied six points in his last four games. He's been playing a ton lately with more than 20 minutes a game. He's also a former 11th overall pick so you know he has some talent. If he keeps producing like this playing time won't be an issue (even when Staal comes back) and he should continue to post decent totals.

Others worth a look: Michael Frolik (Fla - W), Alex Frolov (LA - W), Claude Giroux (Phi – C/W) and Mathieu Garon (Col – G)

It's offical, Nikita Filatov has been loaned to CSKA of the KHL for the rest of the season. Before the move, he was a healthy scratch and was only averaging eight minutes a game so this isn't a huge surprise. Dump him in one year leagues but hang onto him if you have the bench space in keeper leagues… he's only 19 and this kid has some serious talent.

Others worth a boot: Patrik Berglund (Stl – W), Sami Salo (Van – D, Peter Forsberg (FA – C) and Dan Ellis (Nas – G)

We saw the comebacks of Alex Ovechkin, Milan Lucic and Sergei Gonchar.

But we also saw Ryan Smyth, Brian Gionta and Alex Goligoski go down with significant injuries.

It's the year of the injury. Blame the condensed schedule, blame the equipment, hell you can even blame Gary Bettman… but it's not going to change anything. Hopefully the injuries have been spread around your league so no one owner is significantly affected.

Things were looking pretty muddled in Columbus for awhile this week. Steve Mason gives up eight goals to Detroit. He complained of a sore back and Matty Garon went on to post two great games (59 shots, 4 goals allowed). On Friday night, Mason quieted a few critics with a stellar 27 save on 28 shots performance. Mason isn't out of the woods yet as consistency has been his problem this season, so he'll need to string together a few good starts. Keep an eye on things and grab Garon if you're in a deep league.

One of our favourite fantasy resources out there, Fantasy Hockey 911, was having a few technical issues but it looks like they are back up and running. They provide great info on projected goalie starters and line combos… and best of all they are a free service. Check ‘em out.