Fantasy Hockey Analysis

Fantasy Hockey Scouts: The Fantasy Five - Week #9

#1 Give 'em a Look

Nashville has really heated up lately by winning seven in a row and while they're not blowing anyone's doors off offensively (still near the bottom of the league with 2.35 goals per game), they do have a few undervalued players worth owning. Give Jason Arnott a look as, like the rest of this team, he started slow with only six points in his first 13 games but now has 4+2=6 in his last four. Arnott is not the most durable cat out there (he's a good bet to miss 10-15 games a year with various injuries) but he is consistently productive when he plays as his points-per-game average has finished in the .78 to .94 range in each of the past five seasons.

Others worth a look: Mike Fisher (Ott - C), Niklas Hagman (Tor - W), Anton Stralman (Clb – D) and Dwayne Roloson (NYI – G)

On a good day, we're not really big fans of Marty Havlat and he's not really making a strong case for himself with his performance this year. First off, the dude breaks down more than that old lawnmower that your dad's been holding onto for years. In eight NHL seasons, Havlat has only played more than 70 games three times… right on queue, he's currently out with a hamstring injury. If that wasn't enough, he's a wintery minus-14 this season on a light scoring Wild team and has only 1+2=3 in his last 16 games.

Others worth a boot: Chris Drury (NYR – C), Andrei Kostitsyn (Mtl – W), Milan Lucic (Bos – W) and Jose Theodore (Was – G)

Ottawa's Pascal Leclaire must be throwing salt over the wrong shoulder or something cause the dude has no luck… the only breaks he gets is when he breaks bones. There he was, resting an injury on the bench the other night when he takes a puck to the chops and breaks his cheekbone. He's out for about a month and this opens the door for Brian Elliott to assume the #1 duties. Elliott's a good young goalie who could surprise as the Sens are playing pretty well in front of their tenders this year as they're top 10 in the league in both goals scored and fewest shots given up.

The Ducks goaltending situation looks like its starting to turn as Jonas Hiller has been mediocre this year (3-4, 3.17 gaa & .899 sv% in November) and the healthy-again JS Giguere has started four of the past seven games and looked good doing it (2-1-1, 2.41 gaa & .921 sv%). Now Hiller's a very capable goalie who sports a career sv% of .919 over 2+ NHL seasons but Giguere can be an elite goalie when he's focused and he looks focused this year. Outside of last season (which we'll excuse because of off-ice issues), he hasn't had a season with an sv% below .911 since the 1990's. Look For Giggy's starts and confidence to increase s the season goes on.

Staying on top of the rumour mill is pretty important for fantasy hockey GMs as you don't want to be surprised when a big trade goes down that renders one of your players useless. One of the best sources for rumours is Spector's Hockey since it sticks to the legitimate rumours that are reported through the media and refrains from making up their own for the sake of sensationalism.