Fantasy Hockey Analysis

Fantasy Hockey Scouts: The Fantasy Five - Week 15

#1 Give 'em a Look

If you’re looking for an under-the-radar pick-up for the second half then give Ray Whitney a sniff… he’s available in a lot of leagues right now as his numbers on the season (10+23=33 in 45 games) are nothing special and his age (38) likely scares people off. If you peel back the layers you realize that he started the season with only five points in his first 13 games but he now has 28 points over his last 32 games. Combine this with the fact that this guy is a reliable point producer, averaging .88 pts/gm since the lockout, and I would gladly add him to any of my teams.

Others worth a look: Andrew Brunette (Min – LW), Blake Comeau (NYI - W), Dennis Seidenberg (Bos – D) and Fedor Tyutin (Clb – D)

This isn’t an outright drop recommendation but we would shop Jonathan Quick around to other GMs in your league to see if there’s interest as he’s been in a bit of a tailspin lately going 4-8-0, 2.85 & .890 over his last 13 games. His numbers on the year are still solid (19-13-1, 2.20 & .919), so you should be able to flip him for something decent. Quick finished last year poorly going 4-7-4, 2.57 & .904 and then struggled in the playoffs, so this has us wondering if he tends to wear down as the season goes along. It’s worth exploring your options but do it… ummm, quickly.

Others worth a boot: Mason Raymond (Van – LW), Nik Antropov (Atl – C), Jiri Hudler (Det - W) and Bryan McCabe (Fla – D)

Last week it was Sidney Crosby’s concussion and this week it’s the Penguins other big star as Evgeni Malkin is expected to miss Thursday’s game due to a LBI. No details have been given about the injury and it’s severity but it’s been speculated that Geno has been playing on a bad knee all season and at some point he may need surgery (hopefully not until after the season).

The Panthers have a bit of a controversy right now as Tomas Vokoun is struggling a little having given up three or more goals in seven of his last eight games. This has allowed Scott Clemmensen to step in and start five of the last nine games and he’s shown very well going 3-1-2 with a 1.99 gaa & .936 sv% over his last eight games. Vokoun is a solid goalie, so I wouldn’t get too down on him, but he is a UFA at the end of the season so he could be on the move before the trade deadline.

An article that caught our eye recently was this one by Janet Eagleson from Yahoo! where she claimed that getting traded usually causes a player’s production to decrease... we 100% disagree and here’s our rebuttal with evidence.