Fantasy Hockey Analysis

Fantasy Hockey Scouts: The Fantasy Five - Week 25

#1 Give 'em a Look

Blake Wheeler was more of an afterthought at the trade deadline as the Bruins shipped him to Atlanta to clear space to add Tomas Kaberle but Wheeler has really taken to playing a much bigger role with the Thrashers, seeing nearly four additional minutes per game of ice-time and shooting the puck twice as much (3.4/gm with ATL) with his new team... this has led to a nice late season surge as he has 4+6=10 in his last 11 games and with four games in the season's final week, he's worthy of a look in most leagues.

Others worth a look: Matt D'Agostini (StL – RW), Sergei Kostitsyn (Nsh - W), Cam Fowler (Ana – D) and Ray Emery (Ana – G)

Dustin Penner arrived in LA with a lot of fanfare after the trade deadline deal with Edmonton and a lot of people were expecting him to prosper playing on the Kings top line with Anze Kopitar & Justin Williams. Well things haven't gone exactly as planned as both Kopitar & Williams have gone down with season ending injuries and Penner doesn't look like the type of guy who can step up on his own. He's struggled with only two goals in 13 games with the Kings so far and is pointless (with only seven shots) over his last six games.

Others worth a boot: Martin Havlat (Min – RW), Jordan Leopold (Buf – D), Brian Campbell (Chi - D) and Jonas Hiller (Ana – G)

The big injury from the past week was a broken ankle suffered by Anze Kopitar over the weekend as that affects the whole team from a fantasy perspective and crushes the Kings' playoff hopes. It will be impossible to replace their leading scorer (by far) and they were already a little thin at center. Rookie Trevor Lewis is likely in line for more ice-time but he's only managed 12 points so far this year.

We'll touch on the situation in Washington again as things just keep getting more confusing... Michal Neuvirth seemed to have re-claimed the #1 job as he started three straight games in mid-March but then he went down with an illness which allowed Semyon Varlamov to return after a month off with a knee injury. But Varlamov wasn't prepared to play on back-to-back nights so the Caps called up rookie sensation Braden Holtby for a game and all he did was pitch a shutout and win his sixth straight game. Trying to figure out who is going to take this job week-to-week has been next to impossible and their decision on a playoff starter might simply come down to whoever is healthy when the playoffs begin.

This week we have a list that you really don't want any of the player's you drafted to be appearing on as it likely means you had a miserable season and these are the guys you're cursing right now... here's Dobber's (via Puck Daddy) Top 10 Fantasy Hockey Busts of the season.