Here are some players to target in fantasy if power play points are lagging as a category. Most information has been taken from Hockey Analysis, War On Ice, and The Fake Hockey.
Jason Pominville (Minnesota – Right Wing)
Overall, Pominville’s season fantasy-wise hasn’t been bad. He has 41 points in 55 games, and 179 shots on goal. As of February 15th, there were only 14 forwards in the NHL with 40 or more points and 175 or more shots on goal.
Pominville has just 12 power play points on the season, though. Keep in mind, this actually isn’t too far off from last year. With that said, Minnesota has a team shooting percentage of 9.71 per cent on the power play when Pominville is on the ice. This ranks him at 131st out of 144 forwards with 100 minutes of power play time. Looking at the names around him, there are loads of players from struggling teams like Colorado, Edmonton, Toronto, and Buffalo. The Wild are a top-10 team in power play opportunities, a top-10 team in shots attempts generated per 60 minutes of power play time, and Pominville leads Minnesota forwards in power play time per game. Considering he’s shooting well below his career mark anyway, it appears Pominville could be in for a very good final third of the season, with an uptick in power play production included.
Don’t forget to sign up for Sportsnet’s Pick ‘n Play! It’s a matchup-based game that focuses on the upcoming Saturday contests, with new matchups released every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The first matchup this week focuses on the Montreal-Columbus game. (Jack Johnson and P.K. Subban are squaring off as defencemen, and I would lean Subban given how poor Columbus has been this year.)
Ryan Strome (NY Islanders – Centre/Right Wing)
It’s been a breakout season of sorts for Strome, tallying 35 points in 56 games for the Islanders. He’s fifth among their forwards in power play time per game, the Islanders are a fringe top-10 team in power play efficiency, and yet, Strome doesn’t have a power play goal on the season.
It’s hard to say there isn’t a bit of bad fortune here. For example, Strome has 40 more minutes on the power play than Adam Henrique, they generate shots at about the same rate, and yet Henrique has four power play goals. Lately, Strome has been playing on the top power play unit with John Tavares and company. The Islanders are among the league leaders in drawing power plays, Strome is on the top unit for the time being, and it seems he’s due for some favourable regression. Don’t be surprised if he doubles his power play point total over the final third of the season.
Sign up for Sportsnet’s Fantasy Hockey Pool for your chance to win weekly prizes! It’s a salary cap-style game with new lineups every week. This week, the Islanders play five games, which is a big advantage in a one-week league, and Strome costs just two of four points.
Jeff Skinner (Carolina – Left Wing)
Skinner has started to heat up a bit of late with goals in back-to-back games and at least three shots on goal in four straight games. Carolina doesn’t draw a lot of penalties, but they’re not far off from teams like Montreal and the New York Rangers, so it’s not like they’re abysmal in this regard like the Bruins.
There were 60 forwards as of February 15th with 100 power play minutes and generating at least 15.89 unblocked shot attempts per 60 minutes (60th was Skinner). The only other player that matches Skinner’s one power play goal is Chicago’s Brad Richards. Only six forwards had two or less. Considering Skinner’s proclivity for scoring so far in his career, it’s hard to believe he won’t start scoring more on the man advantage down the stretch; Skinner is 133rd out of 144 forwards in power play shooting percentage. (It’s actually worse than David Clarkson’s.)
Tyler Myers (Winnipeg – Defence)
Acquired in the Evander Kane trade, Myers was immediately slotted on the second power play unit. His numbers this year with Buffalo were awful offensively, but then again, so were everyone else’s on that team.
It’s easy to forget that Myers was a pretty good offensive defenceman when he broke into the league. In his first two seasons, Myers was one of just 15 defencemen with at least 85 points. He had injuries plague him the next two years, and then when he was healthy, Buffalo was awful.
Winnipeg is tied with five other teams in power play opportunities, are about middle of the pack in unblocked shot attempts generated on the power play per minute, and are mid-pack in conversion. Myers could be a cheap source of four or five power play points for the rest of the season.
Other targets: Nick Leddy (D-NYI), Matt Duchene (C-COL), Colin Wilson (LW-NSH), Clarke MacArthur (LW-OTT).
