Injuries
Francois Beauchemin (Anaheim – Defence)
While he didn’t have a lot of fantasy relevance, Beauchemin was playing second-unit power play minutes and that gave him value in deeper leagues. He’ll be out for most of December after breaking a finger while blocking a shot. That makes five Anaheim defencemen on the injured reserve list as of today. The waiver addition in his stead would be Hampus Lindholm.
Bryan Little (Winnipeg – Centre)
Little left the Jets game against Boston last week after taking a shot off the knee. There’s no further information to his injury as of right now other than the reports from the Winnipeg Free Press that there will be an update sometime today for the Jets centre. After Little left the game, Jim Slater took his spot with Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler at even strength, though Mathieu Perreault took his place on the power play. Until official word comes down on his status, there’s not much to be done via the waiver wire.
In Sportsnet’s Fantasy Hockey Pool this week, Perreault costs 2 of a possible 4 points. Winnipeg has just three games this week, but two of them are Edmonton and Colorado. Those are both plus matchups for the Jets, and if Perreault is getting a good chunk of power play time now, he’s a good, cheap play.
Bobby Ryan (Ottawa – Right Wing)
It hadn’t been a world-beating start to the season for Bobby Ryan, who posted 5 goals and 13 points in 21 games before leaving Friday night’s game with a broken finger as well. Unlike Beauchemin, Ryan’s was suffered with a slash, but there’s still no official timetable for his recovery beyond “day to day” right now. The replacement to target would be Mika Zibanejad, though I would look to another team instead.
Troy Grosenick (San Jose – Goalie)
Grosenick was put on the injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Though he wasn’t a particular target in fantasy hockey, it does ensure a clear path for Alex Stalock, who himself recently returned from injury. With Antti Niemi not running away with the starter’s job, it’s a good speculative add to have Stalock on fantasy rosters in case he can start stealing more games from Niemi.
Artem Anisimov (Columbus – Center)
Another injury to another key player in the Blue Jackets lineup. The team announced this morning that Anisimov will be out at least two months with a torn triceps. While Brandon Dubinsky should be coming back soon – and fantasy owners should check their waiver wires just in case he was dropped – it’s starting to look like a lost season for a franchise that showed a lot of promise last year.
Top Performers
Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh) – 1 goal, 6 assists, 14 penalty minutes
It wasn’t a gangbuster week for Crosby, but the penalty minutes are what gave him the big boost in value. Crosby took a 10 minute misconduct in the waning minutes of their game on Friday against Carolina, and that, along with his production, made him arguably the most valuable player this week.
Henrik Zetterberg (Detroit) – 1 goal, 5 assists, 4 power play points.
It was a very good week for the Detroit centre on the power play, as his four power play points led the week in the NHL. The Red Wings had an excellent week on the power play, as the team went 7 for 17. For the month of November, Detroit went 17 for 58 on the power play, and the team sits just outside the top 5 for power play efficiency on the season.
Patrick Kane (Chicago) – 2 goals, 3 assists, plus-5, 14 shots on goal
It was a slow start to the season for Patrick Kane, as he posted just 8 points in his first 12 games. In his last 12 games, though, Kane has 15 points, and is now tied for 14th in the NHL point-scoring race. Any buy low window that existed for Kane has slammed shut, been nailed closed, and boarded up.
Karri Ramo (Calgary) – 2 wins, 2 shutouts
It’s safe to say it was a very good week for the Calgary backup, who posted back-to-back shutouts against San Jose and Arizona. This is just a blip – Ramo hadn’t allowed fewer than 2 goals in any of his 8 appearances this year. It is worth noting, though, that backup goalies cannot be ignored in fantasy, especially in head-to-head formats. These types of weeks happen, and can win a matchup for fantasy owners.
Goaltender Streams
It’s a tough week for goalie streams, as it seems many teams with back-to-back games this week have tough matchups. Here are a few of the better goalies to add.
Alex Stalock (San Jose)
With Troy Grosenick out of the picture, Stalock is the clear backup, with a chance to steal starts. The Sharks are making the Alberta trip this weekend, with back-to-back games against Calgary and Edmonton. Stalock should get one of those starts.
Eddie Lack (Vancouver)
The Canucks make the Ontario trip this weekend with back-to-back games in Toronto and Ottawa. Lack should get one of those games, and on paper, either is a decent matchup for Lack and the Canucks.
The first set of matchups for the Sportsnet Pick ‘n Play were released today, and there are players featured in Saturday’s Vancouver/Toronto game. In the Morgan Rielly-Kevin Bieksa matchup, I would take Bieksa. He’s much more likely to rack up the hits and blocked shots than his counterpart Rielly.
Evgeni Nabokov (Tampa Bay)
It would take an excellent matchup to be able to rely on Nabokov, and Tampa has exactly that tomorrow against Buffalo. It’s a good assumption that Nabokov gets that start, with the Lightning facing the Rangers tonight.
Petr Mrazek (Detroit)
Mrazek was teetering on the edge of being pulled in his last game against Florida, but managed to shut down the Panthers after giving up four goals and squeaked out a win. Detroit has back-to-back games this weekend against the Rangers and Hurricanes.
*Stats courtesy of War On Ice, Hockey Reference, NHL.com, and Yahoo.
