Welcome to the fantasy hockey stock market. Each week we will look at three players trending up and three players trending down.
Three Up
James Reimer – G – Panthers – 2 Wins, 2 Losses, 10 Goals Against, 4 Games
It’s been a mixed bag for Reimer in his four appearances but his track record is solid boasting a career 0.915 save percentage. Reimer has proven on many occasions that he can run with a starting gig for an extended period of time, which is great considering Roberto Luongo is on the shelf with a hand injury. His 41-save gem in Washington is evidence of what he can do for your squad. If you need help in goal, you could do worse than slotting in Reimer.
Dustin Brown – LW/RW – Kings – 5 Goals, 6 Assists, 30 Shots, 7 Games
Brown is off to a relentless start to the season piling up points, shots, and hits at a rate reminiscent of his long-forgotten heyday. No one expects Brown to keep this scoring pace up but there are some positives in his favour. Brown’s minutes are up to 19:42 per game, nearly a four-minute increase over last season, including a spike in power-play usage. If Brown continues to be paired with Anze Kopitar (having a renaissance of his own) for huge minutes at even strength and on the power play he could remain fantasy relevant, even as his shooting percentages regress to their norms.
Derick Brassard – C – Senators – 6 Goals, 4 Assists, 20 Shots, 8 Games
Coming off a poor debut season in Ottawa and off-season shoulder surgery the outlook wasn’t great for Brassard but he has flipped that narrative on its head. Brassard’s usage is up over a full minute per game thanks to a gaudy 4:07 of power-play time per game. That power-play usage has served him well as he has nearly as many power-play goals (2) as last season (3). Unfortunately, Brassard’s running-mate, Bobby Ryan, just went down with another broken finger. However, Brassard still has the dependable Mark Stone on his other wing.
Three Down
Alex Galchenyuk – C/LW – Canadiens – 1 Goal, 0 Assists, 14 Shots, 8 Games
Galchenyuk should see his shooting percentage start to swing in his favour – the career 13.4 per cent shooter has clicked on only 7.1 per cent of his shots. But he has also been dumped to the fourth line and is the subject of constant trade rumours and media scrutiny. Galchenyuk’s situation is growing reminiscent of Matt Duchene’s in Colorado last season. A lame duck player doesn’t have much value for a fantasy squad. Buy low if you can afford to wait out the situation but in shallower formats Galchenyuk is becoming waiver fodder.
Mathew Dumba – D – Wild – 0 Goals, 2 Assists, 7 Shots, 6 Games
Even with a full line’s worth of forwards out with injury the Wild have not struggled to find offence, currently ranking fifth in the league with 3.67 goals per game. However, Dumba has barely gotten in on the action. Most concerning is the lack of shots for the normally high-event defenceman. Even at his best Dumba is borderline fantasy relevant but when struggling Dumba is waiver fodder. Leave him on the wire until he shows signs of life.
Rick Nash – LW/RW – Rangers – 1 Goal, 0 Assists, 35 Shots, 9 Games
Nash can be relied upon for shot volume but not much else. Over the past two seasons Nash has scored at merely a 48-point pace, while missing 37 games. An in-decline, injury-prone, 48-point player is not someone to build your fantasy roster around.
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Steve Laidlaw is the Managing Editor of DobberHockey. Follow him on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.