Welcome to the fantasy hockey stock market. Each week we will look at three players trending up and three players trending down.
Three Up
Josh Anderson – RW – Blue Jackets – 11 Goals, 7 Assists, 91 Shots, 28 Games
There hasn’t been much to love about Columbus’ offence. Exhibit A: Anderson leading the team with 11 goals. That’s no slight on Anderson, who has been a revelation in his second full season. The third wheel on the French Bread line with Artemi Panarin and Pierre-Luc Dubois is piling up shot totals, on pace for over 250 on the season. This line has become the Blue Jackets’ best, running over opponents in terms of shot shares. With Panarin dishing, it stands to reason that Anderson will continue to pile up goals.
The only concern for Anderson is a lack of power-play time, as he is averaging only 1:19 per game. However, the Blue Jackets’ power play is awful, so time on the top unit probably wouldn’t mean much anyhow.
Milan Lucic – LW – Oilers – 6 Goals, 16 Assists, 57 Shots, 30 Games
Early on Lucic had worked his way off of fantasy rosters after losing his spot on a failing power play. Since then he has been reunited with Connor McDavid at both even strength and on the power play. That power play is still struggling, but Lucic has picked up 11 points in his last 11 games, and is on track for a 60-point season. With continued exposure to McDavid it is realistic that he could hit that total. If he falls out of favour in Edmonton, he can go back to the waiver wire, however in the meantime he’s a productive option.
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Tyler Johnson – C – Lightning – 6 Goals, 12 Assists, 50 Shots, 29 Games
Johnson had been one of the few Lightning players failing to produce for fantasy owners until he was reinserted into Tampa Bay’s top six at which point he lit up like a Christmas tree scoring seven points in four games. Johnson had initially been paired with Steven Stamkos, but was with Ondrej Palat and Brayden Point on Saturday. Either way, this is an upgrade over Alex Killorn and Ryan Callahan, his two most common linemates.
Three Down
Craig Anderson – G – Senators – 7 Wins, 13 Losses, 63 Goals Against, 22 Games
Since returning from Sweden the Senators have lost 11 of 12 while allowing 3.75 goals per game. Most of this awful stretch has come on the road so there is some hope of relief ahead. Ultimately, this is a weary team, consistently losing in terms of shot shares. It took Herculean efforts from Anderson and Mike Condon to keep the Senators afloat. Now that they are struggling the Senators have gone into the tank and recently started asking players to submit their no-trade lists. Alarm bells anyone?
Clayton Keller – C/RW – Coyotes – 11 Goals, 12 Assists, 91 Shots, 32 Games
The much-ballyhooed rookie is working his way out of the Calder race. He appears to have hit a wall having gone 17 straight games without a goal. Keller has registered only six points during this stretch and has seen his minutes slip from 19-plus minutes per game, into the 15-16-minute range over the past couple of weeks. Even Keller’s shot volume has fallen off having registered just 35 shots on-goal over the past 17 games. He was so prolific over those first four weeks of the season that he remains on pace for 27 goals, 57 points and 231 shots, but the past 17 games fit the profile of a player who should be on the waiver wire in fantasy leagues.
Henrik Zetterberg – C/LW – Red Wings – 4 Goal, 12 Assists, 66 Shots, 29 Games
Zetterberg shocked many with a renaissance 68-point performance a year ago, but it does not appear there will be the same magic this time around. Zetterberg continues to see over 19 minutes per game for the Red Wings, but his role as a hub on the power play has been diminished as they are handing the keys to Dylan Larkin. Zetterberg isn’t even skating on Detroit’s top power-play unit any more. The Red Wings don’t have much to offer fantasy owners outside of Larkin and Anthony Mantha. With Zetterberg seeing little time with those two, he is better off on the waiver wire.
Steve Laidlaw is the Managing Editor of DobberHockey. Follow him on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.
