Black Friday in the fantasy hockey world only means one thing: bargain hunting season is officially here!
Almost two months in, the sample size is large enough to make a realistic assessment of your roster going forward. If you’re not content, now’s the time to wheel and deal. With each and every passing day, patience will start to wear thin, especially for owners with underachieving assets. Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, it’s all about maximizing value.
If you look deep enough, the Sportsnet Fantasy Hockey Pool offers blockbuster sales and discounts all season long.
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This year is no different. Here are some stealth options providing tremendous worth in correlation to the 30-point cap:
| Team/Player/Position | SN Fantasy Pool Point Value | Point Total |
|---|---|---|
| EDM Leon Draisaitl (F) | 4 | 48 |
| EDM Connor McDavid (F) | 4 | 47 |
| BOS Brad Marchand (F) | 4 | 43 |
| FLA Jonathan Huberdeau (F) | 3 | 31 |
| BUF Jack Eichel (F) | 3 | 31 |
| TOR Auston Matthews (F) | 3 | 30 |
| VAN J.T. Miller (F) | 2 | 26 |
| CAR Dougie Hamilton (D) | 2 | 26 |
| VGK Max Pacioretty (F) | 2 | 25 |
| COL Cale Makar (D) | 2 | 25 |
| NYI Mathew Barzal (F) | 2 | 20 |
| NSH Filip Forsberg (F) | 2 | 17 |
| OTT Anders Nilsson (G) | 2 | 7-5-1, 2.58, 0.927 |
| CAR Andre Svechnikov (F) | 1 | 28 |
| VAN Quinn Hughes (D) | 1 | 21 |
| COL Andre Burakovsky (F) | 1 | 21 |
| OTT Jean-Gabriel Pageau (F) | 1 | 19 |
Now to your questions:
Why not keep all three? Similar to baseball, where you can never have too much pitching, crease depth is vital for success.
As mentioned in last week’s mailbag, I’ve never been opposed to rostering three goalies — especially in this timeshare era. Relatively speaking, you currently have three very solid options. Why jump from that? Assuming you’re in a league with standard settings, I’d be hesitant to move on from a position of strength.
If you’re steadfast on owning just two goalies, why not dangle one of your three on the trade market? Maybe you can upgrade somewhere else. It’s worth a try, although I’d likely keep all three. Insurance is huge.
Q: With where Vegas is right now, should I look to shop Marc-André Fleury?
Similar to last season, when they were 13-12-1 at this time, the Vegas Golden Knights are off to a satisfactory start (12-11-4). Despite their 2-6-1 record since Nov. 9, I still believe in Vegas.
Up and down that roster, there’s a lot of reasons to suggest that they’ll figure things out. While he’s out of the lineup right now, Fleury is still one of the top fantasy goalies out there and that top-six forward group is as still as dynamic as they come in the NHL. Personally, I’d love to see general manager Kelly McCrimmon address the blue line.
Unless you’re blown out of the water with an offer on Fleury, hold onto him.
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That’s an extremely difficult answer to predict, but I’ll do my best to navigate through for you.
Jonathan Quick sticks out to me right away. After a sluggish October, the veteran has found his game in November (5-3-1, 2.24 GAA, .915 save percentage). There’s no debate in Los Angeles either – Quick is the number one and Jack Campbell is the backup. Just be cognizant that the Kings aren’t good. They’ll have their fair share of stinkers.
In the long term, I think the Senators will come back down to reality (re: Anderson/Nilsson). Additionally, it’s likely that the Red Wings are destined for a lottery pick (re: Bernier).
In Dallas, Khudobin will continue to push Ben Bishop. Meanwhile, I have no clue what the Sabres are going to do with Ullmark and Hutton. They’ll probably be in the hunt for a playoff spot until the bitter end.
The Coyotes are legitimate. If they had a winner-take-all game right now, Darcy Kuemper would start, which means Raanta is the second option there. Also, Chicago seems set on splitting it almost right down the middle when it comes to Crawford and Robin Lehner.
That leaves Saros in Nashville. For many reasons, the 24-year-old is a fascinating file. Is he starting to grab the reins from veteran Pekka Rinne? While it’s too early to make that say for sure just yet, the numbers don’t lie. With Rinne struggling mightily, Saros has appeared in nine of the past 11 games for the Predators. Stay tuned and keep close tabs on that situation.
I’ll go with Quick.
Q: Do you think Ryan Strome is for real? Or is he the product of the Artemi Panarin effect? Thanks.
If I had the answer to that question, I wouldn’t be here right now. Jokes aside, as long as Strome is attached to Panarin, he’s as relevant as they come in the fantasy hockey world.
With Mika Zibanejad back in the mix, it’ll be interesting to see how Rangers head coach David Quinn shuffles his deck chairs. At some point and time, I’d be inclined to think that Panarin finds his way back with Zibanejad. If that does happen, Strome’s value will take a massive hit.
For now, just enjoy the ride. The 26-year-old Strome deserves a lot of credit for this early-season breakthrough. Also, it’s important to note that this a contract year for Strome. Cha-ching!
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I would hold onto the pride of Burford, Ontario.
Considering his pre-season fantasy ranking, the 29-year-old is providing some exceptional category coverage so far this season. In fact, he’s on pace for a career-high 25 goals. Love it!
As per usual, Henrique has been the model of consistency on both sides of the puck under Dallas Eakins in Anaheim. Considering your league settings, which includes shorthanded points, Henrique should be considered a valuable asset. It would be hard to match the intangibles he brings to your roster in a potential trade.
Q: Thoughts on Joe Pavelski? The Dallas Stars are looking great and he’s not doing much.
Patience is a virtue. He’ll come around. Nothing to see here.
There’s so much firepower around him that it’s inevitable that Pavelski catches fire soon. In addition to that, the 35-year-old has been a model of consistency throughout his stellar career. In fact, he’s notched six consecutive 60-point campaigns and should be viewed as a tremendous buy-low option right now.
