Before we look at some of the hottest and coldest options in the league right now, let’s first take a look at this week’s NHL schedule.
The Boston Bruins play five games between Nov. 7 and Nov. 13 — the only team in the league with that dense a schedule.
David Backes is available in 38 per cent of Yahoo leagues and is a viable streaming option in most formats. David Krejci is off to a poor start, which has dropped his ownership. He remains available in 43 per cent of leagues.
Ryan Spooner is off to a cold start but the sheer volume of games he plays this week — not to mention, his usage on the Bruins’ top power-play unit — makes him an enticing pickup for this week. He is available in most leagues.
Now for a new spin on the Hot/Not looking at some of the hottest line combinations in the league:
HOT: Nick Foligno – Alexander Wennberg – Brandon Saad
23 points in last six games
The Blue Jackets’ top line has been scorching hot, culminating in a huge performance in last week’s 10-0 beat down of the Montreal Canadiens.
Wennberg is demonstrating high-level distribution skills with 11 assists in 10 games, eight of which have come on the power play.
The addition of Zach Werenski has helped turn the Blue Jackets’ power play into one of the league’s best. We should expect a bit of a cool-down period here, but the fact that the offence is running through Wennberg makes him an intriguing addition in all formats.
A 60-point breakout is possible after this hot start.
Saad doesn’t skate on the top power-play unit, which reduces his potential, even though he is probably the best overall player on this line.
Two-way ability can sometimes tax a player’s fantasy potential, which seems to be the case here. Still, his even-strength play is strong enough to warrant fantasy relevance.
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HOT: J.T. Miller – Kevin Hayes – Michael Grabner
23 points in last five games
This line appears to be unstoppable, but we have played this game before with Hayes.
Remember the hot start he got off to with Oscar Lindberg last season? They eventually fell apart, finishing with 36 and 28 points respectively.
It seems Hayes’ new line is building a similar house of cards. Grabner is shooting 29 per cent, Miller is shooting 17 per cent and Hayes is shooting 30 per cent. The league average is closer to nine. They are all on serious regression watch.
All this said, Hayes looks really good and is the safest bet of the bunch to sustain production. He is the only one of the trio to see meaningful power-play time. When watching his play, he also looks like he has hit another level.
Big men aren’t supposed to move the way Hayes does. Still, his usage is reflective of someone who tops out at 50 points. The Rangers may have a dozen 50-point performers at this rate. Miller and Grabner look like long shots, but Hayes looks for real.
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HOT: Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Eaves
13 points in last four games
This line is all about Benn and Seguin, unanimous top-20 picks in all fantasy drafts.
It is high time that they picked up the pace this season to help deliver on their tremendous draft status.
Eaves is a mere passenger here, having contributed just two of the 13 points listed above. His exposure to these elite talents makes him an intriguing option for a spot-start in a desperate situation, but he is never a long-term play. His performance has been far too inconsistent to roll out on a nightly basis.
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NOT: Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Loui Eriksson
Two points in last six games
The Canucks are a fantasy wasteland, having scored a league-low 1.58 goals per game. This is horrific.
The club will rebound at some point and you have to figure the trio above will be involved in some capacity. Right now, however, you must do your best to bench the Sedins and use other options.
Meanwhile, Eriksson can be dropped in many formats. Patience may not pay off in his case.
NOT: Joonas Donskoi – Logan Couture – Joel Ward
12 points in last 12 games
Surprisingly, the Sharks are near the bottom of the league in scoring so far this season.
You can blame the lack of depth production for this. The second line has not done much for the Sharks, with Ward languishing at just one point on the season.
Meanwhile, Couture is at the half-point-per game mark with six points in 12 games. Donskoi has picked up some of the slack recently, though barely enough to make up for a quiet start.
Ward was a hero off the waiver wire with his strong first half last season but without big power-play minutes, he seems lost in the woods.
The Sharks’ third line doesn’t look much better with Patrick Marleau and Mikkel Boedker failing to live up to their big names (and price tags). They have just six points between the two of them — and that’s with plenty of exposure to the big guns in San Jose.
Couture will eventually get his scoring pace sorted and should be around a 60-point pace. Pass on the rest.
NOT: Teuvo Teravainen – Elias Lindholm – Sebastian Aho
One point in last six games
This young and talented group was supposed to help push the Hurricanes to another level. Instead, they have failed to do much of anything.
These guys are even monopolizing the top power-play minutes, leaving productive veterans like Jeff Skinner picking up the scraps. This can only go on for so long, no matter how much the Hurricanes hope for these guys to develop.
You simply cannot keep giving players the big minutes if they aren’t producing with them.
Aho did get off to a nice start in his rookie year with five point in his first five games, but he has since slowed down.
It’s hard to advocate for any of these guys in shallow one-year settings. Maybe they’ll find their footing in the second half. Keep your eye on this trio, but don’t use them right now.
Steve Laidlaw is the Managing Editor of DobberHockey. Follow him on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw
