Boxing Day in the fantasy hockey world only means one thing: It’s time to figure out what to keep, what to return and most importantly, are there any good deals out there?
With COVID-19 as prevalent as ever in the NHL and more postponements undoubtedly ahead, now’s an excellent time to make some tweaks to your roster.
Unfortunately, this season has proven to be just as unpredictable as the last. Regardless, you should have a pretty good grasp of where your team’s at right now.
With that in mind, here’s some food for thought moving forward:
[snippet id=5257713]
BUY
Boston Bruins RW David Pastrnak
You’ll be hard pressed to find better buy-low value right now, especially with Pastrnak currently mired in a seven-game goalless drought. Given its resume and history, it’s tough to bet against the Perfection Line returning to prominence this season.
New York Islanders C Mathew Barzal
Before entering Covid protocol on Dec. 14, Barzal was riding a six-game point streak (1G, 8A). The Isles have been to back-to-back Conference Finals and to date, they’ve played the fewest number of games (26 – tied with Boston). Take the calculated risk.
Winnipeg Jets C Mark Scheifele
After a pedestrian start, Scheifele was really starting to turn the corner before play was paused, tallying six goals and 11 points over eight outings. More times than not, teams are sparked by a change behind the bench. The Jets should be no different after Dave Lowry replaced Paul Maurice.
Colorado Avalanche LW/RW Andre Burakovsky
The dual-eligible winger is another prime example of a slow starter who was really starting to catch fire before Covid reared its ugly head again. Burakovsky, who’s now up to 21 points in 25 games, had five goals and six points over a modest three-game point streak.
Vancouver Canucks RW Brock Boeser
It’s amazing how quickly things can change. In 22 games under Travis Green, the 24-year-old had four goals. But with Bruce Boudreau at the helm, Boeser has five goals and seven points in six games. That’s all you need to know.
[snippet id=3816507]
SELL
Minnesota Wild LW/RW Marcus Foligno
Seemingly out of nowhere, the 30-year-old is on pace for a career-high 35 goals; his personal best coming into the season was 13. Considering his age, career output and line deployment, fading on Foligno isn’t the worst idea out there.
San Jose Sharks LW/RW Timo Meier
Barring something unforeseen, San Jose is trending toward missing the playoffs, which means that they’ll likely be sellers at the trade deadline. Once Tomas Hertl and potentially others are shipped out, the Sharks, who already rank in the bottom 10 in league scoring, will have an even tougher time generating offence.
Vegas Golden Knights C/LW Chandler Stephenson
As much as it pains me to include Stephenson, Jack Eichel’s debut in the new year looms large. Simply put, the All-Star centre wasn’t acquired to play on the second line, if you catch my drift. Needless to say, Stephenson’s fantasy value is set to take a significant hit.
Nashville Predators C/RW Matt Duchene
Before suffering an upper-body injury on Dec. 9, the 30-year-old had notched just one helper over a four-game span. While there’s no denying the career resurgence, it’s sensible to expect a bit of a regression in the second half. In just over 850 career games, Duchene’s averaged about 0.74 points per game.
Boston Bruins goalies Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman
Profoundly, now’s the perfect time to pull the trigger on trading [insert Bruins goalie here]. At this point, it’s pretty much inevitable that Boston will be signing Tuukka Rask, and that’s obviously concerning news to Ullmark/Swayman owners.
[snippet id=5216510]
HOLD
Colorado Avalanche C Nazem Kadri
Just 24 games in, Kadri’s already put himself in an impeccable position to get paid big-time in free agency next summer. While a bit of regression is expected, with all the star power around him, the 31-year-old should have no problem continuing along at a pretty decent clip.
Minnesota Wild C/RW Ryan Hartman
Quietly, the 27-year-old has evolved into a stat-stuffing monster; I hope he gave Kirill Kaprizov a nice Christmas gift. Through 30 games, Hartman has 14 goals, 26 points, 103 shots on goal, 29 penalty minutes and a plus-22 rating.
Ottawa Senators C Josh Norris
Make no mistake, the 22-year-old centre is currently in the midst of a breakout season. Prior to the pause, Norris notched 10 points in 10 games. Slowly but surely, Ottawa’s top line (Brady Tkachuk, Norris and Drake Batherson) has been starting to gain some league-wide recognition for its dominant play.
St. Louis Blues C/LW/RW Ivan Barbashev
With Covid and injuries running rampant in St. Louis this year, Barbashev has taken full advantage of his uptick in responsibilities. Playing predominantly in a top-six role, the 26-year-old has averaged 17:06 a game, a far cry from his career average of 12:55. All he’s done is produce at a 35-goal, 66-point clip.
New York Islanders G Semyon Varlamov
The 33-year-old’s final start before the pause resulted in his first victory of the season, 3-1, over Boston. That’s a positive development, right? If Varlamov can string a couple more wins together, he’ll be back in the mix to potentially take some starts from sophomore Ilya Sorokin.
[relatedlinks]
1:26
3:58
3:24