Fantasy Mailbag: Don’t panic over Panthers’ Luongo

Watch as Roberto Luongo slides across the crease to steal a goal from Bo Horvat with a windmill glove stop.

Playoff time!

In head-to-head leagues, the playoffs are about to begin and fantasy owners have some tough decisions to make. The following is a selection of questions that you tweeted @Sportsnet after we put the call out. And by all means follow me on Twitter @DobberHockey for even more insight on fantasy hockey.


Fowler is your safer bet, but Hutton and Martinez are hot right now (five points each in six games) and Stone has had a great second half. So I see your conundrum.

With Sami Vatanen out, Fowler could be at a disadvantage – 18 of his 23 points have come with Vatanen on the ice. For that reason, I would go with Michael Stone. He’s cold right now, but he has 20 shots in his last four games so he’s at least making things happen.


Luongo’s numbers over his last 10 games: 4-3-1, 3.03 GAA, 0.893 SV%
That is quite the slide, certainly his ugliest run this season. I would still keep him because Florida is a strong team and Luongo is just in a funk. Of course, this really depends on who is available for you to replace him with.

If Braden Holtby is there, then yes make the switch (note: tongue firmly in cheek). If Curtis McElhinney is the best available goalie, then you should keep Luongo. The point is – only drop him if you like what’s out there more.


So the conundrum is: Proven Track Record and Safety vs. Upside and Risk.

I suggest investigating the trade value. If you had Kuznetsov, would a Giroux owner give you Giroux for him? I suspect yes. Could the same be said in the reverse? I doubt it. Go with Kuznetsov.


I think Marc-Edouard Vlasic is the real deal and I would go with him without hesitation. His new coach, Peter DeBoer, is using him differently than his predecessor and that’s to the advantage of fantasy owners.

The other three are having great season and I think there is even more to come from Stone and Ekholm, but I think Vlasic is a now a pretty safe 40-point guy with 50 upside.


Gostisbehere would be my choice.

Vasilevskiy is a long way from becoming a starter and John Gibson “could” be the Anaheim starter if Frederik Andersen is allowed to walk as a free agent. But Ghost has no question marks. Just points. Lots and lots of points. And in a key position at D. I would not consider Rantanen.


Such a difficult question given that they are the two best forwards in full multi-category leagues. But give me Alex Ovechkin.

I still can’t give up his upside. At worst, he’s a Top-15 points guy and elite SOG player while Benn continues to rock the scoring leaders and multi-categories. But at best, Ovechkin could still top Benn by a wide margin.


Burakovsky has been cold of late and Rick Nash is still injured – and while he is close, there aren’t enough certainties in his situation when you have other options.

Though Nyquist and Stepan are heating up as of late, you can’t deny the fact that Jeff Skinner is on one of his streaks. With seven points in his last five games to go with plus-6 and 27 SOG, he is your guy.


I think Mathew Barzal is a couple of years away yet. Michael Dal Colle will probably be transitioned into the NHL similar to the way Ryan Strome was, which means it will be 2017-18 before he plays most of a season.

Oliver Bjorkstrand needs to take the next step, offensively, at the AHL level before making the jump. My guess is that he does that next year, meaning 2017-18 he’ll get a real shot with Columbus. I would prefer to own Dal Colle, Barzal and Bjorkstrand in that order.


First of all, focus on Flyers and Islanders. They are the only two teams with 17 games left to play. By comparison, the Oilers only have 12 games left. Think about that for a moment – one team plays 17 games while another plays 12?

The Sabres, Bruins, Senators and Avalanche play 13 games each. So any bubble players belonging to those teams you should drop in exchange for bubble players on the Islanders and Flyers. Even look to the Leafs, Kings, Ducks, Penguins and Canucks, as they each have 16 games left. Appealing players less than 20 per cent owned:

NYI – Ryan Strome, Brock Nelson, Travis Hamonic. Also Anders Lee (24 per cent owned) if he’s available.
PHI – Nick Cousins, Michael Raffl. Also Radko Gudas (21 per cent owned)
TOR – Jake Gardiner, P.A. Parenteau, Nikita Soshnikov. Also Peter Holland if you count SOG (42 SOG in his last 14 games)
LAK – Tanner Pearson
ANA – Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg, Jamie McGinn
PIT – Carl Hagelin
VAN – Jake Virtanen, Ben Hutton, Jannik Hansen


Brent Burns and Evgeny Kuznetsov for sure. The stud defenceman and up-and-coming superstar are musts.

Ideally I would keep a goalie or even two as one of my five, because the position is too important. I think Gibson is your best bet in terms of trade value and long-term potential. You could probably trade him in the summer for a better goalie than what you would get if you shopped around Lundqvist. Therefore, add Gibson.

The other two spots are between Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Nikita Kucherov and Patrice Bergeron. Assuming your league leans mostly on offense statistics, I’ll rule out Bergeron. So three players and two spots left. At this point it’s a matter of preference and personally I prefer MacKinnon and Kucherov over Duchene.

Take a look at the new Hot/Not tool that I have over at DobberHockey, or customize the Hot/Not players yourself here.

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