After two months of the season, many players aren’t producing as we expected – some in a good way, some not so much. Regardless, you can find fantasy value in both types of players, which we have listed below.
Whether you add any of these players to your team should depend on your league settings (points only vs. multi-category), other available players, and team needs.
Has the Karlsson owner in your league lost patience with him yet? The 27-year-old is arguably the league’s top defenceman, but even he isn’t immune to what ails the Ottawa Senators in 2017-18. Karlsson has only one goal all season, and he has just two points (both assists) to his name over the past 30 days. This slump may even have an inexperienced owner in a shallow league thinking about the possibility of dropping him. We wouldn’t recommend that, but the price for a still-elite Karlsson might simply be a second-tier option. See if you can work an advantageous deal for yourself with his owner.
Tom Wilson, LW/RW
We can count on Wilson for hits and penalty minutes. So when he’s promoted to Alex Ovechkin’s line, he’s a must-own in multi-category fantasy leagues. Although he has been held without a point in his past two games, Wilson scored three goals and added three assists with a plus-6 in the two games before that. The penalty minutes and hits may decline somewhat if he’s on a scoring line, but his owners will gladly take the offsetting scoring. Unless he is on your team specifically for the hits or penalty minutes, don’t hesitate to drop him if he is moved back to the third or fourth line.
Because of injuries and declining production, Johnson’s fantasy stock has fallen over the past few seasons. This month, he is finding reasons for you to get excited about him again. TJ has been hot recently with 11 points over his past eight games, and four of his past five games have resulted in multiple points. He might not usually play on Tampa’s top line, but there are enough scoring options on the Bolts for him to keep a spot on fantasy rosters in mid-sized to deep leagues.
Erik Haula, C
The Golden Knights continue to turn under-the-radar players into legitimate fantasy options. The latest example is Haula, who has six points over his past four games. He has also been lucky enough to play on a line with James Neal for much of the season, which has put him on pace for nearly 30 goals and more than 50 points, which is easily a career high pace in both categories. Luck has been on his side, as demonstrated by his 18 per cent shooting accuracy. Yet he is receiving regular power-play time, which is something he hardly received a sniff of with the Wild.
Alex Stalock, G
The NHL’s latest injured goalie is Devan Dubnyk, who left Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury and is now week-to-week. In came Stalock, who stopped 16 of 17 shots and eventually earned a shootout win. Stalock has been a backup goalie throughout his career, having played in no more than 24 games in a season since debuting in 2010-11. However, the Wild play six times over the next 10 days before the holiday break, so it’s possible that you could earn some mileage out of a Stalock pickup while Dubnyk recovers.
Ben Bishop owners may want to consider the long-time Star as a handcuff, at least for the moment. Lehtonen has seen action in five of the Stars’ past six games, winning three of those with a 1.94 GAA and .930 save percentage over that span. Meanwhile, Bishop has a 5.06 GAA and .868 SP over that same span. Bishop should reclaim the starting job for himself eventually, but clearly Ken Hitchcock is riding the hot hand. This has transpired into more of a goaltending battle than what was first thought when the Stars traded for Bishop.
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