Two weeks into the season and not much has changed. Duncan Keith and Logan Couture have both been lost for 4-6 weeks, otherwise your pre-season predictions are mostly all safe. The worst thing you can do is panic drop a stud in the midst of an underwhelming start. You have to figure things will balance themselves out. Yesterday’s pain could be tomorrow’s gain.
For example, Sidney Crosby just recorded his first three points of the season Tuesday night. No one was dropping Crosby, but how about Connor McDavid prior to his own three-point breakout this past weekend? Or what about Radim Vrbata, who remains scoreless? His ownership is down to 67 per cent in Yahoo pools (all ownership figures from here on out will reflect Yahoo pools).
It’s too soon to give up on Vrbata. The guys to give up on right now are the ones you took flyers on like Valeri Nichushkin, currently struggling to even get on the ice, let alone produce points. The unproductive long shots are the ones to cast aside for the hottest item off the waiver wire. Who might you pick up?
Nazem Kadri, C – 21 per cent owned
The Leafs top centreman is tied for second in the league with 27 shots on goal, good for an obscene rate of 5.4 SOG per game. That’s a 443 SOG pace. He won’t sustain that, but his career high rests at 176. Kadri is a safe bet to eclipse that mark. If he even gets to 240 SOG you can expect him to get near a 30-goal season, which would surpass his career high by 10 goals. All signs point to a career year for Kadri as he is finally getting the top power play minutes his skills warrant. Did we mention this is a contract year for him? He’ll hurt you in plus/minus, but everywhere else Kadri is shaping up to be a stat stuffer. Ignore him at your peril.
Rasmus Ristolainen, D – 17 per cent owned
There aren’t enough folks reading this column. Ristolainen’s ownership is only up nine per cent from when we hyped him in this spot last week. He’ll keep getting love until his ownership reflects his status as a top-40 fantasy defenseman and that’s being modest. Ristolainen could easily crack the top 30. He’s a No. 1 on a Sabre team that is not outright embarrassing. Forty points looks to be in the cards. Put it this way: there’s no reason Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Jason Garrison or Seth Jones should have higher ownership than Ristolainen right now. Some people have some moves to make.
Need another reason to pick up Ristolainen? The Sabres play four games in the next seven days, as many as anyone in that span. If nothing else, Ristolainen offers the potential to spam your lineup for the next seven days.
Martin Hanzal – C – 19 per cent owned
Hanzal should have made this list last week, instead his linemate Tobias Rieder did. Hanzal went out and scored three assists the night last week’s piece ran. He added another couple over the rest of the week, running his total to eight through just six games. Hanzal is benefiting from some puck luck, which is sure to regress as Anthony Duclair will not continue to bury shots like they are free throws. Still, Hanzal is an exceptional player, particularly in rotisserie pools.
Hanzal is basically David Backes without the press. The only thing that’s held Hanzal back over the years is injuries. He’s good to miss about 20 games a year. He’s healthy now though so take advantage.
One added benefit to picking up Hanzal, you can immediately start dropping Zoolander quotes to antagonize the rest of your league. “Hanzal, so hot right now. Hanzal.” Yeah, your opponents are going to hate you.
Dylan Larkin, C – 45 per cent owned
Larkin has not slowed down yet, netting points in each of his first five games. The well will dry up eventually, but until it does, there’s no sense ignoring what’s going on here. Larkin is skating in a lethal top-six for the Red Wings and doesn’t appear ready to relinquish his spot. Even if you aren’t a complete believer just yet the Wings have four games this week against some favourable opponents from Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Carolina so if nothing else, Larkin is giving you game volume.
Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW – 27 per cent owned
Another rookie making a splash. Ehlers is only skating on the third line, with second power play duties so the opportunity isn’t great, but this is a stacked Jets team making waves across the league. Third line minutes on this team can be productive. Ehlers adds the bonus of being a shot fiend. With 20 SOG through six games, he’s on pace for more than 240, which has value even if he isn’t scoring a ton of points.
Mikael Granlund, C – 19 per cent owned
Clearly there are a lot of good centres still floating on the waiver wire in pools. Consider Granlund another schedule play, if nothing else, as the Wild have four games over the next seven days. Granlund also happens to be the primary playmaker on the Wild, skating big minutes alongside 30-goal-scorers Zach Parise and Jason Pominville at even strength as well as on the top power play unit. It also happens that the Wild are actually starting to score a little bit on the power play, which makes Granlund a decent bet to break out this season. He can definitely get you an assist-heavy 60 points if things break the right way.
Steve Laidlaw is a Managing Editor at DobberHockey. You can follow him on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.
