Welcome to the fantasy hockey stock market. Each week we will look at three players trending up and three players trending down.
Three Up
Ty Rattie – RW – Oilers – 2 Goals, 1 Assist, 12 Shots, 4 Games
Desperate times call for desperate measures. If you missed out on last week’s recommendation of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, you could do worse than Connor McDavid’s other new linemate. The diminutive winger has mastered scoring at every level but the NHL, where he has been unable to break through in five seasons since turning pro. Minutes alongside the reigning MVP makes for a good start. Rattie has goals in back-to-back games in his new spot on the top line.
J.T. Miller – F – Lightning – 18 Goals, 32 Assists, 117 Shots, 72 Games
Did anyone benefit more from getting dealt at the trade deadline? Miller went from skating on a shutdown line for a rebuilding Rangers club to the Cup-contending Lightning squad’s top line alongside superstars Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos. He has five goals and 10 points in nine games since joining Tampa Bay and should be a productive option the rest of the way.
Clayton Keller – F – Coyotes – 20 Goals, 32 Assists, 177 Shots, 71 Games
Keller was an early-season darling abandoned by fantasy owners once he hit the rookie wall. Since the all-star break he has rediscovered his touch providing some consistent offence with 16 points in his last 20 games. Unfortunately, Keller has not rediscovered the wild shot volume that saw him fire nearly four shots per game in the month of October, but his modest pace of two shots per game is still valuable.
If Keller is unavailable, Derek Stepan makes for an excellent consolation prize. The Coyotes top centreman has 15 points in the last 22 games.
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Three Down
Jonathan Marchessault – LW – Golden Knights – 22 Goals, 44 Assists, 234 Shots, 69 Games
The shooting percentages were always likely to regress for Marchessault, but what has happened these past couple of weeks has been truly spectacular. Marchessault could sell out arenas with his disappearing act from the past two weeks. Marchessault’s scoreless drought ended at seven games on Sunday, but was enough to cost his fantasy owners in their time of need.
The absence of linemate Reilly Smith has been notable here, and while Smith has been skating it does not appear that the forward will be back in the near future.
Josh Bailey – W – Islanders – 18 Goals, 49 Assists, 130 Shots, 68 Games
The entire Islanders top line has appeared in this spot at some point in the last two months as they have really struggled after a great start to the season. Things have gotten so bad that Doug Weight has even experimented with John Tavares playing wing on Mathew Barzal’s line. Bailey’s emergence may have been what helped get you to the fantasy playoffs. But with just five points in his last 13 games, he won’t be what helps you win there.
Vladislav Namestnikov – F – Rangers – 22 Goals, 25 Assists, 143 Shots, 71Games
The inverse of Miller’s situation in Tampa Bay. Namestnikov joins a rebuilding team without much offensive jam. He had already started to see his numbers slip in Tampa Bay, but is now pure waiver fodder with just three points in nine games since joining the Rangers.
Steve Laidlaw is the Managing Editor of DobberHockey. Follow him on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.
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