With Rookie tournaments underway, the core players are preparing for pre-season. Hopefully the players you are planning on drafting are doing a good job of preparing for the season so that they don’t pull their groin during camp or first game - it’s bound to happen to somebody. Injuries can make or break your Fantasy season and there really is no way to predict who is going to get hurt.
If you ever find yourself debating between taking one player or another, take a few things into consideration so that you can make an informed decision. First and foremost, do you like this player and/or the team he is on? I would much rather pick a player who I actually like versus someone I can’t stand or is on a rival team to my favorite team. After all, you will be cheering for this player all season, unless you trade or drop them! Another factor to consider is how good is the team they are playing on? If the team is horrible and the other player that I am debating between is on a Stanley Cup contender - I am going to choose the player on the better team. The player on the better team should get more offensive opportunities, likely more power play time and of course their +/- should be better. Last but not least, take a quick look at their injury history from last season or even the last couple of seasons. If they are constantly missing 20 games a season and the other player seems to play around 80, then the decision has already been made for you.
Injuries are also another reason why it’s important to pay attention to the free agent players in your Fantasy pool(s). If one of your better players gets hurt and goes on the IR, the best things to be is prepared and have some replacements in mind that you have been monitoring all season. Slotting in a replacement is a must, but getting the right player to keep your team on track is the key to success.
Once the season begins I will be giving updates on some free agents who are worthy of keeping an eye on throughout the year. Whether it be replacing one of your players because they are hurt OR perhaps they got moved down a line because someone else has stepped up their game considerably and deserves more ice time OR replacing them because they are straight up playing horrible...whatever the case may be, I will do my best to help with giving you some replacement options (that goes for goalies as well).
I have put together a list of players from last season who had decent point outputs, penalty minutes and I’ve also provided their plus/minus to give you an idea of where they stand. Take note of the player, team, and +- trend…
Backes – 57 points – 119 PIM, +14 Simmonds – 60 points – 106 PIM, -4 C. Stewart – 26 points – 118 PIM, +0 Hartnell – 52 points – 103 PIM, +11 Dubinsky – 50 points – 98 PIM, +5 N. Foligno – 39 points – 96 PIM, +5 Brouwer – 43 points – 92 PIM, -6 Lucic – 59 points – 91 PIM, +30 Perron – 57 points – 90 PIM, -16 Byfuglien – 56 points – 86 PIM, -20 Kesler – 43 points – 81 PIM, -15 MacArthur – 55 points – 78 PIM, +12 E. Staal – 61 points – 74 PIM, -13 Phaneuf – 31 points – 144 PIM, +3 Kadri – 50 points – 67 PIM, -12
* SLEEPER – A. Roussel – 29 points – 209 PIM *
There are 3 Players on this list that I feel will improve from their last season:
C. Stewart – expect Chris to have around 100-120 PIM with 40 points, -10. Kesler – expect Ryan to have around 60-80 PIM with 50 points, +10 Phaneuf – expect Dion to have around 100 PIM with 40 points, +8
Most of these players are middle to late round drafts, except one; Roussel. Roussel will be entering his third NHL season and will be looking for increased minutes and role. He is a solid 6ft 200 pounds and is an animal on the ice. He missed one game last season and put up a whopping 209 penalty minutes but also answered with 14 goals. I don’t see a huge increase in point total with Roussel as he will be playing third line minutes (35 points). But what I do see is opportunity to move up if there is an injury or someone is not gelling well with their line mates; this is the line I am wondering about for Dallas is the Erik Cole – Jason Spezza – Ales Hemsky line. It is likely that one (if not all 3) of these band-aids get hurt at some point during this season. If you have penalty minutes in your Fantasy league, keep Roussel in mind, especially if you have been taking a beating in the PIM category. I suggest taking Roussel as your second last, or last pick in some of the deeper fantasy leagues.
Friday I will be going over some sleepers and some wily vets who just keep on producing.
Thanks for reading.