Fantasy Ice: A Deal With Satan

I’ve been playing Yahoo fantasy hockey for a couple of years  now, (thank you Yahoo for finally keeping live stats free) in a variety of leagues and different formats (points, head to head, keeper).  This year in my NHL league there are 14 teams; Head to Head format with 7 Forwards (2C, 2RW, 2LW, F, 4D, 2BN, 2G) and I currently sit first with a record of 82-33-15.  My team stands as this:

Ryan Kesler, Eric Staal, Alexander Ovechkin, Matt Moulson, Nik Antropov, Brad Boyes, Keith Tkachuk, Tomas Kaberle, Filip Kuba, Tobias Enstrom, Zach Bogosian, Derek Roy, Martin Erat, Ryan Miller & Tim Thomas

I have however decided to drop Zach Bogosian for another goalie and while that would leave me 3 goalies, in a league that is based purely on offence (PIM included) a D that isn’t scoring or getting in the box is worth nothing.  Whereas if I pick up an extra goalie I can hopefully get an extra win per week which would make up for Tim Thomas and Tuuka Rask splitting games.

Last week, thanks to Ryan Miller collecting a shutout on Sunday, I had a clean sweep with a 10 – 0 victory.  While my opponent had Kovalev, I was still somehow able to manage a victory in goals despite my team’s lack of goal scoring (aside from Ovechkin).

Kovalev, I thought would have finished #1 in Yahoo for week’s end but that award goes to Drew Doughty and his +4 and 5PPP.  And what about the Chicago players, Kane, Toews, Byfuglien, Hossa and Eager all finishing in the top 10 in Yahoo.  What’s more unbelievable is Handzus the revitalized Slovak rounded up the week with 3 goals and 2 assists.  Is he a player I would pick up? No, unless I had a terrible player to drop but I would also keep a real close eye on him through the 2 games LA has this week.

Another player worth taking a look at is Satan himself.  Miroslav Satan that is.

It’s official Miroslav Satan has returned to the NHL, signing with the Boston Bruins.  A previous 40 goal scorer, Satan posseses a killer wrist shot and an intimidating name.  While he is no longer the 30 goal scorer he once was, he will still prove valuable to the Bruins.  With Patrice Beregron out, Satan should be thrown into more minutes and playing with Blake Wheeler will ensure he gets scoring chances.

While Handzus and Satan may provide some temporary scoring boosts here are some other players that can enhance your team in the long run, so if they’re on the waiver wire, pick them up.

Pickup: Jimmy Howard (DET), Danny Briere (PHI)

Howard is officially the #1 in Detroit and anyone goaltending for Detroit has a great chance to get either a high SV% or a win.  Howard is currently owned in 63% of Yahoo Leagues and people are starting to realize his value as his ownership has gone up by over 20% in the past 2 weeks when someone in my league picked him up.

Briere is surprisingly owned in just half of Yahoo! While he’s not the 30 goal scorer that he used to be in Buffalo, he’s got 5 pts in the last 5 games including 19 shots and with Philadelphia starting to win, his +/- is on the rise.

Drop: Mikhail Grabovski (TOR), Patrick O’Sullivan (EDM)

Grabovski is hurt for the next 6 weeks and he is not worth keeping on the IR.  Drop him for someone else.  He’s too streaky and picking anyone on the Leafs besides Kessel is a gamble to get points let a lone +/-.  I call Grabovski the Kamikaze because of the way he flies down the ice until he’s slammed into the boards causing him to make a great pass or a costly turnover.

O’Sullivan got 2 goals last week in a game but he’s more of a liability than an asset.  With a -19 rating and having just 4 goals in the month of December just lose him.  Edmonton has enough trouble scoring and you have a better chance of helping your team by picking up a smaller fish in a bigger pond like Chicago.

Feel free to comment below with any questions or tips you might have in regards to trades, pickups, drops or anything fantasy hockey related.

Welcome back Miro Satan!