Fantasy Spin: Brodeur shutout complicates Blues

Just when it seemed like Jake Allen had a firm grasp on the St. Louis Blues' goaltending job, Brian Elliott is about to return to the lineup, and Martin Brodeur got a shutout in his first start in 11 days.

Brodeur (24 percent owned in Yahoo leagues) made 16 saves in a 3-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, proving he still has some value for fantasy owners. His prior start was a disaster, allowing six goals on 37 shots in a 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, a game when the Blues had a 3-0 first-period lead. He's 3-2-0 with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.

Allen (60 percent owned) started six of the seven games prior to Monday and allowed more than three goals per game. He is 11-5-2 with a 2.76 GAA and a decreasing .899 save percentage.

Elliott, who sustained a knee injury Nov. 25, has been medically cleared to play and is expected to return as early as this weekend. He is the best option of the three (8-4-1, 1.82 GAA, .931 save percentage) but is owned in 79 percent of leagues.

The Blues play the Nashville Predators on Tuesday and have back-to-back games at the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks on Friday and Saturday. It's only a matter of time before Elliott returns, and that makes this a difficult situation to read because the Blues may keep all three goalies on the team for the time being. Either way, Brodeur's and Allen's value will decrease.

Blues forward Dmitrij Jaskin (less than 1 percent owned, RW) skated on the third line with Paul Stastny and Ryan Reaves. Reaves was moved up to replace Patrick Berglund. Jaskin scored 28 seconds into the game and was a plus-2 in 15:27 of ice time. He has five points in 11 games but four in the past five.

-- Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal (14 percent owned, C, LW) made his season debut in a 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Staal, who sustained a broken leg during training camp, had an assist on Eric Staal's power-play goal in the third period. Jordan finished with 19:01 of ice time playing on the top line with Eric and Nathan Gerbe.

-- Boston Bruins forward Carl Soderberg (30 percent owned, C, LW) had three points (one goal, two assists) in a 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings. He played 15:28 on a productive line with Chris Kelly (3 percent owned, C, LW), who had a goal and two assists, and Loui Eriksson (58 percent owned, LW, RW), who had two assists.

-- Nashville Predators forward Colin Wilson (8 percent owned, C, LW) had two assists in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. He has seven points in his past four games. Wilson has benefitted from playing on a line with James Neal, who scored two goals, and Mike Fisher.

-- Winnipeg Jets forward Evander Kane (74 percent owned, LW) will be out until February with a lower-body injury. Kane had been on the third line with Adam Lowry and Matt Halischuk, a spot which was occupied at practice by Chris Thorburn. Without Kane, no one on the line is really worth considering as a pick up. Halischuk (less than 1 percent owned, RW) doesn't provide offense, shots or penalty minutes; Lowry (1 percent owned, LW) has one goal in eight games; and Thorburn (less than 1 percent owned, RW) plays six minutes per game.