Fantasy Spin: Replacing Maple Leafs' van Riemsdyk

James van Riemsdyk of the Toronto Maple Leafs has had his resurgent fantasy stock put on hold because of injury.

Van Riemsdyk, who had 13 points in 11 games between Dec. 8 and Jan. 6, is expected to miss 6-8 weeks because of a non-displaced fracture in his left foot. Van Riemsdyk is owned in 90 percent of Yahoo leagues and is ranked 71st among players based on performance in standard leagues. He leads Toronto with 29 points in 40 games and he's tied for 19th among all players with 129 shots on goal.

Toronto's top-six forward group of late had been van Riemsdyk with Tyler Bozak and PA Parenteau on the top line with Michael Grabner, Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov on the second line. The injury negatively impacts the stock of Bozak (20 percent) to say the least. Komarov (C/LW, 50 percent) and Kadri (33 percent), if available in your league, will be relied upon more heavily by the Maple Leafs to carry the offense and should be added at once. Potential options to replace van Riemsdyk on the top line include Joffrey Lupul (9 percent) and Daniel Winnik (1 percent), who could be short-term cogs but don't possess much long-term fantasy value.

Check NHL.com's latest Fantasy All-Access column for center-eligible options who could be of greater fantasy help than Bozak; among them Tomas Hertl of the San Jose Sharks, Sean Couturier of the Philadelphia Flyers, Sam Reinhart of the Buffalo Sabres and Alexander Wennberg of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Stash van Riemsdyk in your fantasy injured-reserve spot or on the bench in a keeper league as his injury timetable suggests he could return in late February or early March. That leaves enough time for him to give your lineup a late push.

As for more left wing replacements, here are some options:

Mikkel Boedker, LW/RW, Arizona Coyotes, 32 percent -- Boedker leads the Coyotes in points (31) and power-play points (13) and is third in shots on goal (105). He's dual-eligible in Yahoo and is available in more than two-thirds of leagues. There is a downside as his minus-14 rating is tied for seventh-worst in the League.

Carl Soderberg, C/LW, Colorado Avalanche, 27 percent -- My colleague Matt Cubeta listed Soderberg as his second-half sleeper because of his recent chemistry with Gabriel Landeskog and Blake Comeau on Colorado's second line. He also sees significant power-play time.

Ryan Spooner, C/LW or David Pastrnak, LW/RW, Boston Bruins -- Spooner (25 percent) has been a beast since assuming second-line center duties with David Krejci injured. He has points in four of his past five games and four or more shots on goal in three of those games. Pastrnak (21 percent) has been injured and in the American Hockey League but still has the second half of the season to live up to his preseason fantasy hype. He has one goal and three shots on goal in two games since being recalled.

Brandon Dubinsky, C/LW, Columbus Blue Jackets, 25 percent -- We've talked a lot about Wennberg's potential alongside Brandon Saad with Ryan Johansen traded away from Columbus. But don't overlook Dubinsky's category coverage regardless of his linemates if he's available in your league. He has points in four of his past five games and has touched on shots on goal, hits, power-play points and penalty minutes in that span.

Tanner Pearson, LW, Los Angeles Kings, 4 percent -- Jeff Carter has returned to the Kings' lineup. But his former linemates Tyler Toffoli and Milan Lucic seem to be sticking with Anze Kopitar on the top line. That means Carter, a top-20 forward prior to his injury, has been reunited with Pearson on the second unit at even strength. Pearson has 20 points and a plus-10 in 41 games and is a low-risk/high-reward option for deep-league owners.

Andre Burakovsky, LW, Washington Capitals, 1 percent -- Breakout forward Evgeny Kuznetsov and veteran linemate Justin Williams have been a secondary scoring boon for the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals this season, so the fact that Andre Burakovsky is playing with them recently could spike his ownership in a matter of time. Burakovsky is a flier in fantasy at this point but does have one goal, two assists and eight shots on goal in his past four games, including a two assists and a power-play point Sunday against the Ottawa Senators.

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