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Fantasy Hockey Draft Rankings, Advice and Analysis

Fantasy top 30 goalies: Sabres' Ullmark gets chance

Thursday, 11.05.2015 / 12:00 PM / Fantasy Hockey Draft Rankings, Advice and Analysis

David Satriano - NHL.com Staff Writer

Every Thursday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey staff writer David Satriano provides in-depth goalie analysis. From updated weekly top 30 rankings to trending players and more, Satriano is your go-to guy for fantasy goalie advice all season long.


The Buffalo Sabres traded for goalie Robin Lehner hoping that he would be a stabilizing force for them. Unfortunately, Lehner sustained an ankle injury in the opening game of the season and likely won't return until December.

Backup Chad Johnson has not performed well (3-6-0, 3.16 goals-against average, .881 save percentage) and has allowed three or more goals in each of his past three starts, which is why rookie Linus Ullmark is getting his chance.

Ullmark has started the past two games and three of the past five, and gets the call Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. After allowing four goals on 28 shots in a 4-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 24, he's been impressive, winning each of his past two games and stopping 56 of 58 shots. He should see majority of the starts for the Sabres while Lehner is out and is owned in six percent of Yahoo leagues.

Fantasy top 60 defensemen: Buy low on Muzzin

Wednesday, 11.04.2015 / 12:00 PM / Fantasy Hockey Draft Rankings, Advice and Analysis

Brian Metzer - NHL.com Correspondent

Every Wednesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey contributor Brian Metzer provides in-depth defenseman analysis. From updated weekly top 60 rankings to trending players and more, Metzer is your go-to guy for fantasy D-men advice all season long.


Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin took a hit from Colorado Avalanche forward Blake Comeau during a preseason game Sept. 27 that left him with what the team called an upper-body injury.

That injury lingered as the regular season began. While Muzzin has played all 12 of the Kings' games, he wasn't doing so at 100 percent.

He was a minus-6 in his first three games and went seven games without a point. Some of that was due to the Kings losing their first three games. But health also played a role.

Fantasy top 100 forwards: McDavid, Hall excel apart

Tuesday, 11.03.2015 / 12:05 PM / Fantasy Hockey Draft Rankings, Advice and Analysis

Pete Jensen - NHL.com Fantasy Insider

Every Tuesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey insider Pete Jensen provides in-depth forward analysis. From updated weekly top-100 rankings to trending players and more, Jensen is your go-to guy for fantasy forward advice all season long.


Entering the season, fantasy owners were high enough on Edmonton Oilers rookie Connor McDavid to risk a third- or fourth-round pick on a player who had never played an NHL game. It was not only because of rave reviews, but also because he'd likely play with proven assets Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle.

The early combinations under Edmonton coach Todd McLellan have certainly not shaken out the way we anticipated, but the chemistry on the Oilers' top two lines has made more widespread fantasy waves than we could have imagined 12 games into the season. Edmonton has three players with 10 or more points (Hall 13, McDavid 12, Nail Yakupov 10) and one with nine (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) despite Eberle not playing a game yet because of injury.

Going into the season, it would have been crazy to think that McDavid and Hall, if they were apart in most situations, could each produce among the upper echelon of forwards in McDavid's first season. But this proves that the right chemistry, even with players who in the past appeared to have fallen out of favor with a particular team, can lead to magical things in fantasy hockey. Eberle's impending return only sweetens the pot.

Fantasy All-Access: Start eyeing Devils on waiver wire

Sean McCullen - NHL.com Staff Writer

Every Monday, NHL.com staff writer Sean McCullen identifies potential waiver-wire pickups and points out lineup moves and schedule impacts for fantasy hockey.

Fantasy owners apparently have not taken notice of the New Jersey Devils, who have won six of their past seven games, including a 3-2 shootout win against the John Tavares-less New York Islanders on Saturday.

Goalie Cory Schneider has been good (6-2-1, 2.17 goals-against average, .919 save percentage), as expected, but he's not the only reason behind New Jersey's recent success.

Since their 0-3-1 start under first-year coach John Hynes, the Devils have been scoring goals. Yes, the New Jersey Devils. They have 20 non-shootout goals in their past seven games; that 2.86 per-game average would be 10th in the NHL for the season. Veteran forward Mike Cammalleri (C/LW, owned in 62 percent of Yahoo leagues), a known fantasy commodity for the past decade, has three goals and a Devils-high 11 points.

Fantasy Friday: Analyzing Crosby, other slow starters

Matt Cubeta - NHL.com Fantasy Insider

In the previous edition of Fantasy Friday, I looked at some of the biggest surprises in fantasy hockey and whether I believed they could carry their fast starts for the remainder of the season. This week, I'll look at the opposite, the biggest disappointments to this point.

However, instead of being 16 days into the season, we're now 23 days into it. Looking back at last season, players like Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, Sean Monahan of the Calgary Flames and Tomas Tatar of the Detroit Red Wings had been struggling 23 days into their seasons. Some players are able to shake off their early-season slumps, like Monahan and Tatar, while others carry those struggles throughout the season and never quite fully recover, like MacKinnon. Even Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin only had five goals and one assist through his first nine games, but we all know how his season turned out.

This season seems to have more superstars coming out of the gate slowly than in the past, but the question is, can they recover?

Here's a look at some of the most notable disappointments of the young 2015-16 season and whether I believe they can turn things around for fantasy owners.

Fantasy top 30 goalies: Kings' Quick a workhorse

Thursday, 10.29.2015 / 12:05 PM / Fantasy Hockey Draft Rankings, Advice and Analysis

David Satriano - NHL.com Fantasy Staff Writer

Every Thursday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey staff writer David Satriano provides in-depth goalie analysis. From updated weekly top 30 rankings to trending players and more, Satriano is your go-to guy for fantasy goalie advice all season long.


The Los Angeles Kings began the season 0-3-0, allowing 12 goals and scoring only two. Jonathan Quick was in net for each of them. Known as a big-game goalie, Quick doesn't often start well but plays his best when the stakes are high.

After failing to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, you can be sure he doesn't want that to happen again and is doing his part; Quick has won five straight starts and has allowed a combined five goals, with two coming at even strength.

Fantasy top 60 defensemen: Markov's flashback year

Wednesday, 10.28.2015 / 12:00 PM / Fantasy Hockey Draft Rankings, Advice and Analysis

Brian Metzer - NHL.com Correspondent

Every Wednesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey contributor Brian Metzer provides in-depth defenseman analysis. From updated weekly top 60 rankings to trending players and more, Metzer is your go-to guy for fantasy D-men advice all season long.


Oct. 21 was recognized as "Back to the Future Day," a celebration of the day in the film "Back to the Future Part II" in which Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox, travels from 1985 to Oct. 21, 2015 to save his future children.

That doesn't have a ton to do with fantasy hockey, but the time-travel aspect of those films was the first thing that came to mind while watching Andrei Markov have a five-point game Oct. 23 in a victory against the Buffalo Sabres.

That's the kind of performance we expect from Markov's teammate P.K. Subban, who just took over the top spot in our rankings, but it was the 36-year-old Markov with a game reminiscent of 2008.

Fantasy top 100 forwards: Injury replacement options

Tuesday, 10.27.2015 / 12:00 PM / Fantasy Hockey Draft Rankings, Advice and Analysis

Pete Jensen - NHL.com Fantasy Insider

Every Tuesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey insider Pete Jensen provides in-depth forward analysis. From updated weekly top-100 rankings to trending players and more, Jensen is your go-to guy for fantasy forward advice all season long.


It's an unfortunate reality, but injuries can happen at any time and abruptly end promising fantasy developments. That certainly is the case with three top-75 fantasy forwards -- Evander Kane of the Buffalo Sabres, Jaden Schwartz of the St. Louis Blues, and Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers – each going down with an injury in the past week.

Kane, who was mostly playing on Jack Eichel’s left wing, is expected to miss 4-6 weeks because of a knee injury. Schwartz, who covered five of the six standard fantasy categories and played with Vladimir Tarasenko last season, had surgery to repair a fractured ankle he sustained at practice and will miss at least 12 weeks. Barkov, who formed a top-notch scoring tandem with veteran Jaromir Jagr, could miss 2-4 weeks with a broken bone in his hand.

Fantasy All-Access: Coyotes' Hanzal on waiver wire

Sean McCullen - NHL.com Staff Writer

Every Monday, NHL.com staff writer Sean McCullen identifies potential waiver-wire pickups, and points out lineup moves and schedule impacts for fantasy hockey.

Four of the NHL's top players saw their early-season struggles continue in Week 2 of the fantasy schedule.

Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry were held without a point in two games after they combined for two assists in the first five games for the struggling Anaheim Ducks (1-5-1). Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakub Voracek hasn't scored a goal and has three assists in seven games after he was fourth in the NHL in scoring in 2014-15 (81 points). Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask allowed five goals in an overtime loss to the Flyers in his only start; he's 1-3-1 with a 4.40 goals-against average and .854 save percentage in five games.

Fantasy Friday: Krejci, Jones off to fast starts

Matt Cubeta - NHL.com Fantasy Insider

We've seen 16 days of NHL action to this point.

At this time last season it was the Anaheim Ducks' duo of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf dominating the NHL. Perry was leading the League with eight goals, including two hat tricks, while Getzlaf was leading the League with eight assists. Each player had an NHL-high 10 points through seven games (tied with John Tavares of the New York Islanders and Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars).

Perry, Getzlaf, Tavares and Seguin weren't surprises in fantasy hockey though. They were all top-level talents likely selected in the early rounds of their fantasy drafts. They were performing how their owners had hoped.

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NHL.COM FANTASY HOCKEY COVERAGE
Low ownership players in early top 50 overall
Ranks: Top 100 'F' | Top 50 'D' | Top 25 'G'
Waiver wire: Werenski rising; more options
Injury impact: Kings' Quick | Sabres' Eichel
Daily projected fantasy starting goaltenders
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