Fantasy mailbag: Second-half performers, prospects to watch

NHL.com will answer your fantasy mailbag questions all season long. Whether you're in a year-long league or play DFS, we'll answer the most relevant questions based on Yahoo transaction trends, DraftKings value and any other developments (production, lineup, injuries) around the League. Send your questions to @NHLJensen on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

@HoosieHD: Are there any forward or defenseman prospects that could have an impact in the second half; @coachrichlax: Is Daniel Sprong worth a gamble?
It's officially the midway point of a season, so I would say young players with limited NHL experience/production, under-the-radar rookies and recent call-ups fall into the prospects category in non-keeper leagues. Daniel Sprong (RW, 9 percent owned) of the Pittsburgh Penguins leads this list considering he has low ownership and just had a three-point game alongside Sidney Crosby against the New York Islanders on Friday. Another recent call-up, Jack Roslovic (C, 1 percent) of the Winnipeg Jets, is worth monitoring once he gets some playing time; he was one of the top scorers in the American Hockey League with Manitoba (35 points in 31 games) but hasn't played since being recalled.

As far as young players with second-half upside, I would look at Alex Tuch(RW, 4 percent owned) of the Vegas Golden Knights and Timo Meier (LW/RW, 2 percent) of the San Jose Sharks. Tuch has at least one point in five of his past seven games, totaling six points (two goals, four assists) and 18 shots on goal playing on the second power-play unit with William Karlsson and third line at even strength. One injury to Vegas' top six could open the door for Tuch to take on a more prominent role. Meier also has a high shot volume and is playing alongside Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski on the Sharks top line lately; he has seven points (five goals, two assists), two power-play points and 27 shots on goal over his past 10 games.
And on the defenseman front, two players are scratching the surface in deep leagues. Thomas Chabot (4 percent owned) of the Ottawa Senators is playing on the first power-play unit lately with Erik Karlsson, who could be poised for a second-half turnaround. Samuel Girard (1 percent) has four power-play assists over his past four games on the first unit with forwards Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Jost in the absence of injured defenseman Tyson Barrie.

@Scott\MAbrewing: Who are some classic second-half players to target?
Below are the top 10 players in points per game from Jan. 1 to the end of the regular season from 2013-14 to 2016-17 (minimum 50 games), according to Elias Sports Bureau. I also included current Yahoo rank to display whether any players may be attainable in fantasy at a discount.
1. Connor McDavid: 1.22 points per game (current Yahoo rank: 24)
2. Sidney Crosby: 1.17 points per game (current Yahoo rank: 11)
3. Evgeni Malkin: 1.09 points per game (current Yahoo rank: 15)
4. John Tavares: 1.06 points per game (current Yahoo rank: 12)
5. Patrick Kane: 1.04 points per game (current Yahoo rank: 31)
6. Jamie Benn: 1.01 points per game (current Yahoo rank: 14)
7. Nicklas Backstrom: 0.9545 points per game (current Yahoo rank: 86)
8. Alex Ovechkin: 0.9543 points per game (current Yahoo rank: 4)
9. Kris Letang: 0.9537 points per game (current Yahoo rank: 102)10. Ryan Getzlaf: 0.94 points per game (current Yahoo rank: 267)
If you want to dig deeper, below are players who finished any of the past four seasons with at least a point per game (minimum 20 games). Players on injured reserve may be attainable at a lower price, and certain players in bold have low ownership and/or stock in Yahoo.
Jan. 1 to end of reg. season, 2017:
1. Brad Marchand: 1.32 points per game
2. Connor McDavid: 1.30 points per game
T3. Patrick Kane: 1.21 points per game
T3. Evgeni Malkin: 1.21 points per game
5. Nicklas Backstrom: 1.19 points per game
6. Nikita Kucherov: 1.16 points per game
7. Mark Scheifele: 1.14 points per game*
8. Ryan Getzlaf: 1.13 points per game
9. Sidney Crosby: 1.09 points per game
10. Blake Wheeler: 1.05 points per game
11. Conor Sheary: 1.03 points per game (32 percent owned; 422nd in Yahoo)
12. David Pastrnak: 1.02 points per game
T13. Aleksander Barkov: 1.00 points per game
T13. Leon Draisaitl: 1.00 points per game (128th in Yahoo)
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Jan. 1 to end of reg. season, 2016:
1. Sidney Crosby: 1.32
2. Joe Thornton: 1.22 (41 percent owned; 109th in Yahoo)
3. Evgeni Malkin: 1.20
4. Patrick Kane: 1.16
5. Connor McDavid: 1.13
6. Kris Letang: 1.12
T7. Mark Scheifele: 1.05*
T7. Artemi Panarin: 1.05
T7. Anze Kopitar: 1.05
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Jan. 1 to end of reg. season, 2015:
T1. John Tavares: 1.20
T1. Jamie Benn: 1.20
3. Alex Ovechkin: 1.13
4. Sidney Crosby: 1.07
5. Alexander Steen: 1.05 (42 percent owned; 225th in Yahoo)
6. Mark Stone: 1.02
7. Patrick Kane: 1.00
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Jan. 1 to end of reg. season, 2014
1. Sidney Crosby: 1.18
2. Claude Giroux: 1.17
3. Evgeni Malkin: 1.11
T4. Ryan Getzlaf: 1.05
T4. Taylor Hall: 1.05
T4. Phil Kessel: 1.05
T4. Jamie Benn: 1.05
T4. Ondrej Palat: 1.05 (56 percent owned; 147th in Yahoo)
T4. Tyler Seguin: 1.05
10. Paul Stastny: 1.03 (25 percent owned; 218th in Yahoo)
T11. Corey Perry: 1.00*
T11. Jason Spezza: 1.00 (38 percent owned; 309th in Yahoo)
T11. Joe Pavelski: 1.00
T11. Mikko Koivu: 1.00 (24 percent owned; 140th in Yahoo)
*Currently on injured reserve
@tristan\vncvr: Is there any way Tristan Jarry takes the reins from Matt Murray with his play recently? If so, I would drop Thomas Greiss for Jarry in a heartbeat; @AldoC93: What to do with Murray? Should I still consider him as a keeper; @BLeitch_ATC: Full keeper league until someone wins B2B years; would you consider trading Murray? I have Andrei Vasilevskiy and Robin Lehner as well. Trying to create a package with players to get Frederik Andersen/Braden Holtby/Sergei Bobrovsky. Thanks.
There's a chance Jarry could steal time from Murray if the latter's struggles continue. That said, I was high on Murray coming into the season and believe he's a great buy-low candidate in fantasy right now. The Penguins are traditionally a strong second-half team, and a look at the above lists of top scorers from Jan. 1 to the end of the season over the previous four seasons shows Crosby, Malkin and Letang are at their best down the stretch. Jarry is a decent streaming options in the short term, and I would add him for Greiss. But for any fantasy owners considering trading Murray, remember he's 23 years old, has helped win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles and has a .918 career regular-season save percentage. I still think it's safe to say the Penguins will revert closer to normal and/or make a trade in the weeks and months to come. It may sound like a broken record, but they are way too talented to finish last in even-strength shooting (5.2, 31st) and SV% (.904, 31st).

@D_Bischoff: Mike Green or Ryan Ellis for the remainder of the season? Green is on PP1; Ellis might be No. 3 D-man on Predators; @rick009: Ellis or Cam Fowler?
Look at how productive Mattias Ekholm was fantasy-wise in Ellis' spot for most of the latter's absence because of a knee injury. Even without top forward Filip Forsberg, I trust Nashville so much more than the Detroit Red Wings and think that any injuries to the Predators defenseman corps the rest of the way would only help Ellis' fantasy value. I have Ellis ranked two spots higher than Green among my latest
top 50 defensemen
because Ellis was a top-tier goal scorer among defensemen and fantasy-relevant late last regular season (and into the postseason) -- even when P.K. Subban and Roman Josi were healthy. I would rather own Fowler (50 percent) over Ellis (58 percent), though. Fowler is running the first power-play unit with a surging Ryan Getzlaf, Rickard Rakell and the recently returned Ryan Kesler. Anaheim's best fantasy results are likely still to come.