Bucket of Pucks

Waiver Wire Report: NHL Fantasy Free Agents, Week of 12/14

 

This weeks Waiver Wire Report has a number of players that are examples that one player can have a positive effect on a whole team.  But just about everyone of this week's list is rebounding from a bad streak of bad start to the year.  See who we've got turning it around after the jump:

Waiver Wire Report: NHL Fantasy Free Agents, Week of 12/7

This week's Waiver Wire Report has nice potential options for your fantasy teams.  Their numbers will make you wonder why they're not more widely owned.  See who we're talking about after the break.

Waiver Wire Report: NHL Fantasy Free Agents, Week of 11/30

This week's Waiver Wire Report has some holiday fantasy buys.  All these Free Agent treats offer something to improve you team's roster.  Come in and window shop these players and see which ones you'll buy for the holiday season and which ones you'll keep all year round:

Waiver Wire Report: NHL Fantasy Free Agents, Week of 11/2

As most hockey fans know, it was 50 years ago this past weekend that Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante brought us the hockey mask for the first time.  In honor of this historic hockey moment, BucketofPucks Waiver Wire Report will kick off this week with a "Hat Tip" to this game changing event.

To begin with TSN has a fun Gallery of the Best Goalie Masks of the Year, check it out and see who you think has the most awesome mask of this season.  Ranger's goalie Henrik Lundqvist just had a new mask made to honor this great hockey moment.  It has the original hockey mask on it, along with a ticket to the actual Montreal-New York stub in which Plante had his nose broken by Ranger forward Andy Bathgate's shot.

Hockey commentator Stan Fischler, also known as "The Hockey Maven" recently recounted this great hockey story.  Upon breaking his nose on the Andy Bathgate shot, Jacques Plante skated right off the ice and went to the lockeroom to get patched up.  Causing a 21 minute delay in the game.  After receiving some medical attention, Plante broke out the mask, as he'd been toying with it and using it in practices.  Canadiens coach Toe Blake would have none of it and was furious at Plante for even suggesting it.  Given the fact that Blake had no backup goaltender he eventually relented.  Emerging from the locker room the revelation was shocking to those who first saw it.  The Canadiens rallied around their goalie and won the game 3-1.

What I find to be a particularly fun fact, that not everyone remembers, as Fischler tells the story:  Toe Blake was so against the mask, he insisted the Plante play the next game without it.  A game in which Montreal got trounced.  So Blake said to Plante he could wear the mask until he was healed.  It was then that the Canadiens went on a 10 game winning streak and the game of hockey was changed forever.

Now let's get to this week Waiver Wire pick, right after the break:

Quick Hits: NHL Fantasy Injury Report - 10.23.09

At an amazingly prolific rate, NHL players are getting injured in droves in the early going this season.  Some major ligament tears, some concussions and even some Groin injuries to go along with a collection of sprains, strains and bruised appendages - not to mention the battered faces of poolies everywhere from giving themselves multiple facepalms over the injuries decimating their teams.

The latest blow came when Chicago’s Jonathan Toews got leveled on Wednesday night and missed his 2^nd consecutive practice today.  For this fantasy scoop on Toews and the rest of this week’s list of impending returnees and walking wounded, join us below the crease.

NHL Fantasy Hockey 2009: High Risk / High Reward NHL Players - Part 1

Every season there are players who are surefire bets and they get drafted accordingly. Then there are those guys that, due to their injury history or shaky previous performances, make it tough to judge if or when they should be drafted.

In this two-part article, we’ll take a look at some of these guys to make it easier for poolies to either snag a diamond in the rough or avoid drafting a horse apple on the big day.  As usual, all advice below is based on a 12-team, 16 round draft.

Exodus? The NHL vs. the KHL: One Year Ago

                       

One year ago, I wrote an article posted over at the now-on-hiatus Fantasy Insider Online about the threat the budding KHL would be to the National Hockey League. At the time, I was told my pontificating was way off base by many, right on target by very few. However, one year later, it seems aside from the names changing, my reasoning still seems strong.

Jiri Hudler is about to be poached from the Detroit Red Wings (much like Alexander Radulov was from the Nashville Predators last year) and the KHL seems bound and determined to throw cash at the world's best players, no matter where they may be under contract.

So, reprinted below is the article EXACTLY as it appeared on FIO, on July 14, 2008. I've changed not a word, so obviously some things have shaken out (Radulov + Krog stayed in Russia, Cherapanov died, Emery is now back in the NHL, etc.) but it certainly seems my fears were justified.

Give it a read and let me know - Was I right?

Streamers Report for the Week of 2/9-2/15

***Fantasy Trade deadlines are fast approaching.  Most Head to Head public leagues have trade deadlines starting as early as next week or as late as the first week of March.***

If you can't swing a trade or just looking to fill some roster holes, the Streamers Report has some solutions for you.  Including dusting off some forgotten veterans, who have started turning it up for the stretch drive:

Steve Ott, C (12% owned)/Jere Lehtinen, RW (11% owned):  No, not all the points in both their recent scoring streaks came in Dallas's 10-2 victory over the NY Rangers.  Dallas's new top line of Ott, Mike Ribeiro and Lehtinen have combined for 36 points the last 8 games.  Only Ribeiro is widely owned at 74%.  Dallas has 3 games this week;  Wednesday hosts Phoenix, Friday hosts Vancouver and Saturday visit Chicago.

Jere Lehtinen is a few years removed from being a top 15 fantasy RW.  Age and mostly nagging injuries have hampered him the last couple of seasons, but he's also shown in his healthy stretches that he can still produce.  Since the new year, Lehtinen has 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists) in 16 games with 7 of those points coming on the power play.

Steve Ott's name is common to pop up on waive wire reports for the last couple of years, under PIMs.  This week's Alphainventions.com PIMs pick of the week averages about 150 PIMs a year.  As mentioned already, Ott (who's usually a 4th liner) has joined the top line and double his offensive output for the year in the last 8 games with 12 points (6 goals, 6 assists, 5 PPP).  Ott has not let the more offensive role disrupt his edge, as he's been called for 16 PIMs over the same 8 game stretch.

FA Streamers Reports for the Week of 1/26-2/1

As someone in one of my fantasy hockey leagues said this week, "Let the second half madness begin...."  

And so it does, as this week marks the beginning of the last 1/3rd of the fantasy hockey regular season.  There's much to look out for in the next coming weeks as there are a number of players that have been injured for a large part of the season and pointed to the All-Star break or soon after as their targets for return.

In addition, most fantasy league have their trade deadlines set for sometime between the last 2 weeks of February and the first week of March.  So, the clock is ticking on you to overhaul and tweak your roster for the fantasy playoff drive.

This week's Streamers Reports kicks off with a couple of top line centers, who've missed significant time and may have been forgetten, as their ownership percentage implies:

Streamers Report for the Week of 1/12-1/18

If you've been following along with the Streamers Report this year, this weeks picks show some long term results of players and teams we've told you to "Watch List" or situations to keep an eye on.

 

Nikita Filatov, LW (12% owned)  Filatov is returning from the Junior World Championship, scoring 8 goalsin the tournament and being one of the most dominate players there.  His timing couldn't be better, as the Blue Jackets leading scorer Rich Nash has been placed on the IR.  Filatov scored a hat trick in his second game since being recalled and will be depended on to fill in some of the scoring gap with Nash sidelined.  Columbus plays 3 times this week:  Tuesday hosting Colorado, Friday hosting New Jersey and visiting Vancouver on Sunday.

Kyle Okposo, RW (4% owned)  As one of the Islander players the team plans to build around, Kyle Opkoso is getting his shot on the top line.  Half-way thru the season Okposo is starting to show some consistent results with,3 goals, 5 assists, +2, 4 PIMs in his last 8 games.  The Islanders have been playing a pretty competitve game recently.  Opkoso makes a particular good play this week, with 2 of their 3 games division rivals they always get up for:  Tuesday home to New York Rangers, Thursday hosting Boston and Saturday hosting New Jersey.