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Stock Watch—Twin Tylers Bozak And Myers Tearing It Up

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Still fighting to the finish in your fantasy hockey league? Or maybe you are looking for some keeper prospects for next year. Here is the weekly buy and sell recommendations with a bit of help on both fronts.


Buy

Tyler Bozak, C, Toronto Maple Leafs—There is no denying the chemistry developing between Phil Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin and Bozak. While producing offensively, Bozak is also dominating in the faceoff circle (56.2 percent) and is showing he could be the long-term solution for the Leafs as their first-line center. The Leafs have a moderately favorable schedule the rest of the way so Bozak should be good for another 10 or so points.

Tyler Myers, D, Buffalo Sabres—Myers made a name for himself early this season as the towering 19 year old Calder Trophy favorite on the Sabres’ blueline, but his production hit the ever-popular rookie wall on February 1st – his 20th birthday. From February 1st through March 7th Myers had just one goal, no assists and was -5 through 11 games. Since then, he has reverted to his impressive ways, posting two goals, seven assists and a +10 rating. Scan your waiver wire—Myers is owned in just 55 percent of pools.

Alex Steen, C, St. Louis Blues—Steen ranks fifth in the NHL in points over the last month with 14, putting him ahead of superstars like Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Normally, I would be skeptical to see a player of Steen’s caliber producing at such a pace, but his added incentive to contribute likely has something to do with his expiring contract. While we might see Steen return back to his old, less-fantasy relevant style of play next season, he is definitely worthy of a pickup down the final stretch this year.

Jamie McBain, D, Carolina Hurricanes—Keeper alert! McBain, 22, appears to be the Hurricanes’ powerplay quarterback of the future. After three years of offensive success with the NCAA’s Wisconsin Badgers, he accumulated 40 points in 68 games with the ‘Canes’ AHL affiliate the Albany River Rats this season. He has points in each of his first four games as an NHLer, with a goal and four assists.


Sell

Niklas Backstrom, G, Minnesota Wild—Backstrom, Minnesota’s franchise player, has been struggling with a groin injury, and with the Wild soon to be out of playoff contention, look for the starting reigns to be handed to Josh Harding, so as not to risk further injury to Backstrom. Cam Ward is in a similar situation in Carolina with an ailing lower back problem. While goaltenders like the Philadelphia Flyers’ Brian Boucher and the Edmonton Oilers’ Devan Dubnyk might be more suited for the AHL, they are starting games and are more valuable at this point of the season than typical studs like Backstrom and Ward.

Marc Savard, C, Boston Bruins—Injured players like Savard, Mikael Samuelsson, and Jeff Carter are still owned in over 60 percent of leagues. Unless you’re in a keeper pool it’s time to drop players who will be out for the remainder of the season.

Alex Kovalev, RW, Ottawa Senators—Surprise, surprise—the notoriously streaky Kovalev has disappeared now that the Senators need him most. In the month of March, he has zero points and a -11 rating through 10 games, while teammates Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson have picked up their respective games. Exchange him for Bozak or Steen, or Nikolai Kulemin if you’re in need of a winger.

Jay Bouwmeester, D, Calgary Flames—Though we expected Dion Phaneuf’s departure to open up offensive opportunities along the Flames’ blueline, Bouwmeester has no goals and four assists in 17 games since the trade. Instead, Calgary’s turned to Mark Giordano and Ian White to provide offense from the back-end.

Week 11 Fantasy Hockey Stock Watch

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What to do with unusually underperforming players like Steve Mason, Jason Spezza and Alex Kovalev? Hold for now and hope for a turnaround, or in Kovalev’s case try to buy him for pennies on the dollar.

Buy

Andrei Kostitsyn, LW, MTL – Kostitsyn has seven points and a +5 rating over his last seven games. After a promising 2007-2008 campaign, Kostitsyn struggled mightily last season. Coach Jacques Martin seems to have drilled a bit of a defensive conscience and work ethic into Kostitsyn with a demotion to the fourth line, and now the offense is starting to come. He’s probably available as a free agent in your pool.

Dennis Wideman, D, BOS – This looks like a great chance to buy low on Wideman. His season totals aren’t impressive, and he’s day-to-day with a minor injury. Prior to that though, he had posted five points over a six game stretch leading into December, with four of those coming on the powerplay.

Coming into the season, Wideman was universally viewed as a solid fantasy option, and I still think he should be over the second half of the season.

Alex Kovalev, RW, OTT – Over his last three games, Kovalev has shown some signs of life, posting three assists, a +2 rating, and chipping in during the shootout against the Ducks. The enigmatic Russian is known for being streaky, and this could be a sign of bigger things to come.

We all know what Kovalev can bring to your team when he’s on his game, and odds are some owners have all but given up on him. If you’re desperate for offense and can’t afford to give up much to get it, Kovalev is a viable option.

Marc-Andre Bergeron, D, MTL – Bergeron has plenty of defensive shortcomings, and isn’t the most consistent of players. Goal scoring defenseman are at a premium though, and Bergeron’s six goals in 23 games puts him over the 20 goal per year pace. It’s also worth nothing that five of those six goals came with the man advantage.

Hold

Steven Stamkos, TB, C – Stamkos has fizzled a little lately after his hot start. Hang tight though; he only has a couple more weeks to impress Team Canada brass and he will turn it around in a hurry.

Steve Mason, G, CLB – I’m not trying to defend Mason’s play; he’s been awful. That said, there likely isn’t any sort of trade market for him in your pool. Mathieu Garon hasn’t been a whole lot better than Mason. The Blue Jackets are likely going to keep trying to force-feed Mason the starter’s role, especially since they decided he made Pascal Leclaire expendable.

Until the Blue Jackets decide to deal for a veteran with some experience as a starter, the job is Mason’s to lose. You won’t get a decent return for him, so keep him stashed on your bench until he turns it around.

As an aside, keep an eye on the Islanders’ goaltending situation in the coming weeks. With DiPietro getting his first game action with Bridgeport the other night, the Isles may be forced to move a goalie. A guy like Marty Biron or Dwayne Roloson would have some solid fantasy value playing for the Blue Jackets.

Jason Spezza, C, OTT – Once again, this isn’t an attempt to defend Spezza’s play to this point in the season. You won’t get any value for him right now, and he’s been too consistent a point-producer in his career to keep this pace up. It’s also worth nothing that he posted two points in Ottawa’s most recent win over Anaheim. He should turn things around, and you’ll be kicking yourself if you shipped him off for the bag of pucks most people are offering.

Sell

Dustin Penner, EDM – Penner seems to be slowing down for real now, and Ales Hemsky’s season-ending injury doesn’t help his case any. His season totals still put him above the much vaunted point-per-game mark, so there might still be some strong interest in him in your pool.

Chris Mason, G, STL – Mason’s last six starts have yielded just 2 wins, and the opposition has lit him up for 19 goals in that span. Mason performed admirably earlier in the year when he was regularly facing high shot totals. Maybe he’s finally feeling the fatigue.