The Fantasy Hockey Stock Market
Jeff Angus
2008-11-09
Two weeks ago I debuted the Fantasy Hockey Stock Market, where you get the lowdown on what players are out there who are undervalued (i.e. guys to buy low), as well as players who are overvalued (i.e. guys to sell high). After a typical slow start, Roberto Luongo was put on the block in many fantasy leagues, as people were worried about the Canucks and Roberto in particular. Since then, he has four shutouts in five games and three straight, and the Canucks defence is back to being one of the league’s best. Hopefully you paid attention to the first article and sent out an offer to try and pry Luongo away from an impatient owner. Chris Drury has been on fire since that time as well, potting a hat trick and a few multi-point games along the way.
Buy Low
Matt Carle. Now that he has left the mess that is the Tampa Bay Lightning, Carle can try and get back to being the 40-point defenseman he used to be with the Sharks. The Flyers plan on giving him lots of power play time, as their defence has been very shaky past Braydon Coburn and Kimmo Timonen.
Marty Turco. Turco is a great goalie on a great team who has been stinking up the joint most of the season so far. He has way too much talent and drive to continue to post such horrendous numbers for much longer. The Stars are a very deep and talented team as well, and I have a feeling that things will start shining again very soon for the Stars in Big D.
Steve Mason. Get him while he is still floating around untouched in most fantasy leagues. The Jackets are very frustrated with Pascal Leclaire’s inability to stay healthy, and they have been grooming Mason to eventually take over. He has played pretty well since being called up, and the Jackets just may let him run with it. They play a solid defensive game under Ken Hitchcock (although they lack the personnel on the back-end). The time appears to be now for Mason.
Sell High
Todd White. 15 points in 15 games through November 8th, he is a 50-55 point player at best. Expect him to fall back down to earth a bit. He is a decent player but the Thrashers are a bad team and he will be in tough to consistently produce on such an awful squad.
Nik Antropov. Antropov had a great start to the season last year as well, and then faded down the stretch. He has looked good for the rejuvenated Leafs this season, but expecting him to put up 70 points or more is wishful thinking.
Joe Sakic. Never count out Burnaby Joe (I made that mistake in 2006-2007), but he looks to be really bothered by his back problem and will probably miss quite a few games this season. His name still carries a lot of weight in the fantasy world, so if you own him it may be the time to start seeing if he has any value in your league.