Monthly Archives: June 2013

This week's Cage Match - who is the better fantasy own, Logan Couture or Derek Stepan?

The last time we discussed Derek Stepan I had him losing to David Desharnais. Oops.

After a huge breakout season (44 points in 48 games) Stepan looks like a star. He always had potential but we could only wonder if it would ultimately translate. It obviously has. But this season is fraught with small sample size wonders. Many a player has put together a great half-season. Dustin Byfuglien was a point-per-game defenseman for 40 games once, ditto for Dustin Penner at forward for a similar stretch. This isn’t so much a slight at those guys but rather a reminder that strange things happen over smaller stretches of games. We simply don’t know if Stepan has the mojo to sustain those scoring rates over 82 games, especially with much more difficult travel coming next season.

These eight players are good...but not worth the cost

In last week’s column, I highlighted eight players who aren’t as bad as they might seem. This week I figured I’d shift my focus to the other end of the spectrum – eight guys who are good, but not worth the cost it would likely take to obtain them via trade or in a draft for the 2013-14 season. In other words, any of these eight guys could be a very nice addition to your fantasy team in 2013-14, but you still might be best to avoid obtaining them because you’ll likely have to pay too much of an inflated price.