A great way to stay competitive in fantasy hockey leagues is to keep an eye on Dobber’s hot/cold list.

It’s a quick, simple way to track which players may be worth picking up or dropping in one-year leagues.

I’m in a league where you have to bid on free agents, and it’s only once a week that the bids go through and you can win the players. Using the list is an easy way to look at some of the names I may not have realized are doing great recently.

However, many players on the hot list aren’t available in the majority of leagues. It’s no surprise that the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews, Sidney Crosby, Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin dominate the hot list.

However, digging through the list may unearth some names you may not realize are doing well. Maybe they started the season slowly, so their overall statistics aren’t that great. Maybe you knew they were going through a cold streak but didn’t realize they had snapped out of their funk.

Below are the top 10 underrated players found on the hot list.

10. Matt Benning

Benning should already be on the radar for anyone in a deep peripheral league, as he is on pace for 117 hits and 129 blocked shots. If the Sharks defenseman keeps this up, it would be the first time he’ll reach 100 in both categories in the same year. He’s also averaging 19:13 per night, easily a career high and almost three minutes per night higher than a year ago. He has four points in his last three games and nine points in his last 10. In those 10 games, he is also a plus-four, with 19 hits and 30 blocked shots.

9. Jordan Martinook

In his first 20 games of the season, Martinook averaged 13:51 per night of ice time, ninth among Canes forwards. In the seven games since, he’s averaging 17:46 per night, the fourth highest among Cane forwards. He’s also accomplishing that high amount of ice time without any power-play time, averaging just five seconds per night over those seven games. He’s also averaging 2.3 shots per game over that span. The increase in ice time has been rewarding for Martinook, who has five points in his last four games, thanks to a three-goal night against St. Louis on December 1. This hot streak is not sustainable, but maybe he’s worth a quick pickup until he cools off.

8. Cole Perfetti

The Jets rookie has been used in a top-six role all season, but he’s been streaky. He had six points in his first eight games, then just three in his next 10 games. Now he has nine points in his last nine games. In this recent hot streak, he also has 25 shots, a plus-six, seven hits and one power-play point. Not much has changed for Perfetti all season to explain the streakiness. It’s not unusual for young players to go on hot and cold streaks, and Perfetti is no exception.

7. Matias Maccelli

The Arizona rookie has been much improved this season, with 19 points in 24 games, compared to six points in 23 games a year ago. There are plenty of red flags with Maccelli’s production, as he’s averaging 0.8 shots per game with eight hits and six blocked shots. Eight of his points have come with the man advantage, which is tied with Clayton Keller for the team lead, even though Maccelli is on the second unit. He has eight points in his last seven games since returning from a healthy scratch that cost him a couple of games. On the bright side, only seven of his 17 assists have been secondary assists, so it appears he is starting to morph into a playmaking winger.

6. Brent Burns

Burns doesn’t get as much love as he used to, but he’s still a great fantasy asset and has been slightly revitalized in Carolina. He’s on pace for 60-plus points while averaging 3.4 shots per game. Both of those are the highest for Burns in a few years, but to be fair, his hitting and blocked shots are down (and in the case of blocked shots, down significantly). He is also on pace for 27 power-play points. He has six points in his last four games and seven in his last six.

5. Jack Quinn

Quinn was buried in the lineup to start the season and was even a healthy scratch for three of four games in the middle of November. Since getting back into the lineup on November 19, he has been excellent. In his first 12 games, he had five points. In his last 11 games, he has five goals and 11 points, three of them on the power play. The Sabres’ third line of Dylan Cozen, Quinn and JJ Peterka has been excellent since they were lined up together. Quinn has been rewarded the last few games with more ice time, reaching at least 16:25 in each of his last four games, a mark he only reached twice in his first 19 games.

4. David Krejci

Even though Krejci missed Sunday’s tilt against the Golden Knights with a lower-body injury, he is still under consideration for one of the best hottest players in the NHL right now. He started the season strong, picking up three points in his first game and eight points in his first seven contests. He then had one point in his next six games, and many fantasy owners may have started hitting the panic button. Now he has 12 points (four with the man advantage) in his last 10 games and has points in nine of them. Krejci has an 82-game pace of 75 points, which is much better than many could have hoped for.

3. Alexander Barabanov

I will continue to tout Barabanov as a great pickup option as long as he is unowned in even half of the leagues. We’re talking about a top-six player who is on the top power-play unit. Yet he is still unowned in 96 per cent of Yahoo leagues. Barabanov has nine points in his last 10 games, with four of those points coming with the man advantage. Overall, he’s on pace for 60 points and is averaging two shots per game. His nine power-play points are already a career high and tied with Erik Karlsson for the team lead. What more could you be looking for on the waiver wire?

2. Corey Perry

Much was made of Mikhail Sergachev taking over the top power-play duties, but last week, the Lightning switched the power-play units all around again. Not only did Victor Hedman get back on the top unit, but Perry has been promoted to the top unit as well. Perry has seven points in his last seven games, four of which have come with the man advantage. With seven power-play points on the season, Perry is only one off from his total last season, and is on pace for his highest power-play production since the 2015-16 season.

1. Cam Fowler

It was a disastrous start to the season for Fowler, who looked to be one of the last options for offense on the Ducks. With John Klingberg, Kevin Shattenkirk and Jamie Drysdale all expected to be the offensive defensemen, Fowler wasn’t given much of a look in fantasy circles. He struggled out of the gate, with one point in his first 15 games. Then he was switched to the top power-play unit, and he immediately responded with two points in that game. He now has 14 points in his last 13 games. Since November 15, only Erik Karlsson, Rasmus Dahlin and Josh Morrissey have more points as a defenseman. One thing to keep in mind with Fowler is that he doesn’t contribute in other fantasy categories, so if you need a defenseman for hits or blocked shots, you need to look elsewhere. However, if you need points, and he's available, he needs to be plucked off the waiver wire.