Today on Frozen Tool Forensics we are digging into free agents. Well, players who might be available in your league that you should really have your eye on. Given that all leagues are different, and players will have different values in every situation, there is some non-exact science to this calculation, but we are going to hit on a handful of low rostered forwards that are worth a look.

There is a helpful report over on the Reports page that can help us out here. It is titled "Percent Rostered". It contains general player information for the season (games played, goals, assists, etc.) as well as percent rostered information for Yahoo and Fantrax. Today we will be utilizing the Yahoo numbers as Fantrax tends to include more dynasty leagues which can have some different long-term valuations.

When thinking about players who might actually be available in a wide amount of leagues (and attempting to account somewhat for inactive leagues) we are setting the first bar at 50 percent. So here are five players who are less than 50% rostered who should probably be on someone's roster.

Not entirely sure what gives with Marco Rossi here. He has been suiting up on the top line with Kirill Kaprizov essentially all season long. Yes, when Kaprizov was out Rossi's deployment was less than ideal, and he only has three points in his last seven games, so you are forgiven if you lost a little faith, but as of Jan 22^nd Rossi is lining back up with a healthy Kaprizov on the top line. Oh and prior to that seven-game stretch Rossi had 37 points over 40 games.

Bryan Rust is on a 72-point pace, which is still only good enough for less than 50% rostered. Maybe he started a little slow with two points in his first five and then sort of every-other-gamed points for a while, but since the end of November he has 26 points in 25 games. He has been on a top line with Ricard Rakell and Sindey Crosby, as well as on the top power play. He does have a history of occasionally going quiet so certainly pay attention, but there is a lot to like right now. Just keep an eye on his status because he left Pittsburgh's game with an injury on Thursday night.

William Eklund isn't blowing the doors off with a 66-point pace, but at 19 and a half minutes a night, over 50% of the team's power play, and lining up at even strength with Macklin Celebrini, things are looking up. Even when he isn't with Celebrini though the 'Lund' line has been pretty effective in its own right. While he is still young and working through some consistency issues, 21% rostered just is too low.

Maybe it's the Ducks, or maybe it is the lack of true breakout, but Troy Terry often just seems left behind. He has a 67-point pace, is seeing over 19 minutes of ice time, over 55% of the team's power play, and is the Ducks' primary offensive threat at the moment. There doesn't seem to be much of a reason that he can't sustain a 70ish point pace the rest of the season and that should be worth a lot more than 26 percent rostered.

Hear me out on Jaden Schwartz. Yes, he is a bit older, and yes he was ice cold to start the season. But in case you hadn't noticed, in Seattle, Schwartz is revitalized on a new top line with Matty Beniers and newly acquired Kaapo Kakko. Since December 28^th he has 13 points in 13 games and 38 shots in that time span. Is he the next coming of Troy Terry (that was tongue in cheek)? No, probably not. Seattle forwards have a history of going off for flashes and then going quiet. But he is seeing almost 19 minutes a night, which isn't traditional for Seattle forwards and is just generally on a tear. Might as well ride this one out.

And now we turn to those players who are rostered in less than 5% of leagues. Here are some real deep dives.

Jack Quinn had some real hype going into the season and man did he fail to deliver in the early going. There are some signs of life recently though. He isn't blowing the doors off or anything, but he does have eight goals since December 15th (which would be a 40-goal pace if he sustained it), and has been consistently on the top power play in Buffalo. Overall, he has 13 points in 15 games during that span. He is young and inconsistent but is definitely interesting to me at only 5% rostered.

Back in Seattle, Shane Wright is mostly playing third line minutes. That doesn't exactly scream optimism but since he returned to action on November 25^th (a couple of healthy scratches) he has put up 20 points in 27 games (or a 60-point pace). A chunk of that came on a very hot run immediately following his return to the lineup, but he has managed to consistently put up points since then.

Similar things are true for Noah Cates. He is getting mostly third line minutes, and started the season slowly, but has certainly picked it up of late. Since December 10^th he has 17 points in 20 games (70ish point pace). He has also been steadily increasing his overall time on ice numbers seeing over 17 minutes in six of his last nine games, a feat he only managed one time in his first 31 games.

Matt Coronato has bounced around the lineup a bit, and between the AHL and the NHL, but has found a very regular spot in the lineup recently. He is now most commonly lining up with Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman, averaging almost 18 minutes a night and has put up 14 points in his last 20 games (57-point pace). He is also shooting over two and a half times per game and seeing about 40% of the team's power play.

All of these guys are low rostered for a reason for sure, they are young, inconsistent, had a cold start, all of the above maybe, but there have been long enough stretches that folks should be taking notice and adding them. Maybe they go cold again in a week or two, or maybe there is some longer-term value, but at the very least folks should be taking a look and see if they are performing better than the bottom of your roster.

That is all for this week.

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