Fantasy Top-10: Underrated Hot Streaks
Tom Collins
2018-01-29
One of the tricks to winning a fantasy league is picking a guy on hot streaks and running with them until they cool off.
This could include grabbing a hot player off the waiver wire, or making sure you have him in your lineup if he’s already on your roster.
It’s pretty easy to know that Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin are on hot streaks. They’re a trio of the most elite players in the league. It shouldn’t be a big surprise they are doing what they are doing and that they’ll continue.
But what about the others who are simply crushing it right now? Below are 10 players who are wielding a hot streak, and whether they can keep it going.
Vlasic has never been a great fantasy contributor, outside of that one season in 2015-16 when he notched 39 points. He’s been bringing it lately, with nine points in his last eight games. Can he keep it up? Not a chance. You can’t expect consistent production from a 25-point defenseman that is on pace for 34 points thanks to a hot streak. Pick him up if you wish (he’s unowned in 63 per cent of Yahoo leagues) but drop him as soon as he goes a couple of games without a point.
Perreault is the hottest Winnipeg Jet, putting up eight points in his last eight games. Will this persist? Of course not. He’s on pace for 28 goals and 53 points, both which would be career highs. He’s shooting 10 percentage points over his career average shooting percentage (11.8 per cent). It’s no coincidence that his ice time has soared since Mark Scheifele has been out (12:24 a game before the Scheifele injury versus 18:02 per game since). Once Scheifele is back, expect that ice time to drop again.
8. Ryan Suter
With eight points in his last eight games, Suter is on pace for 52 points. Can he keep it up? No, although the slowdown won’t be as pronounced as some others on this list. Suter is pretty much a 45ish-point defenseman. He’s on pace for 52 points, slightly higher than his four-year average of 43 points. If you believe he’s going to hit 45 points, then that means he’ll only score 13 points in his final 33 game. If you think he can match his record high of 51 from a few years ago, that’s still only 19 points from here on out.
The 33-year-old Steen is doing his best to keep Father Time at bay. His 30 points in 45 games is a nice surprise, but it’s inflated a little thanks to 12 points in his last 12 games. Can he keep it up? No. The Blues power play is rebounding after an awful six weeks in December and January, and since Steen is on the top power play unit, he’s seeing an uptick there as well. However, his even-strength linemates (Paul Stastny and Vladimir Sobotka) aren’t the greatest point producers. Unless Steen can start seeing some regular shifts with Brayden Schenn or Vladimir Tarasenko, this streak is unsustainable.
6. Jake Muzzin
Last year was such a disappointing season for Muzzin owners as he finished with 28 points. As Steve Laidlaw mentions in the Ramblings, a defenseman that doesn’t get you 40 points is droppable. Muzzin has points in eight of his last nine and in seven straight. Can he keep it up? I’m making this a slight yes. Muzzin is on pace for 48 points, which would be a career high, but he hit 40 in back-to-back seasons a couple of years ago before last year’s forgettable season.
Ristolainen was a complete disappointment in fantasy circles until about a dozen games ago. He started off the season with zero goals and nine points in his first 28 games but has three goals and 13 points in his last 12 games. Can he keep it up? He’s the only one on the list I can see going either way. He’s struggled for a long time and Buffalo isn’t a great team. Buffalo’s power play is doing so much better than what it did at the start of the year, and Ristlolainen is a big reason behind that (seven of his last 13 points has come with the man advantage).
4. Kyle Okposo
Okposo is another Sabre is who on a tear after starting the season colder than a Buffalo winter. He has only 28 points in 47 games, but has notched 10 in his last seven games. Can he keep it up? Yes. Okposo averaged more than 0.81 points per game before leaving the Islanders and moving to Buffalo. He’s struggled with injuries the last couple of years (including a reaction to concussion medication at the end of last year). It took him some time to recover this season but he’s starting to find his groove again.
3. Mark Stone
This season isn’t bad for all of the Ottawa Senators. Despite posting a point per game, Stone has been under the radar as a solid fantasy option. He now has 19 points in his last 16 games. Can he keep it up? Yes. He’s known as a second-half producer and someone on Ottawa has to get points. The only problem could be what happens if Ottawa goes into a sell mode and gets rid of some of their other top players. That could make it tough to find enough quality teammates for Stone.
Many people aren’t talking about this, but Granlund is on pace to match what he did last year when he hit 69 points (although he’s on pace for 68 points because of the fact he missed five games due to a groin injury). In his last 13 games, Granlund has eight goals and 17 points. Can he keep it up? Of course. Granlund is a streaky player. Last year he notched 52 points in a 47-game stretch in the middle of the season. His ice time is up, his power play time is up and he’s shooting the puck more. There’s no reason to think this isn’t part of another prolonged streak.
1. P.K. Subban
I’ve seen a lot of love for guys like John Klingberg, Victor Hedman and Drew Doughty lately, but let’s not ignore former Norris Trophy winner P.K. Subban. The Preds defenseman is having an excellent year overall and has eight goals and 19 points in his last 18 games. Can he keep it up? Of course. While a small inevitable cooling off period is coming, Subban is getting more of the power play minutes this year and is shooting the puck just as much as always. He’s on pace for his best season yet.
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Steen is not playing with Sobotka and Stastny anymore. He’s playing with Schenn and Schwartz. Moving to a line with Schenn 15 or so games ago is what sparked Steen’s resurgence in the first place; I can’t see them getting split up now. They’ve been dynamite together. With Schwartz back from injury, Steen could actually start doing even better than he’s been doing of late