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Roos takes a funny look at what Google's Instant Search offers when you type certain player names... 

It’s hard to believe that Google Instant Search has been around for almost three years. For those who don’t know what Instant Search is (or might not realize they do), the way it works is when you type something in a Google search box it auto-completes the search as you type, predicting what you’re searching for based on the most popular searches that have been run which match what you’ve typed so far. Since it debuted, Instant Search has been used as a source for humor almost as much as for information. I figured I’d try to mix a little bit of both with this week’s column by using Google Instant Search to have some fun, but also to see if it could somehow be turned into a useful tool for fantasy hockey enthusiasts.

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.

Eight players who are thought to be busts...but really aren't

One of the biggest traps that Fantasy Hockey GMs can fall into is overvaluing players, either by paying too high a price to draft or trade for them, or by holding onto them even after it becomes clear they’re not worthy of still being owned. But it’s arguably just as bad to mislabel a player as a bust when he could still turn things around, or to ignore a player whose performance seems to have fallen off but who still could help your team despite maybe having lost a step.

 Roos investigates players who will disappoint ... or improve in the West next season

Welcome to Part 2 of my series about non-playoff teams, focusing on two players from each team – one who I think is a good bet to improve next season, and another who I feel will disappoint. In last week’s column I tackled the Eastern Conference, so this week it’s time for the West. For my “Final Verdict”, I’ll again go over some keys to identifying guys like these, plus talk about how this really all boils down to value versus expectations.

Roos takes a look at non-playoff teams and gives suggestions on which players will improve and who will disappoint in 2013-14. First up - the Eastern Conference

This time of year, most fantasy hockey enthusiasts are either closely following their guys in the playoffs or taking a break until free agent signings begin during the summer. The problem is that both approaches ignore the players on the 14 teams which didn’t make the NHL playoffs, and risks an “out of sight, out of mind” situation where you won’t be able to remember enough about these players when the time comes for retentions or offseason deals.

Here is the first of a two-part column about players on non-playoffs teams (this week covering the Eastern Conference teams, next week the Western Conference), focusing on two players from each team – one who I think is a good bet to improve next season, and another who I feel will disappoint. 

Roos takes a look at declining forwards who should no longer be considered 60-point players

In last week’s column,  I looked at forwards who should no longer be projected to score 75+ points in a season during their career, as this is a great time of year to identify guys to finally write off as never being able to achieve a certain level of production – what I call the “time to downgrade” guys. There were lots of great comments and good debates in response to last week's Part 1 article, so hopefully that momentum will carry into this week, when in Part 2 we look at several forwards who should now be ruled out as 60+ point scorers.

Time to downgrade Pavelski, Ryan, Staal, Sharp and Koivu says Rick Roos

Every year right before the playoffs, while information is still fresh on our minds about players from all 30 teams, it’s good to take stock of what happened during the season and how it might impact the future. Some people like to make mental notes on which guys are trending upward or might be poised for a breakout next season; but I find that doing the opposite actually can be more useful and reliable at this point in time.  So instead, I figure out which guys I can finally write off as never being able to achieve a certain level of production – I call it my “time to downgrade” guys.

 Roos investigates the fantasy impact of teams changing philosophy down the stretch...

As if fantasy hockey isn’t challenging enough, we’ve now entered the final stretch of the regular season. This means that NHL teams have changed their focus and approach, depending on where they are in the playoff hunt. Of course this will impact players on those teams, and fantasy owners who are in tight races will need to factor in even more variables than usual in setting their lineups. So this week, let's discuss the ways that three types of teams will alter their game plans, and how that in turn will affect the fantasy value of their players: 

1. locks for a playoff spot

2. actively fighting for a playoff spot

3. out of the playoff hunt.

At this point in the season, several players are still scoring at a pace that’s well above their career high in points. Of course the question is whether their current jump in production will continue down the road, or just amount to a blip in the radar once we get to next season and beyond. This is a big issue, since in some cases it could turn a fantasy unworthy player into someone you'd want to draft or pick up, or it could help convince you to take steps to acquire a player (through the draft or by trade) that might already be on your fantasy radar. With these things in mind, we'll look at four forwards who have seen a big increase in point production pace this season, and I’ll issue a “Final Verdict” on what point production you should expect from that player in the coming years.