Fantasy Hockey Value changes and trade targets: Sidney Crosby is on fire
By Jan Levine, RotoWire
Special to Yahoo Sports
This week's article includes Sid the Kid, Lucic producing, a pair of Long Island blueliners, a possible changing of the guard in net for Nashville, EK65 out the rest of the season, a slumping Domi and Shattenkirk well off his early season pace.
First Liners (Risers)
Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins
Crosby missed three months after undergoing core muscle surgery in mid-November but has made up for lost time since his return. His goal and assist Sunday gave Sid the Kid six goals and 13 assists in 12 games since returning. Crosby hit the 100-point mark last year for the first time in five seasons. His time missed will cost him a shot at that this season, but he is still averaging more than a point per game and, as seen by his production lately, has been on fire.
Mattias Janmark, C, Dallas Stars
Janmark moves between the second and fourth lines as needed in Big D. His solid play recently has afforded Janmark additional ice time and opportunities, to which he has taken advantage. In his last nine games, Janmark has a goal and five helpers. The Swede is up to 20 points in 51 games — he's reached that threshold in all four of his NHL seasons — with a high of 34 points two seasons ago. Janmark should provide some value down the stretch.
Tyler Toffoli, RW, Vancouver Canucks
Toffoli scored all three goals for Los Angeles in its Stadium Series win over Colorado at the Air Force Academy on Saturday. Despite the Kings' offensive woes, Toffoli is having a solid season, supplying 18 goals and 34 points in 58 games. An unrestricted free agent after the season and with LA going nowhere this season, Toffoli was dealt Monday to Vancouver. He likely will slide into a top-six role with the Canucks and continue to contribute on the man advantage.
Milan Lucic, LW, Calgary Flames
Lucic had a solid first season in Edmonton in 2016-17, but saw his output decline rapidly the next two seasons and was dealt to Calgary last offseason for James Neal. While Neal had his resurgence earlier this year for the Flames, Lucic hadn't done much of anything the first four months of the season. I guess he was just waiting for February to wake up, as Lucic has two goals and four assists in nine games this month. Your guess is as good as mine if this hot streak continues, but with 166 hits, he provides some value in leagues that use that stat.
Adam Fox, D, New York Rangers
Most of the Calder Trophy focus has rightly been on Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, and Elvis Merzlikins, but Fox has had a very solid campaign in his own right. Through 58 games, the former Flames third-round pick is up to six goals and 25 assists with 13 of his points coming on the man-advantage. Add in a plus-14 rating, 18:35 of nightly ice time, 107 shots on goal and 75 hits and you have a complete stat line. Fox, acquired from Carolina before the draft, is paired with Ryan Lindgren, a duo that looks to remain together for the foreseeable future.
Charlie McAvoy, D, Boston Bruins
McAvoy has tremendous offensive skills but that has not already translated to producing on the stat sheet. After going the first 51 games without lighting the lamp, McAvoy has three in his last five games, including one on Hockey Day in America on Sunday. A Long Island native (like Adam Fox), McAvoy has those three goals and four assists his last seven games after posting just 17 points his first 50 games of the season. McAvoy's hot streak gives him an outside chance to exceed his career-high 32 points set as a rookie two seasons ago.
Juuse Saros, G, Nashville Predators
The changing of the guard may be taking place earlier than expected in Nashville. Saros started five of the last seven games for the Predators, going 4-1-0 with a 1.95 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage. Prior to this, Pekka Rinne had struggled, prompting the switch. A formal handover has not occurred, but playing time is a good indicator as to who is the main man between the pipes, and, for now, it's Saros. Rinne is signed through next year, as is Saros, but he may end up as the backup with Saros the main man.
Jack Campbell, G, Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto has received all it could have wanted and more between the pipes from Campbell since acquiring him and Kyle Clifford from Los Angeles. Campbell is now 4-0-1 in five starts in blue and white after defeating Ottawa on Saturday. His goals-against average (2.40) and save percentage (.919) are both improved from his time in La-La-Land, plus Campbell has a much more potent offense in front of him. Frederik Andersen is still the main man between the pipes, but coach Sheldon Keefe can rest Andersen liberally and go with Campbell when needed.
Others include: Alex Iafallo, Auston Matthews, William Karlsson, Jack Eichel, Brayden Point, Patrice Bergeron, Joel Armia, Brock Nelson, Leon Draisaitl, Anze Kopitar, Tyler Seguin, Adam Henrique, Nick Suzuki, Joe Pavelski, Nikita Kucherov, Kailer Yamamoto, Kevin Fiala, Mark Stone, Zach Hyman, Kyle Connor, Conor Garland, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Denis Gurianov, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Kyle Palmieri, Zach Sanford, Sebastian Aho, Josh Bailey, Johnny Gaudreau, Brandon Saad, Pavel Buchnevich, Christian Dvorak, Max Pacioretty, Jack Roslovic, Brady Tkachuk, Jason Zucker, Elias Lindholm, Brent Burns, Damon Severson, Quinn Hughes, John Klingberg, Jared Spurgeon, Kris Letang, Rasmus Ristolainen, Antti Raanta, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ben Bishop, Mike Smith, MacKenzie Blackwood and Alexandar Georgiev.
Buy Low
Mikael Granlund, LW, Nashville Predators
Granlund continued his hot play with a power-play goal and assist Saturday. Those two points give Granlund seven markers and a pair of apples in his last 12 games. Contrast that from his first three months of the season when he posted just 14 points in his first 35 games. Granlund has also been seeing an impressive amount of ice time, averaging 19:36 in that stretch, playing on the first line with Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson.
Training Room (Injuries)
Erik Karlsson, D, San Jose Sharks
The hits just keep on coming for the Sharks. Already without Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, San Jose lost Karlsson for the remainder of the season due to a broken left thumb suffered Friday night. Acquired prior to last season from Edmonton, Karlsson recorded three goals, 42 assists and 20 power-play points in 53 regular-season games but missed time due to a groin injury. Signed to an eight-year, $92 million contract this offseason, Karlsson played 56 games, posted 40 points (six goals, 34 assists) and 120 shots in a disappointing campaign.
Others include: Connor McDavid (quadriceps, out since Feb. 8, on injured reserve, will miss 2-3 weeks), Nazem Kadri (lower body, injured Feb. 9, will miss 4-6 weeks), Nico Hischier (knee, missed six straight games, played Sunday), Evgeny Kuznetsov (upper body, missed third straight game Monday), Jonathan Drouin (ankle, no timetable provided), Brock Boeser (upper body, on injured reserve, missed Sunday's game), Andreas Johnsson (knee surgery, will miss eight weeks), Bryan Little (perforated eardrum, out for season), Cam Atkinson (ankle, on injured reserve, out 2-3 weeks), Alex Tuch (lower body, week-to-week), Victor Olofsson (lower body, out since Jan. 2, returned with a pair of goals Thursday), Anthony DeAngelo (shoulder, missed second straight game Sunday), Shayne Gostisbehere (knee, sat out for the 15th time in 16 games Saturday), Darcy Kuemper (lower body, nearing return from latest injury), Philipp Grubauer (lower body, left Saturday's game) and Igor Shesterkin (ankle, missed last three games).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Max Domi, C, Montreal Canadiens
Domi's assist Saturday was the first time he landed on the scoresheet in six games. In addition, he has scored just one goal in the last 17 games. He's in the final year of a two-year deal, and it's a real possibility Domi lands in a new home during the lead up to the trade deadline on Feb. 24, even though Montreal is still on the fringes of playoff contention. A new team could benefit Domi, who has 37 points in 61 games after posting 28-44-72 in 82 games last season.
[Yahoo Sportsbook powered by BetMGM: Deposit $10, Get $100 in Free Bets. NJ only. 21+. Terms apply]
Viktor Arvidsson, LW, Nashville Predators
Arvidsson's point-drought hit six games Saturday, continuing his slump since returning from his lower-body injury in mid-December. The Swedish winger now has just seven points in 22 games since coming back from that absence. Arvidsson continues to skate primarily on the Preds' top line with Ryan Johansen and Mikael Granlund; however, his ice time has taken a bit of a dip recently — in the last six games, his average TOI is just 14:30, a full two minutes lower than his season average of 16:41. You might want to bench Arvidsson until he shows some signs of life.
Jordan Binnington, G, St. Louis Blues
As a Binnington manager in my home league, it pains me to have to include him on this side of the ledger for the second time in three weeks. Yet, after surrendering six goals on 52 shots Thursday, Binnington has allowed three or more goals in eight consecutive games, raising his goals-against average on the year to 2.74 and lowering his save percentage to .909 on the year. Those numbers are a far cry from the 1.89 and .927 Binnington posted last season. As I wrote two weeks ago, Binnington is still the No. 1 netminder in St. Louis, though Jake Allen could see some additional action until Binnington finds his form.
Others include: Kevin Hayes, Ryan Johansen, Clayton Keller, Jeff Skinner, Bryan Rust, Noah Dobson, Jonas Brodin, Nikita Zadorov, Henrik Lundqvist, Carey Price, and Jimmy Howard.
Sell High
Kevin Shattenkirk, D, Tampa Bay Lightning
Shattenkirk entered the season with a chip on his shoulder after getting bought out by the Rangers and signing a one-year deal with Tampa, which showed in his play. He notched 21 points in his first 26 games, an unsustainable pace, but he has slowed tremendously since that red-hot beginning to the year. Shattenkirk's assist Saturday was his first point in seven games and second in 13 contests, so he likely warrants a spot on your bench until his output picks up.
