W.W.O.R.D.  FAST OR SLOW   10/22/2016  It seems that every season, there are a few players that stay under the radar no matter how much research one does in preparing for the fantasy season.  So it is especially important to keep on top of the games early on to at least take notice of such players and put them on the so called “watch list”.  It is also important to take note of those who are off to slow starts because if they continue to struggle to put points on the board, it may mean a change in assignments or, in the case of veterans, means that they should return to normal lines of production unless they are hiding or playing through an injury.  We will be taking a look at both groups, the ‘fast start, under the radar” types and the “slow start, under average production levels”. Let’s break the “fast start” group into the three position categories; forwards, defensemen and goalies. Topping the list is Richard Panik, a right wing for the Chicago Blackhawks.  Looking at the overall team, it appeared that there would be a few productive forward positions available and last year’s acquisition Panik is taking advantage of it early on with 5 goals and 2 assists in 5 games.  Playing on the top line with Toews surely helps the situation, but if he wasn’t producing early on, we wouldn’t be talking about him.  Some background on Panik; 25 years old and a 23nd round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2009.  His best career season was 22-19-41 in 51 games for the AHL Syracuse Crunch.  Can we expect Panik to continue with this type of production?  I would say yes until the Hawks decide on solidifying their lineup with a trade or two which may hurts Panik’s production.  Is it time to Panik?  Not yet, but it bears keeping a close eye on. Another forward off to a fast start is Boston’s 20-year old LW David Pastrnak.  Pastrnak was helped with Loui Eriksson’s departure and also getting to play with two smart, experienced veteran centers in David Backes and Patrice Bergeron.  Pastrnak has the skill set and now is applying it with his expanded role.  We expect him to continue this production throughout the season but you may run into dry spells as he only has 101 games of NHL experience to this date.  As we switch to the defensive side of the puck and we have a few interesting names to talk about.  Columbus rookie Zach Werenski, who I wanted to draft in my points-only fantasy pool but opted for a handcuff defenseman in Justin Schultz in case of a Letang injury J...

With the trade deadline slowly upon us, a few acquisitions could end up being fantasy relevant after long stretches of dormancy. For starters, Eric Staal received a much needed change of scenery after being traded to playoff bound New York Rangers. While the former Carolina captain has been more relegated to bench duty on most fantasy teams than being available on the waiver wire, he could make for a solid starting option in the coming weeks. The plan is to give him a chance on a line with Derek Stepan and Rick Nash upon his return from injury, which is much better fantasy wise than having him as the 3rd line center. My guess is that a hungry Staal will come out flying in order to prove he still belongs in the pseudo elite class of NHL forwards. The potential taste of playoffs should motivate him... Mikkel Boedker is an intriguing fantasy option given his trade to Colorado. With Alex Tanguay gone in return, the talented German winger is almost a lock for top six minutes with a more talented supporting cast. I would scoop him up if he is out there...   The last guy that I find super interesting is former Oiler and present Penguin, defenseman Justin Schultz. After tearing up the AHL prior to playing for the big boys in Edmonton, he was higly touted as an integral piece of the Oiler's future. A few years later, the 25-year old has regressed mightily but like Staal, might have just needed another home to get him going again. Landing in Pittsburgh seems like a perfect spot for a career revival, especially since Kris Letang has been very injury prone and Schultz represents the best remaining offensive threat from the blueline. Take a flier on him as he is still oozing plenty of offensive upside..

SMC 2-28-2016 Good morning everyone and get ready for the trade deadline!  There will be lots of coffee drank in the next 24 hours! Sorry for not posting last weekend but the family and I were on a ski weekend. Chicago gearing up for another Cup run with trade acquisitions Andrew Ladd, Dale Weise, & Tomas Fleischmann.  I do not want to play them until the Conference Finals if possible. The Florida Panthers getting some veteran help for the young team by going out and getting Teddy Purcell, Jiri Hudler and Jakub Kindl.  They can do some damage if the new pieces click.  They do have Roberto Luongo in the crease don’t forget. Philadelphia is hanging in there in their battle for a playoff berth. Going to need a little miracle though. The Flyers may have to stick with Michal Neuvirth in net until they are officially in or out. IF anyone can get hot and carry a team it’s Claude Giroux. Is Ottawa gonna make another late season run for the playoffs? Arizona is fading from the desert heat and the NHL stress of a long season. Ladd to Chicago opens up the door for Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers to get important minutes to gain experience. Can Justin Schultz awaken in Pittsburgh with all that top-notch talent around him now? Why Columbus has woken up lately with a 6-1-3 run is beyond me? Pekka Rinne seems to be rounding into top form with another shutout last night, his second in past 5 games.  This one of the St. Louis Blues. Is Filip Forsberg hit or what?  2 hat tricks in one week!  Holy moley! The NY Rangers playing solid hockey right now. Will Montreal be this year’s Ottawa?  Well, they really aren’t that far behind. Detroit doesn’t have a player with a great statistical season, but they are playing solid hockey regardless. Calgary needs to get the number of that Ottawa truck that steamrolled them last night in the 3rd period.  Mika Zibanejad with a hat trick turning a 4-2 deficit nto a 6-4 Senator win.  That’s gotta sting. Jhonas Enroth blanked his former team, the Buffalo Sabres, 2-0 last night.  Aaaah!  The sweet taste of revenge! Rob Scuderi was honored in his return to Los Angeles.  Great to be loved and remembered for what you brought to the team.  He can still be a vital cog in the Kings run for another Cup. Enjoy today and tomorrow with the trade deadline looming.  Only a few more weeks left in the regular season. Have a great week and may all your fantasies come true!

Congrats to New York Islander’s goalie Jaroslav Halak who earned his 30th win on the season, as he continues on a career year….Halak was helped by rookie Anders Lee who scored twice to up his goal total to 18 on the season.  No too shabby.  Lee may be worth a shot as a sixth forward on your fantasy squad…. The return of John Gibson to the Anaheim crease went as well as could be expected as he turned aside 35 of 36 SOG for the 2-1 win over Carolina.  Anaheim is blessed with fantastic goaltending for years to come… The Edmonton Oilers have been playing much better of late but of course their season ended around the holidays so they can play a lot looser now.  Jordan Eberle has come alive and has points in 3 straight games and 8 points in past 6 games….Interesting to see that Oiler defenseman Oscar Klefbom has 5 points in the last 6 games and 8 in last 10.  Klefbom is not really noted for his offensive prowess.  Maybe Justin Schultz can take a few pointers…. Pittsburgh was cruising to what seemed like an easy victory being up 3-0 going into the 3rd period but then Ottawa fought back with 4 goals sending the game into overtime and eventually being decided in the shootout….Bobby Ryan returned after missing a game and notched two assists in the loss.  Ryan is heating up as that was his 5th 2-point game in last 8. I was a bit surprised that St. Louis was able to handle the Tampa Bay Lightning so easily, winning by a score of 6-3.  The game was never really close….Alex Steen is probably the hottest player in the NHL right now as he had 3 points in the win giving him 8 points in 7 February games and 25 points since the beginning of 2015…. Tyler Myer's debut for Winnipeg went something like this: 21.23 minutes played, a -1 rating, and a painful stinger after blocking a Shea Weber slapper. Given how fragile he has been, would you be shocked if he missed the next game?...Just in case you haven't noticed, Nashville rookie Filip Forsberg is darn good. No hitting the wall here.. Another win for Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk who stopped 26 of 27 Florida shots for his 9th win in 11 starts for his latest team. Way better than his Arizona days and light years ahead of his Edmonton beginnings. His fantasy stock just keeps improving exponentially..Mikko Koivu is heating up. Two more assists for seven points in his last five contests.. A few multi-point efforts for the Blueshirts, most notably Rick Nash and Ryan McDonagh, in their 6-3 road win over Colorado but I am all...

The New York Rangers keep plugging along and now sit just 3 points behind Division leader New York Islanders with a game in hand and just 6 points off Conference leader Tampa Bay with 3 games in hand. It should be a good race to the end especially if Rick Nash continues his tremendous season. Nash notched his 30th and 31st goals on the season and there seems to be no stopping him....Keep an eye on Mats Zuccarello as he had a goal and an assist against Florida last night and could be in store to for a good second half. Zuccarello, at .56 ppg, is currently well behind last season's scoring pace but should regain close to his .76 point-per-game pace he achieved last season.....Ranger D-man Dan Boyle has scored goals in two straight games and could finally be contributing the way the Blueshirts had been hoping for... Are the Edmonton Oilers waking up finally? Jordan Eberle had his best game of the season with 2 goals as the Oil beat the San Jose Sharks 5-4 in a shootout. Like all the Edmonton forwards the talent is there, it's just a matter of time before...BAM!...Edmonton D-man Justin Schultz had a goal and assist but polices have soured on the uber-talented defenseman but he is still only 24 years old, but one day!...Joe Pavelski just keeps heading towards matching last season's career year with 2 goals and an assist giving him 46 in 51 games...Joe Thornton had 3 assists extending his scoring streak to 6 games and has 7 points during that streak.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the Canadian solider who was shot and killed in yesterday's shooting in Ottawa. The Philadelphia Flyers won the Battle of Pennsylvania last night with a 5-3 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers held Crosby off the score sheet and gained a much needed win over a division rival.  Claude Giroux (G, A) and Jakub Vorcaek (2A) were active but it was Sean Couturier who had an empty-netter plus 2 assists to lead the scoring. Couturier has been called upon by GM Ron Hextall to be more involved the offense at the start of the season.  Couturier has the skill set to be more productive.  And with 5 points in the first 7 games. perhaps this is the start.... Anaheim's Corey Perry didn't need such a pep talk as he has started the season on fire, scoring a hat trick against the Buffalo Sabres last night. Perry now has 8 goals and 10 points in 7 games.....Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen remains unbeaten at 6-0-0 with an incredible 1.32 GAA and a .952 SP. He seems to have locked down the starter's role.... Don't look now but the Edmonton Oilers have won 2 in row with their 3-2 win over Washington Last night at Rexall Place. The Oil carried over their solid play from the Tampa Bay game and shut down another explosive forward last night in Alex Ovechkin. Some home cooking is all the Oilers needed to right the ship as the team is playing better defensively in front of G Ben Scrivens who may just be getting on a roll as he has let in only 2 goals in each of the two victories and has a .931 SP in that span....Is Edmonton D-man Justin Schultz heating up? Schultz has now scored in 2 straight games after going scoreless in 4.  Look for the talented young defenseman to be more involved in the offense going forward.   Schultz has so much untapped potential that if the team can play a sound defensive game in front of Scrivens, this could allow the extremely talented offense to shine through, benefitting both Schultz and Scrivens.

it's nice to finally talk about how players are performing in games, but keep mind in that statistics in exhibition contests are entirely misleaading. As a fantasy owner, you are paying attention to possible line combinations and power-play units that are clicking during the pre-season. A few notable performances to mention during the first night of live game action: Justin Schultz scored a goal and an assist for Edmonton in the 3-1 intra-squad victory over Calgary. Here is a rising defenseman who should easily build on his mini-breakout season of 33 points. With the Oiler's young guns poised to take a big step forward, Schultz will move into the top 15-20 tier of fantasy defensemen. Love his upside.. Vladimir Tarasenko is also one to watch for St. Louis, collecting a goal and an assist. Even on a balanced offense where coach Hitchcock evenly rolls out three lines, the young stud winger is easily the most talented and can make a run at 50-55 points... Keep your eye on Columbus RW Cam Atkinson (2 goals), as he should play big minutes while Nathan Horton recovers from injury. And even if he does, the oft-injured winger should miss enough games to allow Atkinson to be the top RWer for an extended period of time. Ryan Johansen gets all the love, but Atkinson is a pure goal scorer. He will bust out soon. Solid late-pick. -Bobby Ryan apparently got his "bell rung" after colliding with Kyle Turris during an Ottawa practice. Speaking to reporters after the incident, Ryan appeared to be ok and is listed as 'day-to-day' and will likely miss their exhibition opener.. Jonathan Drouin missed another scrimmage for Tampa Bay due to an upper body injury. Coach Cooper stated that the youngster should be ready to go for their exhibition games. The Lightning start Tuesday night against Nashville.. Christian Ehrhoff has been paired with Paul Martin during Pittsburgh's first few days of camp. The former Buffalo rearguard should be highly regarded in fantasy as a return to his 40-point days are coming.. Minnesota coach Mike Yeo has been pleased with the Thomas Vanek-Mikko Koivu pairing so far. The Wild are loaded at left wing, as Zach Parise should be primed for another big year. In terms of fantasy worth, regardless of where these two wingers line up, both figure to get time on the primary power-play unit.

Schultz, 24, scored 11 goals with 22 assists (33 points) in 74 games in his second full NHL season. He is the Oilers only legit fantasy option on D. The 33 points from last season is a reasonable expectation for him again in 2014-15.

After the Edmonton Oilers and offensive defenseman Justin Schultz having agreed to a one-year/$3.675 million extension, it is evident that the third-year pro has been placed in "prove it to me" mode for the upcoming season. He did record 11 goals and 33 points in 74 games, but his -22 rating was of more concern to an Oiler club perenially suffering in the goals-against department. Fantasy owners need to upgrade Schultz on their pre-draft lists as the slick rearguard will be motivated to put in a more dominant effort in order to a collect a larger pay-day. Yes, more gains in his defensive game will be a priority, but a stronger all-around effort will land him top minutes on a nightly basis. With the Edmonton talented trio of Hall, Eberle, and RNH approaching breakout seasons, Schultz will surely benefit from improved offensive production and a more potent power play. In his rookie season, where he picked up 27 points in 48 games, over half of his scoring production- 15 pts.- came with the man-advantage. His power-play points regressed to 11 last year while playing 26 more contests. Any improvements in that area of the Oiler's offense in '14-'15 will surely be a boon to Schultz's fantasy value. Taking motivation and an expected power-play improvement into account, it's safe to assume that Schultz gets into the 40-45 point range in Year 3 as Edmontons' most prized offensive d-man. Take him in the middle rounds with plenty of confidence as his top-ten upside is too good to pass up.

While Marc-Andre Fleury was undoubtedly the fantasy star of Pittsburgh's 3-2 road win in Colorado with 39 saves, an important side story for owners was that both Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz were scratches. Like Boston, the Pens don't have much to play for and will pull out all the stops to enter the playoffs on a healthy note. This truly means that any fantasy owners starting any key Pittsburgh players will be doing so at their own risk. Defenseman Paul Martin could be the possible exception, considering he is working his way back through an injury. In the case of Edmonton, their young players have been performing very well even though the team has been out of playoff contention for seemingly forever. With three home games in the final week, fantasy owners should consider starting their key Oilers. Last night, Taylor Hall collected a goal and 2 assists, giving him 77 points in 72 games on the season. With 9 points in his last 5 games, the youngster is a must-start this week. The same should hold true for Jordan Eberle who has disappointed for much of the campaign but has come back strong lately. He chipped in with a goal and an assist, raising his totals to 8 points in the last 5 games. It's unbelievable that the underachieving Eberle will have a crack at the 70-point mark if he could end the season with 6 points in the last 3 games. I would also like to mention arguably the biggest underachiever of Edmonton's talented young nucleus, d-man Justin Schultz, who scored a goal and an assist, giving him 32 points in 70 games despite being maddenly inconsistent all season. This guy should get 40+ points in his sleep. He might be worth a flier as well, as the young guns in "Oil Town" seem destined to end this debacle of a season on a high note. Columbus grabbed an important 2 points last night as Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside all 31 shots he face for a 4-0 blanking of the NY Islanders. That's 2 shutouts in the past three games for the Blue Jacket goalie, clearly indicating that he is up to the task of carrying the team to the playoffs.  Start him with extreme confidence for this last week, and also for the next few seasons to come. Steve Mason had a fairly easy game in net for the Philadelphia Flyers as they defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-2. Mason was staked to a 4-0 lead heading into the third period and only faced 19 SOG.  Even though the victory didn't clinch the Flyers a playoff position, it would take a total collapse for them not to get in.  The way ...