Nick Leddy, New York- We expected a huge breakout season for Leddy this season coming after a 37-point effort in 2014-15. Unfortunately to the chagrin of many fantasy owners, all he had accounted for so far is 8 points in 29 games. Huge disappointment for sure, but his two assist game last night and a spot on the top powerplay unit over Marek Zidlicky suggests that he might be in serious buy-low mode.  Dennis Wideman, Calgary- Yes, his huge '14-15 season was crying for a huge regression this year but he is starting to rack up some points and could be ready for a strong second half. While currently on a 3-game point streak, the 32-year old veteran is logging huge minutes and also getting power play time as well. Only drawback has been not being paired with Mark Giordano but he has the ability to push toward 40+ points regardless. If he is available, he might be worth adding to your fantasy squad.    Shea Weber, Nashville- Super hot over the last fifteen days as evidenced by his 8 points over 8 games, including a stunning hat trick in the process. His slow start coinciding with the rise of Roman Josi had many thinking that he was no longer the primary blue line option in Nashville. The gap has clearly narrowed between the two, but weber needs to be treated like an elite fantasy option. Don't dare contemplating trading him as it will be tough getting back equal value    Dougie Hamilton, Calgary- We are back in Calgary where 9 points on the year isn't exactly what was expected of the high profile free agent acquisition, but a three game point streak shows he is currently trending up. He has all the ability to be a perennial 50 point producer, but he faces intense competition in Calgary for powerplay time.    Mark Streit, Philadelphia- Yes we know he is still injured but the question remains whether the recent phenomenon known as Shayne Gostisbehere and his sizzling offense will be enough to hurt Streit's future fantasy value. I know this- if the youngster keeps up his scoring pace, then decisions will need to be made. I heard a few folks speculate about a possible Streit trade but perhaps we are crowning the youngster way too early. Talk to me in a few weeks 

#10 NEW YORK ISLANDERS The Islanders are looking to make it 3 out of 4 years of making the playoffs as they begin their new life in Brooklyn USA.  The Isles missed the playoffs the 5 prior seasons but now have their franchise player reaching his prime in John Tavares.  JT, with a career high 86 points, finished 1-point behind Art Ross Trophy winner Jamie Been.  JT’s wingers will be enjoying career seasons as well.  The younger talent is starting to filter in and the team is looking to improve on last season so they were able to ship Michael Grabner off to Toronto to clear some room.  Just who takes advantage of the opportunity will be seen.  Jaroslav Halak has been a steadying influence since signing a free agent deal last summer.  Look for that to continue.  The defense was solidified when Snow brought in Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk just prior to the season in deals with teams looking to create cap space.  Free agent signing of Marek Zidlicky should help with the power play. GOALIES It was pretty much status quo in the goalie department expect the team improved their backup position by signing Thomas Greiss to a 2-year deal. Halak should amass another 60 starts and give similar performance as last season.  The team is improving in front of him so as long as he remains consistent, there shouldn’t be a problem.  He needs to improve his GAA a little, as you can see from the table below, but they just need him to be the rock he was last year. 2014-2015                      GP      GAA       W        L        OTL       SP Jaroslav Halak             59         2.43       38       17         4         .914   DEFENSE The signing of Zidlicky could be a godsend and just be the spark that could make the Islander power play click.  Even at 38, he still has a knack for scoring and being an asset oh the power play. A lot of people are believing that Leddy will be the main focus on the blue line and well he should be.  At 24 and a year under his belt as an Islander look for the young d-man to better his career high of 37 points accomplished twice.  Last year and his second year with the Blackhawks. When Boychuk started with the Islanders, he came out of the shoot like a house on fire but settled in after that hot start.  He does have a scoring touch but don’t expect anything more than mid-30’s and that may be a stretch with the arrival of Zidlicky.  Travis Hamonic has shown glimpses but is lower on the depth chart while Thomas Hickey and Calvin de Haan round out ...

Rangers win big; Bruins keep free-falling, Canucks keep pace; A huge triumph at MSG for the New York Rangers who pummeled the Anaheim Ducks 7-2 and gained a share of the NHL lead in points-99. Two Blueshirts who busted out of long scoring droughts were center Derek Stepan(2G/1A- First points in 13 games) and defenseman Keith Yandle(3A/ First points in 10 games!). With the Ranger's offense rather anemic over the last month, it's hard to recommend either player as a starting option right now, but both can be capable of a hot stretch to end the season. Feel much safer starting Yandle at D than Stepan at a forward postion.. It was a Detroit team without Pavel Datsyuk outlasting a suddenly struggling St. Louis team on the road, 2-1 thanks to Justin Abdelkader's OT goal. Not much to say here other than Marek Zidlicky picked up another point and has been a waiver-wire steal since his trade to Detroit.. The Boston Bruins are quickly playing themselves out of a playoff position with another key loss, this time to the Lightning. With David Krejci out and now also arguably their best defenseman in rising fantasy star Dougie Hamilton, the B's are in hot water..With a goal and an assist, Tampa's Ondrej Palat has recorded four points in two games since returning from injury. Get him in your starting lineups ASAP.. A decent goaltending battle ensued in Arizona as Jakub Markstrom, once regarded as the hottest goalie prospect, picked up the win for the Canucks over Mike Smith and company. Vancouver staying alive for the playoffs while the Coyotes are pushing hard for Connor McDavid..  

Zidlicky flourishing in Detroit; The Hamburglar does it again; Talbot on his head; and more: No need for Jimmy Howard to bail out the Wings against the pens as petr mrazek subbed in with a 42-save doozy culminating in the 5-1 drubbing. Marek Zidlicky was the fantasy star of the match, scoring a goal and collecting two assists. Hope you have scooped him off the waiver wire as that window of opportunity should be slammed shut after that effort... Injury alert- Patrick Hornqvist was hurt in the third period and might not be available for this week. Monitor the situation..Cam Talbot continues his stellar goaltending in place of 'King Henrik, stopping  shots in the 2-1 win. One thing to take away from this game is how dangerous the line of Jagr-Barkov-Huberdeau was all night for Florida. The future Hall of Famer has helped the youngsters begin to realize their immense potential so maybe consider playing them down the stretch. Definitely keep them in mind come next year.  A fourth shutout for Jake Allen as the  St. Louis Blues held on for a 3-0 win in Dallas. Alex Pietrangelo dished out two assists to improve his numbers to five points over the last five games. With 38 points in 69 games, another 40+ point season awaits AP. Not bad for a season that many have viewed as a fantasy disappointment. There is no doubt that he took a back sets to Kevin Shattenkirk this year, but expect a huge rebound in 2015-16.  Braden Holtby posted his eight shutout of the season as the Washington Capitals bounced back froma recent slide to defeat the Boston bruins 2-0. Holtby rocks but so does Nicklas Backstrom who finished with two assists in the winning cause.. Andrew Hammond wins again for Ottawa as their drive for a wildcard spot continues. Craig Anderson who? You know what to do.. Great comeback by Anaheim as the Ducks used a four-goal third period to defeat Nashville 4-2. James Wisniewski picked up his first point in his new uniform..

Marchand on fire; plenty of Senators to consider; Zidlicky back on fantasy map: Brad Marchand RW, Boston- The pesky winger has been on quite the goal-scoring streak for the Bruins, scoring five goals over the last four games. While the B's rely on a four line approach, Marchand has heated up since the loss of a David Krejci and looks poised for another strong week ahead. With four games on the upcoming slate, take advantage of him while on his scoring binge.  Mark Stone RW, Ottawa- It's no coincidence that many Senators have surged up the fantasy rankings during the teams torrid winning stretch, but the young winger has found his scoring touch lately. With 2 multiple point outings in his last three, Stone has clicked with Kyle Turris on the second line. He is worth adding while the duo keeps racking up the points.  Mike Hoffman LW, Ottawa- We recommended Hoffman last week and he responded with 3 points in four games. His ownership is quickly rising, but he could still had in most leagues. The young sharp-shooter is definitely worth a shot, especially with how well the Senator's offense has been producing. Marek Zidlicky D, Detroit- The veteran rearguard has been penciled in a power play specialist for the Wings, which given that their have the best unit in NHL, is not bad for fantasy purposes. He already has made his mark with two power-play goals this week, including the overtime game winner over the Rangers. Zidlicky still has game left, so take advantage of his new digs and pick him up if you still can. Andrew Hammond G, Ottawa- I am sticking the "Hamburglar" here, as his stat-line reads as following during his unreal NHL stint so far: 7-0-1, 1.43 GAA, and .954 SP. Craig Anderson had his turn last night and although he made 42 saves, he did give up four goals. In other words, it's Hammond or bust for now in Ottawa. Use him while he is absolutely lights-out.

The trade deadline came and went with a few high profile fantasy defenders finding new homes such as Keith Yandle and James Wisniewski. Both are certain to see their fantasy value shoot up as they have joined two elite teams, respectively the New York Rangers and the Anaheim Ducks. But we don't need to tell you that, given how obviously elated their fantasy owners are that their new digs are now more fantasy-friendly, As we move away from the more obvious, let's focus on a couple of under the radar defensemen who are clearly more fantasy relevant now than they were on March 2. The addition of Marek Zidlicky to Detroit gives them a right handed shot from the point which means he should get plenty of power play time moving forward. The 38-year old had his share of offensive struggles for New Jersey this season with 23 points in 63 games, but was a 42-point producer in 2013-14. With 6-plus 40-point campaigns during his career, the Czech rearguard has an extensive scoring pedigree to draw from and has some gas left in the tank. When the Wings rolled out their overtime power-play unit during last night's game, Zidlicky joined Niklas Kronwall with Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. The end result was a clutch overtime game winner, courtesy of the newcomer and an encouraging sign that he could be a very vital part of the offensive mix for the Wings during the stretch run. With only 30% ownership across the board in ESPN leagues, Zidlicky is definitely worth a gamble in most formats as he is poised to play a big role for playoff-bound Detroit. On the opposite side of the veteran spectrum, the trade of Wisniewski to Anaheim may have signalled the beginning of the David Savard era in Columbus. While amidst only his second full season, the 24-year old has scored 10 goals and collected 25 points in 63 games. His offensive upside has been marginally tapped as the youngster is now poised to be the main successor on the team's top power-play unit. Jumping on Savard's bandwagon before his numbers become too legit to ignore would be a shrewd move for any fantasy owner, especially in keeper formats. It's also safe to say that Jack Johnson has flat-out fell short of being that no.1 pp quarterback, so it's Savard's opportunity to steal the thunder. And we say he does it.. Parting shots: Speaking of Wisniewski, he will pay huge dividends on the higher-octane Anaheim squad, but injuries might keep him out 1-2 weeks longer. When he returns, look for him to benefit greatly ...

HOME ON THE RANGE Don't get in the way of a stampeding Buffalo Sabres team as they have rattled off four wins in a row and are 7-3-0 in their last ten. The story of this turnaround is G Jhonas Enroth who has the team rallying around his play. In fact, the Sabres are playing so well of late that they have positioned themselves to make a run for a playoff spot.  An incredible run; especially after their horrid start to the season.  Enroth has gone 9-2 and with the shootout win last night evened his record at 10-10-1, so it is safe to start this Sabre.... A big blow to Tampa fans as starting goaltender Ben Bishop left last night's tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins after one period of play with a lower-body injury. There was no indication of discomfort from the talented net minder but Evgeni Nabokov started the 2nd period. No word yet on the extent of Bishop's injury, but Nabokov should have been owned as a handcuff due to Bishop's injury woes last season.  Let's hope it's nothing serious.... Not much is going right for the New Jersey Devils of late. The Devils managed to play the NY Islanders tight last night and even opened up a 2-0 lead with the "new-and-improved" Scott Gomez who had a goal and an assist and now has 6 points in 8 games with the Devils, all six of those in the last 5 games....Jaromir Jagr is the beneficiary of Gomez' resurgence as he assisted on both goals. Expect Jagr to get back to a point-per-game pace....Marek Zidlicky came alive with a goal and an assist as well. Who knew that Gomez still had it in him? Maybe he never should have left the swamps of New Jersey. This is possibly a good "buy-low" situation in New Jersey...With the win the NY Islanders remained 2 points behind the Eastern Conference leading Pittsburgh Penguins with Jaroslav Halak getting his 16th win on the season. It also made a clean sweep for the home teams last night.  After a modest 4-game losing streak, the Isles are back on the winning track. Let's see how the Edmonton Oilers react to a new Head Coach now that Dallas Eakins has been let go. We had mentioned in our SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE article this past week that a few coaching changes were in order with Edmonton being one of them. Will the ball start to roll on some of the others?  Read here to find out about the others.

Tonight's Rangers-Avalanche tilt at MSG should mark the return of defenseman Dan Boyle from his hand injury, providing a further boost for his fantasy owners. With a limited sample size of one game played as a New York Ranger, there is a bit of uncertainty on what offensive production to expect onward from the talented 38-year old. Putting aside his recent injuries, Boyle has been one of the NHL's elite fantasy defenders when healthy. His primary responsibility will be to revitalize a 21st ranked power-play clicking at an anemic rate of 14.3%. The Blueshirts were marginally better last season, ranking 15th at 18% but it's obvious why the former All-Star was brought on board. Their deficiencies with the man-advantage have been magnified by the absence of Ryan McDonagh, but he will be leaned on heavily to be a dominant scoring presence on the blue-line. Looking at his past scoring pedigree, Boyle has piled up big numbers in the past while playing with San Jose and Tampa Bay. Even though his offensive production has somewhat diminshed over the last two seasons, he has collected at least 50 points six times during his prolific career. More importantly, his status as a premier power-play quarterback still borders on elite, as he regularly puts up 20+ PP points year-in, year-out. With the need for coach Alain Vigneault to jump-start the power-play, you can expect Boyle to log huge minutes while playing with an above-average forward group, including the "hot" Rick Nash. My concerns would not have anything to do with point-production, rather with his ability to stay on the ice long enough to be fantasy worthy. If everything goes well tonight, Boyle owners could be significantly upgrading their defensive rosters for the next upcoming scoring period. Parting Shots: Cam Fowler returned for Anaheim after missing one game, scoring a goal and playing over 23:00 minutes. His fantasy value has taken a dip due to the emerence of Sami Vatanen, but he is still worthy of starting in most fantasy formats.. Keep your eye on Justin Faulk, as the 22-year old is in full "breakout" mode for Carolina.. Mark Giordano has taken the fantasy world by "storm", but young TJ Brodie continues to rack up impressive numbers for Calgary with 14 points in 17 games. 40+ points should be a lock.. Veteran Marek Zidlicky has been playing fantastic of late, collecting five points over the last six games for New Jersey. His recent streak has taken off some of the luster of rookie Damon Severson's ...

Exciting night yesterday in the NHL. San Jose right wing Martin Havlat had a big night with a goal and an assist in the Sharks 4-3 win over the Islanders. Havlat once had a lot of potential as a possible 90 point player, but injuries have taken their toll on him, and he has only  14 points in 35 games this year.  What a waste of talent.  New York forward Kyle Okposo had 2 assists in the loss, and with 67 points he is having a great year. Draft him high next season.  Okay game for San Jose goalie Antti Niemi as he had 35 saves in the win, and he has 33 wins on the season, but his .912 SP is a little bit unnerving. The Capitals beat the Canucks 4-3 as young Russian forward Evegny Kuznetsov scored his first NHL points by collecting 3 assists. Great game for the 21 year old rookie.  The amazing thing is that he did it in only 9:58 of time on ice, and on the 4th line no less.   Don't get too excited about him yet.  Goaltender Jaroslav Halak got the win with 35 saves, and he is playing well with 26 wins and a 2.25 GAA. He is pretty solid.  Detroit beat Edmonton 2-1 in a shootout as goaltender Jimmy Howard had a good game for the Wings with 21 saves. Howard has had a tough year with a losing record and this is his first win in 4 games, but he was sharp last night.  The Panthers beat the Devils 5-3 as Florida forward Brad Boyes had a goal and an assist. Boyes once scored 71 points for St Louis in the  2008-2009 season, but he has really struggled with injuries since then and has only 32 points on the year.  New Jersey defenseman Marek Zidlicky was a -4 by the way. Florida center Jonathan Huberdeau had 2 assists, but with only 27 points on the season, he has been a major disappointment. So much talent wasted.  Goaltender Pekka Rinne looks like he is rounding into shape for Nashville as he had 31 saves in a 3-2 victory over the suprisingly struggling Blackhawks. Rinne has good metrics with a 2.27 GAA and a .920 SP.  Get him if you can, as he is coming on strong.  Defenseman Roman Josi had a big night for Nashville assisting on all 3 goals. With 30 points in 51 games played he is a good defenseman choice.   Huge game for Rangers forward Carl Hagelin as he scored his first hat trick in the NHL. But he has only 28 points on the season, so we would not chase him.  He does have a lot of speed, but not yet so much skill.  Winnipeg goalie Ondrej Pavelec left the game early with an LBI. No word yet on how serious it is. Al Montoya replaced him, and if Pavelec is going to...

Prior to the coaching shakeup in Winnipeg, one of former coach Claude Noel's final moves to ignite his struggling team was moving All-Star defenseman Dustin Byfuglien to forward. The reasoning behind the move made some practical hockey sense as the bulky skater played wing during Chicago's 2010 playoff run with impressive results. His conditioning issues led to Noel wanting to limit his minutes. By shifting his position, he hoped that playing him on the top line with Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little would maximize his elite offensive skills with less "wear and tear" to his game. Coach Paul Maurice utilized him at the forward spot in his debut game behind the Winnipeg bench, a 5-1 win over Phoenix. What does it mean for fantasy owners? Having dual eligibility at both D and F enhances Byfuglien's overall fantasy value, but playing on the Jet's primary scoring line could even boost his already impressive numbers. At this moment, he is the third rated fantasy d-man and has been "on fire" with 11 points (4G/7A) in his last 10 games. A few factors including the Team USA snub, extended rest during the Olympic break, and less minutes played if he stays at forward should contribute to a strong finish. "Big Buff" is looking like a strong top 3-5 fantasy option on defense the rest of the way, even if he has played his last game on "D" for the season. Parting Shots: After Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson left last night's game with a back injury, it was young Tyson Barrie who "stole the show" with two goals, including the game-winner in overtime against the mighty Blackhawks. Barrie's fantasy value will receive a huge boost if Johnson is out for an extended period of time, but his offensive production has been rising with his recent 3-game point streak. The talented 22-year old is well worth a waiver-wire grab if available.. After a "down" sophomore season so far, Edmonton's Justin Schultz is getting hot lately with 7 points (2G/5A) in his last 10 games. With the young Edmonton offensive guns staying home through the Sochi games, Schultz could have a huge rebound in the second half.. With 25 points in 47 games, veteran Marek Zidlicky has given the New Jersey Devils a huge scoring jolt with 8 points in the last 10 games. The Czech defender might fade a bit but should be a lock for 40 points. A solid 3rd defensive option in all fantasy formats.. Maybe take a flier on youngster Calvin de Haan, who has collected 7 points in 5 games since his AHL promotion to the Islanders....