The Wire: Feb 7th

[Michael Amato]

A few weeks ago in an addition of The Wire, I recommended picking up Sam Gagner. Now I must confess I never saw his eight point performance or a 13 point output in four games coming. At the time I was more excited about his center and right wing eligibility, while getting increased power play time due to an injury to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. It is great to see Gagner show some signs of the form that prompted the Oilers to draft him sixth overall in 2007 however. Hopefully he can continue his run into a decent stretch of consistency and get his name off the trading block.

Worth a Look

Wayne Simmonds RW PHI (26% owned)
Simmonds has four goals in his last three games to go along with an incredible 17 shots. In fact he had a ten shot performance against the Nashville Predators last week. The Flyers winger has been averaging at least one hit, one penalty minute, and two shots per game this season. His minus-5 rating on the season is a bit of a concern considering he plays for a strong team, but he may be a good short-term fix to fill an injury void.

Tood Bertuzzi LW, RW DET (31% owned)
Bertuzzi has been skating great lately and it paid off with a two goal performance against the Edmonton Oilers Saturday night. The Detroit winger is versatile with both left and right wing eligibility. He has also been averaging a hit, shot, and penalty minute per game this season. His plus-22 rating doesn't hurt either.

Mikael Samuelsson RW FLA (9% owned)
The Panthers right winger is finally healthy and it's starting to show. He has five points in his last four games and four of those have been goals, while three of the points have come with the man advantage. The surprising stat over his last four games is that he has chipped in with a blocked shot a game, and seven hits over that span.

Cody Franson D TOR (6% owned)
Franson has been earning his ice-time on a competitive Leafs defense corps. He had a big two point performance against the Senators on Satruday night, and has been averaging nearly two hits, one shot, and one block per game on the season. With Mike Komisarek being a healthy scratch in recent games, look for Franson's playing time to increase.

Drop 'EM

Cam Fowler D ANA
If you're in a keeper league I wouldn't recommend this, but for just a yearly league there are better options out there. Fowler is a minus-18 for the season and has only recorded two points in his last 15 games.

Drew Stafford RW BUF
Stafford is well below his point pace from last season and has been hurt by playing substantial minutes with Ville Leino. With just one goal in his last 12 games it may be time to move on.

[TwoPuckCanuck]

Simmonds had a great night again last night! Great WW add for anyone who can get him, especially if you conut PIMs.

Good list Michael! I see you have Samuelsson - no love for Goc? lol