Who is this year's surprise 2nd-half stud?

[lucafen4]

Craig Smith... looking like the 2nd half's sleeper's sleeper

[Instant Karma]

In retrospect, I'd say that Ghost is the only player having the sort of sustained breakout that Stone had last season.

[Big Ev]

Mark stone is this year's mark stone. Tied with Crosby and Kane for even strength points since new year

[bergman]

McDavid. I heard tonight that he's the highest scoring player since his return. If this is true, that makes him a stud, and I for one am surprised. Was expecting him to be good but not the best just yet.

[forumname]

"Aka, Mark Stone of 2014-15 or Palat of the previous year -- someone who emerges not just as a 50-60 guy, but someone at or close to a point a game, who was an afterthought in all but the deepest leagues in the first half."

!!!!

[larrylintz]

Smith qualifies if he stays strong, though for the life of me i can't understand why people would accept the overwhelming consensus from all scouts, analysts and gms over several years that McDavid is a generational player, but then draft him on the assumption he would be a 50-60 point guy and be surprised he's doing what he's doing. Glad i put my money where my mouth was (thanks in part to seeing him play once last year in junior), had he not been injured i would be winning my league by a lot more than i am at the moment. At our auction-draft everyone thought i overpaid, but he ended up being better on a ppg basis than all the guys who went for 2x that much. If a great rookie who would never get mentioned in the same breath with the word "generational" can break 60, like Gaudreau or Forsberg, it just makes no sense that McD wouldn't easily surpass that threshhold. Otherwise, all the experts were wrong about generational. A Hank Sedin will take time to establish himself, but the true once-in-a-lifetime superstars don't because of the simple fact they are better than everyone else on the ice. Orr came 2nd in Norris voting in his first year despite the first of his many knee injuries and despite his awful team. Look at Gretz and Crosby.

Sorry for the rant, I'm frustrated by experts who will go on and on about how great a player is, and then make a chickens**t prediction that they'll get 45 or 55 or 63 or whatever.

And how in the world would Stone qualify? He proved last year he's an emerging star and worthy of mention in a Team Canada discussion. He helped set the standard for this thread. Yeah, a real sleeper.

[Big Ev]

Smith qualifies if he stays strong, though for the life of me i can't understand why people would accept the overwhelming consensus from all scouts, analysts and gms over several years that McDavid is a generational player, but then draft him on the assumption he would be a 50-60 point guy and be surprised he's doing what he's doing. Glad i put my money where my mouth was (thanks in part to seeing him play once last year in junior), had he not been injured i would be winning my league by a lot more than i am at the moment. At our auction-draft everyone thought i overpaid, but he ended up being better on a ppg basis than all the guys who went for 2x that much. If a great rookie who would never get mentioned in the same breath with the word "generational" can break 60, like Gaudreau or Forsberg, it just makes no sense that McD wouldn't easily surpass that threshhold. Otherwise, all the experts were wrong about generational. A Hank Sedin will take time to establish himself, but the true once-in-a-lifetime superstars don't because of the simple fact they are better than everyone else on the ice. Orr came 2nd in Norris voting in his first year despite the first of his many knee injuries and despite his awful team. Look at Gretz and Crosby.

Sorry for the rant, I'm frustrated by experts who will go on and on about how great a player is, and then make a chickens**t prediction that they'll get 45 or 55 or 63 or whatever.

And how in the world would Stone qualify? He proved last year he's an emerging star and worthy of mention in a Team Canada discussion. He helped set the standard for this thread. Yeah, a real sleeper.

he doesn't really qualify but he was a free agent in a lot of leagues before getting hot again

[larrylintz]

I assume a league would have to be pretty shallow to have guys like stone on wire, even in the depths of his slump.

[GoNucks]

Schenn 30 points in 29 games since Jan 1 after tonight's two-bagger.

Very impressive totals for him since being moved to the Giroux line, he may now be keeper worthy!

[larrylintz]

And the winner is....

http://www.dobberhockey.com/hockey-h...rayden-schenn/

This is particularly sweet as i started this thread trying to find the one breakout player to target with my last remaining waiver wire pick, and on Feb 22 i took Schenn! With a few exceptions I've been King Midas this season. You've gotta be good and lucky as they say.

[Wonko]

I would throw Trocheck in the mix. 28 points in last 27 games. Getting almost 20 minutes of ice time now and crushing face offs.

[GoNucks]

Glad I have both Trocheck & Schenn