[10 Fantasy Thoughts] November 6th

[littleranger]

1. Adam Henrique has played the last three games with Zach Parise and Kovalchuk/Clarkson. His speed has impressed quite a few and he has 5 points in those three games. The problem is that he's seeing very limited powerplay time, so he might be only good for a deep-league pickup at this point.
2. Some shooting percentages for forwards under 7%: Datsyuk (4.8), Zetterberg (6.0), E. Staal (6.7), Stewart (5.0), Kovalchuk (5.0), Cleary (2.8), Booth (0.0), Benn (5.9), M.Koivu (3.3), Sullivan (3.4)
3. The Rangers powerplay has been operating at 13.2% (26th) this season. Insert Anton Stralman. The 25 year-old Tibro native is just two years removed from potting four goals and 18 assists on the top powerplay for the Jackets. With Del Zotto only at 2 points with the extra man, it will be Stralmans job to lose. This guy is 0% owned and on the verge of playing the point with Brad Richards but he won't add many stats aside from points.
4. Christian Ehrhoff has been playing second unit powerplay time for the Sabres in the last three games. He has Gragnani as a partner and Stafford, Adam and Leino up front. He's on pace for 44 points which would tie his tally from 2 seasons ago, but I don't think we'll see the 50 points and 14 goals he potted last season.
5. The Islanders line combos as mentioned in the ramblings by Chris Nichols: They opened with these new combos: Matt Moulson - John Tavares - Michael Grabner/ Brian Rolston - Frans Nielsen - P.A. Parenteau/ Blake Comeau - Marty Reasoner - Kyle Okposo. They scored five goals last night and have scored 14 of the teams 23 goals in 3 games. The team isn't scoring 164 goals this year so it's only a matter of time before a few guys take big jumps in production. It's a big time buy-low team.
6. Coaching changes always present new opportunities in fantasy. The Jackets are stinking up the joint at the moment, but how much longer until we see a change behind the bench and even a trade or two? Once the change does finally happen, it is important to track the players time on ice and production as the early bird gets the worm. Who knows if they'll have a guy like Vermette playing third line duties or lining up with Nash?
7. Chris Stewart played 1:43 in the third period on Friday night and only 11:49 that night. On Saturday he played 16:09 and managed one shot. The team is on pace for a mediocre 2.46GPG and noone seems to be stepping up for the team. They have an excess of talent but they appear to be mostly a team of second liners. Chris Stewart is the one player who is a capable first liner but as long as his shooting percentage is around 5% and his ice time is lacking, he'll continue to struggle.
8. The Colorado Avalanche are 4-16-1 in the last 21 games they have played at home. They have lost four of the last five. Varlamov has allowed 26 goals in his last 7 games for a 3.71GAA and it looks like the end is nowhere near. I'm not saying that a Varlamov owner should cut ties, just saying that it's going to be a long year.
9. Most shots without a goal: Subban (41), Boyle (41), Booth (34), Wheeler (33), Vermette (32), Seidenberg, (31), Skille (30), E.Johnson (29), Bieksa (29)
10. It's almost (kind of) time for the return of Andrei Markov. It might be another month or two, but once he returns we can expect a big-time rise in production on the powerplay. Last time he was in the lineup, the team was operating at a rock-solid 21% as opposed to the 14% to date. One of Diaz/Subban or Weber will be a benefactor and I would put the early money on Subban although they like to play the same side on the PP. It may not be a great idea to collect Habs players right now, but if you're in a H2H league and need an extra boost come playoff time, I would suggest grabbing one.