Kari Lehtonen - Here's a stat that I bet will shock you. Heck, you may even get mad over it. Over the past 30 days, Kari Lehtonen has been the best goalie in fantasy hockey. I know! Its crazy. How could an Atlanta goaltender be more valuable than Luongo or Brodeur? In just the month of March alone, he's posted a 5-1 record with a 1.65 GAA, a .952 save percentage that included an incredible 49 save performance against the high powered Capitals. I know of one RFA that's looking for a big offseason contract.
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Olli Jokinen - Well the Flames can't say they didn't make the right trade. Jokinen has 8 goals and 2 assists in his first 6 games with the Flamers, but the team is 2-4 in that span. At least he's helping his fantasy teams win with this kind of production. Olli is a strong candidate to be this years fantasy playoff MVP.
Sidney Crosby - Those of you that drafted Sid in the first round were probably second guessing yourself until about a couple weeks ago when Ray Shero finally gave Crosby a pair of competent wingers to play alongside. Since then, Crosby has been on fire and looks every bit like the greatest player in the world. Since the trade deadline, Crosby has put up 4 goals and 9 assists in just 7 games. Crosby, Kunitz, Guerin... the more of them you own, the more likely you are to win your league as this is the hottest line in hockey.
Rick Nash - For those of you that were panicking over Nash's lack of goals in early February, he's back on another hot streak and currently has 7 goals in his last 8 games. Nash is a 30 - 30 player right now and will probably finish as a 40-40 player. I was told that I reached for Nash when I drafted him in the 5th round. If Nash goes that late again, he'll be a steal.
Steve Sullivan - After missing the first half of the season, Sullivan has helped pick up the Preds off the mat and got them back into playoffs contention. The speedy, offensively gifted winger has 8 goals and 10 assists in his last 24 games and 4 of those 8 goals have been scored this month. Not a bad late waiver wire pickup.
Evgeni Nabokov - After missing 7 straight games, Nabby returned last Saturday to beat the Kings and then went on to shutout the Ducks. He was chased last night in Phoenix, but even the best have off nights. If you own him, you'll be a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs.
Marc-Andre Fleury - The MAF that took the Pens to the Finals has re-emerged at just the right time. With the Pens playing their best hockey of the year and Fleury getting the bulk of the starts, let him loose no matter who they play and ride the hot goalie to the end.
David Krejci - After enjoying a monstrous first half, Krejci appears to have run out of gas. Before the all star break, Krejci had 52 in 47 games. Since then he has 11 points in his last 24 games. I hope you traded this sinking ship before your league's trading deadline. If not, you may have to do the unthinkable and look the waiver wire to replace a top point producer.
Chris Osgood - Aside from getting routed by Columbus, Osgood has played pretty well since returning from his "10 day break". I still don't consider him to be a high end goalie anymore, but their is reason to be optimistic that he'll be a valuable contributor down the stretch especially since he'll be playing for a starting role in the playoffs.
Posted
Mar 18 2009, 08:55 AM
by
Nick Fruscello