Buy or Sell: Trenders and ‘Tenders Analyzed
Mikhail Grabovski, Toronto Maple Leafs
Grabovski leads the Leafs in every offensive category and continues to outplay the more heralded Phil Kessel. Beat writers like Jonas Siegel of Eat, Sleep, Leafs often consider his line the top line despite lacking a superstar. His most recent shootout goal generated a good deal of buzz around the League, making himself even more of a household name. The skills are there, however his attitude and consistency issues leave something to be desired. Considering he only once topped 20 goals in his career, hitting 35 would be a lofty expectation. Sell him while he and the Leafs show signs of life before they once again crash back down to earth.
DF’s Prognosis: Sell High
Nathan Horton, Boston Bruins
Horton really struggled over the past couple of months after starting his Bruins’ career off quickly. If you take away his five goals over eight October games, Horton’s line looks pretty bad with only six goals over his last 28 games. To add further insult to injury, he received a demotion to the third line for his efforts and may not be able to even play there as he is listed as day-to-day. Over the past two seasons, he missed 15 and 17 games respectively so expecting a fully healthy Horton seemed to be wishful thinking. At this point his value seems too low to actually sell, wait until he gets healthy and hot before shopping the former 3rd overall pick.
DF’s Prognosis: Hold
Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres
Miller recently won three of his last four decisions which may be enough to garner interest in him once again. Regardless, this Sabres team simply is not the same as last season’s team. Derek Roy will miss the remainder of the season while the team wins on the luck of a Jochet Hecht hot streak or Drew Stafford on a nearly 40 goal pace and yet they still remain 10th in the Eastern Conference. Fresh off a 36 save shutout against the Sharks, a desperate owner could give up a top tier forward for your likely first round pick. Keep in mind that prior to that shutout he allowed 10 goals over his last two games.
DF’s Prognosis: Sell
Patric Hornqvist, Nashville Predators
The Predators continue to get hit with injuries but remain in the playoff hunt thanks to clutch scoring and goaltending. Hornqvist remains the same garbage-goal winger as he was last season when he knocked in 30 goals. Maybe his owner would be scared off by his lessened pace or his teammates dropping like flies, which would be a good time to make a play for the talented Swede. Playing mostly with Marcel Goc and Sergei Kostitsyn and on the top powerplay unit, Hornqvist scored five goals over the last four games including three game winning goals. See if you can pry him away for a player like Nikolai Zherdev and watch his value only get higher as more talented players get healthy.
DF’s Prognosis: Strong Buy
Jarret Stoll, Los Angeles Kings
With nine goals and 24 points over his first 40 games this year, Stoll looks to top his 47 points of last season. If you own him, he likely occupies a 3rd or 4th string center on your fantasy team as a projected 49 points look somewhat shabby when comparing centers. Recently, he was replaced by Michal Handzus as the team’s second line center, which should somewhat hurt his fantasy value. However, he was not removed from the point on the top powerplay unit, which features his strong shot. Considering Handzus rarely left the third line for the past 1.5 seasons, it should be only a matter of time before Stoll moves back up a line and again if you roster him it is probably a deeper league with worse options on the waiver wire.
DF’s Prognosis: Hold
John Tavares, New York Islanders
On pace for nearly 30 goals, Tavares has quietly led the Islanders in points. His longtime linemate Kyle Okposo seems to be right around the corner, which should help improve those totals even more. Considering the Isles continue to look worse and worse by the day it should not be hard to pry this talented young pivot out of an owner’s hands for less than market value in single-year leagues. Act now before Okposo begins practicing line rushes.
DF’s Prognosis: Strong Buy
Jonas Hiller, Anaheim Ducks
Hiller finally begins to show his true fantasy value as he creeps into the League leaders in both SV% (5th) and wins (Tied-2nd). His 1208 shots faced are exactly 100 more than the next workhorse (Cam Ward) while his number of saves rank similarly which makes his impressive save percentage even more… impressive. The Ducks sit right in the middle of a tight Western Conference playoff race but continue to win despite key injuries in the beginning of the season to Teemu Selanne and now to Ryan Getzlaf. If they can just continue to stay around .500 they should creep in the playoffs on the back of Hiller. However, his value will probably never be higher if your depth chart allows you to move him.
DF’s Prognosis: Hold / Sell High
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