Rich Peverley, Center, Boston Bruins
It’s scary how deep the Bruins lineup is. The Bruins who are the leagues second highest scoring team currently have 7 players in their lineup with at least 20 points. One of those players with at least 20 points is Rich Peverley. Peverley started the season off slow with only scoring 4 points during the month of October. Since then he’s scored 20 points and has 6 points in the Bruins last three games. Peverley’s also on pace for a career year with 65 points. Last season Peverley had a decent season of 41 points; however, it was seen as a bit of a disappointment since he was coming off of a 55 point season with the Atlanta Thrashers. Peverley is the one player that you should strongly consider picking up this week. Not only are his 24 points are great, but he also has a stellar +11 rating. Peverley is owned in only 20% of all Yahoo! leagues.
Todd Bertuzzi, Left Wing, Detroit Red-Wings
It looks like Todd Bertuzzi is starting to really heat up for the Red-Wings. After scoring only 3 points in Detroit’s first 14 games, he’s now scored 7 points in their last 7 games. That includes a current 6 game scoring streak. Bertuzzi has been very consistent over the last 5 season’s averaging 43 points per season with Anaheim, Calgary, and Detroit. Those aren’t great fantasy numbers; however, sometimes you need some players where you know what you’re going to get from them. At this point, Bertuzzi is a great option to have as a backup forward on your team. In most leagues you’ll be able to dress him either on the left or right wing. Bertuzzi is only owned in 8% of all Yahoo! leagues but based on his hot play as of late more teams will be looking to pick him up.
Wayne Simmonds, Right Wing, Philadelphia Flyers
With the injury bug hitting the Flyers hard over the last week (Pronger, Giroux, and Couturier) one player that has really stepped up his play is Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds who was a part of the Mike Richards deal with the Kings in the summer, is quietly putting together a great season. Simmonds has scored 7 points in the Flyers last 7 games and is on pace for a 40 point campaign. With all the injuries to the Flyers lineup he’s going to be counted to help add more punch to such an already dangerous lineup. Simmonds 40 points may not seem that enticing but if you also look at his penatly minutes you’ll notice that Simmonds could be an all around great option for your team. He’s currently second on the Flyers with 44 penalty minutes and can easily be compared to players like Ryane Clowe and Milan Lucic as players who can drop the mitts but also put up some decent points for your team.
Zach Bogosian, Defenceman, Winnipeg Jets
Do you remember over the last few seasons how there was all those rumors about the Thrashers/Jets looking to trade Zach Bogosian? I think it’s now safe to say that we probably won’t be hearing anymore trade rumors about him for a while. Bogosian has easily become one of the Jets top defenceman this season. He’s second among all Jets defenceman with 14 points and averages more ice time than all other active Jets defencemen with over 24 minutes per game including just under 3 minutes per game on the power-play. As long as he stays healthy, Bogosian will easily eclipse his previous career high of 23 points back in the 2009/2010 season. In fact, Bogosian is on pace for a 35 point season. If you’re looking for an extra body on your blue line you might want to look at picking up Bogosian since he’s currently owned in only 14% of all Yahoo! leagues.
Richard Bachman, Goaltender, Dallas Stars
If the injury to Kari Lehtonen has taught us anything it’s that the Dallas Stars don’t seem to have a lot of confidence in regular backup Andrew Raycroft. With Lehtonen still out with a groin injury it appears that the Dallas Stars are more than willing to give 24 year old Richard Bachman the bulk of the starts until he’s ready to return. Prior to Friday night’s game which saw the young goalie take a shelling in a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils, he had been quite brilliant in his 3 previous starts. Between December 10-15 he had started 3 games in that span had a 3-0 record which included a shutout against the dangerous New York Rangers and only allowed 3 goals. It’s believed that the Stars are going to give Bachman the start once again on Monday night against the struggling Anaheim Ducks. Bachman is owned in 16% of all Yahoo! leagues so if you’re needing some goaltending you might want to consider adding Bachman as he’s been one of the more intriguing players to watch over the last week.
