Welcome to this week’s edition of Crashing the Net. For this second week of the season we’re going to take a look at each postion and some of the players you might want to add to your roster. We hope you will be able to utilize this article in order to gain a competitive advantage over your opponents throughout the season. Feel free to add omissions and critique our current choices in the comments section as we welcome an open discussion at DailyFaceoff.com.
Chris Higgins, Left Wing, Vancouver Canucks
It’s looking like it could be a comeback year for Chris Higgins. So far the veteran has four points in the Canucks first five games and is playing on the second line with Cody Hodgson and Mikael Samuelsson. You might want to pick him up sooner than later especially with Kesler due to come back any week now. When Kesler comes back he’ll take Hodgson’s spot as the center on that second line with Higgins. Higgin’s really struggled offensively the last few season’s; however, this could be a easy gamble for your team to take.
Tyler Seguin, Center, Boston Bruins
The second overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft is having a great start to his sophomore season. With David Krejci out with an abdominal injury, the young center has been able to take advantage of the extra ice time and leads the Bruins with four assists and five points. In the last two games he’s been averaging just over twenty minutes of ice time and has been averaging just over three minutes of power-play time in that same span. Currently Seguin is owned in roughly 57% of all Yahoo! leagues. When Krejci comes back there’s a good chance that Seguin moves to playing right wing which could be beneficial as Seguin could have both center and right wing eligibility in most leagues.
PA Parenteau, Right Wing, New York Islanders
You have to wonder if this could be the year that the Islanders finally make it out of the Eastern Conference basement. The team is currently on a three game winning streak and they have two players among the top 10 league scorers. Of course Tavares is leading the way but only one point behind him is PA Parenteau. The 28 year old had a breakout season last year with 53 points and so far has 7 points this season. Most people were thinking that Parenteau was going to be a one hit wonder since he benefited from all the Islanders injuries last season. So far he’s proving those critics wrong with his play on the Islanders second line. With his current three game point streak he won’t be around for much longer in deeper leagues.
Marc-Andre Bergeron, Defense, Tampa Bay Lightning
Bergeron is probably one of the more underrated fantasy defenceman in the league. Since the 2006-2007 season he’s played on six different teams and is good for roughly 30 points on average. In his second season in Tampa Bay, so far the 31 year-old has five points in the Lightning’s first five games. More impressively is that Bergeron has been playing a prominent role in their power-play with averaging 2:40 minutes per game. If you get extra points for power play points than Bergeron should be an easy pick up for your team.
Al Montoya, Goaltender, New York Islanders
With DiPietro out with a concussion for what could be a while, the Islanders are going to give most of their starts to Al Montoya. Montoya rejuvinated his career last year with the Islanders when he appeared in 21 games and posted an impressive .921 save percentage and a 2.39 GAA. The Islanders will still give veteran Evgeni Nabokov some starts but look for the Islanders to give the bulk of the games to Montoya until DiPietro is ready to return. Montoya has earned the right to be the Islanders number one goalie by posting an impressive .953 save percentage and a 1.35 GAA in three games so far this season. Currently, Montoya is owned in only 43% of all Yahoo! leagues. With goaltending being at a premium in most leagues, Montoya should be the easiest pick for you to make this week.
