Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Who Is Hot For The Stretch?
The NHL trade deadline is tomorrow. So far, this has not led to any trades. I expect there will be some, but it may not be as busy as fans have become used to in years past. A salary cap is one more constraint that makes trades harder to make.
Instead of jumping into speculation about which players might get moved (why discuss what probably won't happen - when I can discuss what is happening? - if you really need this speculation look at Lyle Richardson (the March 8th trade bait article)), I will take another view. The NHL trade deadline often corresponds with trade deadlines in fantasy hockey leagues. In the NHL or in a fantasy league, ideally one wants to obtain players who are going to play very well in the remainder of the season. The best way to look for these players is to look for players who are hot right now in the NHL.
Here are the top scorers in the NHL since January first of this year. If you can acquire any of these players, likely you are doing very well.
Are any of these players available in the NHL or in your fantasy league? Are their prices reasonable? Will any be traded? We will know in a short period of time.
Instead of jumping into speculation about which players might get moved (why discuss what probably won't happen - when I can discuss what is happening? - if you really need this speculation look at Lyle Richardson (the March 8th trade bait article)), I will take another view. The NHL trade deadline often corresponds with trade deadlines in fantasy hockey leagues. In the NHL or in a fantasy league, ideally one wants to obtain players who are going to play very well in the remainder of the season. The best way to look for these players is to look for players who are hot right now in the NHL.
Here are the top scorers in the NHL since January first of this year. If you can acquire any of these players, likely you are doing very well.
| Name | Team | Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Thornton | SJ | 23 | 10 | 24 | 34 |
| Alexander Ovechkin | Was | 23 | 18 | 14 | 32 |
| Eric Staal | Car | 23 | 13 | 18 | 31 |
| Jaromir Jagr | NYR | 22 | 17 | 13 | 30 |
| Jonathan Cheechoo | SJ | 23 | 16 | 14 | 30 |
| Sergei Zubov | Dal | 25 | 5 | 25 | 30 |
| Andy McDonald | Ana | 23 | 10 | 19 | 29 |
| Ilya Kovalchuk | Atl | 23 | 16 | 12 | 28 |
| Marian Hossa | Atl | 23 | 13 | 15 | 28 |
| Erik Cole | Car | 22 | 17 | 10 | 27 |
| Mark Recchi | Pit | 25 | 13 | 14 | 27 |
| Henrik Zetterberg | Det | 20 | 12 | 15 | 27 |
| Alex Tanguay | Col | 23 | 11 | 16 | 27 |
| Teemu Selanne | Ana | 23 | 9 | 18 | 27 |
| Pavel Datsyuk | Det | 23 | 7 | 20 | 27 |
| Henrik Sedin | Van | 25 | 6 | 21 | 27 |
Are any of these players available in the NHL or in your fantasy league? Are their prices reasonable? Will any be traded? We will know in a short period of time.
