While we all love fantasy hockey, sometimes the season can be a bit of a grind. That’s one reason the All-Star break is nice. Sometimes you need a few days to give yourself a breather and not worry about your lineup, or multiple lineups for some of us.
The all-star break has hopefully reinvigorated your best players or given your struggling studs a chance to refocus. Rarely is the all-star break a bad thing for good players. However, we want to know who will be the best players after the all-star break; who we can buy low on now that should have a second half resurgence or improve down the stretch.
Antoine Vermette ARI – C, LW (Owned %, ESPN 25.5%, Yahoo 23%)
While the Coyotes might not be going anywhere in the standings, Vermette could be going somewhere else at the trade deadline. Considering Vermette will be a UFA after this season, and it seems unlikely he’ll re-sign with Arizona so it makes sense that a useful player like him would be shipped off to a contender in need of forward depth. A change in location could also mean a bump in his point totals as the Coyotes are currently the worst offensive team in the Western Conference.
Mikhail Grabovski NYI – C, LW, RW (ESPN 5.6%, Yahoo 13%)
Kyle Okposo will be out for the next month or two, which means Grabovski has moved up to the top line with John Tavares. Grabovski also is centering the second PP unit right now and should have plenty of opportunities to better his scoring totals while Okposo is out of the lineup.
Craig Smith NSH – C, LW (ESPN 16.5%, Yahoo 27%)
Smith seemed to be a popular sleeper pick for a lot of people before the season started; however his slow start led to many people dropping him. While his numbers haven’t dazzled people the way his teammate Filip Forsberg has, Smith is on pace to surpass his 24 goals from last season. He might not be able to match his 52 points, but with the way the Preds have been playing all year it wouldn’t be surprising to see him come close.
Scott Gomez NJD – C (ESPN 2.5%, Yahoo 2%)
It’s probably not a great sign for the Devils that Gomez is now their first line center, but it might be a great thing for his fantasy potential. Gomez has 16 points in 23 games since returning to the Devils this season. What is encouraging is that Gomez has scored more points in January than in December, while playing in less games. It seems like he’s fit into the system New Jersey has right now.
Mika Zibanejad OTT – C, RW (ESPN 9.4%, Yahoo 10%)
Ice cold would be the best way to describe the start to the season Zibanejad had. With zero points in his first eight games it didn’t look like he would be having a very good season. Since that poor start, Zibanejad has 23 points in 34 games, which also included another five game pointless streak. Perhaps he’s not the most consistent player, but he’s still only 21 years old and playing on a subpar team. He’s on pace to set his career high in goals and points. Lastly, Zibanejad is currently centering the Senators’ top power play unit.
Eric Fehr WAS – C, RW (ESPN 9.5%, Yahoo 8%)
With only 4 points through the first two months of the season, it didn’t look like Fehr was in for a good year. However, in the last two months he’s racked up 17 points, including 11 goals. Fehr is currently in third place in goals for the Capitals with 14. His career best is 21 in ‘09-’10, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can keep this up, but for now he’s playing well and could be a good depth forward on your roster.
Alex Galchenyuk MON – C, LW (ESPN 45.8%, Yahoo 48%)
How Galchenyuk isn’t owned in more than half of leagues is absurd. Not only has he already produced more points than in either of his first two seasons, but his 32 points so far have him scoring as well, or better than guys like Jeff Carter, Jarome Iginla and Ryan Kesler. Galchenyuk’s game continues to improve as the season moves along, and if he’s not already picked up in your league, you need to claim him soon.
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