Ahead of our Week 14 fantasy hockey selections, let’s take a quick look back at Week 13 and see how we did in predicting success for your team:
Fantasy Hockey: Recapping Week 13 Studs, Duds, and Sleepers
Roope Hintz – Stud
A two-assist performance in the first game of the week was followed by a Dallas Stars team being shut out by the worst defensive team in the league and a first-period exit due to an upper-body injury. The matchups looked good, and Hintz is still available in some leagues. He really should not be. Depending on the extent of the injury of course. His line scored twice in his absence, and one would think he factors into that if he is healthy. Still not what we were hoping for.
Self-grade: C
Jamie Benn – Stud
The point streak ended for Benn along with the Stars’ winning streak. He did have an assist, but we expected more based on the opponents. Where you did receive great value was in the banger categories. It has been quite a while since Benn registered five hits in a game. He also continued to own the faceoff dot. A goal would have been nice though.
Self-grade: B-
Kevin Fiala – Dud
Two weeks in a row we have highlighted talented scorers who are struggling and should continue to struggle. Two weeks in a row they rattled off hat tricks for the first time all season. Just to add to how wrong the projection was, he added two assists as well, one on the power play. The matchups were not great for Fiala, but perhaps we have the ability to undo the slow play of players.
Self-grade: F–
Drew Doughty – Dud
We did not miss this one. Doughty continued to struggle at providing fantasy hockey value. He did pick up an assist. Yet the banger categories continue to be missing, going as far as having no hits or blocks in Sunday’s game. This coming week could be better for him, but last week you were probably disappointed in starting him.
Self-grade: A
Antti Raanta – Sleeper
Well, Raanta did indeed get two starts and he did win the first one. He also proved that he is better the more he plays, losing the second start after backing up for two games. The big issue? He allowed seven goals on 46 shots in those two games. That is not good. The Carolina Hurricanes netminder did not start in January as he played in December.
Self-grade: D
Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Sleeper
Once again, not what we expected with how things had been progressing. We mentioned that the banger categories had started to diminish as Kotkaniemi was focused more on shooting and scoring. Four total shots on goal but a game with six hits and a minor. It seems to be one or the other for him. If he ever figures out how to do both, he would be a fantasy hockey must-have. But if you played him last week, we hope you needed the banger stats more than goals and assists.
Self-grade: D+
Have a fantasy question? Have a Mailbag idea you would like to see deeper analysis on? Follow me on Twitter @GromJoshua, or leave a comment for me below.
Main Photo:
