Injuries – McKeen's Hockey

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag: Slumps And Hamburglars?

Chris Wassel — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 16:46:02 +0000

Needless to say we are at the crossroads of the 2014-15 hockey season. That is right. Fantasy hockey playoffs start for quite a few people in head to head leagues this week. Most everyone else starts next week. Questions have been flying in and so have the injuries. The intensity of play has picked up which means predictably, scoring is slowly heading downward. Playoff like games are already occurring and that should keep on going over he final 26 days or so of the regular season.

The questions were three this week. Now the first one is an opinion I am sure few will agree with but here it goes.

Will 3 on 3 OT in any form make the game more exciting?

It is going to give fans a reason to get off their seats. Whether it is a three minute session after a four minute four on four remains to be seen but the AHL has definitely seen less shootouts. It will be fascinating to see what percentage drop there is come season end but imagine the danger of many odd man rushes. If anyone remembers playing 3 on 3 pickup hockey, think of how much faster the pace was. Purists will not enjoy this as they derided the 4 on 4 format in the first place. However, more and more GM's are growing increasingly tired of the shootout. Even at three minutes of 3 on 3, there will be quite a bit of excitement generated.

However, there is one nagging thing. how do you generate more scoring in general? 3 on 3 will be a nice boost for some fantasy owners but how do you elevate the product so that less games go to overtime or the shootout in the first place? That may be for another time as they say.

Fantasy hockey playoffs are starting, what do I make of all these injuries?

Again this is the time of year where you almost hope your playoff format does not go more than three weeks because if it does, one is likely to be affected by enough injuries to make significant impact. Tampa has a triplet injury special going with all three players out at least a couple weeks or more. Pittsburgh has Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist out at least a week with injuries and Sidney Crosby is battling some nagging illness and is day to day. That is just for starters. On the bright side, see who is on the mend. I believe Dustin Byfuglien is practicing with Winnipeg and other players are close to returning too so hopefully you can alleviate some of your IR worries only to yes place more players on it anyway. It really is a time of year for survival more than anything else.

The best tip is to check waiver wires. Obviously 99% of leagues have seen their trade deadlines come and gone. In deeper leagues it is going to be rough for everyone to replace injuries. Be first and be bold. It is win or go home anyway so you have nothing to lose.

The DFS world has embraced Andrew Hammond, when does the run end?

That answer is a mystery. Truth be told I picked up Hammond on a whim the first game he faced the Montreal Canadiens and figured what is the worst that could happen. When he stopped 40 of 42 shots and won, I thought it was a nice story but it probably would not last all that long. Fantasy hockey fans....we are at ten plus starts now and still the Hamburglar keeps going. His 10-0-1 record is Patrick Lalime like but his .955 save percentage is Carey Price over the last few months like. The numbers are otherworldly and yes he has not given up more than two goals in any of his starts.

One of the keys to his success has been Erik Karlsson and the improved play of the defense. Yes teams may be getting shots on net but they are less in the danger areas than they were before. That is vital to a goalie's success because if he can see it or somewhat see it, then its not going in nine times out of ten. Give Dave Cameron some credit too as Ottawa really has turned on a switch here.

What happens next? Eventually Hammond will start giving up some goals but the improved confidence of the team may be enough to keep them going on this run. Will it be at the current pace though? That does not seem likely. Either way, it's going to be a fun final weeks.

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See you next week fantasy hockey fans and thanks for reading!

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag: March Madness!

Chris Wassel — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 13:33:38 +0000

There is madness from the NHL Trade Deadline and then there is sheer madness from the week of injuries. It feels like it has been long and maybe that is true. No one can escape the litany of injuries. Just when you think it stops, another one seriously pops up. This happened several times as I was writing the mailbag up in the last few days. Then I would have to scrap it and start all over again. It is much like the writer who has his deadline piece already to go and then the game gets tied and goes to overtime. The backspace and delete keys get a workout like few have ever seen.

Sadly that was again the case Friday afternoon when word of this spread onto the internet. That would be Nathan MacKinnon news that his season is over after breaking his foot. He will be out 6-8 weeks. As if fantasy hockey fans did not have a high enough misery index as it was. This has been one rough stretch and it does not look like it will get any better.

Now the questions.....

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag

With the sudden rash of injuries, what is a fantasy hockey manager to do these days?

If you look up and down enough lineups, you can see that the latest rash of injuries seemed to begin with the knee injury of Tyler Seguin. From there, it was a series of maladies over and over and over again. Before you knew it, it seemed like the injury report was multiplying. From Kyle Okposo all the way to MacKinnon, it just has been a tough time of it. There are some fantasy teams that had no red on their pages a couple weeks ago only to have a full complement of players on the injured reserve list with no room to spare.

Basically most trade deadlines are done in your fantasy hockey leagues. However, if you should be lucky, then definitely make some offers. Remember you are not in a position of strength but hey, a value or two may still to be had. This is when your skills of spotting talent come in handy. Also keep in mind, a few players like Tyler Seguin, Kyle Okposo, and Henrik Lundqvist should be back in the next week or two weeks.

If you can hang in there, that is great. If you cannot, be shrewd in your trips to the good old waiver wire. It might net you the next Andrew Hammond. You never know.

Why do you not do winners and losers of the trade deadline?

This is true. I don't believe in it. Simply this goes back to years ago where making judgments over time was more beneficial than snap assessments. Sometimes we have to in this business but right now, I prefer to look at it more in the sense of which teams made improvement while other teams lost an opportunity.

There are lots of reasons why some teams did not make a lot of moves. The market this year was a very convoluted one with seemingly changing prices all the time. Think of it as an ever changing breathing entity. Sometimes it just takes a life of its own and sometimes it just runs with it. That is how the trade deadline goes. Teams like Anaheim definitely improved themselves while a team like New Jersey lost an opportunity partially because they did not act fast enough or properly showcase their players. Honestly, when your assets are not good enough, that is a different kind of lost opportunity.

In later posts, we will delve into some of the best and worst (closer to playoff time). After all, that is where these teams want to be and why they made the moves in the first place.

Last question.....who do you see as the one team falling out of their playoff spot?

It has been this one for awhile now, for me anyway. That team is the Winnipeg Jets. They seem to suffer injuries at the worst time (see Dustin Byfuglien and Bryan Little). Their goaltending is showing cracks again. The team defense always seems to have gaps when it should not and Paul Maurice has this knack of making the wrong decision up there when the right one is needed. It is hard to explain but that team just finds a way to end up not in the top eight when all is said and done.

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That is it for this week.....see you next week with more...yes...more questions.

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag: Now It’s Mono??

Chris Wassel — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 15:26:40 +0000

It's another crazy week in the fantasy hockey leagues out there and this week has been dominated by injuries and yes, now mono. From the flu to the mumps to stomach ailments to mono, it just seems the NHL really has their hands full. Needless to say, when Spring comes, a lot of players are going to be relieved.

Thankfully the All Star Game is coming up soon enough and maybe the break will be a good thing for the huge majority of players. That should get some players on the mend. The mailbag never yield and here are this week's questions.

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag

Now that Tyler Toffoli has mono, is this like the mumps where I should worry about more cases?

Alright, the weird thing about mono is that it is again, something that can typically impact young adults. Yes it is also called "the kissing disease" because kissing often involves the exchange of saliva, etc. Mumps has a long incubation period but a different wrinkle with mono is that it typically takes 4-6 weeks to show actual symptoms after exposure. That is a lot of time passed to try and determine how a person got the illness. Simply sharing of toothbrushes and anything that involves saliva is also something to watch.

Toffoli really could be out weeks or months. Mono is a strange type of illness because you can start feeling better then feel awful again for a long period of time. There are a lot of ebbs and flows with mono. This is a significant blow for Los Angeles and fantasy lineups because not only could Toffoli be out a long time but Tanner Pearson broke his lower leg on Saturday and could also miss a huge chunk of time. That is over 20% of the Kings goal output. This is quite significant and changes a lot for fantasy owners and yes, Los Angeles too.

Getting back to the mono, just keep an eye out for updates every so often. Hopefully this is a shorter term case as opposed to a longer one. I seem to remember Bobby Ryan having this in 2009 and quite a few players do contract mono. It makes sense since it is most common between the ages of 15-25. You are always a potential carrier of mono but very rarely can contract symptoms anywhere close to the original time of being sick from it. Either way, this is one fantasy hockey fans where we will have to really wait and see.

What do I do if I have Jimmy Howard in my fantasy league?

Ooooh boy! This is tough! If you have not watched the video of Jimmy Howard's groin injury, we warn you, this is graphic!

Red Wings G Jimmy Howard (Groin) Underwent MRI Today; Has Ultrasound Scheduled Monday to Get 'Better Read on His Injury'

— Jason Liptow (@jaybird691) January 11, 2015

That is all we really know for now. The bottom line is for however many weeks or even months, this will be Petr Mrazek's show err opportunity to show the Wings what he has. Howard had around a .920 save percentage on the season though it was around .930 near Thanksgiving. Mrazek has about a .916 save percentage on average. The goalie will have to be a little better than that for Detroit but the Wings do suppress shots pretty well.

It will be even more interesting to explore other options out there like Michael Hutchinson if he is still available but looking at buzz numbers and early indications from ESPN, fantasy owners scooped him up a good bit. See if Mrazek is available. He is going to be more than serviceable and as a second or third goalie on your team, that is all you can really ask. If Howard was your number one, then you may be in a little bit of trouble honestly.

Daily fantasy at least will be interesting because Mrazek will be cheaper at first and then eventually his value will rise. Get him early in DFS ladies and gentlemen. Good luck!

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As always I will be taking questions every week and you can follow me on Twitter @ChrisWasselTHW. In the coming weeks, we will be answering scouting questions about the 2015 NHL Draft as well. Ask away!

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag — Happy New Year

Chris Wassel — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 15:54:13 +0000

It has been a long and strange season so far but we close out 2014 quickly with just a couple questions on the mailbag. You can always follow me on Twitter @ChrisWasselTHW. Questions will always be answered and no I won't hide from them. There are two main questions I got this week. One is daily and one is a team inquiry if you will. Either way, this looks to be full of fireworks and honestly there is no other way to go here. Expect some answers that may irk a few people.

Anyway, let's get cracking on those questions. They do not answer themselves!

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag

Is there really anyone on the New Jersey Devils worth having as a fantasy hockey option?

Again, they are awful and nothing much is going to change from here on out. New Jersey has scored just 68 goals in their last 35 games (yes we threw out the 11 goal outburst in the first two). That is good for dead last in the league. Travis Zajac has eight points in 29 games while getting first line center minutes and Scott Gomez has almost as many points in about half the games while Adam Henrique has more points and plays several minutes a night less.

The strings are being pulled by Lou Lamoriello and the reality is with this "Odd Couple" coaching arrangement, the last 45 games have become open mic night in Newark. I wish I was kidding but do not be surprised to see Keith Kinkaid start more games than he has for the rest of the season. With the year lost, it is time to play out the string. Even Cory Schneider, who has been pretty good but just not consistent enough, will be a player you don't want in the second half unless you are in a deep league.

Jaromir Jagr is on about a 45-50 point pace which is a good ways off from that nearly 70 point year in 2013-14. Damon Severson had such promise in the early going with eight points but got sucked into the abyss and will miss another month with a break in his ankle. There have been injuries, mumps, and players just in another world. The bottom line is can the team even complete three straight passes? The fundamentals are pretty poor for a team so laden with veterans.

You could bag skate this team to death and it likely will not matter. Yes the effort will be there but the execution has to just happen and it is not. Just tread carefully with Devils players and know they can go into long slumps. Consider they have not won three games in a row since the start of the year.

What was with the value night on Saturday in DraftKings?

It was a pretty high scoring night on DraftKings and part of the reason why the amazing value in mid-line centers. Derek Stepan and several other centers were in the $4,500 to $5,500 range and around four points a night which is too good to pass up. That allowed you to take two centers and then spend a bit more on wing and defense. If you added a fairly cheap Ben Bishop at $6,700 on Saturday, it gave a player even more options to go higher up the food chain.

There was a 50-50 I was in last night where it took over 50 points just to cash. That's nuts! It really is. Typically you can get away with 35-40 points depending on the slate. Expect more nights like this during the next week as the schedule gets a little weird with a heavy Monday and Wednesday.

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Do not forget to bring the questions and I will answer them. See you next week!

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag: December Drags ON!

Chris Wassel — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 02:00:21 +0000

It has been a nasty couple weeks ladies and gentlemen. There were the injuries, and illnesses, and now all these cases of the mumps. The mumps have become like an unwelcome house guest. The questions are many and the answers are few. This long month of December drags on and today a few questions popped up for the mailbag.

Again, welcome to the craziest mailbag for fantasy hockey fans. We do not duck or hide. You bring us the questions and the answers are delivered in a blunt yet somehow thorough way. Let's do this!

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag

How worried should I be about my players contracting the mumps?

The devil is in the details here. If Beau Bennett is confirmed as having the mumps, then that makes 15 players with the illness. What is scary is that Pittsburgh medical staff struck again with Sidney Crosby. Everyone saw the pictures and it was crystal clear what was going on. Then it was as if Pittsbugh got its hands caught in the cookie jar. The tests confirmed what everyone feared and that was a positive result for mumps. Some people and players in this strain have even received booster shots and it did not matter.

This is not a big outbreak but it is significant and noticeable enough that no one should take any chances. The CDC recommends at least a five day isolation period (sometimes longer) once symptoms outwardly show. Crosby was about the clearest example shown and yet he was allowed to do charitable activities in a hospital. Now other players have contracted the mumps as the process starts all over again.

Any time a contagious illness like mumps persists, there should be worry for your fantasy teams. Look at some players who were already injured and then became ill. They took a lot longer to recover in some cases and yet it was not found out till later. By the way, Crosby might play by mid-week, although the weekend is a good bit more likely. "Patient Zero" is believed to be Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks but little of that matters now.

The best thing to do is stay informed as much as you can. Check your fantasy rosters a little more vigorously each day and hopefully the mumps will finally run its course once and for all.

Dallas Eakins was fired on Monday so what about those Taylor Hall rumors?

For now, do not even bother yourself with it. Until there is something more credible out there, it is not even an idea to acknowledge. I will say one thing. Taylor Hall is not coachable to a point. The repetitive mistakes seen means one of two things -- Hall was just dogging it or he really needs a crash course in Hockey 101. Whatever the case is, he will be on the block at some point but who knows how much of this is smoke and how much is fire. We will have to wait and see.

Right now, this puts the onus on Hall to showcase himself if these rumors are true. If he is a great player and not just a very good player, Hall must prove it once and for all. If he is deemed uncoachable then prove you are teachable. It had been put up or shut up time for awhile now. Now, Taylor Hall has to prove the skeptics wrong -- or else.

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Thanks again for the questions and we will see you next week. Follow me on Twitter @ChrisWasselTHW for all the latest hockey and fantasy hockey talk.

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag — November Begins

Chris Wassel — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 19:14:56 +0000

October has come and gone. It is hard to believe but Daylight Savings Time is a thing of the past too. We will not look back at October for now but there are a few questions that have come via social media err Twitter. It is a time of year where teams start to play more games and this is about the time of year where injuries and frustrations really begin to mount.

Also, fantasy owners begin to notice rookies that have performed well about this time of season. Then there is inevitably questions on when they will hit the wall or if they hit it. Some rookies just do not at all. Then there are the hot and cold starts from some of the more well established names and of course there are always trade and waiver wire questions.

Now we bring you a few of those questions. It is time for the mailbag.

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag

Who do you think has been the most surprising rookie so far?

You can make a case for quite a few players in October but for me, Filip Forsberg has topped them all. The young Swede is the real pivot on that James Neal line and has been quite a godsend for fantasy hockey owners. This 20 year old has a goal and seven assists for the Nashville Predators and is a rookie leading +11. I will never understand why Washington gave up on him so quickly just for a fix but Forsberg just has an eye for setting up players. There were people that thought the youngster could be good but not this good, this fast. Yes, he did have a solid 34 points campaign in 47 games for the Milwaukee Admirals but the NHL is a different game and in a very tough division.

https://twitter.com/gSchroedes16/status/526913295052472320

Again, that says it all for Nashville and Washington. Although the trade did allow the Capitals to make room for a couple rookies of their own. Either way, will Forsberg be this hot going forward? That is unknown. However, so far he has been so good. The bottom line is if he continues to get ice time with James Neal along with first line ice time, I say why not.

Do you ever remember this many key defensemen going down to injury this early in the season? Are there options out there?

Honestly, 2010 was a pretty high event year as far as injuries and looking back that year saw some huge losses among defensive corps. This year has been tougher in some ways because the fantasy hockey options that are "Plan B's" seem to be getting hurt also. The three biggest losses in October and November 1st have been Victor Hedman, Zdeno Chara, and Ryan McDonagh. Those would be a hand, knee, and shoulder injuries respectively. Each one is or will be out almost a month when all is said and done. The blessing is at least it happened now and not later. No one in fantasy hockey says that however.

Then most people scrambled to their Plan B's and they picked up Torey Krug or tried to trade for him in a lot of leagues. They even picked up Dougie Hamilton. Obviously Krug had his finger nearly slashed off by Zach Parise and Hamilton has had mixed results so far in Chara and now Krug's absence. It is tough to lose that big a chunk of your defense. Just ask Tuukka Rask how it feels right now. I also know that people tried to sneak James Wisniewski off the waiver wire or acquire him. That did not work either as he broke a finger last week. Even Jare Spurgeon was looking promising when even he succumbed to a trip to the IR.

There were others but I will spare you the gory details. If you still find a league that has Damon Severson on the waiver wire, go pick him up. Look at Ryan Ellis in Nashville if you have to. The options are there but honestly if you do not have a Plan C, D, or even E, there may be trouble on your fantasy hockey horizon. We have time for one more.

Are you going to be answering more daily fantasy hockey questions for the mailbag?

Yes I am! If you have the questions, I will answer them. Like I said in the beginning, I don't hide! Now DFS has been quite the challenge this year. October has been filled with more trap doors and pitfalls than I can count. However, I have pulled in a decent amount of money. Honestly, my money put out is not huge but occasionally I pick my spots in bigger cash or GPP tourneys. Conventional stack plays have not been working and on Sunday a lot of people had an early Los Angeles-Detroit stack of players that largely came up producing less than expected.

Whether it is a short (2-5 games), medium (6-9), or large slate (10+) of games, we will try to have plays from a variety of daily sites. Every site has different scoring rules so if you do have a question then please include the platform. There are lots of nuances to learn and over the next five months, we will try to answer those questions as well. Expect at least one DFS question per week here on the mailbag. One of the side questions I did get is which nights do you prefer playing?

Generally, I like playing on nights where there are few or a lot of games. Everyone is different but that medium slate of games fouls me up most of the time or I second guess myself.

Good luck this week and keep those questions coming. Thanks for reading!

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag — A Manic Monday

Chris Wassel — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 19:14:49 +0000

Another week has gone by and as always there are more questions than answers. October has revealed a lot of unexpected twists and turns. The biggest concern among fantasy hockey players is, you guessed it, injuries. It eats away at the mettle of the owner. There are questions that just seem to focus intently on these players and possible solutions.

Are you ready to wade into this week's mailbag? This one will truly have an injurious nature to it. You have been warned!

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What has been the most significant injury of the fantasy hockey season so far?

Some are going to argue this until they are blue in the face. However, the recent injury to Victor Hedman is likely to fit that criteria. If the expected diagnosis rings true, the defenseman could be out around a month or so. That is a significant blow to owners who saw Hedman's stock rise into the elite among fantasy defensemen.

Hand injuries are or can be a pain in the neck to heal. The official prognosis should be available early in the week but when Jon Cooper hinted "he could miss a significant amount of time", that was a bad sign. It left a lot of fantasy owners with that sick to the stomach feeling. His seven points in four games was not even the most "wow" stat. It was the five power play points. No one likes to see a player of Hedman's stature go down to injury but the one saving grace was that it occurred early in the season.

What is the worst injury prognosis that a fantasy owner can hear?

The best example of this is the Paul Stastny news. By now, you heard that his arm was in a sling after the Arizona game. Then you heard the dreaded prognosis that the forward was out "week to week" with an upper body injury. Thanks to J.P. Rutherford for the news. Again it is not the best of news and it is even tougher to speculate on the severity. Week to week with a shoulder just means it could be anything from bruised AC joint to much worse (say a full Rotator Cuff tear).

It is always better (as bad as it is) to get a more definitive timetable for an injury. When a player is out 4-6 weeks, you have an idea for the most part that "Player X" will be out that length of time. "Week to week" could be anything from a week to a month to even longer. Consider other options on St. Louis like Vladimir Tarasenko for the time being as he is still available in quite a few fantasy leagues out there. Okay we have time for one more.

Which Alexander Steen do we see this year? The breakout version of Mr. Steen or a considerably lesser version?

Now these are the fun questions that test us "experts" the most. Alexander Steen had two 45+ point seasons before last year's near 30-30 campaign (33G 29A). There are some factors that must be considered too. Since the 2009-10 season, Steen missed ten or more games in all but one season (the 2013 shortened year when he missed eight games). Therefore, injuries have to be considered as a potential tick downward in production. Here are those numbers from the St. Louis Blues.

2013-14 -- 62 pts (missed 14 games
2013 -- 27 pts (shortened year)
2011-12 -- 24 pts (missed 39 games)
2010-11 -- 51 pts (missed 10 games)
2009-10 -- 47 pts (missed 14 games)
2008-09 -- 24 pts (played 61 games post trade from TOR)

The numbers are kind of all over the place, aren't they? This all comes down to how healthy Steen can stay. We have seen Paul Stastny go down to injury already and the Blues do play a grinding style that can make it a little tougher on their top six forwards than most teams. Most signs point toward a 60-65 point year if the forward can stay healthy but with a lean towards an injury, 50-55 points seems more realistic. He should be around 14-18 power play points and close to 200 shots on net.

Either way Steen is going to be given every opportunity. In the case he stays healthy, 20-25 power play points is not out of the question based on shot volume and his potential of hovering around 26-32 goals. It is a broad range, I understand, but this is the best that can be expected with a team that preaches balanced scoring and boasts one of the best top 9's in all of hockey.

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Next week, we will have more answers to your questions on the mailbag. Thanks for reading!