rush Letang back, but it has to be frustrating for fantasy owners as the 29-year-old has already missed 12 games this year and has only played one full season since entering the league back in 2006. To be fair, Letang played 71 games last season, but he’s spent numerous days on the IR over the course of his career. Unfortunately, Letang is not worth drafting in seasonal formats despite his near point per game marks shown at times
Letang left Saturday’s game in Detroit and Justin Schultz ended up playing 25:3o, his second highest total of the season. Look for him to put up similar numbers we saw when Letang was sidelined in December; Six goals and 18 points in 15 games. Schultz registered a point in 12 of his 15 December games and he has two points in four January games.
Letang and John Carlson (lower-body) both ruled out of the Penguins and Washington Capitals game Monday, but the news doesn’t seem as bad for Carlson as he made the trip to the Steel City. Carlson was injured Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers and there’s no word yet on the extent of the injury. If so, Matt Niskanen gets a DFS NHL boost and Dmitry Orlov does as well.
The Nashville Predators have been bit by the injury bug all year long and Roman Josi (upper-body) is the latest to hit the IR. No timetable on Josi, but some good news out of Nashville as P.K. Subban (upper-body) returned to full practice Monday. Mattias Ekholm played 26:29 in his last game and 29:11 in the game before. He’s hit the 25 minute mark in five of his last eight games making him a solid low-cost defenseman in daily formats.
Fantasy Hockey Week 14 Preview: Kris Letang Replacements
Jacob Trouba – A solid add despite one assist in his last six games and a minus five rating over his last four. I saw solid add IF you play with hits, shots and blocks. He contributes across the board.
Nick Leddy – Plus/Minus will kill you, but the ice time is there and he usually makes the most of it with shots and blocks.
Mark Streit – Picked up nine shots and an assist in two games since returning from a shoulder injury. He’s a PP specialist and Shayne Gostisbehere continues to trend in the wrong direction. He’s been a healthy scratch on multiple occasions.
KEEP IN MIND THE PHILADELPHIA FLYERS ARE THE ONLY TEAM NOT PLAYING AT LEAST THREE HOCKEY GAMES DURING WEEK 14 OF THE FANTASY HOCKEY SEASON. THEY PLAY TWICE.
Alexander Edler – Has five points in nine games since returning from injury. Won’t be a big time point producer but his 25 hits and 25 blocks over those nine games are impressive.
Fantasy Hockey Week 14 Preview: News, Notes & Injuries
Mika Zibanejad (broken fibula) is expected back Tuesday when his New York Rangers host the Dallas Stars. The C/RW was off to a nice start before suffering an injury and a lot of people cut ties. I think he’s a great add if he’s hanging on your wire.
Aleksander Barkov‘s(lower-body) last update was last week and it was said he was still a few weeks away. Thinking after the All-Star break.
Antii Raanta (lower-body) left Saturday in Montreal after the first period and he’ll miss about 7-10 days of action. I’d only own Raanta if I owned the King.
Fantasy Hockey Week 14 Preview: Trending Up & Down
Check out Home Ice Advantage brought to you by Molson and Boston Pizza every Monday at 5 PM EST on FNTSY Sports Network.
Below is a video where I touched on a few players trending up such as Brad Marchand, Jordan Staal, Mikko Koivu, Connor Brown and Carter Hutton who has take Jake Allen‘s net for now.
How long do you hang on to Jordan Eberle and why are you bothering with Aaron Ekblad?
Fantasy Hockey Week 14 Preview: Under Owned Players / Cheap DFS plays
Tyler Bozak – Has four goals and nine points in his last eight games. James Van Riemsdyk has 11 points over a current seven game point streak, and Mitch Marner has nine points in his last six. It’s a line that’s feeling it lately.
Anthony Mantha – 11 goals, 11 assists and a plus 11 rating for the rookie who loves to shoot the puck and throw his body around. 13 points in his last 12 games while playing 18 to 20 minutes a night.
Jason Zucker – The Wild have three lines that can score with the best of them and Zucker is just the latest Minnesota player who is under owned. He has three goals and six points in his last seven games. Also at least three shots on goal in four of his last six games.
Tanner Pearson – Has at least a point in eight of his last 12 games; six goals and 10 points. Jeff Carter is feeling it and Pearson is benefiting.
Andreas Athanasiou – The Red Wings are desperate for some goals and the youngster has been impressive lately with four goals and seven points in his last six games. He has 17 shots on goal over that span and when you watch, you notice tremendous skill.
Ryan Hartman – Much like Athanasiou, Hartman remains more of a DFS play. Hartman’s upside lies with his current center man Jonathan Toews. The winger picked up a hat trick earlier in the month and he has seven points in the last two weeks including 20 shots in his last five games.
