Heatstroke & Hypothermia: Fantasy Hockey Temperature Check

It’s getting to be that time again. Cold, dark, and tired all the time. Can someone explain the benefit of changing our clocks forwards/backwards by an hour two times a year? I can tell you there is certainly no health benefit to this practice. Thankfully, fantasy hockey is here to get us through this dreary stretch before Christmas. While it may be cold outside, there are some serious temperature fluctuations inside NHL arenas right now. Some guys may spontaneously combust with how hot they have been running lately. Unfortunately, other players have much lower temperature readings. They need to come out of the walk-in freezer, get a warm blanket and a cup of hot cocoa. Join me as we round on our patients in two opposite units – the burn ward [players are hot] and the morgue [players are cold]. Stats listed next to the player’s name is from Nov. 8 – Nov. 16 inclusive.

BURN WARD

Jason Robertson (DAL) 6G 4A 3PPP 21 SOG

This guy is positively febrile right now. We should move the cold guys next to this hot steaming hockey player, Jason Robertson. He really broke out in 22/23 with 109 points, but has come back down to earth in his last 2 campaigns, putting up 80 points in each. This impressive week is fuelled by three consecutive 3-point games. Obviously, he would need to be acquired at this point. However, we can look around the human flame to see if there is any fantasy fallout. Playing alongside the Robo-cop is Roope Hintz (not on your FA list I’m guessing) and Tyler Seguin. Seguin’s best days are behind him, but he does appear to be healthy after many injury plagued years. He has 4 points over the last week and also spends time on PP2. He’s 22% rostered and is a decent piece for the bottom of your roster in deeper leagues (12+)

Artemi Panarin (NYR) 2G 5A 2PPP 11 SOG

You know those kids who don’t like the crusts on their sandwiches? I’m guessing the Bread Man must be one of them. Prior to shaving his head on November 7^th, he had 7 points in 14 games, certainly not what you had expected when you spent a high draft pick on him. He has 10 points in his last 5, with a 4-point outing and a 3-point game as well. I think he should probably keep his head nice and shaved to the wood and keep cutting those bread crusts off. He plays with Vinny Trochek (66% rostered) and Alexis Lafreniere (33%) at 5-on-5. Laffy has 6 points in his last 5, so perhaps he is heating up as well. He plays on PP2 as well and still has youth (24yo) on his side.

Josh Morrissey (WPG) 1G 5A 4PPP 7 SOG

About 12 days ago in the PQBR article, I had written that Jo-Mo was starting to heat up. Well, he has fully caught fire now. He has points in 10 of his last 11 games (17 points in that span!). He’s the best fantasy blue liner not named Makar. I don’t have any D-pairing recommendations in Winnipeg outside of Morrissey, but I can recommend a forward who has recently returned from injury. Cole Perfetti (38%) has 2 points in 4 games since he returned from injury. He is on PP1 and plays RW with Toews and Namestnikov at 5 on 5. He may be out there, waiting patiently on the wire for you to pick him up. He is just coming into his prime (23) and also boasts tri-eligibility (LW/C/RW) in Yahoo. What more do you need to know?

MORGUE

Aliaksei Protas (WAS) 0G 0A 8 SOG

10 points thus far certainly doesn’t seem to raise any alarm bells but Protas has been ice cold of late, going pointless in his last 6 games. He has been on PP1 as of late, but injuries to key players are starting to pile up for the Caps. John Carlson missed the last game (perhaps some of the reason Protas is on PP1 at present) with an upper body injury. More devastating is the loss of Protas’ centre, PLD. Dubois is set to miss the next 3-4 months after having abdominal & adductor surgery. Protas will need to be featured in the “burn ward” section of this article if he has any chance of replicating last year’s 66 points. With a PDO of 97.6, there may be some reason for optimism. I’m not among that cohort however.

Brayden Point (TBL) 0G 1A 8 SOG

Good thing the Canadian Olympic hockey coach also happens to be Pointer’s head coach on the Lightning, Jon Cooper. He has 10 points overall, but is definitely a bit snake-biten of late, with only 1G/1A in his last 8 games. However, somewhat concerning is he is -12. Let’s be optimistic here and look on the bright side -he has 5 expected goals vs 3 actual ones. His PDO is quite a bit less than 100 (93.6), hopefully indicating some positive regression is on the way. I would definitely look to acquire this dawg. I think Pointer, much like the Bears, is “who we thought he was” and will start looking like his old self sooner rather than later.

JT Miller (NYR) 1G 0A 6 SOG

Millsy has been having a rough go of late. Maybe he should sit next to the bread man on the plane so he can try and get back up to room temperature. Better yet, maybe it’s time he says goodbye to his flowing locks and embrace the clean Panarin look. The Captain has underperformed with only 9 points through 20 games. He is still seeing great usage, averaging over 20 minutes/game and featuring on L1/PP1/PK2. His PDO is a bit under 100 as well (97.5), so look for his fortunes to change. Hopefully the hardo from East Palestine (in Ohio – who knew?) will pick it up soon. He’s obviously a hold, but I wouldn’t be afraid to shop him around a bit when the inevitable hot streak hits.