As the weather cools, the fantasy hockey season heats up. Let’s see who we should be buying and selling as we sit at Week 6 in the fantasy hockey season.
Buy
Sam Bennett (C – FLA)
Rostered in just 61.2% of ESPN leagues, Bennett is a very fine addition that brings fantastic peripheral stats to the table.
Bennett has picked up his offensive numbers after a sluggish start, as he’s notched five goals and 10 points across 16 games. However, the rugged pivot also has 20 penalty minutes, 58 shots on goal, and 43 hits to his credit. He’s not going to be your best offensive weapon, but he sure provides the pivotal supporting stats that star players often don’t bring to the table.
On the negative side, Bennett is now skating as the team’s third-line center and resides on the second power-play unit. He was once Matthew Tkachuk‘s center on the second line, but Tkachuk has moved into a first-line role alongside all-world center Aleksander Barkov. Nonetheless, he’s averaging 17:45 of ice time per game, and even if that number slips some, he’s still a valued member of a quality Florida Panthers hockey team.
As the weather cools, the fantasy hockey season heats up. Let’s see who we should be buying and selling as we sit at Week 6 in the fantasy hockey season.
Buy
Sam Bennett (C – FLA)
Rostered in just 61.2% of ESPN leagues, Bennett is a very fine addition that brings fantastic peripheral stats to the table.
Bennett has picked up his offensive numbers after a sluggish start, as he’s notched five goals and 10 points across 16 games. However, the rugged pivot also has 20 penalty minutes, 58 shots on goal, and 43 hits to his credit. He’s not going to be your best offensive weapon, but he sure provides the pivotal supporting stats that star players often don’t bring to the table.
On the negative side, Bennett is now skating as the team’s third-line center and resides on the second power-play unit. He was once Matthew Tkachuk‘s center on the second line, but Tkachuk has moved into a first-line role alongside all-world center Aleksander Barkov. Nonetheless, he’s averaging 17:45 of ice time per game, and even if that number slips some, he’s still a valued member of a quality Florida Panthers hockey team.
He’s not a player who will cost a king’s ransom but remains undervalued, given his elite production outside the points column.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (C, LW – EDM)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has long bounced up and down the Oilers’ depth chart at both center and left-wing, but now he gets the most favorable spot you could possibly have in this league: on Connor McDavid‘s wing.
He hasn’t been there the whole season and has still racked up eight goals and 17 points across 16 games, with 40 shots on goal in the process. While that’s all well and good, Nugent-Hopkins has been a beast on the power play, collecting nine of those 17 points on the man advantage where he skates alongside McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Of course, top-line duties and PP1 ice time lend themselves to plenty of minutes, as Nugent-Hopkins is averaging 19:21 per game and has managed at least 20:27 in three of his last five contests.
Still under 90% owned in ESPN leagues, swinging a deal for the former No. 1 overall pick right now seems like the prudent move.
Sell
Johnny Gaudreau (LW – CBJ)
One of the more difficult jobs in writing these pieces is explaining why you should trade well-above-average NHL hockey players, but sometimes you need to trade something of value to get what you want. Gaudreau fits that bill nicely.
The former Calgary Flames star is off to a fine start with his new club, tallying six goals and 13 points across 15 games with 46 shots on goal. However, that’s far from elite production, and the pace is nowhere near the 115-point campaign he put up with the Flames a season ago. Johnny Hockey is also minus-five, with a grand total of zero hits on the season and six penalty minutes.
With Patrik Laine out for the next few weeks, he also has little to work with on a below-average Blue Jackets offense. No disrespect, but skating with Boone Jenner and Emil Benstrom isn’t going to help his cause in picking up his offensive pace. The Jackets simply lack star-level talent outside of Gaudreau and the aforementioned Laine. Keep in mind the club’s power play is weakened without Zach Werenski for the remainder of the season.
Right now is the time to sell Gaudreau before his lack of production becomes too obvious.
Vladimir Tarasenko (RW – STL)
The shine has certainly come off St. Louis Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko in recent years. If the Blues continue to falter, he could be traded, and while a change of scenery may help, he’s just not the same player he once was, as injuries have taken their toll.
The Russian once scored at least 33 goals in five consecutive seasons but played in just 109 games over the previous three seasons combined. He did manage a healthy 34 goals and 82 points across 75 games last season, and while he’s off to a decent start with four goals and 11 points in 14 games this season, he’s not doing enough elsewhere.
He once put 306 shots on goal in a single season across 80 games in 2017-18, but that 3.83 shots-per-game pace is now at 2.83 this season. His 18:04 average ice time is the highest since the 2018-19 season, but he hasn’t been able to do damage like we’re used to seeing.
Add in only two penalty minutes and a minus-four rating on the season, and Tarasenko’s reputation outweighs his fantasy value these days.
