Fantasy Hockey: Young Detroit Red Wings getting opportunity to shine
By Matt Shetler
It always sucks for Fantasy Hockey owners to watch their star players get injured, but at the end of the day it is the nature of the beast.
However every injury to a major player usually opens up the door for a younger player to shine. Perhaps that isn’t more evident around the NHL than with the Detroit Red Wings.
Jan 4, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Detroit Red Wings rookie center Gustav Nyquist (14) chases the puck in the Dallas Stars zone during the third period at the American Airlines Center. The Red Wings defeated the Stars 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Injuries to the likes of Jimmy Howard, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen has opened up the door for some young Red Wings’ phenoms to get the opportunity to show what they can do.
If you are in a deep league and the injury bug has caught up to you, consider adding the following three players as it may pay off in the long run.
I like Nyquist a lot based on two reasons. For one he is only owned in 11 percent of Yahoo! Leagues and secondly, Red Wings’ head coach Mike Babcock has shown that he is willing to pair him with other skilled forwards.
The 24-year old has racked up 17 points in 28 games, but has been on fire as of late, scoring goals in four consecutive contests.
He was the NHL’s Second Star of the week last week and judging by his AHL numbers (81 points in 73 games over the last two seasons), I wouldn’t be surprised to see him rack up 25-30 more points the rest of this season.
Nyquist is a guy you should look to grab now.
I like Tatar as a fantasy option quite a lot. I like him even more now that Babcock is willing to utilize him more.
Tatar has been thrust into a more prominent role and has proven what he can do, scoring five goals, handing out two assists and totaling 27 shots on goal in the 10 games the team has played without Datsyuk,
He has shown recently that he has a lot of offer and is only owned in 5 percent of Yahoo! Leagues. If you need a quick stop gap, Tatar could pay immediate dividends.
As long as he doesn’t return back to a grinder role soon, Tatar is a guy you should look to add.
Sheahan is another guy I like, but only in real deep formats.
He can be had in almost every league, but even though he has recorded eight points in 13 games since his call-up, I am a little concerned over the fact that he has racked up only 11 shots on goal in 13 games played.
Sheahan will do well and could rack up some more points since he is seeing some power play time, so grab him if you are in a pinch, but I like the other two Red Wings youngsters much better.