Fantasy Stat Thursday - PPTOI/game
November 22nd, 2007 by Iani actually took a look at this stat on my blog when it was hosted elsewhere but i really do think there is some significant things to be noted here. obviously if a skater is on the ice for a lot of PP time on ice he’ll contribute and you’ll be able to see that in his stat line, but there’s also a handful of surprises on the list. i plan to highlight only the more surprising options and most often it’ll be defensemen that i note since forwards who get PP time on ice are very well known by fantasy hockey players. i’ll skip over guys that i think are obvious on the list and/or harder to trade for since they’re superstars.
Tobias Enstrom ATL (6:21) - if you had guessed who led all NHL players in PPTOI/game this year, who would it have been? Mats Sundin? Rod Brind’amour? Sidney Crosby? nope, it’s a relative unknown toiling away in Atlanta. Toby is undersized for a NHL D at a slight 5′10″ 175 lbs (that’s actually smaller than me) but he can skate, he lugs the puck and all he has to do is pass the puck to Kovalchuk or Hossa for a decent chance at a point. it’s amazing that he’s still sitting on waiver wires everywhere but if he is then go add him now. he got 3 assists last night alone and that isn’t going to stop anytime soon.
Sergei Gonchar PIT (6:12) - one of the leagues absolute best options for PPP and only one guy in the entire league is getting more PPTOI than him so far this year. trade for him.
Francois Beauchemin ANA (5:46) - he actually led the league for a good chunk of the season but i list him here because his TOI in general has been dropping like a stone every since Mathieu Schneider returned to the ice. the TOI will drop even more when Scott Niedermayer returns too, and that’s going to happen sooner than you think. if you’re rostering Beau then look at bailing on him quick; trade him, don’t drop him.
Tomas Kaberle TOR (5:42) - his stat line is going up of late and it’ll keep climbing. he had a slow start and the window has probably closed on getting him at any sort of a bargain price.
Jeff Hamilton CAR (5:38) - you probably realize by now that the Canes are running a 5 forward PP out there and that’s why there are some interesting names nearer the top of the scoring race than other seasons, right? Hamilton and Matt Cullen are both in the top 30 in the league for PPTOI. Cory Stillman is a PPP fiend so far this season, Rod Brind’amour and Ray Whitney are having a stat rebirth for such old men, and we still haven’t seen Eric Staal explode like he can. Hamilton is a fine C3 if you wanna slot him there and move your “real” C3 to somebody else for a scoring winger. trust me, it’s a good move.
Tom Poti WAS (5:35) - people are frustrated with his progress but he was hurt for a bit and the Caps didn’t have Semin or Clark in the lineup for a piece too. he’s getting ice time and when he clicks with the big guns then the stats will roll in.
Dion “PIMy D” Phaneuf CAL (5:25) - yeah i know i said i wasn’t going to mention much of the obvious but i mention him because i’m hoping that the nickname i’ve given him catches on.
Marc Andre Bergeron NYI (5:13) - he’s been a healthy scratch and doesn’t seem to get out of the doghouse for long so far this season. the Isles needed him early on and then they went out and signed Bryan Berard. Bergeron’s ice time has taken significant nosedives since then and i’d stay away.
Chris Campoli NYI (4:58) - the ice time that MAB hasn’t been getting of late has been given to Campoli. he’s a decent option for the bottom of the D roster and i think the ice time will stick.
Matt Cullen CAR (4:58) - Cullen is feeding off of greater talents in Carolina but he’s getting opportunity and who is he not to say thank you very much.
Sandis Ozolinsh SJ (4:58) - it’s only been 9 games but he’s getting the face time. the stats will come.
Cory Murphy FLA (4:58) - boy was there ever buzz over this guy to start the season, with some good reason i think. he’s becoming the first option on the PP from the point, a distinction that i thought for sure was going to go to Jay Bouwmeester. it couldn’t hurt to have too much offense though, particularly when it looks like only one of your forwards has any knack for scoring. Murphy is DTD with a bruised shoulder presently but reports i’ve seen say that he should be fine.
John-Michael Liles COL (4:55) - i’m surprised at the lack of love this guy gets. he’s a viable D2 for fantasy but all he does is quietly go about doing business. if you had to “downgrade” to Liles for your fantasy team in order to improve your roster elsewhere then the drop from elite D like Phaneuf to Liles is a shorter drop than most people think.
Paul Kariya STL (4:53) - you wouldn’t believe the number of reports i read about how Kariya signing in St. Louis was going to be a deathknell for his career. how is getting significant PP time on a team with some snipers considered a bad thing? Kariya used to be a shooter and he seems to be turning more into a playmaker as his career continues. i wish he’d get back to shooting more than he is now, but what can i say, i’ll take the pt/game pace.
Jason Arnott NAS (4:53) - the Preds are very well balanced in terms of overall offense. Arnott is tied for 2nd on the team in goals (behind Bonk who has very few assists, go figure) and 2nd in points (behind Legwand who is turning into the leader they envisioned when they drafted him as their first ever selection). many thought that they would be hurting for offense after they moved so many guys in the offseason. the Preds are going to be fine by the way.
Andrei Markov MON (4:52) - Markov and Mark Streit are very much unsung on what is an amazingly consistent PP in Montreal. plenty of people moaned about how lost he’d be without Sheldon Souray to help on the blueline. he doesn’t look to miss Souray at all.
Slava Kozlov ATL (4:45) - we haven’t heard a lot from him this year but don’t forget that this is an 80 pt guy that might be just the sort of secondary attack you’re looking for on your fantasy team.
Michal Roszival NYR (4:42) - i’m not a fan of the Rangers blueline at all, but Rosie is getting opportunity and when you’re surrounded by firepower on the power play eventually even i could blow something up. you can probably expect D3 production out of Rosie and he might only cost you a D4 type to acquire.
i went through the top 50 names in the league for this stat and those are the guys that jumped out at me. the next tier of names includes Tomas Holmstrom (40 goals this season, hear me now), Ed Jovanovski (still rumoured to be traded but i think with the addition of Bryzgalov in PHX then perhaps they’ll just hang on to him now), Marek Zidlicky (very much underrated), Kyle Wellwood (i like him), Mike Richards (big, breakout year), and Jaroslav Spacek (decent enough as a D4).
thanks for reading.
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One Response to “Fantasy Stat Thursday - PPTOI/game”
By Eggshmeg on Nov 22, 2007
Hey this is eggshmeg from everything hockey. Do you want me to change the link on my blog to this new site or what? E-mail me to let me know.