Fantasy Stat Thursday - SOG/game
November 29th, 2007 by Ianit’s relatively simple, if you don’t shoot you won’t score and so you want to get some snipers on your roster. goals are harder to find than assists anyway and since you get closer to a 2:1 ratio on assists to goals then if you load up on snipers on your fantasy team then you’re more likely to take care of the assist category just by ensuring that you have enough goals.
i don’t understand why SOG isn’t a category in EVERY fantasy league quite frankly, and SOG/game is something that you should be looking at since you’re going to want to know who are the traditional shooters in any given season.
we might even see a few surprises, and in fact i’m only going to highlight the more surprising names since everybody knows that guys like Ovechkin shoot the puck like fiends.
Brendan Shanahan 4.9 - for a chunk of the first month of the season Shanny led the world in SOG and only had 2 goals to show for it, he’s now got 7 goals and is 3rd in the league in SOG/game. i remember saying that the goals will come and in all fantasy sports you have to assume that a guy who has done it before can do it again unless he’s hurt. Shanny can be an excellent goal option and can come at a reasonable price, like say Ryan Getzlaf.
Olli Jokinen 4.5 - he finished 2nd in total shots last season (behind Ovechkin) and fantasy players just don’t get how stat-i-liscious he can be for your team. he finished with 91 pts last year, over 350 shots and he should beat those numbers this year. yes please.
Jason Blake 4.4 - he’s only got 2 goals so far this season but only 5 guys are taking more shots/game than him. i’m betting that any guy on his line who just chooses to go to the net will get his own share of rebound goals plus i’m sure that a whack of those shots are going to start going in more.
Jarome Iginla 4.4 and Vincent Lecavalier 4.0 - hmm a couple Richard trophy winners who actually shoot the puck, go figure.
Zach Parise 3.9 - attention keeper leagues, you probably got this guy outside of the top 3 rounds of your draft but he needs to be on your radar as a keeper if you keep only as few as 3 guys for next year.
Brad Richards 3.7 - the first teammate of somebody further up the list. is it any wonder that the Lightning have such a good offense?
Mike Cammalleri 3.7 - the early season leader in goals who chilled significantly in November with 2 goals and 6 pts. still, he’s shooting at a 3.0 in November.
Pavel Datsyuk 3.7 - the magician is all about puck control traditionally and yet here he is among the league leaders in SOG this season. he only shot at 2.6 last year so take advantage of the boost while you still can.
Christopher Higgins 3.6 - i saw this guy hanging out on waiver wires for the first whole month of the season, then guys smartened up to the fact that the boy’s got skills and he won’t hurt you much defensively either.
Bill Guerin 3.4 - i didn’t like his signing with the Isles, i couldn’t believe they made him their Captain just like that, and i figured he was pretty much done for his career. well, he’s showing me not to have faith. it’s not like i want to suggest you go get Mike Comrie or something ’cause that’s a guy that i don’t think will keep it up, so at the very least the Captain is shooting. he’s a decent trade target in deep leagues.
Eric Staal 3.4 - with all the talk of the Canes offense being great and how Staal has yet to be heard from, here’s the kid himself leading his team in SOG/game. the goals will go in and we’re going to hear significantly from him before the day is done.
Radim Vrbata 3.3 - in my standard 12 team relatively deep league Vrbata is a FA despite being in the top 25 for SOG/game. he’s been red hot over his last 3 games with 6 pts. he’s worth adding, particularly because he’s a winger and he’s getting opportunity at the moment.
Corey Perry 3.3 - the first Duck. i would’ve thought it would be Ryan Getzlaf or even Chris Pronger but it’s not. Perry has 12 goals already and looks to be taking up the SOG slack left behind by Teemu Selanne.
Chris Drury 3.3 - Drury got 37 goals last year and he only has 5 at the quarter pole this year. he’ll get them. maybe this is just a product of lining up with other guys who don’t like to pass.
Milan Michalek and Devin Seto(kaiba)guchi 3.3 - a couple Sharks who get to line up with one of the best assist guys in the league, of course there are Sharks high up on this list. traditionally the name that should be here is Jonathan Cheechoo but he doesn’t seem to get the face time with big Joe that others are getting.
Shea Weber 3.2 - the first D on the list and he’s only played 5 games so far this season but still, he’s just the sort of guy who should be heading up the D’s in a stat like this. he’s a triggerman who has yet to find the mark this season but he will, oh yes my friends, he will.
Patrik Elias 3.2 - people have been downgrading him ever since his return from hepatitis treatment last year but he’s still a quality stat producer on a team that needs offensive production.
Jochen Hecht 3.2 - remember to pronounce his name like you’re trying to clear a hairball out of your throat, seriously. Heccccccht held down the fort while other C’s were off on the mend. he’s a very nice 2 way C that is a good add for stats across the board. i expect his SOG/game will go down a bit now that the other C’s are back in the fold.
Jason Arnott 3.2 - i love this guy, yes in that way (ok, not in that way). he’s perennially a 30 goal 100 PIM guy that is a very rare mix to find in the fantasy game and just the sort of option that i want to put in every roster spot on my team.
Mikael Samuelsson 3.2 - and we come to the 3rd Wing on the list. that’s significant. people see Samuelsson as a bottom of the roster filler type but the potential is there for 30 goals from him even though he’s never really come close to that over a season (23 is his career high in a season).
Shane Doan 3.2 - SOMEBODY has to get the ice time, SOMEBODY has to take the shot, SOMEBODY has to show the kids how it’s done; that somebody is the Captain and he’s leading the charge for a resurgent club.
Rostislav (Rusty) Olesz 3.1 - another FA in many standard leagues. he’s eligible at LW on Yahoo and has 7 pts in 11 games for the Cats. he’s a good add in deep leagues or if you need a LW3, which i’m finding is a difficult roster spot to fill.
Erik Cole 3.1 - he’s a power forward who willing to stick his … nose where it doesn’t belong. i almost said a different body part but that’s just classless.
Paul Kariya 3.1 - there was a time when he was in the top 5 for SOG/game, but he’s playing a different sort of game now. it used to be that he had to do it all since there were fewer options to help his team get offense but now he can choose where he wants to go and choose who gets to help him with the offensive load. rightly or wrongly he chose St. Louis and now he’s back leading his team in SOG/game. that’s a good thing actually.
Rod Brind’amour and Mats Sundin 3.1 - two old men that are carrying the load and doing everything for their respective teams. as much as i’m a fan i don’t see either being able to keep up this pace and you might want to sell high while you still can.
Mikko Koivu 3.1 - Saku’s little brother has been showing some skills and stepping up while brighter lights have been injured. now it seems that Mikko is the broken light.
Jason Spezza 3.1 - another traditional passer who wants to score more goals, and good on him. he’s a special player and you should be happy if you have him in a keeper, like i do.
Trent Hunter 3.1 - another typical FA in many leagues. if you count SOG as a category then he couldn’t hurt as a bottom of the roster guy.
Brian Gionta 3.1 and Markus Naslund 3.0 - two guys who look to be on a bit of a rebirth offensively lately.
Ed Jovanovski 3.0 - i had to mention him because he’s only the 2nd D in the top 50 in the league. all the rumour around him getting traded to the Rangers may be for good reason. by the way, now that the Dogs have a goalie worth having i don’t see them trading away their D so i expect Jovo-cop is staying in PHX.
Dion “PIMy D” Phaneuf 3.0 - this guy is so phenomenal and so crucial to the Flames’ success that i just can’t express it well enough. he can REALLY help your fantasy team too and i’d go to all lengths to trade for him if i could.
well, that’s the highlights from among the top 50 guys in the league. it’s an easy sort if you want to look into it more yourself.
Posted in fantasy stat