This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
Patience. That's what the fantasy owners of Paul Stastny, David Backes and T.J. Oshie needed when Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz and Jori Lehtera seemingly tore up the NHL at the scoring expense of the Blues' aforementioned forwards early on. Wouldn't it be nice to have a fantasy team whose players scored a point per game consistently rather than a three-pointer and then three games of nothing? Even guys who reek of consistency have performed inconsistently in 2014-15 – Anze Kopitar, for example. But at least Kopitar has battled through slumps and injuries to put up decent enough numbers.
Then again, since the great majority of players run hot and cold, it might be time to think about which guys are going to heat up in the second half and which ones might cool off.
Looking at the standings now tells us how we've done thus far, but they don't tell us who's going to go down with a season-ending injury or any number of unpredictable factors.
Here are some players I think will slow down in the second half: Jiri Hudler. Hudler has 38 points thru 41 games – he's never finished even close to averaging a point per game. Nikita Kucherov, 41 points in 43 tilts. Kevin Shattenkirk and Mark Giordano. These two are having great years, but both are on pace for 70-plus point campaigns. They'll cool off. These aren't knocks on individual players, just regression and reality checks over the course of the long, six-month NHL regular season.
Who's going to pick it up?
With 36 points in 41 games, Jamie Benn hasn't been bad but he can be better. John Tavares is another elite/near elite performer who is averaging under a point per game but can push higher. Matt Duchene is a candidate for improvement. He's a bit trickier because while he totaled 70 points in 71 games last year, he did slump with 28 points in 58 games back in 2011-12. Still, he's so talented. I suppose you can add half of Colorado's forwards to the list of potential improvements in the second half: Gabriel Landeskog, Nate MacKinnon, etc.
Who are your second-half bets?
Hot
Melker Karlsson: This 24-year-old San Jose Sharks forward has potted goals in five straight games. With Joe Thornton sidelined, Karlsson has taken full advantage of his opportunity. He skates in straight lines, goes to the net. His professional experience has mostly consisted of six seasons with Skelleftea AIK in Sweden. Kevin Kurz of CSNBayArea.com posted an in-depth review of Karlsson. Melker will regress – his five goals have come on nine shots—but it's unknowns like him who make fantasy hockey fun.
Braden Holtby: The Capitals' netminder is the perfect case study proving goalies don't ascend in linear fashion. Last year, Holtby lost his confidence and his starting job to rookie Philipp Grubauer, then veteran Jaroslav Halak was later brought in. Heading into 2014-15, Yahoo! ranked him 19th among goalies in the preseason but he's performed fifth-best. New head coach Barry Trotz certainly helped Holtby, but who knew how much the coaching change would mean? He's appeared in 24 straight games, going 15-4-5. Congrats to those who mined this fantasy gold.
Cold
Sami Vatanen: The Ducks defender has one two-assist game and is a minus-5 in his last nine contests. It's difficult to pick on the promising blueliner too much, but Vatanen has cooled off after a blistering November. After totaling 12 power-play points in his first 20 contests, he's tallied just two points on the man advantage in his last 22.
Andrej Sekera: Sekera is pointless with a minus-4 rating in his last seven contests. Last year looks more and more like the outlier season for the ninth-year NHL veteran. Sekera notched a career-high 11 goals and 44 points in 74 contests, including 15 points on the power play. He's scored just one goal (and 13 assists) in 40 games thus far in 2014-15. Sekera totaled somewhere between two and four goals in each of his prior six seasons before last year. It really looks like he's trending downward right now.
Recommended Pickup
Beau Bennett: My unnatural fantasy love for Bennett may see its best chance to bloom in the coming week. The winger has found himself skating with Evgeni Malkin and while Bennett doesn't have the raw and natural goal-scoring ability of a James Neal, he has the playmaking skills and smarts to keep up with Malkin. He's widely available in many fantasy pools and has the pedigree of a first-round draft choice. Ill health has haunted the 23-year-old but he's looked good (and healthy) in five straight contests. Bennett currently has the opportunity to skate with one of the leading Hart Trophy contenders and fantasy owners would do well to consider snatching him off waiver wires.
