This article is part of our The Man Advantage series.
Was your New Year's resolution to improve your fantasy hockey team's power-play production? Perhaps you can pick up one, or more, of the following players to give your team a little more punch.
Sam Reinhart, C, BUF – Reinhart has been on fire recently, and that has extended to the power play. In his last 10 games, he's notched five power-play points. In 40 games, he's already surpassed his power-play point total from his rookie year (10), but there's no reason to think it'll stop here. Reinhart is averaging 3:26 with the extra man, so clearly the opportunities will be there.
Nazem Kadri, C, TOR – With an infusion of young talent for the Leafs, Kadri's minutes are down, but his power-play production isn't. In his last eight games, he has six power-play points, five of them goals. Half of Kadri's 16 goals have come with the extra man, and overall he has 11 power-play points.
Bo Horvat, C, VAN – Horvat is Vancouver's representative for the All-Star Game, probably largely due to the fact he has 13 goals and 29 points. On the power play, he's been slightly less productive. He's still averaging just under two minutes per game with the extra man (1:57), and he only has five total power-play points. However, three of those points have come in his last eight, and since the beginning of December he's averaging 2:11 per game on the power play. Last year, he had 12 power-play points, so
Was your New Year's resolution to improve your fantasy hockey team's power-play production? Perhaps you can pick up one, or more, of the following players to give your team a little more punch.
Sam Reinhart, C, BUF – Reinhart has been on fire recently, and that has extended to the power play. In his last 10 games, he's notched five power-play points. In 40 games, he's already surpassed his power-play point total from his rookie year (10), but there's no reason to think it'll stop here. Reinhart is averaging 3:26 with the extra man, so clearly the opportunities will be there.
Nazem Kadri, C, TOR – With an infusion of young talent for the Leafs, Kadri's minutes are down, but his power-play production isn't. In his last eight games, he has six power-play points, five of them goals. Half of Kadri's 16 goals have come with the extra man, and overall he has 11 power-play points.
Bo Horvat, C, VAN – Horvat is Vancouver's representative for the All-Star Game, probably largely due to the fact he has 13 goals and 29 points. On the power play, he's been slightly less productive. He's still averaging just under two minutes per game with the extra man (1:57), and he only has five total power-play points. However, three of those points have come in his last eight, and since the beginning of December he's averaging 2:11 per game on the power play. Last year, he had 12 power-play points, so perhaps an influx in production is on the horizon.
Tyler Bozak, C, TOR – Here's another Maple Leaf that has had some recent power-play success, although Bozak's is particularly recent (three over his last two, which doubled his point total with the extra man to six in 36 games). Bozak notched double-digit power-play points the prior two seasons, and this year he's still averaging 2:39 on the PP.
Nathan Beaulieu, D, MON – With Andrei Markov out, Beaulieu has been getting more time on the power play. Over the last six games prior to Wednesday, he was averaging 4:03 per contest with the man advantage, making the most of the opportunity with four points. When Markov comes back, things may change, but for now Beaulieu is an interesting option on the blue line.
Mattias Ekholm, D, NAS – Ekholm is another defenseman who has seen his power-play minutes greatly increase recently. In his last seven games, he's averaged 3:21 per tilt with the extra man. He's scored two power-play points in that time, although on the season he only has three. His career-high for power-play points in a season is five, so this could be fool's gold, but if you are willing to take a risk, Ekholm is an option.
