This article is part of our The Man Advantage series.
Hello once again hockey poolies, and welcome to the latest edition of The Man Advantage. As always, we try to identify a handful of "off the radar" players you should be looking at now -- players who are either seeing more PP time than they are used to, or who are producing at a higher clip. In most cases, these guys may be available as waiver wire pickups in your league, so don't hesitate to see if you can grab them on the cheap.
Joel Ward, RW, SAN: After four years in Washington, Ward is absolutely thriving in his first year as a Shark. With 22 points in 28 games - including six on the power play -- he's well on his way to a career-high 60+ point season, well above the 49 points he posted two years ago as a Capital. He's looked completely at home on the Sharks' second line alongside Patrick Marleau, and with the recent return of Logan Couture, his supporting cast just got that much better. In terms of power-play time, Ward is seeing almost a full minute more this season compared to last (2:31 vs. 1:45) and the extra minutes are starting to pay off, as he's got four PP points in his last eight games (2G, 2A). When the Sharks are on the PP, you can usually find Ward down low in the slot, or directly in front of the opposition's net banging away at loose pucks. He is currently
Hello once again hockey poolies, and welcome to the latest edition of The Man Advantage. As always, we try to identify a handful of "off the radar" players you should be looking at now -- players who are either seeing more PP time than they are used to, or who are producing at a higher clip. In most cases, these guys may be available as waiver wire pickups in your league, so don't hesitate to see if you can grab them on the cheap.
Joel Ward, RW, SAN: After four years in Washington, Ward is absolutely thriving in his first year as a Shark. With 22 points in 28 games - including six on the power play -- he's well on his way to a career-high 60+ point season, well above the 49 points he posted two years ago as a Capital. He's looked completely at home on the Sharks' second line alongside Patrick Marleau, and with the recent return of Logan Couture, his supporting cast just got that much better. In terms of power-play time, Ward is seeing almost a full minute more this season compared to last (2:31 vs. 1:45) and the extra minutes are starting to pay off, as he's got four PP points in his last eight games (2G, 2A). When the Sharks are on the PP, you can usually find Ward down low in the slot, or directly in front of the opposition's net banging away at loose pucks. He is currently available in roughly 70 percent of all Yahoo leagues. You know what to do.
Jason Chimera, LW, WAS: From a former Capital to a current one, Chimera didn't see any meaningful PP time for 11 straight games between Oct. 17 and Nov. 10, but that has since changed. He's now seeing roughly 2.5 minutes per game on the Caps' second unit alongside Evgeny Kuznetsov and Justin Williams. Chimera's bump in PP ice time has come at the expense of Andre Burakovsky, who the Caps were using quite regularly in a second-line role until early November, but who has since been demoted after recording just one PP assist in his first 14 games. Chimera, meanwhile, has responded brilliantly, with six PP points (3G, 3A) in 13 games since his promotion, and he's seen over 2.5 minutes of PP time in five of his last seven games. What's more, he is very much available in roughly 96 percent of all Yahoo formats. He makes for a very good waiver-wire selection for those of you in deeper leagues.
Lee Stempniak, RW, NJD: If you were to look back at all the "Sleeper Pick" lists from the preseason, I would be willing to bet a not unsubstantial sum of money that Stempniak wouldn't have been on any of them. Let's face it guys, nobody -- and I mean nobody -- saw this one coming. Stempniak has been very much a bottom-six, checking-line-type player for the past several seasons, and hasn't notched more than 40 points since 2009-10. However, here he is 28 games into this season and he's already got 22 under his belt, with nine of those coming on the power play. What? Yes, this is Lee Stempniak, who averaged roughly 13 minutes of total ice time the previous two seasons, but is now averaging over six minutes more than that (19:32) playing on the Devils' top line opposite Michael Cammalleri and Adam Henrique. On the power play, he's averaging 2:50 of PP minutes so far this season, compared to a paltry 0:43 last year, and six of the eight points he's collected over the last 11 games have come with the man advantage. Needless to say, he makes for a great waiver-wire pickup in most leagues, especially since his Yahoo availability rate is a healthy 58 percent.
Shayne Gostisbehere, D, PHI: After scoring 10 points in 14 games with the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the 22-year-old Gostisbehere was rushed into NHL duty back in mid-November when Mark Streit went down with a pelvic injury. Since then, "Ghost" has filled in more than admirably for the struggling Flyers, with eight points in 13 contests. Five of those points have come on the power play, where he's established himself as the team's quarterback in Streit's absence. What's more, Gostisbehere is proving to be a game-breaking talent with his cannon of a shot, as two of his four goals have been game-winners. Prior to his arrival, the Flyers' power play had a mediocre 14.6 percent success rate, but with Ghost at the helm, they've gone 7-for-37 in the past 13 games, which is a more respectable 18.9 percent. He's another player widely available in the majority of Yahoo formats, with an ownership rate of only 34 percent.
Noah Hanifin, D, CAR: With just seven points in 25 games this season, including two PP assists, the 18-year-old Hanifin may not be setting the world on fire just yet, but you have to dig a little deeper to see the kind of value he's bringing to the team. In his rookie season, Hanifin is already skating as much as 20 minutes per night on the Canes' blue line. Further, his level of responsibility on the power play is on the rise, as he's seen over three minutes' worth of PP time in three of his last five games, skating on the first line alongside quarterback Justin Faulk. On the defensive end, his plus-minus rating is not exactly eye-popping at -2, but it's not bad considering the Canes as a team are currently running with a -23 goal differential. And considering guys like Ron Hainsey and Faulk are -11 and -9, respectively, Hanifin has actually been one of their better defenders. At 6-foot-3 and over 200 pounds, Hanifin has the size to go along with his considerable skating and puck-moving skills, making him a future stud in the making. In short, this kid has serious upside and should be on your radar screen if you happen to be in a keeper league. He's only owned in 2 of all Yahoo leagues right now, so he's ripe for the taking. Grab him and stash him for now, and be prepared to reap the future benefits.
Mike Hoffman, LW, OTT: OK, so maybe Hoffman doesn't offer the same kind of under-the-radar value as the other guys on this list. With 27 points in 25 games and a Yahoo ownership rate of less than 80 percent, it's safe to say he's gotten everybody's attention at this point. But he's worth mentioning all the same, as a guy whose performance is far outstripping anything he did last season. To start with, he's averaging a full four minutes more in total ice time this year versus last season (18:26 vs. 14:33), with 2:16 coming on the power play as part of the Sens' second unit. Hoffman had all of three PP points last season (1G, 2A), but so far this year he's already up to seven (4G, 3A). One factor behind his success this season is a greater willingness to shoot the puck. Last season, he fired 199 pucks in 79 games (2.5 shots per game average), but this year he's on pace for roughly 250 shots (3.1 average). In fact, he's fired a whopping seven shots on goal in three of his past seven games, and given his shooting percentage is up to 19.2 percent from 13.6 percent, it's easy to tell why we're seeing such a scoring surge from him this year. Given his 20 percent availability rate, he could still be had in your league -- go look.
