Hey guys! Sven back with the Buy, Sell, Hold segment for the second year. It’s pretty straight forward, players who are buys: you should pick up. Players who are sells, you should think about dropping. Players who are holds, you may be thinking about dropping but don’t just yet! Just for clarification, the % I am going to put next to the players’ stat line is their %own on ESPN. For Buys, I usually focus on guys with a %own less than 50%. Let’s get started!
ALL STATS ARE AS OF OCTOBER 24
BUY – Anaheim Ducks Seco – no wait, First line!
Jakob Silfverberg (10GP 5-3-8, 42%own), Adam Henrique (10GP 5-1-6, 14.5%own), Rickard Rakell (10GP 3-4-7, 55%own)
These guys have started the year absolutely popping off under new head coach Dallas Eakins. A line that was together for glimpses during last season but have a new-found chemistry this year, making them an absolute commodity right now. I take it Rakell is owned in leagues, as he should have been a late-round buy low, but the other two are very streamable. Also look at Cam Fowler (10GP 2-3-5, 14.5%own) who looks rejuvenated this season.
Casey Mittelstadt (10GP 3-4-7, 8.5%own)
Maybe it’s just some chemistry with Vesey, but Mittelstadt looks ready to pop off this season. I would hold off on the acquisition until his line either gets second line minutes OR he starts playing with Skinner, but he is definitely worth watching and maybe even buying now in deep leagues.
Jeff Carter (9GP 1-2-3, 34%own)
Hear me out here. We all know Carter is on the back-nine of his career, but he is one of two free agents (in my league) on the first page for SOG leaders thus far with 33, the other being Hornqvist. He has played 17+ minutes in four of his last five games, if you’re looking to shake things up I’d give Carter a go!
SELL – Ryan Pulock (8GP 0-1-1, 73%own)
I love Pulock outside of fantasy – he is blossoming into an absolute horse and quite the defender in his own end. That being said, with Leddy and Toews in the lineup there just isn’t a ton of great offensive looks for him. He is still on the second power play unit and logs well over 20 minutes a night, but I just don’t see him having an offensive impact playing this hard of minutes this early in his career.
Jakub Vrana (11GP 3-2-5, 49%own)
Sure, Vrana got off to a great start. But third line doesn’t seem ownable to me. His ice time is starting to dip below 12 minutes, and that’s enough for me to cut loose and fine someone else.
HOLD – Kaapo Kakko (7GP 1-1-2, 72%own)
These young studs have such high expectations to come in and take over right away, which certainly isn’t always the case. Kakko is still getting top-six minutes, and tonight will be on Zibanejad’s wing. To expect an amazing year from him was already a stretch, so let the kid play!
Andreas Athanasiou (8GP 0-2-2, 52%own)
I will admit, that -11 rating right now is killing the Greek Freak in Detroit. That being said, the kid scored 30 goals last season and it wasn’t a fluke 30 goals. I think him and Bertuzzi on the same line now should produce better chances for him, but the whole team is kind of in a funk right now. They will break out of it, and Athanasiou will start lighting the lamp soon. Be patient!
