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 Every week we gather a panel of Fantasy Hockey experts to a popular question, and FantasyPros911.com is fortunate enough to have it this week.
Here's the question: Outside of Michael Del Zotto, which defensemen have surprised you the most this year? Drew Doughty ended his rookie season with 27 points and a horrible -17. This season he already has 17 pts and is on pace for 63 pts. I would expect him to finish in the 48-52 pt range. The biggest surprise is his +/- which is currently plus 5, tied for 3rd on the team. Many would say this is due to the early success of the Kings but look no further than his FH counterpart Jack Johnson (-11) and you will notice that Doughty has stepped up his game. Doughty's play is the defensive end is over-looked at times but his continued success in his own end will lead to more opportunities 4 on 4 and the last minute of the game. Additional ice-time in favorable situations will lead to more points and Doughty should be permanent fixture on the LA #1 PP unit and NHL D top 10 scoring leaders for years to come. Marcus Schalle, DobberHockey.com So far this season, I've been most surprised by Phoenix's Ed Jovanovski. Jovo finished last season with just 36 points in 82 games. It was a decidedly disappointing season for him and I expected it to continue. But this season, he has 13 points in his first 16 games and a 15-goal campaign doesn't seem out of reach. What's different? Playing for coach Dave Tippett, the new coach in Phoenix. Tippett plays a defensive system that leaves a lot of chances for defensemen to blast away from the point. And Jovanovski is taking advantage of the constant green light from the blue line. It worked for Sergei Zubov when Tippett coached him in Dallas and it's working for Jovanovski in the desert. Steven Ovadia, RotoRob.com Kyle Quincey, COL - Quincey's surge in value (13 points in 22 games) has been tied to the success of his team. He had been largely ignored in fantasy drafts, even though he proved last season that he can be a valuable power-play asset (30 of his 38 points were on the power play). Beware of Quincey's value if Colorado collapses, as he is a (-7) over his last four games, three of which were Avalanche losses. Alex Goligoski, PIT - With 14 points and a (+11) in 20 games this season, Goligoski has picked up the slack left by an injured Sergei Gonchar. Goligoski showed flashes of brilliance last season (20 points in 45 games), and he is a natural fit for a power play that should be better than it is (13.3% - second-worst in NHL this season). It will be interesting to see if he can maintain his current pace once he returns from injury in two or three weeks. Christian Ehrhoff, VAN - Ehrhoff, who was criticized at length in San Jose last season for his defensive shortcomings, has arguably been the Canucks' best defender this season. On a team hammered by injuries at all positions, Ehrhoff has maintained a team-best (+9) ranking. Ehrhoff has also been a solid power-play asset for the Canucks, with 9 of his 12 points coming on the man advantage. Ian Gooding, fantasyhockey.com I’m also on the Alex Goligoski train, and he could get even better if the Penguins end up moving Sergei Gonchar, whose contract expires at the end of this season. Matt Carle also deserves a mention and appears to be back in his 2005-2006 form. He’s leading the league in +/- at +19 and has also tallied up quite a few points. We have been very fortunate to have many young defensemen emerge this year on the waiver wire. Kevin Orris, FantasyPros911.com Trackback(0)
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