Christian Hanson was called up from the AHL when the Leafs lost F John Mitchell for the next 6 weeks to a knee injury. He's a power forward who isn't going to score pretty goals, but will venture into the tough areas between the opposing faceoff circles, and will play physically- both traits that will endear him to Ron Wilson and the Leafs coaching staff. If you need an injury replacement he's a decent plug and play guy for the short term.

 

The Panthers Stephen Weiss has never looked better at the NHL level than he has the last few weeks. He's playing with great confidence and the skills that had him once being compared to stars like Steve Yzerman are still very apparent. A key with Weiss has been missed time with one health issue or another but right now he looks at 26 like he's ready for his breakout season. He's a definite trade target and the cost should not be prohibitive just yet.

 

I've received a number of inquiries about the Blues Paul Kariya and what fantasy owners should expect from him the rest of the year. I went back and looked at a couple of games from different parts of the season (via NHL Gamecenter) and it's clear injuries have taken their toll on him and he can no longer be counted on to produce in a scoring role. Kariya is a shell of his former self and with points in only 6 of his first 21 games he should be dealt to the owner in your league always on the lookout for the big name.The flashy, creative game he once played appears to be gone and while his skating is still good, he no longer is even creating any offensive chances.

 

Also on the Blues you already know plenty about what to expect from guys like Brad Boyes, or David Backes but I'm going to encourage you to try and find a way to roster the likes of forwards Lars Eller, Patrick Berglund, and TJ. Oshie. All three have very bright futures and are still available at a low to moderate acquisition prices in most leagues. In Keeper leagues each of these three should be the kind of guys you target as throw ins to balance out a trade. 

 

The Blue Jackets D Anton Stralman may be the most popular waiver wire candidate in any league. At 23 years of age and already in his third organization (Toronto, Calgary where he never played a single game, and now Columbus) he's showing great confidence as a powerplay quarterback and is a very strong and creative passer. His 13 points (as of Nov.25) already tie a career high and with his offensive game coming together quicker than expected (he has barely 100 games NHL experience), he should be on all fantasy leaguers radar now.

 

Staying in Columbus they got some bad news when LW Nikita Filatov returned to Russia instead of staying and having his development supervised by the Jackets in the American Hockey League. The bad news was tempered though with the outstanding play of 20 year old RW Jakub Voracek. If you're looking for one of the leagues next potential superstars this guy is it. He plays with great passion , passes the puck with excellent vision and creativity, and even has the skillset to run the powerplay from the point if the team wants him for that role. He's going to be a point a game type for a very long time.

 

With Pascal Leclaires freak injury (broken cheekbone) suffered while sitting on the bench, the Senators are prepared to hand their top goaltending job to 24 year old Brian Elliott.Elliot is a big goalie (6'3 190) who is primarily a standup netminder that uses that size to limit the oppositions shooting options. He can get into trouble when he plays too deep in his net but if you had Leclaire and handcuffed Elliot to him- he should give you comparable or better stats for the month the injured #1 man is expected to miss.
 

 

The Devils Andy Greene was another popular email subject last week. At 27 years of age and finally looking comfortable at both ends of the ice, he is definitely on his way to his best NHL point totals. All that said he has yet to hit double digits in points in parts of 3 NHL seasons so lets temper our enthusiasm a bit. What is clear is that with both Paul Martin, and Cory Murphy out with injuries Greene is getting his first extended look in an offensive role and is showing enough smarts carrying and dishing the puck to be a factor in fantasy. For the record I'd love to see him shoot the puck a little more as he already has 3 goals on only 23 shots. 

 

The Kings Andrei Loktionov was mentioned in this column one week ago. I had seen him play at the AHL level and thought he might get a look when an injury struck in Los Angeles. Well Ryan Smyth went down and the Kings recalled the 19 year old and he'll make his NHL debut on Wednesday November 25 playing on the top line alongside Alex Frolov and Dustin Brown. If he's still on your waiver wire and you have the bench space try and pick him up for at least the short run. Anybody that can score at a near point a game pace in the AHL at that age has star potential. When you consider where the Kings placed him upon his call-up you have to think that they agree.

 
 

 

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Tags: Christian Hanson  John Mitchell  Ron Wilson  Stephen Weiss  Steve Yzerman  Paul Kariya  Brad Boyes  David Backes  Lars Eller  Patrick Berglund  TJ Oshie  Anton Stralman  Nikita Filatov  Jakub Voracek  Pascal Leclaire  Brian Elliott  Andy Greene  Paul Martin  Cory Murphy  Andrei Loktionov  Alex Frolov  Dustin Brown.