(Ed. Note: No Puck Headlines today due to some scheduling conflicts; stay tuned for a Puck Daddy interview later this afternoon.)

Canadian conspiracy theorists are huddled in front of their computer banging away on blogs and message boards, explaining how Sergei Gonchar(notes), Evgeni Malkin(notes), Andrei Markov(notes), Alexander Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk(notes) are just resting up for the Olympics.

Poolies don't care about the reason a star player misses a game -- we just scramble to compensate. One month into the campaign and we're doing a lot of "compensating." Joining the Russians named above on the injured list are Roberto Luongo(notes), Daniel Sedin(notes), Johan Franzen(notes), Simon Gagne(notes) and Eric Staal(notes) among others.

Injury replacement of the week: Rich Peverley(notes), Atlanta Thrashers

Atlanta has been winning hockey games because they have secondary scoring. Peverley, a Nashville castoff, has been putting up monster points no matter where the Thrashers put him. If they sat him in the press box for a game, he would still show up on the scoresheet with an assist, two shots and a plus-1 rating. His ice time has gone up two minutes per game in Kovalchuk's absence and is now seeing shifts with Nik Antropov(notes), Todd White(notes) and/or Bryan Little(notes). His numbers have only been getting better (six points in three Kovalchuk-less games). In many leagues, he has right wing eligibility.

Are you drunk?

Strangely, no. I actually believe, completely sober, that this undrafted late-bloomer can be a point-per-game player this season.

The Keepers

Nathan Horton(notes), Florida Panthers: If you listen carefully you can actually hear the sound of people swinging their right leg back up onto the bandwagon. After he posted just three points in the first nine contests, the fickle people known as "fantasy hockey owners" bailed on him faster than a team scores on Carey Price(notes). Three games and seven points later, those owners look pretty sheepish for waiving/dropping him. The European hangover is behind him now and Horton will go on to set career highs. Mark it.

Jakub Voracek(notes), Columbus Blue Jackets:  Voracek's ice time is starting to creep upwards. After going the first nine games without seeing 17 minutes of ice time in any one of them, he has reached that mark three times in five games since. He has eight points in his last eight games. A 20-year-old breaking out offensively in a Ken Hitchcock system is about as sure a thing as the Leafs winning in overtime, but 60 points is still a nice 21-point jump and I think he'll get there.

Pavel Datsyuk(notes), Detroit Red Wings: Another guy who started slowly, but unlike Horton, Datsyuk has a proven track record of big numbers. His average of 92 points over the last four seasons is almost unrivalled. He began the year with two points in five games, but even if he started off with two in 20 you should never doubt him. 

Tomas Kaberle(notes), Toronto Maple Leafs: After ringing off 12 points in four games and earning first star of the week, Kaberle has shot up to the top of the defensemen scoring race. He's in his prime and certainly has the ability to maintain that spot. Count on him being one of the five highest scorers at his position this campaign.

The Sleepers

Jeff Tambellini(notes), New York Islanders:  When the Isles recently went six games undefeated in regulation, it was because of strong goaltending and secondary scoring. Prior to that, nobody was scoring after Matt Moulson(notes), Kyle Okposo(notes) and John Tavares(notes). During those six games, Tambellini tallied six goals and eight points, giving the Isles another dimension. The 25-year-old's Achilles heel is his consistency, but if he can keep bringing it, he'll keep getting the ice time.

Braydon Coburn(notes), Philadelphia Flyers:  It's not his point total that draws my attention, although he does have three in his last three. It's his power-play time. For three games in a row now, Coburn has logged more PP time than either of Matt Carle(notes) and Chris Pronger(notes). While it probably won't last, it does speak to the fact that Coach Stevens will be giving all four of his big guns (Kimmo Timonen(notes) is the other) an equal piece of the PP pie.

Ondrej Pavelec(notes), Atlanta Thrashers: With Kari Lehtonen(notes) now on the shelf for another 6-8 weeks (back surgery), Pavelec will continue to man the nets.  The team has been winning, even without Kovalchuk, so by the time Lehtonen returns Pavelec could already have 20 wins. If he can keep his SP above 0.920 then Lehtonen's odds of stealing his job back will match Eric Belanger's(notes) odds of winning the scoring title.

Dennis Seidenberg(notes), Florida Panthers: He leads the Panthers in ice time, but is stuck on the second power-play unit. Still, the ice time gives promise that he'll top last season's career high of 30 points. Dimitri Kulikov will be a great hockey player, but he's not ready to run the top PP unit yet and his minutes will slowly shift over to Seidenberg.

Bench ‘em or Drop ‘em

David Backes(notes), St. Louis Blues:  Before you condemn him for just two points in 12 games, keep in mind that a year ago he had five in 16 to start. Of more concern is his low PIM total. His penalty minutes dropped in the final two months of last season, so one has to wonder if his 150 PIM days are a reflection of youth. The Blues have lost seven of 10 games since returning to North America. That won't last and when it stops, the likes of Backes, Paul Kariya(notes) et al will pick it up. It should be any day now. Bench him.

Tom Gilbert(notes), Edmonton Oilers:  Jason Strudwick is out-producing him. Gilbert will eventually come around, but it would seem that Pat Quinn's system does not use his talented defensemen as much as his predecessors did. So when Gilbert does shake this slump, it's a stretch to think he will improve upon last campaign's 45 points. Bench him.

Marc-Andre Bergeron(notes), Montreal Canadiens: Grabbing Bergeron off the WW after the Habs called him up from his conditioning stint was akin to going on a honeymoon. Three points in three games. Then you get home from the honeymoon and realize you are married. Pointless in five, minus-5 and down to 11 minutes of ice time. Drop him.

Steve Mason(notes), Columbus Blue Jackets:  In the last 10 contests, the sophomore is 4-4-2 with a SP of 0.872 and he has given up close to four goals per game. Meanwhile, Mathieu Garon(notes), the backup, has a 2.58 GAA and 0.920 SP.  This may be a sophomore jinx, but I believe in the Ken Hitchcock system and how it helps goaltenders. He'll get out of it. Bench him.

("Sleepers, Keepers , Bench'em or Drop'em" is a weekly fantasy hockey column written by Darryl "Dobber" Dobbs, an honest-to-goodness expert on such matters and founder of DobberHockey.com. His column will run on Puck Daddy every Thursday.)

Related: Chris Pronger, John Tavares, Jakub Voracek, Steve Mason, Rich Peverley, Ondrej Pavelec, Matt Moulson, Kyle Okposo, David Backes, Carey Price, Johan Franzen, Evgeni Malkin, Matt Carle, Jeff Tambellini, Braydon Coburn, Nathan Horton, Eric Staal, Tom Gilbert, Kari Lehtonen, Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk, Eric Belanger, Andrei Markov, Daniel Sedin, Mathieu Garon, Nik Antropov, Simon Gagne, Kimmo Timonen, Roberto Luongo, Tomas Kaberle, Sergei Gonchar, Paul Kariya, Atlanta Thrashers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, Incurable Fantasy Hockey Addiction