NHL Fantasy Hockey: Why Tyler Seguin a Stud, Matt Moulson a Dud

Dobber launched his fantasy hockey website DobberHockey back in 2005 and has been Puck Daddy's resident fantasy hockey 'expert' since 2009.

Most teams are about six or seven games into the season and poolies are starting to get antsy about their goaltenders. But let's not forget that on October 31, 2013 Henrik Lundqvist was 3-5-0 with a 0.908 SV%. And Jonathan Quick was 8-4-0, which was pretty good but in fantasy his 0.903 SV% wasn't quite as rewarding. Here are some struggling netminders - and how you should play them…

Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes - I have been pretty tough on Ward over the years and he's giving me no reason to change that. And Anton Khudobin has been impressive for brief stints with several teams now. I said in the preseason that Ward is the Golden Boy - meaning the Hurricanes need him to be successful more than any other player short of Eric Staal. So he'll get all the opportunities early on. But eventually it will become pretty clear that Khudobin is the better option if they want to win hockey games. Well, this transition seems to be happening sooner than I thought and Ward should be traded or dropped as soon as possible - assuming for some reason you still have him. Hopefully he was only a No.4 goalie on your squad.

Steve Mason, Philadelphia Flyers - Mason is also a Golden Boy. The Flyers are desperate for a young goaltender with upside to become the face of the franchise and they'll be giving Mason all the easy match-ups they possibly can. Meanwhile, Emery will get the tough opponents (look no further than Thursday night). What I'm saying is - no matter how much Mason sucks, and he'll certainly have his moments, he's still getting 30 to 34 wins.

Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche - Still looking for his first win, but he's on a team that has only one of them. And he's been injured for a week on top of that. Varly is expected to return Friday. Most of us projected at least a small regression for the Avalanche. But a slow start like this is too much - this is easily a playoff team so the wins will start to roll in and Varlamov will get at least 35 of them if he can stay healthy. If there was ever a time to buy low on him, that time is now.

John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks - Gibson has had a slow start to his campaign, including a stint in the AHL. Regardless of the fact that he's the most highly-touted prospect goaltender in the world, or that he made a huge impression in the NHL postseason last spring, Frederik Andersen is better. Andersen has been the top goalie in the league so far and he'll continue to get the starts as long as he stays healthy. Andersen was injured twice last year, so he may not be able to handle it - but if he can play 65-plus games he will. That means Gibson is not going to help you this year. In fact this has the potential to be the next Jonathan Quick/Jonathan Bernier situation in which the younger guy is stuck warming the bench for big chunks of several seasons.

Studs...

These fellas are wielding a hot stick. Take that into consideration when you go after them in trade talks...

Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars (4-5-5-10, plus-6, 2 PIM, 18 SOG, 3 PPPts) - After a slow start, Seguin and buddy Jamie Benn took flight against the Blue Jackets and haven't looked back. Now they're looking like this year's version of the 2011 Getzlaf-Perry connection.

Torey Krug, Boston Bruins (3-2-3-5, plus-5, 0 PIM, 8 SOG, 2 PPPts) - The 23-year-old has 55 points in his last 98 regular season and playoff games, making him one of the most prolific point producing blueliners in that span.

Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers (6-2-7-9, even, 0 PIM, 32 SOG, 3 PPPts) - This is a big difference from his craptacular start from a year ago, when it took 16 games for Giroux to score his first goal and six games to earn his first assist. With a hot start like this, a return to 90-plus points could be in the cards.

Duds...

Somebody wake these guys up – their fantasy owners are counting on them...

Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets (5-0-1-1, minus-2, 21 PIM, 8 SOG, 0 PPPts) - Wheeler is normally a huge second-half producer, so when he tallied three points in the first game it looked like he shook off his habitual first-half doldrums. Apparently not. The Jets have scored just seven goals in the last five games, so Wheeler isn't alone here.

Matt Moulson, Buffalo Sabres (6-0-2-1, minus-4, 13 SOG, 0 PIM, 0 PPPts) - Moulson has 17 goals in 70 games since leaving John Tavares and the Islanders. Raise your hand if you saw a letdown coming before he signed $25 million deal (not so fast Tim Murray). But nobody expected Moulson to fall short of 20 goals and that could very well happen.

T.J. Oshie, St. Louis Blues (5-0-0-0, minus-1, 7 PIM, 13 SOG, 0 PPPts) - On one hand it's early and the team isn't exactly shooting the lights out offensively. On the other hand, four Blues have at least a point per game and first-year player Jori Lehtera has three in four. The players around Oshie are scoring, so it's just bad luck that he hasn't been in on the fun yet.

The Wire...

Mostly short-term grabs here, but as always some potential steals...

Trevor Daley, Dallas Stars (6-3-3-6, minus-2, 6 PIM, 10 SOG, 3 PPPts) - Going back to last year, Daley actually has 11 goals and 28 points in just 39 games. He's now a fixture on Dallas' top power-play unit and will be a permanent solution to your woes on defense rather than a short-term one.

Tanner Pearson, Los Angeles Kings (5-5-2-7, plus-7, 4 PIM, 9 SOG, 1 PPPts) - Pearson is overachieving in a big way right now, but along with Tyler Toffoli and Jeff Carter the line is providing fantastic secondary offense for the Kings. If they can all stay healthy then Pearson will top 50 points.

Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames (2-1-2-3, plus-2, 0 PIM, 3 SOG, 2 PPPts) - After a great preseason, Gaudreau stumbled out of the gate with zero points and just one shot on goal in five games. Then he was a healthy scratch. At that point (now sheepish) poolies were dumping him and looking elsewhere. Why it's a good idea to be patient with him:

Chris Terry, Carolina Hurricanes (5-3-2-5, plus-4, 2 PIM, 4 SOG) - After years of being passed over in favor of more highly-touted prospects with trendier names (Zach Boychuk, Zac Dalpe, Drayson Bowman), Terry is finally getting a look. He's been at least as successful at the AHL level as any of the other three and now with the injuries to the Staal brothers, Jeff Skinner and Nathan Gerbe - Terry is actually getting premium ice time and PP time. And he's making the most of it, which could mean that he keeps getting this kind of treatment even after the injured filter back into the lineup.

Anders Lee, New York Islanders (no stats yet) - After posting five points in five games and sitting second in the AHL in shots on goal with 18, Lee has been recalled. He should never have been sent down, to be honest. But the situation was similar to that of Gustav Nyquist a year ago - too many bodies on the big club. The Isles placed Colin McDonald on waivers to make room and they likely did this because Cory Conacher has not been working out on the big line. I'm guessing Conacher gets one more chance with John Tavares while Lee gets reacquainted with the NHL on the second or third line. If and when Conacher fails to produce, Lee will then ascend to his rightful place on the top line - and he'll thrive. Mark it.

Damon Severson, New Jersey Devils (5-3-2-5, plus-5, 4 PIM, 20 SOG) - My favorite promising young Devils' blueliner, except I had him on this team a year ago instead of Eric Gelinas. But he's there now and he's making his mark - 20 shots on goal sits him fifth in the entire league among defensemen.

Alexei Emelin, Montreal Canadiens (5-0-5-5, even, 4 PIM, 3 SOG, 1 PPPts) - Even if the offense dries up, Emelin won't be a total bust as he's a potential 100 PIM defenseman. But right now he's bringing the assists too, making him a good short-term depth option.

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