NHL Fantasy Hockey: Most, Least Valuable Players for Week 2

Fantasy hockey is a fickle mistress. When we checked in last week I was flying high with wins in all my H2H pools. This week, I was nowhere near as fortunate, finishing with one win, one loss and a tie. I’m not too shaken up about it though. Like the great Canadian philosopher Ray once said, “that’s the way she goes.” (warning: language.)

Let’s see how she went for this week’s Most (and Least) Valuable Players.

The MVP

Sidney Crosby – C – 100% Owned

Well that didn’t take long. Sidney Crosby is now leading the league in scoring. I really like how Crosby has gone and gotten himself hurt these past few seasons. It’s made this fantasy hockey thing fair. Sure, you can take the best guy in the league, let’s see how many games he plays.

If you don’t have a side-pool going to guess how many games Crosby plays this season you are really missing out. There’s still time. Get league-mates together and draw up the Crosby games-played pool. Winner gets a concussion!

The Runners Up

P.K. Subban – D – 100% Owned

It didn’t take long for the reigning Norris Trophy winner to get back into the groove of things. Subban had a great week to vault himself into the league lead in defenseman scoring but he loses points for degree of difficulty. He spent the week beating up on the Western Canadian teams. The good news for poolies is that Subban and the Montreal Canadiens will finish up their western gold rush in Winnipeg on Tuesday.

Tomas Hertl – C – 74% Owned

Hertl made headlines with a four goal outing against the Rangers. What was even better was Joe Thornton’s reaction. Hertl managed one more goal against the Senators before leaving with a lower body injury, leaving us all to wonder; what part of the lower body? Did he shrivel up like a frightened Hertl?

He can’t keep up this pace but if his injury isn’t terrible he will definitely be in the Calder race, which means more turtle puns.

Jeff Skinner – C/RW – 82% Owned

Playing a four-game slate certainly helped Skinner’s cause as he led the league in shots this week with 22, while also chipping in with two goals and four assists. The Hurricanes will stink again this season, but that’s no reason why Skinner has to again. The bounce-back is looking good so far.

Honorable Mentions: Brad Richards, Alex Steen, Jussi Jokinen, James van Riemsdyk, Jonas Hiller, Steven Stamkos, Jiri Hudler, Mike Santorelli, Semyon Varlamov

The LVP (Least Valuable Player)

Henrik Lundqvist – G – 99% Owned

Shame on you one-percenters who gave up on Lundqvist so fast. He is still the best goalie in the league (my opinion). Even if his team keeps getting ventilated he will find a way to put up good stats. Plus, they’ve faced a horrible road schedule, Ryan Callahan and Derek Stepan were missing from training camp, they are getting used to a new coach’s system and other bogus excuses.

The silver lining here? The week actually started well (a 3-1 win over the Kings) and ended well (just one goal allowed on 17 shots in relief against the Blues) for Lundqvist. Here’s hoping things improve as the Rangers head back east to Washington on Wednesday.

Not Last but Certainly Least

Devan Dubnyk – G – 47% Owned

Our first repeat offender of the year. According to Elliotte Friedman, Dubnyk has had troubles adjusting to the new changes to goalie equipment this year. That sounds like an excuse and you know what excuses are like, right? Casseroles. Dubnyk is playing like a big stinky casserole.

Mark Streit – D – 96% Owned

This is more an indictment of Philadelphia’s offensive struggles so far this season than anything Streit is (more aptly, isn’t) doing. They are currently second last in league scoring and have the league’s third worst power play.

We are used to the Flyers having goaltending struggles. Now they can’t even score. This could be a long year for the Flyers and fantasy owners alike.

Jason Pominville – RW – 84% Owned

Pominville was outscored by Dany Heatley’s corpse this week. Plenty of other players were also held scoreless (you can find some of them listed below) but plenty of other players don’t get changed in the same room as Dany Heatley’s corpse. Pominville should know better.

Dis-Honorable Mentions: Nail Yakupov, Craig Anderson, Johan Franzen, Ryan Kesler, Brad Marchand, Michael Del Zotto, Mikhail Grabovski, Cam Ward

Steve Laidlaw is an Associate Editor at DobberHockey. You can follow him on Twitter @Steve Laidlaw. The Most and Least Valuable Fantasy Players will appear on Puck Daddy every Monday.