With the first full week of games just about wrapped up, some of the league’s best are off to great starts while others have been less impactful for their teams. Here’s a quick rundown of who’s got the hand right now and who still has the oven on pre-heat.
Who’s Hot:
Marleau/Thornton/Couture: These three have a combined 24 points right now as the San Jose Sharks remain undefeated on the season. Patrick Marleau has a league-leading six goals, one better than Chicago’s Marian Hossa, while Thornton has racked up eight assists and leads the league with nine points. Logan Couture, who has increased his point production each season, has three goals and four assists on the year.
Thomas Vanek: The talented Buffalo Sabres forward exploded at the start of the season, tallying two goals and adding three assists en route to a five-point opening night. He’s since added three more assists, putting him at eight points on the season. If the Sabres intent to make the playoffs this season, they will certainly need Vanek to keep his production high.
Vladimir Tarasenko: A rookie for the St. Louis Blues, the 21-year-old Tarasenko made members of the Detroit Red Wings’ defense look like beer leaguers with two nice goals on opening night. He’s added another two goals and two assists to lead the Blues in points with six. If you he’s still available in your league, pick him up while he’s hot.
Martin Brodeur: Too old you say? Well, at 40-years-old, Brodeur picked up exactly where he left off last season after backstopping the Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals. Two wins, one shutout, a 0.50 goals against average and a .977 save percentage. The Devils may have lost Parise, good thing they kept Brodeur.
Andrei Markov: Remember him? After missing significant time the last few season thanks to injuries, Markov appears to be healthy and back to what he does best—producing points. All three of his goals on the season have come on the power play, two of them being game winners. Owned in only 66 percent of Yahoo leagues, if he’s available in yours take a chance and grab him.
Who’s Not:
Alexander Ovechkin: One assist in three games for Ovi, who tallied 38 goals last season. But if there’s a silver lining, it’s the fact that he has 11 shots on goal, averaging close to four shots a game.
Tyler Seguin: Seguin was a scoring leader in the Swiss league during the lockout, but has only tallied one assist in three games with the Bruins this season. He’s too good not to score, so don’t expect him to stay down for too long.
Shea Weber: The Predators have played four games so far, but Weber hasn’t factored into a single one of the team’s eight goals, but he does have 12 shots on goal and 11 penalty minutes…so there’s that. I talked last week about Weber’s potential to be a fantasy bust this season. The sample size is small so far, but keep an eye on himT to see if he turns it around.
Jimmy Howard: After losing Nicklas Lidstrom to retirement and Brad Stuart to free agency, we knew that the Wings’ defense was going to be less than stellar and that Howard would need to steal wins. He hasn’t done that yet. Howard was pulled on opening night after letting in five and only has one win on the season. The good news is that Howard, and the Red Wings, have looked a little better each game. That bad news is that the injuries keep piling up for the Wings. Howard will need to be better than good to give the Wings a fighting chance.
Mike Richards: Zero points in three games and a minus-three. More concerning might be the fact that he only has five shots on goal. There shouldn’t be much of a Stanley Cup hangover after having a delayed start to the season, so there’s really no explanation right now for his play.
