Fire on Ice

12/01/2009 12:26 AM -  Ian Gooding

David Backes has six points in his last four games.

Contributed by Evan Reynar

Matt Stajan, C, TOR (24GP-7g-10a-17pts, with a (-6) and 14 PIMs)
Niklas Hagman, LW, TOR (24GP-13g-4a-17pts, with a (-4) and 70 shots)

For a struggling team, the Leafs sure produce a lot of offensive firepower. We mentioned Stajan as a possible sleeper candidate earlier this year in the Waiver report but it has taken a little longer than expected for him to get rolling. Coming off a career year in assists, Stajan has a horde of trigger-happy wingers to work with, and is finally starting to find some chemistry. He has 9 points (4g-5a) and a +2 rating in his last 10 games. One of those trigger-happy wingers, Niklas Hagman, is also extremely hot right now, with 7 goals in his last 7 contests. He has, however, been known for some very streaky scoring over his career and has yet to register over 42 points in a season.

David Backes, RW, STL (24GP-4g-6a-10pts, with a +1 and 38 PIMs)

Backes had some fairly high expectations thrust upon him this year after stepping up as one of last season’s most valuable sleepers. His brutally slow start to begin the season has seen him dropped to many a waiver wire. If that was the case in your league, now is the time to buy. After posting just 4 points (1g-3a) in the first 21 games, Backes has 6 points (3g-3a) in his last 4 games, and is beginning to look more like the power forward that notched 52 points (31g-23a) and 165 PIMs last year.

David Legwand, C, NAS (25GP-5g-9a-14pts, with a (-1) and 10 PIMs)

Legwand is a tough guy to get excited about when it comes to fantasy hockey. The 10-year vet consistently posts 40 to 50 points with not a whole lot of extras but has shown flashes of brilliance (you may remember his 63-point, +23 campaign in ‘06-’07). Right now seems to be one of those flashes. After failing to register a point over the first 7 games of the season, he has rebounded with 14 points in his last 18 games. He’s particularly hot at the moment, with 9 points (4g-5a) in his last 7 games.

Fedor Tyutin, D, CMB (26GP-1g-13a-14pts, with a (-6) and 8 pp points)
Anton Stralman, D, CMB (24GP-4g-11a-15pts, with a (-9) and 10 pp points)

Columbus has never been a hot-bed for point-producing defencemen, but someone has to play the point on the power-play, and after some sketchy performances to begin the season a couple of guys are beginning to come around. Tyutin was a fine looking sleeper pick entering the season but lost a lot of lustre due to some dreadful minuses to start the season that were due more in part to some shaky goaltending. He’s performed nicely of late though with 7 assists (6 on the pp) and a +1 in his last 8 games. Stralman is a little bit more of a curiosity. Already given up on by two teams this year (Toronto and Calgary), he appears to have found a home in Columbus. In his first season as an everyday player, he may leave a bit to be desired defensively, but the point production has been fairly consistent. If you aren’t worried about plus/minus, he’s definitely worth a look.

Brian Elliott, G, OTT (10GP-5W-2L-3OTL, with a 2.59 GAA and .911 SV%)

The news this past week that Sens’ starter Pascal Leclaire will miss a month with a broken jaw immediately thrusts Brian Elliott in to fantasy relevance. While he’s probably not a legitimate number one, he’s had enough experience, and the Sens are a good enough team, that there should be some decent value here, especially if you were a Leclaire owner. Elliott is 3-1-1 since replacing Leclaire.

Follow fantasyhockey.com on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates, general hockey discussion, and any fantasy hockey questions that you have. You can also become a fan on Facebook.