Fantasy hockey heat index – Oshie, DeBrusk among hottest players of January

Sean Allen, Special to ESPN.comJan 23, 2024, 01:00 PM ET

CloseSean Allen is a fantasy analyst for ESPN.com. He was the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hockey Writer of the Year. You can tweet him @seanard.

It’s been about a month since the NHL took a few days off for the Christmas break. Based on the change in production, some players had a more refreshing holiday break than others.

Let’s look at some of the players with the largest changes in fantasy points per game (FPPG) from before the break and since the break. The game sample on this side of the break is, obviously, much smaller than the two months that occurred prior, but there are still some players with hefty swings in production worth taking a closer look at.

Rested and refreshed

T.J. Oshie, W, Washington Capitals (92.6% available)
Pre-Xmas FPPG: 1.05; post-Xmas FPPG: 2.98; Difference: 1.93

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It would probably take a concerted effort toward failure for any player to have a slower pre-break showing than Oshie managed: four points across 21 games despite heaps of ice time and power-play opportunities. But he has come back from the break and an injury absence to pour it on during the past six games: six points including a hat trick. Oshie finds himself on what is arguably the Capitals top line with Max Pacioretty and Dylan Strome, while Alex Ovechkin joins the trio to form the top power-play unit with John Carlson. The Caps may not be deep, but the top of the depth chart has some potential to keep making noise. Oshie’s sample is smaller than others, but he has some room to slow down his FPPG and still maintain fantasy relevance.

Andrei Svechnikov, W, Carolina Hurricanes (7.8% available)
Pre-Xmas FPPG: 1.60; post-Xmas FPPG: 3.53; Difference: 1.93

Night and day. Svechnikov was a ghost prior to waking up right around the break. He’s been a beast since then, when healthy. Currently on the…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/fantasy/hockey/story/_/id/39371202/fantasy-hockey-heat-index-hot-streaks-scoring-oshie-debrusk

Author : Sean Allen

Publish date : 2024-01-23 20:23:20

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