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 Posted - 02/03/2008 : 20:57:19
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By Darryl Dobbs
He doesn’t have the background of an 80-point performer, but Tomas Plekanec is showing that he’ll get there sometime soon.
The Montreal pivot has 47 points in 52 games – including 18 in his last 14. His chemistry with Alexei Kovalev and Andrei Kostitsyn is certainly undeniable and he is a big reason for Kovalev’s resurgence. So where did he come from?
He played three seasons in the AHL, but 66 points was his top output. Even though that was good enough to lead the Bulldogs (he led them twice), it’s not the mark of a prolific NHL producer. However, the bottom line is that the 25-year-old is looking like one now, and if you were looking carefully you may have caught some signs early.
He had spurts of offense last season, but a lot of 50- or 60-point forwards do that. What really caught my eye though, was his performance in the World Hockey Championship. Plekanec led the Czech Republic in scoring with four goals and eight points in seven games and he was a plus-3. When that came on the heels of a second half that saw him post 35 points in 43 contests he showed that there just might be something to him in fantasy circles.
From what I’ve seen, I’m ready to consider him a 70-point player with an upside of 80 or even 85 points. Yes, that’s still cautious, but it’s much higher than it was a year ago…
Meanwhile…
Another 50-point player who needs to be re-evaluated is Ottawa’s Mike Fisher. He has 26 points in his last 23 games and is showing that there are four big guns in Ottawa – not three. If he could ever play 80 games (which, for the record, I don’t think he ever will), he could be an 85-point player. Because of his proneness to injury, assume he’s a 60-point player who can reach 75 with some luck with his health...
Chris Drury has put together back-to-back two-point games and is a plus-3 in that span. He is playing with Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha, unfortunately; so don’t figure on this being a turnaround…
San Jose rearguard Sandis Ozolinsh is a minus-8 in his last five games; so if you are in a roto league, don’t be too eager to scoop him up because he has put up points lately…
Since returning from his groin injury, Radim Vrbata has seven points in three games and is a plus-5…
The Todd Bertuzzi, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry line have combined for just one point in the last three games. Now would be a good time to acquire Bertuzzi, because his owner may be panicking between this mini-slump and the return of Teemu Selanne. Bertuzzi’s power-play time will not be impacted by the return of Teemu – it will be Perry’s PP time that will…
Peter Mueller has 31 points in his last 40 games and 11 in his last eight...
Interesting: in the last 10 games where Dan Cleary recorded a point, he recorded two or more in eight of them. He’s getting his points in one-game spurts, which makes it scary to bench him when he goes a few games without a point…
For more fantasy hockey tips and info, check out http://www.dobberhockey.com
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Plekanec Rolling Along 
