Frozen Fantasy: Misjudged Assets

Last October, no one believed in the Golden Knights. Except for the Golden Knights. By June, everyone believed.

I love a good underdog story.

That team was constructed on the backs of several NHL general managers that had misjudged their assets. How else does a team end up with Reilly Smith, Alex Tuch, William Karlsson, Marc-Andre Fleury … should I go on?

This year, there are plenty of misjudged assets in the NHL.

I'll start with Carolina. At least I was on that bandwagon. They're even better than I thought and Rod Brind'Amour has barely started.

I'm buying. In a big way.

I'm not buying Calgary. They're awful. That back end is horrible. Mike Smith looks old behind them. Only one line works. Trading Dougie Hamilton was a huge mistake.

Talk about misjudging assets.

Then there's Los Angeles. I don't know what to say. They've lost six in a row and been outscored 29-8. They are a team of individuals that just can't get their crap together. It can't be all on Ilya Kovalchuk.

Anaheim has lost four straight, mostly because John Gibson is the only guy showing up. St. Louis is on life support because Jake Allen's talent has been misjudged for years. Philly is just biding time for Carter Hart to arrive.

What went wrong? St. Louis and Calgary flipped half their rosters in the offseason in an attempt to shed the weight of underperformance. Anaheim plays big, heavy hockey in a league that's light and fast. Philly hasn't gotten goaltending right since Pelle Lindbergh.

That includes Ron Hextall, both in the blue paint and in the oval office.

The best before dates of these teams appear to have passed. The NHL is fickle that way. Sure, a quick handful of wins and they might be back in business.

Might is the key word. I'm not holding much hope for any of them, even this early in the season. Then again, the Ducks might get into the postseason simply because the Pacific division includes the Flames, Oilers and Canucks. Yep, it's that bad.

Now let's take a look at who caught my eye this week.

Josh Anderson, RW, Columbus (13 percent Yahoo! owned) – Anderson was never a high-end prospect. But he is proving he can be a solid NHLer. He's currently skating on the Jackets' second line with Nick Foligno and Boone Jenner, and has three goals and an assist in his last five games. Anderson's shooting percentage is through the roof (19.2), so this little spurt will definitely slow down. And he doesn't get power-play time. But deep leaguers should still take a look. Anderson could deliver 45-50 points and more than 100 hits.

Vince Dunn, D, St. Louis (8 percent Yahoo! owned) – Dunn is on a real roll. He has four points in his last four games. And that includes two power-play snipes. Dunn is on the way up and his ownership is, too. It doubled overnight Thursday and will continue to rise as he plays maestro on the Blues' top power play. He has finally arrived. I just missed him. Don't be me.

Robby Fabbri, LW/C, St. Louis (5 percent Yahoo! owned) – Fabbri is supremely talented, but remarkably unlucky. He's been on the shelf for 21 months because of successive knee injuries. When he's in uniform, his uncanny vision makes him an elite passer and playmaker. Can Fabbri resume his upward trajectory? I'm not sure. But the Blues have sent him on a conditioning assignment in the AHL to find out. When he gets back up in a couple weeks, Fabbri will get a shot at the second-line left wing spot – he's better than Zachary Sanford and Patrick Maroon. Stash him if you have an available IR spot. You can always ditch him later.

Christian Fischer, RW, Arizona (2 percent Yahoo! owned) – After a slow start, Fischer's natural talent and leadership are starting to emerge. He has four goals in his last three games and the Desert Dawgs have actually won a couple games. Go figure. The team may struggle to put up a lot of points this season, but Fischer could top 40 or even 45 alongside Derek Stepan. True, that's not valuable in shallow formats, but he could be a steady performer in deep formats.

Mike Green, D, Detroit (21 percent Yahoo! owned) – Green made his season debut Friday. Yes, he's an old 33 who struggles with plus-minus. But he can still skate the puck out of his zone and spark the offence, something the Wings have trouble doing. Green can score at a 40-point pace and should be inspired to skate with the baby Dennis Cholowski. That is if he can get past the kid chirping that Green was one of his favorite defensemen growing up. LOL Green isn't THAT old, but don't tell the 20-year-old Cholowski that.

Darcy Kuemper, G, Arizona (5 percent Yahoo! owned) – The Coyotes are Antti Raanta's team, so why stash Kuemper? Just take a look at his work this week. Two games. Two wins. Two goals allowed. He flashed some major moxie against the Jackets and Canucks. Sure, Raanta will be back in net Saturday. But Kuemper proved he is a great spot starter. If you're like me, you can use all the help you can get.

Jake McCabe, D, Buffalo (1 percent Yahoo! owned) – McCabe is doing almost everything you could ask, save for producing on the power play. He has five points (one goal, four assists) in his last five games and he's added six PIM, six shots and a plus-5 rating. I'd rather have McCabe right now than his 90-percent owned teammate Rasmus Ristolainen. At least right now.

Jason Pominville, RW, Buffalo (5 percent Yahoo! owned) – Pominville's ice time is on the decline. But that's not a surprise – the 35-year-old's slow feet look downright leaden compared to linemates Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner. But he still has those hands. Those silky hands. Pominville is on a three-game, six-point streak heading into Saturday. And he looks like he is finding his groove beside his younger, faster linemates. I bought. So should you.

Travis Sanheim, D, Philadelphia (1 percent Yahoo! owned) – Don't look now, but Sanheim has suddenly become more involved in the Flyers' attack in the last few games. He's jumping up into the play and carrying the puck into the offensive zone. The result? Sanheim has four assists in last five games, including one on the power play. He also fired 10 shots. He's young and talented, and playing super smart on his side of the puck. Sanheim could get prime ice time if Shayne Gostisbehere continues his slow start.

Back to misjudging assets.

None of the teams I mentioned are ready to admit they seriously misjudged their team or the league. They won't trade anyone – they'll just sit and wait.

And like fantasy, waiting can kill your season. I almost feel bad for fans of the Flames, Blues, Kings and Ducks.

I'm not sure I can ever feel bad for Philly fan as long as Hextall is in charge.

Until next week.