The Union and Blue Fantasy Fix 007: Goalie Edition
By Mike Majeski
Nov 6, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Goalies Off to a Hot Fantasy Start
The unfortunate part here is that the majority goaltenders will not be available in your league, so you either already have them in your lineup and are reaping all of the benefits, or you are going to have to make a trade. However, I think it is worth taking a look at who has excelled so far this season. With the Hot list, I will try to look at some of the goaltenders that are often overlooked, as we already know Henrik Lundqvist, Roberto Luongo, and Jonathan Quick are going to be elite.
Smith and the Phoenix Coyotes had a disappointing season last year, so expectations were somewhat tampered for the goalie this year. A little over one month into the season, and Smith has a 9-3-2 record, a .910 SV%, and 2.58 GAA. He is coming off a rough loss to Anaheim, where he surrendered 4 unanswered goals, but other than that, he has been the Mike Smith of old. Phoenix has always been a good team defensively, and has made stars out of several goaltenders who other teams thought to be average (paging Ilya Bryzgalov). With Keith Yandle and Oliver Eckman-Larsson patrolling the blue line, Smith has all the help he needs in front of him to put up good fantasy numbers.
Harding is off to an amazing start this year, as he has helped the Wild gain points in seven consecutive match ups and before his recent loss to Washington, was on a 5 gave winning streak. While he is owned in 100% of ESPN standard leagues, I did find him available in my less-deep fun league, so it’s worth checking out the waiver wire. Harding has 8 wins on the season and an outstanding .949% SV% and 1.16 GAA. Harding was a Tier 2/3 goaltender currently putting up Tier 1 type numbers.
Nov 7, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
There was a time when Marty was a consensus 1st round pick; hell, just 5 years ago one of my friends took him first overall in our fun league. Those days are long gone and this season may be the final one for Brodeur. When the Devils traded for Cory Schneider everyone (and recently even Brodeur) believed it meant Marty would take on more of a backup role. But the Devils have been awful and Schneider has just one win in seven starts. Brodeur has 3 wins in his last 4 starts, allowing a total of just 2 goals in that time, and is coming off of a shutout against Philadelphia. While Schneider remains the heir to Brodeur’s throne, Marty is showing that he still has some fantasy relevance left in the tank. He is only owned in 43% of ESPN leagues and would make a great fill in for an injured player or a #3 goaltender, especially if you own one of the goalies mentioned on the next page, Goalies Off to a Cold Start.