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If you have Ovechkin, you probably should hold onto him. He does not have the current injury woes that someone like Crosby has. There will be vultures circling, if they’re sharp, trying to grab AO from you since had had an off-season. You know how valuable a player is when an off-season is 85 points and still easily top 10 in scoring in the entire league. The entire Caps team had an anomalous season in terms of offense. They implemented a new, more defensively responsible play-style last season and it helped them turn around their season after their mid-season slump going into the new calendar year. Be sure to watch HBO’s 24/7 Pens-Caps Road to the Winter Classic series on that from last year, if you have yet to see it. It was pretty good.

Still, even with the change up in systems for the Caps, there is a good reason even Yahoo! ranks Ovechkin 2nd overall pre-draft. It is highly likely that they will increase their offensive production this season and that will be lead by AO.

Sidney Crosby. Sid the Kid. Whatever you want to call him, he’s the top fantasy hockey points performer out there when he’s healthy. Last season, he was on a 132 point pace before his injury with 66 points in only 41 games. He’s surpassed the 100 point mark in 4 out of his 6 total seasons played in the NHL. The other two, he was well over a point-per-game pace but missed many games due to injury.

If you’re looking to trade Crosby in a keeper league, you had better be getting a huge return. Guys like Ovechkin and Stamkos should be coming back to you at a minimum–that is, when he’s healthy.

With Yahoo opening their fantasy service recently, it’s always beneficial to look for players buried deep in the rankings prior to your draft to make you the most prepared as possible. We’ll take the legwork out of that task for you as the list below should prove to be valuable come draft day. These rankings reflect the value of players from standard fantasy leagues to the deepest of fantasy leagues:

Potentially Valuable Players Ranked from 800-899

880. Zack Kassian – RW – Buffalo Sabres
879. Brendan Smith – D – Detroit Red Wings