Best Right Wings for the Rest of 08-09

This year’s right winger crop in fantasy hockey has seen some new blood make their presence felt and seen some of the old guard slip. Some of the players on this list are actually having somewhat off years and their point-per-game averages are lower than that of their left wing counterparts but there are still some true fantasy superstars on here who have very strong second halves. Perhaps they will close the gap by season’s end on the lefties’ numbers.

1. Jarome Iginla
Iginla is probably the most reliable player on this list once it gets to midseason. Hossa is right with him if you are only considering the numbers thus far this season, but if you’re thinking long term, like in a keeper league, Iginla probably gets the nod over Hossa because of the uncertainty pertaining to Hossa’s future in terms of who he may play for next. Iginla also has the nod over Hossa when it comes to contributing across the board in all categories. Probably one of the best all-around fantasy hockey players to have on your team no matter what the format, Iginla will not disappoint. One major pro to having Iginla on your team is that he takes faceoffs as a winger, so if your league counts faceoffs won, it is a big plus. Do not expect him to slow down any time soon, in fact, Iginla is notorious for being somewhat of a slow starter so the best may be yet to come.

2. Marian Hossa
Hossa is more consistent throughout the season but going forward, it’s possible that Iginla outproduces Hossa by even more over the course of the next couple months, simply due to past history. That doesn’t diminish the fact that Hossa will continue to have a very strong season with the Wings. Unless Hossa misses time due to injury, he will end the season with at least 85 points. Somewhat of a disappointment, as many were expecting 100 points out of Hossa but the Red Wings have such depth that Hossa does not need to be the #1 guy out there. He is still producing at a nice rate and should not slow down.

3. Patrick Kane
Kane would probably be #1 if he hadn’t missed a handful of games recently and slowed down production due to it–it’s that tight up at the top 3. Kane had 72 points in his rookie year and is now on pace to surpass that mark in his sophomore year. Kane has slowed a bit since his opening season tear, especially recently due to the aforementioned injury, but make no mistake: Kane is proving himself to be one of the best players in the league already in his second year. Kane is very valuable in keeper leagues out there because of his talent and his accompanying youth. Expect Kane to be at least point per game for the next long, long while. He will benefit from the All Star break and should come back as strong as he started the season.

4. Corey Perry
Perry missed some time due to injury and more recently due to a suspension. Perry certainly has a mean streak and is a tough competitor, which is very appealing for fantasy managers. Perry can contribute across the board in many categories and playing along with young superstar Ryan Getzlaf, they’re going to make a very nice duo for a long time. Another young Duck to look out for is Bobby Ryan. He may either play on the same line as Perry in the coming years or even usurp his first line RW position. In the mean time, Perry should have a very strong second half.

5. Phil Kessel
Kessel, as of this moment, is on injured reserve. That still does not diminish the fact that he is having a true breakout year. Kessel, once touted as being possibly as good as Crosby in their draft year, fell out of elite status for the first few years of his young career. After a successful battle against cancer, Kessel is now living up to the initial draft hype and is playing fantastic this season. It’s likely that Kessel will slow down a bit once he returns from his most recent illness, as missing games tends to do that, but he should still end up with a very nice point total, especially in the goals scored category.

6. Shane Doan
Shane Doan, one of the better captains around the league, is also one of the better players in fantasy hockey. Similar to Iginla in terms of multi-category production, Doan can put up a good amount of PIMs and can contribute across the board, making him very valuable in pools. Doan should continue to put up similar stats as he has already this season. There usually aren’t too many surprises with Doan.

7. Ales Hemsky
Hemsky would probably be as high as 4th on this list if it was not for his current injury: a concussion. As concussions go, they can make for very a tenuous outlook, both for the players themselves as well as fantasy managers. Hemsky is a very strong contributor for the Oilers on offense, easily their best player. He is an assist machine and has great playmaking ability and has just as good hands in terms of goal scoring, if only he would shoot more. It seems like every time Hemsky scores goals, they are highlight reel goals. Fantasy managers will have to be very careful going forward handling Hemsky because of this injury. Hemsky has proven slightly injury prone to miss a handful of games here and there the past few years but at the same time he usually does not miss significant time.

8. Martin St. Louis
St. Louis has certainly fallen from grace since he won the scoring title a few years ago. After their Cup championship, the Lightning have steadily declined in all facets of their game. This year’s highly touted incoming #1 draft pick, Steve Stamkos, has not been able to bolster them up so far. Lecavalier and St. Louis are still the go-to guys and they really cannot do everything for their team. Their teammates are simply not contributing enough. St. Louis is still scoring at a decent pace with 42 points in 44 but most managers were hoping for more elite-level production out of him. Nevertheless, St. Louis is still producing at a decent rate and should continue to do so for the rest of the season. One major positive for St. Louis is that he currently has a plus rating of +8, which is a big change from last season’s terrible -23.

9. Daniel Alfredsson
Alfy has been somewhat of a disappointment thus far for fantasy managers. He has a respectable 39 points in 41 games played at the moment but that is certainly off the pace of his past several years. The fact is, the entire Senators squad is struggling and Alfy is feeling the effects himself. Still one of the more consistent wingers in the NHL, Alfredsson is however not getting any younger and this could be a sign of things to come for this long time fantasy stud. Still, the Senators cannot stay this bad the entire season so expect Alfy’s production to go up just slightly or at least stay the same for the rest of the season.

10. Martin Havlat
With nine points in seven January games, Havlat is starting to heat up. Many managers are anticipating that Havlat gets injured sooner or later, which is certainly still a possibility. In fact, some have even speculated that Havlat has been kind of taking it easy on the ice, in order to not get himself injured, in what is essentially a contract year for him with the Hawks. Havlat has turned up his production a notch the past several weeks, including a nice three point performance against Detroit in the Winter Classic just a couple weeks ago. Since then, Havlat has arguably been the best Blackhawk. With Kane slowing down a bit due to injury and Toews having a weak first half, Havlat is definitely making a case for himself right now. Hopefully for fantasy owners who have gambled with Havlat thus far, they can cash in even more if Havlat continues his recent pace for the rest of the season, he certainly has the talent to.

Notables: Alexei Kovalev, Devin Setoguchi, Brian Gionta