There has been a slew of unlikely heroes as of late in the NHL and they are paying big dividends for those fantasy owners who took a shot on them plucking them up off the waiver wire. A couple of classic examples over the last couple weeks are:

Radim Vrbata (PHO-RW) (last 16 GP: 9 G, 7 A, 8 PIMs, 2 PPP, 3 GWG, 57 SOG, +6)

Jake Gardiner (TOR-D) (last 12 GP: 2 G, 6 A, 1 PPP, 16 blocked shots, 16 SOG, +11)

and Evgeni Nabokov (NYI-G) (last 9 GS: 7-2-0, 1.33 GAA, .955 SV%, 2 SO)

For Radim Vrbata, he is on a career pace. He is currently on track to blow by his previous career high 56 points in a season with 45 already in only 54 games played. He, alongside other aging veterans Ray Whitney and Shane Doan, are leading the charge for the fan-less Coyotes and helping them stand ground as a competitive team in the West.

Although those numbers for Jake Gardiner are nothing quite eye-popping, it is however quite decent for a defenseman ranked 599th overall in Yahoo!’s original rankings at the beginning of the season. Gardiner is also contributing in the areas that often do not matter in fantasy hockey and helping anchor the Leafs back-end for their forwards continue to score at will.

What a ride it has been over the last 2 years for Evgeni Nabokov. He spent the first half of the 2010-11 season in the KHL and in the second half he was claimed by the Islanders only to be suspended for the remainder of the season for not reporting to the team. Considering the turmoil the Islanders goal-tending situation started off as at the beginning of the season, Nabokov has settled into a starting role and is playing like he was years back with the Sharks. And if Nabokov continues to play the way he has been over the last month-and-half for the Islanders, he will only need Tavares instead of a whole team trying to score.

Stay tuned for “Trending Up” for 2 more unlikely heroes…

TRADE OF THE WEEK

***Ilya Kovalchuk for Eric Staal and Ray Whitney***

Kovalchuk is hotter than Wayne Gretzky’s daughter right now and this is normally the time of year when he tends to shine. He has 20 (10-10) points, 9 PIMs, 8 PPP, 4 SHP and 2 GWG with a +5 plus/minus rating in his last 14 games. Nice to see the Kovalchuk of old having some consistent play.

We all are aware of the hardships Eric Staal has went through this season and although he has not nearly been as bad as he was earlier in the year, he still has disappointed overall but does still have time to redeem himself as the Canes still fight for a possible playoff spot. And as mentioned earlier, Ray Whitney is having an outstanding year for the old-timer he is. He has 49 points on the year and does not appear to be showing any signs of holding off on the score sheet for the ‘Yotes. So where do you stand in this trade? Does the surprise of Whitney ease the disappointment of Eric Staal to take that side of the trade? Or do you believe in Kovalchuk continuing to be a dominate force for the remainder of the season?

Send us your thoughts on twitter @2ForBoarding or @DBraemer, send us a message on Facebook on the 2ForBoarding page or in the comments section below.

TRENDING DOWN

I promised you a continuation of unexpected heroes and I promise to deliver.

David Clarkson has been quite the surprise for the Devils this year and can offer stat-stuffing in both point and PIMs categories. In Clarkson’s last 9 games he has 11 (6-5) points, 16 PIMs, 5 PPP, 1 GWG and a +3 plus/minus rating. It seems as if Kovalchuk’s play is rubbing off on Clarkson and fantasy owners are loving every second of it. Clarkson is nothing more than a waiver pickup and is on pace to nearly double his career high in goals set back in 08-09 when he potted 17. That year in 82 games he recorded 32 (17-15) points (6 on powerplay), so far this year in 53 games, Clarkson already has 30 (21-9) points (12 on powerplay). Clarkson is not a must add for the long haul but for right now he is one of the hottest fantasy players in the league and comes at a price for next to nothing. Pick him up off of waivers and enjoy the multi-category production.

The next unpredictable hero hails from the city that Gretzky built. The Edmonton Oilers may be suffering from injuries to their younger stars and are struggling to consistently win games, but when it comes to Sam Gagner, Edmonton fans and fantasy owners do not mind if continues to do what he is doing.

Gagner was not doing much up until the 5-game point streak he is currently on. In that streak Gagner’s numbers are staggering (15 (8-7) points, 4 (2-2) PPP and a +6 plus/minus rating). Although the majority of those points came the night he torched the Blackhawks for 4 goals and 4 assists.

Nonetheless, he has been able to continue his scoring output and is definitely worth a pickup for the time being, at least until he cools off. He may not be able to provide your team with PIMs or short-handed points, he has proven he can accumulate points in bunches and does have the talent around him to keep it going at a steady pace. This improved play should also earn him some consideration for some more time on the powerplay. Pick him up if you have the spot.

TRENDING DOWN

Well it looks like Corey Crawford is back on his slide.

His poor play in the new year has finally caught up to him and Ray Emery’s name is being thrown back into the mix and in line to take away some of what would be Crawford’s starts. Crawford’s season has been all over the place, but more often it has been in the dumps. This is not the first time he has been mentioned in this section. In Crawford’s 11 starts in 2012 he is 3-5-3 with a 3.56 GAA and an .887 SV%. Crawford is fortunate he plays on a team with an explosive offense or else there would not even be second thoughts of finding his replacement until he can prove otherwise.

Right now, though, I view Crawford as a Buy-Low candidate. For one, he is a goalie and whenever you have the chance to get a top goalie at a lower price, as long as you are not giving up too much, it is always worth taking the chance. Also, the Blackhawks are destined to come out strong near the end of the regular season and that is when Crawford could make his way back into the winning columns.

SLEEPER ALERT

This week I am going to go off the fantasy board and back into reality for my sleeper alert. This time I am going to nominate a team as a sleeper to make the playoffs with just over a quarter of the season to go. For my choice I will drift over to the West and my fellow collegaues here at 2ForBoarding may frown when they hear my choice — not only because this team has simply just been pretty awful all year long, but also consdiering my “history” with this team and I promise you this, this is purely a business deciosn.

I believe that the Anaheim Ducks will somehow slither their way into the Western Conference playoffs and the road to it begins now. Every year it seems as if the Ducks are on the cusp of not making the playoffs but somehow make their way in with hard-nosed play and extreme production from their top line. So far this year, they have had none of that on top of brutal play between the pipes from Hiller. However, as of late the team seems to be playing with that sense of urgency and Hiller is playing much, MUCH than he was earlier this year. The trade deadline may play a big part in how the Ducks season may finish out but I do believe that if any of the bottom 4 teams in the West will be able to pull off a big run and capture one of those bottom 3 playoff spots, the Ducks are the team to do it.

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That concludes this weeks 2FB Fantasy Rundown.

The Rundown will be M.I.A. for the next two weeks as I will be in the M.I.A.. Well, a 3 hour drive away at least. For the next two weeks I am off to Florida for a warm vacation with the family and girlfriend in the Sunshine State.

If plans stick as discussed, I’ll be doing some up-close-and-personal fantasy scouting of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Be sure to check all the other interesting and entertaining pieces here on our website and if you have any fantasy questions in the next two weeks, make sure to send them our way through one of the many social media outlets you can reach the 2ForBoarding crew. Good luck in the next two weeks and as always…

Don’t forget to set your lineups!