In this article, I will be looking at some recent NHL storylines, determining how much you should care about them and how you should react in your Fantasy Hockey league.
Montreal Canadiens Flourishing under Martin St. Louis
How much should I care? 3/5
Under Dominique Ducharme, the Montreal Canadiens started the year 8-30-7, good for dead last in the NHL. During that time, not a single Canadiens player was worth rostering in fantasy hockey leagues, unless you are in an extremely deep or dynasty league.
That has changed as of February 7 when Montreal hired Martin St. Louis to be their interim head coach. Under St. Louis, the Canadiens are 4-3 and the top players are worth considering again.
There’s still no need to look at Montreal’s depth players, but it may be worth picking up Montreal’s top line players if they have been dropped in your league:
| Player | GP | G | A | +/- | PPP | Hits | FP/Game | Roster % |
| Cole Caufield | 7 | 6 | 4 | +5 | 1 | 3 | 7.5 | 75% |
| Nicholas Suzuki | 7 | 2 | 4 | +3 | 1 | 8 | 5.1 | 85% |
| Josh Anderson | 7 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 0 | 15 | 4.5 | 46% |
| Jeff Petry | 7 | 2 | 3 | +2 | 0 | 19 | 4.4 | 63% |
Please note that FP/Game = Fantasy Points per Game in standard Fantrax Fantasy Hockey Leagues.
Cole Caufield is on a ridiculous hot streak and his roster % has already increased 7% since last week. He’s worth picking up immediately if he’s available in your league. A player with his talent should flourish under St. Louis, who gives his talented players more freedom and doesn’t force them into a system.
I also recommend picking up Suzuki if you’re in one of the 15% of leagues where he is available. For Petry and Anderson, it depends on how deep your league is. I consider them a good injury replacement, or worth a pickup if you are dropping someone extremely replaceable. Anderson is only good in banger leagues that count hits.
As for goaltending, Sam Montembeault has had a great stretch of games recently but I would not recommend picking him up unless you are desperate for goaltending (he is rostered in 17% of leagues). As a rule, I try to stick to goalies who play for playoff teams to get a good number of wins and solid ratios from them. The Canadiens are certainly doing well since the hiring of Martin St. Louis but they’re nowhere close to a playoff team.