Buying or Selling Hot Starts to the 2014-15 NHL Season

Every year in fantasy drafts that take place after the season has begun, excited owners predictably overbid or overdraft a player or two who have far exceeded preseason prognostications over a minuscule sample size.

A hot start in the National Hockey League is expected from some of the usual suspects like Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos or Alex Ovechkin. But when you see big numbers from guys previously thought past their primes, younger guys with no history of success or guys who would be placed on the penalty-kill unit long before their coach thinks to throw them on the power play, you have to question whether it's something you're going to see consistently over a season.

With a couple of weekends of action in the books, we take a look at some of those hot starts and ask that very question.

Click ahead to see whose hot starts we're buying and selling.

Rick Nash, New York Rangers

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The numbers: Six games, seven goals, one assist, eight points, 22 shots on goal

The verdict: Buying

The bottom line: Despite the fact Nash is clicking at a completely unsustainable 31.8 shooting percentage, he's averaging nearly four shots per game. When the goal-scoring tapers off, the assists could jump up from others capitalizing on rebounds. After a strong first season with the New York Rangers during the lockout-shortened season, Nash had a bit of a drop-off last year—although his 26 goals and 39 points in 65 games was nothing to sneeze at for most.

The 30-year-old is eager to prove his critics wrong, and playing with trade-day acquisition Martin St. Louis on his other wing for a full season will help his numbers stay strong.

Frederik Andersen, Anaheim Ducks

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The numbers: Four games played, 5-0-0 record, 1.38 goals-against average, .950 save percentage

The verdict: Selling, with trepidation

The bottom line: Andersen may turn out to be a legitimate NHL star, but there's no track record yet and the long-term plan at the position, John Gibson, is going to get his share of start eventually. Andersen suited up for 28 games as a backup for the Ducks last season before coach Bruce Boudreau played musical goalies with him, Jonas Hiller and Gibson in the playoffs. Gibson got shelled for six goals against in the Ducks opener and was sent to the AHL to get some games in on the weekend, but he'll be back and hungry to wrestle the job away from Andersen.

Michael Cammalleri, New Jersey Devils

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The numbers: Five games, five goals, two assists, seven points, 25 shots on goal.

The verdict: Buying

The bottom line: Michael Cammalleri's start to this season reminds me of his career year with the Calgary Flames. He buried 39 goals and 82 points in 81 games in the 2008-09 season while playing on a line with Jarome Iginla. The 32-year-old Cammalleri is playing alongside an even better setup man now in Jaromir Jagr—who despite his age is still a half-step ahead of most players mentally—and could potentially land around a point per game for the third time in his 12-year career.

What makes Cammalleri special is the way he discovers open ice near the net and how deadly his Brett Hull-like one-timer is when he gets a chance to launch it in close.

Tommy Wingels, San Jose Sharks

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The numbers: Six games, three goals, one assist, four points, 18 shots on goal.

The verdict: Selling 

The bottom line: He's averaging three shots per game, which I like, but Tommy Wingels' hot start isn't going to get him bigger minutes or top-six linemates on a loaded San Jose Sharks squad. Thanks to some mismatches on the third line, Wingels will get his share of points in support of the stars, but they'll likely come in spurts. With two multi-point games accounting for all his production so far, he's gone three contests—including two consecutive—without a point.

Patric Hornqvist, Pittsburgh Penguins

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

The numbers: Four games, four goals, four assists, eight points, 28 shots.

The verdict: Buying

The bottom line: Patric Hornqvist was always under the radar when he played for the Nashville Predators, even when putting up a 30-goal season in 2009-10. Now he's exposed—in a good way. The sniper has the world's best player as his center, and the sky is the limit for him with Sidney Crosby feeding him pucks. The 27-year-old is leading the league averaging seven shots a game, and I don't expect he'll let that number slip all that much with all the ice time he's getting at even strength and on the power play.

How is James Neal doing in Nashville?

Brock Nelson, New York Islanders

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The numbers: Five games, four goals, four assists, eight points, five shots on goal.

The verdict: Selling

The bottom line: If Brock Nelson was putting up nearly two points per game while playing on a line with John Tavares, I'd be a little more optimistic about his ability to maintain that pace for the rest of the New York Islander's sophomore season. But the 23-year-old who had 14 goals and 26 points as a rookie is suiting up alongside Mikhail Grabovski and Ryan Strome at even strength and is doing nearly half of his damage while playing with Tavares on the power play. Although the big-bodied, 6'3" winger isn't likely to be booted from that unit as long as he's healthy, the unit will go through dry spells.

Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

The numbers: Seven games, one goal, five assists, six points, 12 shots.

The verdict: Buying

The bottom line: Mark Giordano is one of the Calgary Flames' top offensive threats despite his spot on defense. He plays big minutes, has an underrated shot from the point on the power play and is a very fluid puck-carrier who plays with an even more rush-savvy defender in T.J. Brodie. Giordano may not finish the season with a point per game but he's going to be one of the team's top scorers on the season. He led the Flames with 0.73 points per game last season, which prorated to a 60-point effort.

Mike Green, Washington Capitals

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The numbers: Four games, two goals, three assists, five points, eight shots.

The verdict: Selling

Why I'm selling: It's encouraging to see Mike Green looking more like the guy who had seasons of 76, 73 and 56 points from the blue line for the Washington Capitals and less like the taped-together poster boy for NHL injuries over the past few seasons. Green is one of only seven NHL defensemen to score at least 30 goals and is only 29 years old despite the fact that it seems as if his big years are well in the past.

I'd be buying if it wasn't for his terrible luck on the health front. He's too big an injury risk to believe he'll be able to sustain his current pace of production or even manage to get back into the 60-point range unless he plays a full season.

Jaden Schwartz, St. Louis Blues

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The numbers: Four games, four goals, three assists, seven points, 17 shots on goal.

The verdict: Buying

The bottom line: True, the St. Louis Blues now have one of the deadliest "third" lines in the league. Jaden Schwartz is playing the majority of his time with Vladimir Tarasenko and newcomer Jori Lehtera, who are both talented enough to confuse the line hierarchy. On any given night they could be the Blues' top producers. And yes, Schwartz was phenomenal last season with 25 goals and 56 points in his second NHL campaign, but he did that as part of the top trio more often than not, averaging more than 17.5 minutes a night. He won't get the same ice time consistently and is on the second power-play unit. He might match his numbers from last year or even exceed them slightly, but he won't maintain this pace with 15:52 of ice time a night.

Mikkel Boedker, Arizona Coyotes

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The numbers: Four games, five goals, one assist, six points, 15 shots.

The verdict: Selling

The bottom line: Mikkel Boedker had his best NHL season last year, netting 19 goals and 51 points in 82 games. The 24-year-old is the team's most talented player, and his ceiling is probably even higher than what he showed last season, but he isn't surrounded by the kind of talent that creates point-per-player forwards. His shooting percentage to start the season is way up over 33 percent, which won't pass the test of time. His career average is 11.4 percent.

I haven't even mentioned that four of his six points came in one game against the awful Edmonton Oilers.

The Sedin Twins, Vancouver Canucks

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The numbers (total):Six games, three goals, nine assists, 12 points, 15 shots on goal.

The verdict: Buying

The bottom line: Henrik and Daniel Sedin had down years last season under new head coach John Tortorella, and some pundits believed it to be the beginning of the end of their incredible years. Daniel had under 50 points for the first time in a non-lockout season since his third year in the league. Henrik was equally frustrated with a 50-point finish—his lowest since his fourth season. But I look at that season as an anomaly for the twins, who have been at or near the point-per-game mark for the previous eight years.

There's a new coach in Willie Desjardins, and with bona fide newcomer Radim Vrbata on their flank, the twins appear re-energized. It's a small sample size, but the Sedins are back.