Fantasy Hockey Week 6 Waiver Wire Preview

Learning is a lifelong process, a wise man once said. Keeping that sage advice in mind, we continue our own fantasy hockey education by examining surprising players.

Hot Streaks

Erik Ersberg

Ersberg impressed everyone this week, starting all three games in net for the Kings and possibly supplanting Jason LaBarbera in the process.

Ersberg won two of those three match-ups and posted very solid numbers, with a GAA of 1.93 and a .913 save percentage. Even still, the Kings TG (top goalie) is only a No. 2 fantasy option.

Niklas Hagman

Hagman has been murdering the puck lately with six points in his last four games. On top of his hot streak, it appears that he is playing a significant amount of time on the top line and on the power play.

Add in the fact that Toronto is shuffling around Jason Blake and trying to find some scoring consistency and Hagman looks like a good short term pick up for goals and assists.

Pavel Kubina

Kubina appears to have finally awakened from an early season slumber. He posted two points in Saturday night's game against Montreal and had points in four consecutive games before that.

If you were smart enough to put him on the pine pony while he regained his form, now is the time to start him and be rewarded.

Roberto Luongo

Many Canucks fans think Luongo is the league's best goalie and after three consecutive shutouts, it's easy to see why. Despite having some trouble early on, his .920 save percentage and 2.34 GAA are stellar.

Luongo is certainly a premier fantasy net-minder, but the cost of acquiring him now will simply be too high. If you have him, make sure he's starting and if you don't, keep this in mind for next year's draft.

Petr Sykora

Sykora has three points in his last two games and has netted a pair of goals in the Penguins last game, a 5-4 victory over Edmonton. Despite this recent streak, Sykora has a grand total of only six points.

On top of that, Miro Satan appears to have established himself as the only true top winger. Sykora is a reasonable fill in at RW, but merely a No. 4/5 fantasy forward.

Blake Wheeler

Wheeler put his name on the map with five points in two games, including a hatter against the Maple Leafs on Thursday.

The sad truth is that this forward has minimal value, since Chuck Kobasews' return means there will be even less available ice time for other forwards. Continue to ignore Blake Wheeler for the time being.

Ice Cold

Jay Bouwmeester

J-Bo, as he's known in Florida, has just three points and is minus-4. And even though he's been simply awful thus far, there's reason to believe he will turn it around.

He's a traditional slow starter. On top of that, his contract is up after this season and he could be traded at any time. His ownership percentage is waning a bit now so there's a chance he might even be a free agent in your league. Buy him low!

Peter Budaj

Despite posting a recent shutout, Budaj still has very underwhelming numbers. His GAA is over three and his sv percentage of .885 is equally unimpressive. As of yet, Colorado may still trade for a goalie.

Budaj may eventually turn it around and claim the starting job, but he's little more than a third goalie right now.

Erik Cole

Cole is constantly projected as a top winger and constantly disappoints. He simply isn't fitting in well to Edmonton's style. With just two goals, a minus-3 rating and no turnaround in sight, now is a good time to find a replacement.

Kimmo Timmonen

Timmonen has only five points and is a minus-2. This is especially mystifying when you consider how much time he sees on the power play.

The truth of the matter is that Philadelphia has simply looked out of sync and just isn't playing well. He will certainly catch fire soon, so trade for him while you still can.

Joffrey Lupul

Lupul caught the eyes of most fantasy owners last year but simply hasn't found his game yet this season. He has only five goals and an assist through 13 games.

Lupul is a lot like Petr Sykora; he's streaky, can score a lot on the power play and won't help owners out much with peripheral stats. Will the return of Daniel Briere help? Tune in next time...