Fantasy Hockey 2011: Weekly Roundup Week 5

I honestly wasn't sure what to write about but fortunately the hockey news stream provided me with a neat intro. Ken Hitchcock is now the new head coach for the St. Louis Blues. I remember his days with the Dallas Stars very well but I have my concerns of him working with the high upside, young talent the Blues are using right now since he tends to not have much patience for young talent. Overall, it should help the team as a whole but it remains to be seen if his coaching can stabilize a team that hasn't done very well so far this season, especially at goaltending with Jaroslav Halak. Now that my ranting is done, let's take a look at some free agent/waiver players and some injury news!

Free Agent/Waiver Report

Josh Harding, Wild - As I already mentioned in my Saturday Starting Backup Goalies report, Harding has been doing an excellent job earning more starts lately. He's kinda reminded me of what happened with the Oilers and Nikolai Khabibulin. Then again, I doubt the Wild would be so easy to let a goalie controversy happen when they've invested so much into Niklas Backstrom. Backstrom owners MUST go get Harding if he's still available and those who don't have Backstrom can still get him as a trade chip to Backstrom owners.

David Legwand & Patric Hornqvist, Predators - Ok, I can't ignore Legwand anymore. I've always thought that Hornqvist was a good player simply because he shoots like a mad man at the opposing goalie. Perhaps their combined powers are helping harness each of their abilities. Maybe it's chemistry. All I know is that they are both worth a pickup as a bench players on your team.

More after the jump...

Mike Smith, Coyotes - He's done very well as the de facto starter for the Yotes and has proven everyone wrong about his talent thus far into the season. He's worth the add as a G3 since they'll keep playing him in the good times and in the bad which can be a good thing for those who either need games to play roto leagues or you're dealing with injuries/goalie controversies in head to head leagues.

Adam Henrique, Devils - He's seems to be blending well with Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk since he started centering them but now that Kovalchuk is injured, he may get sent to a different line. Or not. Nobody is sure at this point but this is a good of a time as any to add him to your watch list or perhaps add him to your bench if you have the space in deeper league formats. Just keep your ear to the ground to track who he's playing with game by game.

Corey Potter, Oilers - With the injury to Ryan Whitney, this created a vacuum on who would perform as the powerplay quarterback. Enter Mr. Potter. He's been performing quite well and has averaged close to 4 minutes of powerplay time. He's well worth the pickup since it sounds like the play time will continue for the future and perhaps can stick with it even when Whitney comes back.

Ian White, Red Wings - He is benefitting from playing with the great Nicklas Lidstrom and has been playing top defensive pairing in powerplay time too. So long as that sticks, he's worth the speculative add as a bench defenseman

Players that I've suggested picking up in the past that are still good pickups and available in majority of leagues:

Ray Whitney, Coyotes; Brian Elliott, Blues; Tomas Fleischmann (bless you), Panthers.

Injuries

Ilya Kovalchuk, Devils - He developed a leg injury and it sounds like he didn't make it through practice very well today. He is considered day to day at this time.

Duncan Keith, Blackhawks - He injured his hand but it's not terribly serious and the staff expects him back within a game or two from tonight.

Tobias Enstrom, Jets - He broke his collarbone so he will be out for at least a month. He has been placed in the IR/IL list.

Sami Salo, Canucks - He's missed his third straight game due to a groin injury. He has a long list of injuries during his career so you can be sure he and the Canucks are going to take it easy with his groin muscles. The team has an added advantage that they don't play again until Thursday so they have a few days off to try to get healthy soon. He is day-to-day.

Alexandre Burrows, Canucks - He's been having back trouble but like Salo, he will benefit to having a few days off to recover. He is day-to-day.

Don't forget to to follow @FakeTeams and @MattPTurner on Twitter if you have any fantasy hockey questions!