Fantasy Hockey Gauntlet - Week Six: Brad Richards, Jake Muzzin, and Alex Tanguay

If you missed out on the early entries into my weekly series, you can find it all right here: Fake Teams Fantasy Hockey. A quick recap of last week's article: last week was pretty good for me as most of the recommendations either did fairly well or at least met expectations. Derek Stepan netted three points in three games and had some other stats to give him a nice and well rounded week. Perhaps more importantly though is that they have left Derick Brassard on the top line rather than put Stepan there. Brassard also played well with a couple points and other stats, but I'm not sure I like his long term outlook despite still playing with Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis. Jori Lehtera did exactly what I said he wouldn't do and scored a bunch of goals. I figured him to pile on the assists but no one will complain about the six point effort he gave us. He happened to be the fifth most valuable player last week. Cody Franson and Roman Josi both put up respectable points for a blue liner - four and three respectively, and Cam Ward was quietly one of the best goaltenders last week as he put up three quality starts despite only getting a single win. Nick Bonino did fine, but was a victim of only playing two games last week. Sean Monahan cooled off, but kept it respectable with some filler stats and Steve Downie didn't get any points but picked up six penalty minutes which is what you got him for in the first place. The only real misses were Johnny Gaudreau and Keith Kinkaid. Johnny Hockey did worse than nothing as he contributed a negative rating and the Devils continued to start Cory Schneider in every game, so Kinkaid never saw the ice despite two back to back sets last week. John Gibson remains on the injured reserve and is a great buy low/pick up right now, nothing has changed there.

In the snake draft league - This was Made in Kariya - the standings moved considerably. With a few blowouts, we know have one team way out ahead of the rest, one team way down at the bottom of the pile and ten teams right tight together. I lost a tight matchup to the team now in third and felt that there was some missed opportunity for me there. I now find myself in fourth in the standings and right in the middle of a clump of teams. The auction draft league - Don't Toews me bro! - also had a tight week. There is a bit more separation in the standings than the Kariya league, but it's still tight. I was one of the few blowout wins last week and now find myself tied for second place in the standings and only a few points out of first. Overall last week I went 3-2-1 in all my leagues and kept the streak of not having a losing week alive: 2-2-1 / 5-0-1 / 5-1-0 / 4-1-1 / 3-2-1.

Week Six (November 17-23):

4 Game Week: Arizona, Montreal, New York Rangers, St. Louis, Tampa Bay
2 Game Week: Colorado, Minnesota, Ottawa
All other teams at 3 games

You should go and get NHL Center Ice (if you haven't already done so) to properly enjoy the season's slate of games; trust me - it's worth the money and maybe you can get a discount now since the season has already started.

Waiver Pickups:

Alex Tanguay - LW/RW - COL (11% owned): It baffles me why Tangs isn't more widely owned. He's playing with elite players on the Avalanche and is contributing to the tune of seven goals/eleven points. After a slow start to the year, as the entire team did, he's nearly a point a game in the last two weeks. His dual winger eligibility is a nice selling feature too.

Contributes in goals and assists
Can hurt you in powerplay points and shots

Brayden Schenn - C/LW - PHI (37%): Brayden isn't getting the run with Claude Giroux on the top line, but he's certainly making the most of his time on the second line. With seven points (three goals) over his current five game point streak and various other contributing stats, he's one of the hotter players in the month of November. He's always had the skill, don't forget he was the primary piece in the Mike Richards deal, but he's always lacked the opportunity. Again, a dual eligible player should help fit your needs.

Contributes in goals, assists, and plus/minus
Can hurt you in powerplay points and shots

Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau - RW - MON (27%): I preferred it when he simply went by P.A. - even Yahoo! must not like it as they have his name spelled incorrectly. He's getting run on the top line with Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais lately which makes him a speculative add. He's had success before, but he tends to be streaky. Was his two goal output on Saturday the beginning of another hot streak? Or just a flash of potential?

Contributes in goals, plus/minus, and shots
Can hurt you in assists and powerplay points

Kris Versteeg - LW/RW - CHI (7%) and Brad Richards - C/LW (49%): With Patrick Sharp out for the next few weeks, a void was left in the Blackhawks lineup. Kris Versteeg and Brad Richards have helped the lessen the burn for the team, but they're criminally under-owned in fantasy circles. They're both getting consistent minutes on the top two lines, even if the lines are being shuffled constantly and are top 50 assets right now. Go get them now!

Contributes in goals, assists, plus/minus, and shots
Can hurt you in penalty minutes

Jake Muzzin - D - LA (38%): Muzzin has been receiving the top pairing duties with Drew Doughty, both at even strength and on the powerplay. With the recent injury to Alec Martinez and indefinite suspension to Slava Voynov, it looks like he'll be relied upon more than ever. He's got six assists in the last two weeks and is making a difference.

Contributes in assists
Can hurt you in goals

Tyler Ennis - C/LW - BUF (8%): Ennis has long showed promise, but failed in delivery. Part of the issue has been, and continues to be, the fact that he plays on the worst team in the league. That said, he has value in spurts and he might be on one of the streaks right now. With five points in a three game point streak, and two on the powerplay, he's filling the stat sheet. That he has an above average amount of penalty minutes so far, isn't something that you can rely on from him, but is a nice bonus.

Contributes in goals, assists, powerplay points, and shots (all when hot)
Can hurt you in plus/minus

Mikko Koivu - C - MIN (40%): Koivu is that typical low risk, low ceiling number four center in most leagues which might explain why his ownership is down. At the beginning of the year, he was taken off of the top line, but has since been reunited with Zach Parise and Jason Pominville. He hasn't necessarily been putting up the points, but he's shooting the puck a lot in the last two weeks, 27 shots puts him in a tie for 8th in the NHL over that span, and I'm a firm believer in points following shortly behind shots. Look for him to heat up soon (or so I hope).

Contributes in assists and shots
Can hurt you in goals and penalty minutes

Tomas Plekanec - C - MON (44%): The Canadiens have mixed up their lines a bit and Plekanec must really like it because he's doing a bit more of everything recently. He has two straight multi-point efforts and has taken 22 shots in the last two weeks. Same type of player as Koivu above, he's a good, consistent deep center.

Contributes in assists, shots, and plus/minus
Can hurt you in goals and penalty minutes

Devan Dubnyk - G - ARI (9%): Double D has received the last two starts in the desert. While I think this is merely a case of give Mike Smith a break and let him re-compose, the fact that DD has put up two quality starts and back to back wins for the Coyotes, means that you have to be aware and watch the situation closely. If nothing else, he's a good play until they return Smith back to the crease.

Hopefully there is enough here to help you through the week, but if not, here is a preview towards next week.

Week Seven (November 24-30) Preview:

4 Game Week: Detroit, Minnesota, New York Islanders, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
2 Game Week: Arizona, Boston, Montreal, San Jose, Tampa Bay, Toronto 
All other teams at 3 games

My NHL Schedule:

The NHL Schedule has not been revised for anything since last week but can be found here: 2014-15 NHL Schedule . Don't forget to change the time zone to your appropriate time zone. The one thing I ask of you is that you do not take my schedule and use it for your own personal gains. Please do not sell it, you can direct people here to find it, but do not sell it.

I'm new to the twitterverse, but I'd love to hear your feedback and questions. Follow me on Twitter @HockeyGauntlet for more of my thoughts and all of your fantasy hockey needs.