The Red Wings have been hit by injuries and placed Dylan Larkin, J.T. Compher and Klim Kostin on IR on Monday. Who can fantasy managers add to replace them?
The Red Wings have been hit by injuries and placed Dylan Larkin, J.T. Compher and Klim Kostin on IR on Monday. Who can fantasy managers add to replace them?
It was a bad start to the week for the Red Wings, who announced a slew of moves.
Captain Dylan Larkin was injured Saturday against the Sens and needed to be helped off the ice. While all scans were negative, he was placed on IR retroactive to Saturday.
J.T. Compher, who had been a steady presence on the second line and scoring at a 65-point pace, has missed the past two games due to soreness and placed on IR retroactive to his most recent game last Tuesday against the Sharks.
Depth winger Klim Kostin was held out of the lineup Saturday, and though no specific reason was given, clearly he's not healthy enough to play.
All players placed on IR must sit out a minimum of seven days. The Wings play back-to-back Monday and Tuesday on the road before returning home to face the Canes on Thursday.
In a subsequent move, the Red Wings re-called bottom-six forwards Austin Czarnik, who played in 11 games earlier this season, and Zach Aston-Reese, who was signed in October after getting cut from the Canes. Jonatan Berggren, a slick playmaker with the most upside of the three call-ups, played in four games earlier this season.
Of course, none of these three players can fill the gaping hole down the middle left by Larkin and Compher.
It's more likely that a trio of centers — Joe Veleno, Michael Rasmussen and Andrew Copp — split the duties.
Veleno's the one to target; he had already been skating between Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat, and also playing PP2. In the absence of Larkin, it's possible that the DeBrincat-Veleno-Kane line becomes the Wings' primary offensive option.
Veleno doesn't shoot the puck often (30 shots in 26 games), but getting increased minutes with elite wingers on his flanks should help boost his fantasy value. Among Wings forwards, Veleno ranks fourth in expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, according to naturalstattrick.com.
Copp would likely be the No. 2 choice, a versatile utility player who can play center or the wing, and move up and down the lineup with ease. The drawback is his low offensive upside, and he's a better fit as a matchup option.
Berggren has some sneaky upside, but based on his recent usage will most likely play bottom-six minutes at even strength and some power-play minutes with the second unit. Unless you're in a deep league, Berggren is not worth the trouble.
Of course, you're not limited to internal options to replace Larkin or Compher on your fantasy squad. They will be hard to replace, but there are plenty of centers who are rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues who can score some points and win faceoffs, including:
Tomas Hertl, C, Sharks (49% rostered)*
Charlie Coyle, C, Bruins (33% rostered)*
Casey Mittelstadt, C, Sabres (26% rostered)*
Sean Couturier, C, Flyers (22% rostered)*
Chandler Stephenson, C, Golden Knights (22% rostered)
Dylan Strome, C, Capitals (19% rostered)*
Nick Paul, C/LW, Lightning (17% rostered)
Nick Bjugstad, C, Coyotes (14% rostered)
* = recommended
