6 Fantasy Hockey Situations to Watch This Weekend

Can the Maple Leafs Bounce Back?

In case you haven't heard, on Tuesday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs (-0.32 nERD) lost to the Nashville Predators (0.19) by a touchdown; the fans at the Air Canada Centre broke out their "Let's Go Raptors!" chant, and there was much speculation about coach Randy Carlyle's job security following the game. General manager, Dave Nonis, quickly put a lid on any rumors by giving his bench boss a vote of confidence and stating that he'll be "as patient as we have to be" with Carlyle and the rest of the team. Don't expect any transactions soon.

From a fantasy perspective, the Leafs have a number of players that contribute, the most obvious being Phil Kessel. He is an elite talent and immediately make players that play with him better. (See: Tyler Bozak.) If Carlyle chooses to mix up his line combinations whomever skates with Kessel will be worth a look in most fantasy leagues.

For the majority of the season the Leafs top line has consisted of Kessel, Bozak and James van Riemsdyk. However, Nazem Kadri has played some time with Kessel and Daniel Winnik in recent weeks. While it is uncertain which way the Leafs will go with the line combinations, The Toronto Star ran a piece at the beginning of the season stating that Kessel played better with Kadri than with Bozak.

Aside: Despite the 9-2 loss, Kadri finished with a goal and a plus-1 on the evening. The last time that a player finished with a positive plus/minus when their team let up nine goals or more was November 5th, 2011: Derek Dorsett scored and finished a plus-1 during a 9-2 Columbus Blue Jackets loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Playing for the Flyers that night: James van Riemsdyk.

The Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning (0.45) at home on Thursday. van Riemsdyk netted two goals, and Bozak posted a plus-2 while Kadri, coincidentally, was one of just four Leafs to be on the wrong side of zero, netting a minus-1.

Also intriguing for the team is the imminent return of David Booth and Joffrey Lupul. Booth has yet to play a regular season game for the Maple Leafs after fracturing his foot while blocking a shot in the preseason. Booth however, is not immediately fantasy-relevant when he comes back; while he had some promising years while playing with the Florida Panthers, he saw a reduced role at his latest stop with the Vancouver Canucks:

Lupul however is worth owning in all leagues; since he has been playing in Toronto, he has flirted with a point per game at times:

Regardless, the Leafs' situation is worth keeping tabs on during the weekend and going forward.

Toronto plays the Detroit Red Wings (0.03) on Saturday; pay attention to line combinations, as this situation is far from resolved.