Fantasy Hockey Starts, Sits: Tuukka Rask Among Top Goalies To Play This Week

Editor?s Note: This fantasy hockey feature will run each Monday on NESN.com. It will showcase which players fantasy owners should start and sit on their team. We also will post a weekly fantasy recap each Sunday highlighting the stars, duds and best waiver wire pickups. As always, superstars such as Sidney Crosby and P.K. Subban should always be started regardless of recent performance.

With many fantasy football playoffs starting this week, it’s almost time for sports fans to devote the majority of their time to fantasy hockey. Let’s take a look at four players to start and sit this week as the third month of the 2014-15 NHL season commences.

Starts
Tuukka Rask, Goaltender, Boston Bruins
Rask was taken in the first two rounds of many fantasy drafts and he failed to perform like a top-tier goaltender for most of October. That changed in November, as the reigning Vezina Trophy winner continued his return to elite form. Rask has given up two goals or fewer in eight of his last 10 games and he’s 7-2-1 in that span. Fantasy owners should no longer fear starting Rask after his early season struggles.

Milan Lucic, Left Wing, Boston Bruins
Lucic has a two-game goal streak, a plus-3 rating and is creating more scoring chances on a new line alongside center Carl Soderberg and right winger Loui Eriksson. This trio has put two straight impressive performances together and should continue to improve.

Lucic wasn’t a trustworthy option for fantasy owners over the first two months of the campaign, but he’s worth playing as long he’s with the Soderberg/Eriksson duo.

Kris Versteeg, Left Wing, Chicago Blackhawks
Versteeg is providing valuable depth scoring in his second stint with the Blackhawks. He’s tallied 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 20 games, including seven points (two goals, five assists) in his last five games. Versteeg must be started in all leagues and fantasy owners shouldn’t be afraid of trading him based on his high value.

Hampus Lindholm, Defenseman, Anaheim Ducks
Lindholm is scoring at a good rate (nine points in 25 games) and his puck possession numbers are excellent. He’s been receiving 22:42 of ice time per game (including 1:53 on the power play) and should see his role increase further because of veteran defenseman Francois Beauchemin’s injury and Clayton Stoner’s illness (mumps). Lindholm should be started in all types of fantasy leagues.

Sits
Olli Jokinen, Center, Nashville Predators
Jokinen isn’t even worth a start in deep 12-16 team fantasy leagues. He’s scored just one goal with zero assists through 23 games despite playing nearly 15 minutes each night. At 35 years old, Jokinen might never be fantasy relevant again.

Cody Hodgson, Center, Buffalo Sabres
Playing any Sabres forward is a risk for fantasy owners and Hodgson is no exception. He’s scored only one goal with one assist and a minus-9 rating in 20 games. This lack of production is really disappointing given his impressive 20-goal performance last season. Fantasy owners should drop Hodgson and look for better options on the waiver wire.

Reilly Smith, Right Winger, Boston Bruins
Smith scored 20 goals last season and fantasy owners expected similar or better production in 2014-15. However, Smith has taken a step back with just four goals through 24 games. He’s in the midst of an eight-game goalless drought with only two goals in his last 19 games. Smith also lost his spot on the Patrice Bergeron line to rookie winger David Pastrnak last week.

Sergei Bobrovsky, Goaltender, Columbus Blue Jackets
Bobrovsky’s Vezina Trophy-winning campaign seems like a distant memory these days. He’s struggled this season with a 5-8-1 record, a .907 save percentage and a 3.03 goals against average. The Russian netminder is 0-4-1 in his last five starts with 19 goals against in that span. To be fair, the Blue Jackets aren’t giving him much offensive support (26th in goals scored per game), but Bobrovsky also isn’t playing to his normal standard.

Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images