This article is part of our From the Press Box series.
With the All-Star break upon us, I'd like to highlight some players who have outperformed preseason expectations and turned into first-half fantasy studs. On the flip side, there are a number of players who have noticeably not lived up to expectations, earning the moniker of fantasy duds and leaving their teams with salary-cap concerns.
First-half studs
Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, WAS – The third-year pro was given the plum assignment alongside Alex Ovechkin to open this season while the Caps' usual top center, Nicklas Backstrom, recovered from offseason surgery and missed the first three games. Kuznetsov proved very quickly that he was up to the task, and his productivity has continued to soar even though he was soon relegated to a second scoring line. The Capitals are finally reaping the rewards they expected when they picked the flashy Russian in the first round of the 2010 draft. His point-per-game scoring rate is a testament to the myriad of offensive skills that helped him dominate the World Junior scene.
Bobby Ryan, RW, OTT – Another former first-round choice, drafted in 2005 by Anaheim, Ryan has carved out a nice career as a consistent scorer who can be counted upon to play a sound game in a top-six role. This season, he has emerged as a focal point of the Senators' offense. Underlining that point, he's second to Erik Karlsson in team scoring through 49 games. The fact that Ryan's produced 18 goals and 43 points, putting him on pace
With the All-Star break upon us, I'd like to highlight some players who have outperformed preseason expectations and turned into first-half fantasy studs. On the flip side, there are a number of players who have noticeably not lived up to expectations, earning the moniker of fantasy duds and leaving their teams with salary-cap concerns.
First-half studs
Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, WAS – The third-year pro was given the plum assignment alongside Alex Ovechkin to open this season while the Caps' usual top center, Nicklas Backstrom, recovered from offseason surgery and missed the first three games. Kuznetsov proved very quickly that he was up to the task, and his productivity has continued to soar even though he was soon relegated to a second scoring line. The Capitals are finally reaping the rewards they expected when they picked the flashy Russian in the first round of the 2010 draft. His point-per-game scoring rate is a testament to the myriad of offensive skills that helped him dominate the World Junior scene.
Bobby Ryan, RW, OTT – Another former first-round choice, drafted in 2005 by Anaheim, Ryan has carved out a nice career as a consistent scorer who can be counted upon to play a sound game in a top-six role. This season, he has emerged as a focal point of the Senators' offense. Underlining that point, he's second to Erik Karlsson in team scoring through 49 games. The fact that Ryan's produced 18 goals and 43 points, putting him on pace for his best campaign in his three years with the Senators, is particularly noteworthy because regular center Kyle Turris has had a down year and Ryan has had to play in a number of different line combinations. He's evolving as a team leader, showing a side that had not previously been an obvious part of his makeup.
Blake Wheeler, RW, WPG – In an era when speed and skill are more heavily emphasized than ever before, Wheeler has reminded us that there is still plenty of room for a power forward with a high hockey IQ. Way back in 2004, he was a high first-round pick by the Coyotes, though he didn't make his NHL debut until 2008-09 with Boston. Wheeler carved out a niche as a depth forward with the Bruins, but was deemed expendable; they dealt him in 2010-11 to the Atlanta Thrashers, who went on to move (along with Wheeler) to Winnipeg the very next season. As a Jet, Wheeler's toiled in relative anonymity, but he entered this season on a streak of four strong years of production in Winnipeg. This year, he's improved on that pace, producing 48 points in 49 games despite the Jets again being on the outside looking in at the playoff race.
Brent Seabrook, D, CHI – For years, Seabrook has been considered the sidekick of perennial Norris Trophy candidate Duncan Keith. However, this season, he's kept pace with his more notorious teammate (actually outscoring him by one point) despite being separated from their usual pairing for much of this schedule. No one could have expected Seabrook to challenge his career-best scoring total in such a scenario, yet he's on that pace with 31 points in 53 games.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, D, SJ – As far as offensive-minded defensemen with the Sharks are concerned, the discussion usually begins and ends with Brent Burns, who is enjoying another banner offensive campaign. But Vlasic is also thriving under the tutelage of Peter DeBoer, who's in his first year at the coaching helm in San Jose. The veteran defense corps starts much of the offensive flow in this system, and Vlasic – along with veteran partner Justin Braun – is actually skating on what's considered the team's top pairing. He seems a cinch to produce career-best offensive totals without sacrificing his attention to defensive-zone play.
Rasmus Ristolainen, D, BUF – The Sabres' rebuilding efforts have certainly been aided by a large number of recent high draft picks. While rookie center Jack Eichel has received rave reviews this far, the development of Ristolainen into a high-end offensive producer on the blue line fills another great need in Buffalo. He's only 21, but the 6-foot-4, 210-pound specimen looks like he has all the tools to quarterback this offense for years to come. He's already banked 31 points in 50 games, ranking him among the top-scoring blueliners in the league.
Martin Jones, G, SJ – When the Sharks acquired Jones this past offseason, it was with the plan to have him assume the top goalie role with Antti Niemi gone. Though there was no guarantee that a five-year pro who had been locked in as a backup in Los Angeles could thrive in a lead role, it's clear now that San Jose management had a good handle on what Jones could do. In 40 appearances to date, he's already checked all the boxes, starting all but eight of the Sharks' games while compiling strong statistics (a 2.39 GAA, .914 save mark and four shutouts) across the board. It certainly looks like Jones is entrenched for the long haul in his new digs.
Cory Schneider, G, NJ – After starting out as a backup goalie behind two of the best goalies of the modern era in Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur, Schneider has toiled with little fanfare for a nondescript Devils team over the past two years. This season was expected to be more of the same, but in one of the season's more surprising storylines, the Devils find themselves in the thick of the playoff hunt. Once again, Schneider's numbers – a 2.03 GAA, .929 save percentage and four shutouts – rate with the league leaders, but he's still routinely left out of discussions concerning the league's top goalies. The 29-year-old has certainly proven himself worthy of such attention in this corner, at least.
Petr Mrazek, G, DET – The Red Wings continue to do what the have done for the past 24 years, once again fielding a team that will easily qualify for postseason play. This level of consistency has been achieved despite larger-than-usual turnover on their roster in recent years. One of the quickest changeovers has been in goal, where Mrazek made a late-season push last year to steal the lion's share of starts away from Jimmy Howard, who had been the top goalie in Motor City for the past six seasons. Mrazek has outperformed his playing partner right from training camp this season, and has started 30 of 49 games as a result, despite the big contract assigned to his netminding partner. Mrazek has long been touted as Detroit's goalie of the future – well, the future is now.
Dud contracts at the trade deadline
While many teams will be looking to make roster moves in the annual shuffling of talent ahead of the trade deadline on Feb. 29, some contracts look to be immovable.
Andrei Markov, D, MON – In light of the Canadiens' epic collapse after their perfect 9-0 start, it sounds like Montreal's fans have found a whipping boy in Markov, who has evidently lost a step or two and been exposed in many recent highlight reels. He carries a salary-cap hit of $5.75 million this year and next, which certainly doesn't give the Canadiens much flexibility, and his profile as a long-time team leader makes this a hot potato for GM Marc Bergevin.
Jimmy Howard, G, DET – We've already acknowledged that Howard is no longer the top goalie in Detroit, but you'd like to think that, at only 31 years of age, he has a lot of hockey left in him. His contract, with an annual cap hit of just under $5.3 million over the next three seasons, looks ugly on Detroit's books because that's a ridiculous sum to pay for a backup. The Wings may have to look at a trade for a forward or defenseman from another team that involves a similarly bad contract coming back.
Kevin Bieksa, D, ANA – Sometimes, increasing the ice time of a guy with a rugged approach can take its toll, making him age prematurely. That optic is certainly in play when we consider the decline of Bieksa. He's still playing top-four minutes on the Anaheim blueline, but this is a guy who was once a productive offensive blueliner as well as a highly regarded defender. This season, he has only nine points and a minus-8 rating. That's not good, particularly when accompanied by a $4.6 million cap hit for the next two seasons.
Chris Tanev, D, VAN – In the last few seasons, the Canucks' blue line has undergone a massive changeover. What was once a teamwide strength is now devoid of any veteran quality outside of Alexander Edler and Dan Hamhuis. The Canucks thought they had a cornerstone of their next era on defense in Tanev and rewarded him with a five-year deal last season. Bluntly stated, this looked like a bad signing from the start, and his two goals and 10 assists in 46 games don't look like a fair return for that stipend.
