This article is part of our The Man Advantage series.
March is here, the trade deadline has passed, and the end of the NHL regular season is in sight. You don't have much time left to help your fantasy hockey team attain glory, but every little bit can make a difference. Since it's the beginning of a new month, I'll do what I've done previously and focus on the top six power plays from February, and some players that may be available to boost your man-advantage production…
Nino Niederreiter, LW, MIN – The Wild had the sixth best power play in February, but it was pretty top heavy. Over the last 30 days, three players, Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, and Niederreiter, had at least five power-play points, while nobody else had more than two. Niederreiter's five points have come in his last eight games, and in that time his power-play time was up to 2:31 per game. Overall, he's notched 14 points with the extra man, which is a career high. He's primed to set a career high in every category, so this is the year to buy in on Niederreiter, it seems.
Richard Panik, RW, CHI – Chicago's power play ranked fifth in February, but unfortunately readily available fantasy options aren't to be found on the Blackhawks. The big names have been the power-play contributors. Panik only has five power-play points, although two of those have come in his last six games. Plus, in his last 11 contests he's averaged 2:12 per game, which is
March is here, the trade deadline has passed, and the end of the NHL regular season is in sight. You don't have much time left to help your fantasy hockey team attain glory, but every little bit can make a difference. Since it's the beginning of a new month, I'll do what I've done previously and focus on the top six power plays from February, and some players that may be available to boost your man-advantage production…
Nino Niederreiter, LW, MIN – The Wild had the sixth best power play in February, but it was pretty top heavy. Over the last 30 days, three players, Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, and Niederreiter, had at least five power-play points, while nobody else had more than two. Niederreiter's five points have come in his last eight games, and in that time his power-play time was up to 2:31 per game. Overall, he's notched 14 points with the extra man, which is a career high. He's primed to set a career high in every category, so this is the year to buy in on Niederreiter, it seems.
Richard Panik, RW, CHI – Chicago's power play ranked fifth in February, but unfortunately readily available fantasy options aren't to be found on the Blackhawks. The big names have been the power-play contributors. Panik only has five power-play points, although two of those have come in his last six games. Plus, in his last 11 contests he's averaged 2:12 per game, which is an increase for him. Plus, while he's only been a minor contributor on the power-play, he could help you elsewhere. He's notched 13 total points in his last 12 games.
Ryan Ellis, D, NAS – Roman Josi. P.K. Subban. Ryan Ellis? Yes, don't overlook Ellis' power-play potential. In his last 10 games he's tallied four power-play points, giving him nine overall in 55 games. For a defenseman, that's a significant number. Ellis has played 2:13 a night with the extra man, and Nashville has enough firepower to support three blueliners having successful seasons on the power play.
Marcus Johansson, LW, WAS – The Capitals' power-play, which ranked third in February, has gotten even more potent with the addition of Kevin Shattenkirk, but you aren't going to be able to add Shattenkirk. Johansson has 12 power-play points, four of which have come in the last nine games. He's been a real power-play contributor the past four seasons, including one wherein he notched 21 points. Johansson has played 2:44 per game with the extra man, which is actually down from where he has been the last few seasons, but that's still a significant number of power-play minutes.
Ryan Spooner, C, BOS – The Bruins were the runners up for best power play in February. Spooner is basically a power-play specialist for them. While he's only averaged 14:18 of total ice time, and he's only notched 33 points overall, 14 of those points have come on the power play. He's also played 2:41 a night with the extra man. Last year, in his first full season, he averaged 2:47 per game on the power play while tallying 17 points, so clearly he's found his niche. Six of those have come in his last 13 games.
Travis Zajac, C, NJD – Topping the power-play rankings for February is…New Jersey? Believe it or not, the Devils actually converted on a whopping 46.2 percent of their opportunities. The veteran Zajac was a big part of that, as he's notched five power-play points in his last 10 games. Overall, he's tallied 11 points with the extra man while averaging 2:36.
