The Man Advantage: More Early Season PP Surprises

The Man Advantage: Early Season PP Surprises
Mark McLarney, RotoWire Staff Writer

Happy New Year, hockey poolies, and welcome to the first Man Advantage article of 2015. As always, we try to identify a handful of "off the radar" players you should be looking at right now - guys who are either seeing more PP time than they are used to, or who are producing at a higher clip. In most cases, these guys may be available as waiver wire pickups in your league, so don't hesitate to see if they can be picked up for cheap.

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Mathieu Perreault, C, WPG: After notching just two goals and four assists in October and November, Perreault has been on an absolute tear since the start of December, registering 13 points (7G, 6A) in his last 14 games, including six points on the power play. Part of the reason for this surge has been the increase in PP minutes Perreault has been seeing. Lately, he's been double-shifting on both the first and second PP units, averaging 3:26 over the past two weeks. This ranks him second on the team over that span, second only to Dustin Byfuglien (3:52). The Jets employ a 1-3-1 PP formation, which usually finds Perreault camped out down low in front of the opposition's net, banging away at loose pucks.

Mike Fisher, C, NAS: With the signing of free agent centers Mike Ribeiro, Derek Roy and Olli Jokinen during the offseason, not to mention his starting the season on the IR due to an Achilles injury, Fisher's status as the Predators' No. 1 pivot was officially in doubt back in October. However, since returning to the lineup at the end of November, Fisher has fit in very nicely to new coach Peter Laviolette's revamped offensive system, centering the team's second line. Over the past four weeks, Fisher has quietly notched himself a very respectable 10 points in 15 games, including three goals and one helper on the power play. In fact, even though Ribeiro is technically the team's No. 1 center at even strength, Fisher usually mans the first PP unit alongside Filip Forsberg and James Neal, with Ribeiro getting second-line duty.

Josh Jooris, C, CGY: Jooris's production has come in fits and starts this season - not uncommon for rookies - but with 14 points in 29 games so far, he's getting the job done, and those of you in deeper leagues who have stuck with him through his cold spells are being rewarded. Five of his 14 points have come on the power play, including four goals. And even though he hasn't scored a PP point since the beginning of December, he recently rejoined the lineup after sitting out the previous three games with a wrist injury and made an immediate impact, scoring the game-winning goal - in overtime - on New Year's Eve against the Oilers. He saw over 20 minutes of ice time that game, including 2:44 on the PP. Call it a hunch, but we could be on the cusp of a breakout here with this guy.

Jack Johnson, D, COB: Quick - without looking - which NHL team currently has the league's best power play record? Anyone? Anyone? (Bueller?)  Hands up anyone - who guessed either Pittsburgh, Washington or St. Louis? Nope, nope and nope. Good guesses all, but the correct answer is none other than the Columbus Blue Jackets, at 24.4%. Surprised? Yeah, I was too, at first. But when you consider the kind of stats that Nick Foligno (17 PP points, third in the league) and Ryan Johansen (16 PP pts, tied for fourth) have been putting up, it all starts to make sense. Johnson is another guy who has been surpassing expectations. With 13 of his 18 points coming on the PP, Johnson is currently tied with Sami Vatanen for fourth among NHL defensemen in PP scoring. That's more than Mark Giordano (9 pts) Duncan Keith (8 pts) and Shea Weber (7 pts). In fact, Johnson is currently on pace to surpass the career-high 28 PP points he put up back in 2010-11 with Los Angeles. If your league doesn't count plus-minus (admittedly, his minus-19 figure is not very pretty), Johnson makes for a good pickup, and he's widely available, given that he's owned in only 50% of all Yahoo! leagues.

Kevin Connauton, D, COB: While we're in Columbus, I would be remiss if I failed to mention Connauton, who has been opening eyes since he was picked up off waivers from Dallas in mid-November. During a nine-game stretch in December, Connauton scored five goals and four assists while averaging roughly 17 minutes of ice time. Two of those points came on the power play, where he has been averaging roughly two minutes per game in a second-line role. Connauton's scoring surge will almost surely end just as suddenly as it began, but make sure you get on board and enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Scott Gomez, C, NJD: With seven points in 15 games since joining the Devils' lineup at the start of December, Gomez is currently in the midst of what is arguably one of the biggest career-resuscitation efforts in NHL history. Hyperbole aside, Gomez has bounced around with four different teams in the past seven years, and he even saw an 11-game stint with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL back in 2012-13. Seriously folks, this guy was on the edge of NHL obscurity until the Devils decided to invite him to training camp on a professional tryout basis this year. Since joining the lineup at the start of December, he's managed to play himself into a top-six role, currently centering a line between Jaromir Jagr and Dainius Zubrus. He's currently averaging 16-17 minutes per night, including roughly two minutes on the PP. Four of his seven points have come with the man advantage, where he sees second-line duty most nights. Gomez may be pulling this off with smoke and mirrors, who knows. But he's a decent play right now if you can pick him up for cheap, and drop him as soon as he gets dropped to the fourth line, or benched.