Rick Dipietro - The Islanders put a lot of faith in Dipietro signing him to a massive contract, the problem is he keeps getting hurt. Dipietro had knee surgery and he is expected to miss 4 – 6 weeks. Rick only made three starts this year and failed to pick up a win, which no doubt has irritated fantasy owners out there. My suggestion is to get rid of Dipietro depending on how many IR spots you have on your roster. The Islanders are not very good, and even if Dipietro has a successful comeback he might not be worth a roster spot for the next 6 weeks. Hopefully Rick comes back, is healthy and can lead the Islanders to some wins. My advice is to drop him and try and pick him up in 5 weeks or so, or just draft him again next year.

Corey Perry - Perry like many of his Duck teammates got off to a slow start, but has been on fire recently. After recording 3 points in his first 8 games, Perry and the Ducks caught fire and in the next 5 Corey increased his totals in 15 points. Hopefully you had patience with Perry and kept him on your roster. Historically Perry is a great fantasy player with goals, power play points and penalty minutes. My suggestion is to keep Perry unless you get blown away by a deal, you could trade him his value might never be higher then it is right now. If you are going to trade Perry make sure you trade high and get a top 15 player in return. Perry and the Ducks are off and running and his numbers should remain good for the rest of the year.

Brendan Shanahan and Mats Sundin – Rumors are swirling that these veterans are about to return to the NHL. Shanahan is not the player he once was, but depending on where he goes can be productive. If you need shots and power play points, this might be the time to pick up Shanny and take a flyer that he might return. As for Sundin its hard to predict what is going to happen here, but Mats is still a point a game player. Sundin still deserves a roster spot in any fantasy league and depending on where he goes might be a real free agent steal. If you are struggling and need some offensive help take a chance with one of these veterans, what do you have to lose.

Martin Brodeur - Brodeur left the game early Saturday with an apparent elbow injury. He has already been ruled out of Monday night’s game and the full details have not been given. Don’t panic, you need to wait and see what the extent of the injury is. Martin is one of the most durable players in the NHL and hopefully the injury isn’t to serious. Keep your eye on the news, if Brodeur is out for an extended period of time, you will need to pick up a short period replacement.

Alexander Ovechkin is expected to return from Russia for this weeks games. You can hear the sigh of relief from all the fantasy owners out there, and hopefully OV will come back at the top of his game.

Sell High - Every year there are players who get off to great starts and fantasy owners have an opportunity to sell them while there stock is high. By sell I mean trade and get a higher valued player or more talented. The key to this is figuring out which players will keep the numbers going and which ones will fall of the leader boards. Mikko Koivu, has a career high 54 points and is on pace for more then 100 this year. Koivu has been playing great, but it might be a good time to sell while the value is high. Devin Setoguchi , is a second year player with the Sharks averaging a point a game, Filip Kuba has a career high 37 points and is on pace to smash that by getting more then a point a game. As for goalies Tim Thomas and Nikolai Khabibulin are off to great starts and might be able to get some good value. The key to making these kind of deals is trying to figure out whether these numbers will continue. If you can trade these guys for more proven performers do it, while you can.

Buy Low - On the flip side there is always players who get off to slow starts and fantasy owners will give up on them. The biggest case of this so far is Marty Turco, goalie in Dallas. With a save percentage of .837, Marty is definitely off to a horrible start. His numbers will improve as he has a career save percentage of .911 and is one of the most consistent goalies in the league. Forwards you should look at are Derek Roy from Buffalo, Martin St Louis from Tampa, Jonathon Toews from Chicago and RJ Umberger in Columbus. These guys are all of to slow starts and there numbers have no where to go but up.

Fantasy hockey is good for the game, it allows fans to educate themselves and become fans of the entire league not just one team. No matter what your strategy is or what kind of league your in, if you can ride players hot streaks and get great players at low value you will do well in your pool. Have fun, do your homework and enjoy the NHL.

Alfredsson re-signs - The Ottawa Senators have re-signed there captain and best all around player Daniel Alfredsson. Daniel inked a four year extension that should keep him in Canada’s nation capitol for the rest of his career. This wasn’t a big surprise, Alfredsson has been the captain of this team for a long time and it looks like he will be a career Senator. Ottawa is off to a slow start and a lot of rumors are swirling around the organization, but with some better defense and goaltending this team should be good. Its always nice to see a player and an organization come to an agreement that works for both sides, Sens fans should be happy that they will have Daniel for a few more years.

Marian Hossa - Hossa caught a lot of criticism after signing a one year deal in Detroit in the off season. Well after a slow start he is starting to look like the true all star he is. Playing along side Pavel Datsyuk, Hossa is on fire and near the league lead in points. He has 9 points he his last 5 games and if he keeps it up the gamble he took in the off season will pay off. The Red Wings are a great team and with Hossa playing this well they will be tough to beat every night.

Trade Deadline – Well the NHL made a mistake, but an agreement was reached quickly. The league has decided to push the trade deadline back one day to March the 4th. The reason for the move was because there are to many games scheduled on the original date. With a lot of games scheduled it would make it tough for teams to make trades and still be able to ice a full team on the same day. The NHL and the NHLPA came to a fast agreement and pushed the date back one day.

Steven Stamkos - The 1st overall selection in this past years NHL entry draft has finally recorded his first career point. There has been a lot of talk recently about Stamkos and the ice time he has been receiving in Tampa Bay. The Lightning are talented in the forward lines, and they are still searching for the best mix of lines. Stamkos will have a great career and he is off to a slow start, but I wouldn’t panic just yet. Tampa Bay has a lot of new players on there roster and once they find the right mix and chemistry Stamkos will start to produce on a regular basis. I hope the coaching staff in Tampa starts giving him the proper ice time, he need to be playing more then just 10 minutes per game. Play him in some power play situation and let him play with the stars like Lecavalier and St Louis and you will see the numbers jump.

Phoenix Coyotes claim Ken Klee off re-entry waivers from the Anaheim Ducks. Claiming someone off re-entry waivers means that Phoenix will pick up half his salary and Anaheim will be on the hook for the other half. Klee is a veteran and still has the skills to play a decent NHL defense for the Coyotes.

Alexander Ovechkin - Last years MVP has made a trip back to his homeland, Russia, to visit with an ailing family member. Ovechkin had played more 200 hundred consecutive games and has proved that he is a consistent NHL player. This isn’t a huge deal for the Capitols, it’s a part of life, family comes first. It’s a bigger deal for fantasy owners out there who will miss “Alex the Great” for a few games this early in the year. Ovechkin should be back in Washington’s lineup early next week.

Rick Dipietro - Seems to be a big secret on long island, but there is one thing for sure is that it will be hard for them to win without Rick. Its listed as a lower body injury? Who knows what that means. Dipietro is coming off knee surgery in the off season and hopefully the injury hasn’t re-occurred. Rick is a great goaltender, but he seems to get hurt an awful lot and the Islanders will struggle to win without him. I for one am sick of this upper body, lower body injury stuff, lets just be honest and let us know what is really going on. Hopefully Dipietro will be back soon and helping the Islanders win some hockey games.

Luke Schenn will be staying with the Leafs, as he has played in his 10th game of the season. Playing 10 games means his entry level contract kicks in and its more then likely he will be in Toronto for the rest of the season. The 18 year old defenseman has looked solid defensively for Toronto and they feel the best way for him to develop is to stay with the big club.

The product has been good so far this years, fights and goals are up which make everyone happy. Alexander Semin is leading the league in goals and points, while Ryan Miller leads the goalies with a 1.60 goals against average. Nikolai Zherdev surprisingly leads the league in plus / minus and Evgeni Malkin leads with 12 assists. The season is off and running and hopefully there will be plenty of more great storylines throughout the year.