With five healthy scratches and dwindling playing time when he actually sees the ice, Andrei Kuzmenko can be dropped in fantasy leagues. (Photo by Ben Jackson/NHLI via Getty Images)
By Michael Finewax, RotoWire
Special to Yahoo Sports
As we enter Week 15 of the NHL season, there is one new player on this list, as well as four others who have been mentioned in the past but are still being used too frequently by fantasy managers. It’s getting down to the nitty gritty as far as staying in playoff contention in head-to-head leagues, and you can’t afford to hold on to some injured players — or players who aren’t performing.
Let’s consider some players who are rostered in ample Yahoo leagues but could easily be dropped.
Tyler Toffoli, LW/RW, New Jersey Devils (84% rostered)
Toffoli’s numbers look OK from a distance, but he racked up most of his points in the early going. Toffoli has a team-leading 16 goals and has 29 points in 41 games, but a closer look shows that he has only four goals and four assists in his past 20 contests and has a mediocre minus-10 rating overall. He has managed only 26 hits and six blocked shots. His shots on goal are down from last season, as he’s averaging 2.83, compared to 3.27 in 2022-23. Toffoli has also lost his center, Jack Hughes, who is listed as week-to-week, which doesn’t help Toffoli’s fantasy value.
Andrei Kuzmenko, LW/RW, Vancouver Canucks, (48% rostered)
It’s hard to keep Kuzmenko in your lineup when the Canucks aren’t even sure he should be in theirs. Kuzmenko was outstanding last season, his first in the NHL, as he had 39 goals and 74 points. But this year has been different, as Kuzmenko has only eight goals and 19 points in 37 games. He has been a healthy scratch on five occasions and has not had a point in his past seven games. He’s averaging 3:47 of power-play time per game this season but has managed a total of only 10:28 in his past six games.
Adam Larsson, D, Seattle Kraken (43% rostered)
Larsson has only three goals and 14 points in 42 games. His hits are way down this season, as he was averaging 2.71 hits per contest in 2022-23 but has only 1.70 this season in 43 outings. Larsson gets plenty of blocked shots, which helps if you’re playing with that category, but at the age of 31, he has ceased to be a fantasy asset in most leagues.
Trevor Zegras, C, Anaheim Ducks, (35% rostered)
Zegras is back on injured reserve after breaking his ankle last week. He will miss the next 6-8 weeks, which should take him into the beginning of March before he can even consider a return. Zegras wasn’t having a good year before the injury, managing four goals and seven points in 20 outings, and he has had his name bandied about in trade rumors, which hasn’t helped his play. The 22-year-old missed 20 games earlier in the season due to a lower-body injury. I would hold on to him in dynasty leagues, but as far as redraft leagues are concerned, drop him immediately.
Brayden Schenn, C, St. Louis Blues (31% rostered)
Schenn is on a four-game point streak, but he failed to pick up a point in his previous 12 games. The Blues are using him on the second power-play unit at this time, as he has lost his spot on the first unit. Schenn has nine goals and 21 points in 42 games this season, a big regression from last year, when he had 21 goals and 65 points in 82 games.
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