Frozen Fantasy: Goals on the Rise

Novelty? Fad? Or just plain stupid? Like it or not, three-on-three overtime is about to change the landscape of fantasy hockey. Get ready for goals. Lots and lots of goals.

Second-guessing your draft strategy yet?

I, for one, cannot wait for overtime now. It'll be intense, exciting and hey -- it might even bring fun back to the game. Hallelujah.

Don't get me wrong -- hockey is still the best game on earth. And as a fan, I love intense, well-played games that end up with low scores. But as a fantasy owner, I salivate over scoring.

Flat out drool. Don't you?

Three-on-three is wide open. Stretch passes will spring odd-man rushes. Big saves will do the same thing back the other way. And fewer and fewer games will go to a shootout. And point totals will go up and up and ... I get giddy just thinking out it.

I wonder if the NHLPA will offer therapy for their twinetending brethren.

Best of all, a chunk of those previously uncountable shootout goals will actually count in fantasy stat lines. Did you factor that into your drafting?

Nobody scored 100 points last season -- Jamie Benn won the Art Ross with a pathetic 87. And only three guys -- Sidney Crosby (2013-14), Evgeni Malkin (2011-12) and Daniel Sedin (2010-11) -- have broken 100 in the last four seasons. Just four guys -- Alexander Ovechkin (2014-15 and 2013-14), Steven Stamkos and Evgeni Malkin (2011-12), and Corey Perry (2010-11) -- scored 50 or more goals in the last four seasons.

I'm not suggesting we'll see a half-dozen guys crack either the 100-point mark or the 50-goal one, or both. But the best players are certainly going to use the extra time and space to full advantage ... until coaches find a way to suck the life out of this rule change, too.

Now, let's look at who has caught my eye this week:

Richard Bachman, G, Vancouver (0 percent Yahoo owned) - Ryan Miller's best hockey is behind him. And it's only a matter of time before Jim Benning realizes he should have left Miller on the free-agent shelf that fateful day last July. Bachman may not be the man to overtake him, but backup Jacob Markstrom is out three weeks. He'll get a couple starts in that span and has shown in the past he can deliver in short spurts.

Francois Beauchemin, D, Colorado (13 percent) - Beauch had a HUGE first game with the Avs. He picked up three assists, two of which came on the power play, in a span of little more than 10 minutes Thursday night. Long term, he'll probably still top out in the 30-point range -- you can't really teach old dogs a lot of new tricks. But now, he might just get the PP time that Erik Johnson was supposed to get. He isn't sexy. He isn't much of anything. But sometimes vanilla is just as satisfying as chocolate chip cookie dough if it's the only ice cream you've got.

Brad Boyes, RW/C, Toronto (4 percent) - The Leafs are going to suck this season. OK, that's not strong enough -- the Leafs already suck this season. But Boyes is on the first line and living out a lifelong dream. He was drafted by the Leafs -- his dad even planted a maple tree in his backyard to commemorate the moment. But Boyes hadn't even played a game for them when he was traded to the Sharks in the Owen Nolan deal. So far, he's been a fit on the top line in Hogtown, so he could deliver some short-term value. The usual caveat applies -- choke back the puke in your throat and weigh the impact of a poor plus/minus on your overall scoring. But eventually, someone on that team has to score, and he does have 35 the last two years. That's just three less than that Kadri guy he skates beside.

Alex Burmistrov, RW/LW/C, Winnipeg (6 percent) - Is he older and wiser, or did he just realize that playing in the KHL wasn't worth the hassle? The talent is still there and if Thursday's two-point, plus-4 outing is any indication, the guy can be a fit up and down the lineup. I used to own him in a keeper league; I'm going back to get him now.

Alex Burrows, LW/RW, Vancouver (6 percent) - Burrows lost his buddies Sedin to start this season, but I'm not convinced that checking center-turned scoring winger Brandon Sutter is the right man for that top-line job. Burrows produced Thursday without them, and I'll bet money he'll be back with the Swedes before too long. Stash and wait.

Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, Winnipeg (8 percent) - Ehlers was a prolific junior scorer who has forced his way onto the Jets' roster. I don't know if it's a simple nine-game test before he's booted back to reality, but there's a chance this 19-year-old is just too good to send down. He's on the Jets' second line with Mark Scheifele and Mathieu Perreault, and he has already picked up an assist. He'll be in the NHL's top-five scoring list some day and will do everything he can now to prove his worth this season. Take advantage of his first nine games and then move him off your roster. He's that good.

Chad Johnson, G, Buffalo (5 percent) - Johnson looked every part the elite backup two seasons ago in Boston, but he was like an unflushable log last year on Long Island. Which guy is he? I have no clue. But he's now the Sabres' top dog, so we're about to find out. Robin Lehner lasted mere seconds in the net, and for now, Johnson's a starting goalie. You and I both know those are the most valuable assets in fantasy.

Ales Hemsky, RW, Dallas (3 percent) - This guy has a tendency to wilt whenever he's given a leading role. Perhaps it's stage fright. Or maybe it's shrinkage. I'm not one to judge. But this season, the anonymity of skating down the lineup in Dallas could help him deliver a 40-point season. He did earn power-play time Thursday against Pittsburgh ...

Brandon Sutter, C, Vancouver (16 percent) - First-line duty as a winger and power-play time? Yah, I don't know what the Canucks are thinking either, but I'm taking advantage of their foolishness. Did you see his goal Wednesday night? Who knew he had those lacrosse hand-eye skills. Just stash Alexandre Burrows on your bench -- the Orcas likely will go right back to him as a replacement when they realize they need Sutter elsewhere.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic, D, San Jose (14 percent owned) - Pickles is one of the league's purest shutdown defenders, so fantasy owners tend to overlook brine boy on draft day. But the Sharks have a new coach and Vlasic has already seen his role expand to the power play. History tells us he delivered a 36-point season -- 21 of which came on the PP -- the last time he got regular power-play time. That was 2008-09, but he is only 28. Anything is possible.

Back to all those goals.

I think this new three-on-three approach is going to do more than simply increase goals (and goals against). And it's going to expose fragile goalies in ways we've never seen before.

Come overtime, a guy who's been swallowing up pucks and not allowing rebounds will be tempted to let pucks ricochet wildly, almost like a pseudo pass to a teammate breaking out of the zone. And I suspect they'll also get the itch to handle the puck a whole lot more. And I still have nightmares of Marc-Andre Fleury's puckhandling gaffe at the World Junior tourney that delivered silver, not gold.

OK. I hear -- it's MA Fleury. I get it. But it still haunts me.

Goalies not named Carey Price are already weird, overly sensitive dudes. So, my gut's starting to churn a little. Maybe owning guys who aren't exactly super athletic is actually the way to go. Maybe they won't get tempted to be something they're not.

Or maybe it's time to crack open a cold one and enjoy the Sportscenter misplays of the week.

Until next week.