Ice and Fire: Go Marchand In

Disappearing Act

Minnesota forward Zach Parise opened the season with a hat trick followed by a three-game stretch with two more goals and an assist. Since those first four games, Parise has been largely invisible, with just two goals and no assists through his last seven tilts. It's not for lack of trying, as Parise has 21 shots through the last five games and 11 attempts in the last two. Parise has been streaky throughout his career, but staying the course might have to be the option with the former University of North Dakota star. He's too good to outright bench, as he essentially lives on the power play, but it's been a frustrating stretch, considering the Wild have scored 15 goals in their last four games and Parise has factored into just one.

Public Service Announcement

In my head-to-head league with weekly lineups, I believe I've set a record for most points on the bench with Brian Campbell, Vincent Trocheck and Antoine Roussel, all of whom registered three-point game this week, with most of the points coming on special teams. All three were in my active lineup last week and all three barely produced. Hence I benched them this week. I lost, but they might have helped.

Trocheck sits with nine points through 11 games, or five more than Jonathan Huberdeau. Seven of those nine points have come in two games. The tricky thing with a player like Trocheck, who sees less power-play time with than his teammates and has a modest 15 shots on goal through 11 tilts, is when to use him. He's emerging as a power-play specialist, with five of his nine points on the man advantage, but it can be maddening to own players for whom it's feast or famine. He doesn't see the scoring opportunities that top-six players do, yet the chance is always there for a breakout game, even if the track record isn't. Florida has a hodgepodge of skilled players on the lower lines, but are the swings you get from a player like Trocheck worth it?

Campbell, however, may be worth a look in extremely deep leagues. He's seeing less ice time overall, but a lot of that has come out of penalty killing, and he's averaging 2:54 on the power play. It's worth noting that of his five points, three came in Tuesday's win over Colorado. There are no surprises with Campbell at this point of his career, but he can still make a good outlet pass and occasionally get pucks to the goal. A good season could see him challenge an assist-heavy 30-to-35 points. If you have other options, use them first, but you could do worse than Campbell.

Roussel however, saw his three-point game come from close to nowhere. The odds of Dallas scoring five goals and Jamie Benn not factoring into a single one are shockingly low, but it happened in Saturday's 5-3 win over San Jose (and their backup goalie Alex Stalock, mind you). Roussel grabbed a goal and two assists, doubling his season total to six points. You don't keep Roussel on your roster for the points, though. He's one of the league's premier pests and will get himself in a few scraps throughout the season, making him valuable only in leagues that reward penalty minutes, as he'll likely chip in 25-to-30 points and a healthy amount of hits.

If you're a believer in the three theory, you might want to sit these players this week, as I will likely be starting them. The three theory can be applied either to weeks or seasons. A player has a great season when they're not on your team, you draft them the year after that only to have them disappoint. Come hell or high water, you're not drafting them the season afterward, and they have another strong year.

Notes and Observations

- The ever-vexing goalie timeshare may be waning in St. Louis. Jake Allen started and won three consecutive games this past week, grabbing a shutout and allowing just three goals in the other two tilts. He made several huge saves late in Saturday's overtime win against Minnesota, forcing Brian Elliott into a spectator role.

- Corey Perry still has not scored a goal, and no Anaheim player had more than three points on the season heading into Sunday's game against Nashville. Perry has just three assists and a surprisingly low 22 shots on goal, a touch over two per game after putting up 3.4 and 2.9 the last two seasons. Anaheim can't possibly be this bad for this long, so now might be a good time to inquire about Perry and Ryan Getzlaf from beleaguered owners who invested high draft picks on the formerly dynamic duo. Perry and Getzlaf are not alone in the scoreless club, as Ryan Kesler has yet to find the net as well.

- Boston's Brad Marchand is back to being his usual pesky self, potting four goals in the last three games and collecting all nine of his season's points in the last six. We know what Marchand can do, but his overall point totals were a little down last year. He's still produced 20 goals in four of the last five seasons, and the only season in which he didn't hit the venti mark was the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign in which he had a mere 18 in 46 games. Marchand can contribute in penalty minutes as well; just don't look for much power-play production from him. Owners in leagues that use shooting percentage will want to look at Marchand, as he has finished as high as 19.8 during his career.

Staying in Boston, Jimmy Hayes owns nine points through 10 games, or eight more than Ryan Getzlaf. Hayes still has a several rungs to go on the team's depth chart, but after a slow start, Hayes has not gone more than a game without registering a point. It is worth noting that four of those nine points came in one game.

- Carey Price is slated to be out for about a week with a lower-body injury. He's slacked off a bit this past week, losing games to both Vancouver and Edmonton, allowing nine total goals. What a hack. Montreal was buoyed by a Dale Weise hat trick Friday against Calgary to salvage its Western Canada trip. Yes, Dale Weise. No, don't pick him up.

Mike Condon should start at least three of Montreal's next four games, and the team recalled Dustin Tokarski from AHL Hamilton to shore up the crease. Condon isn't Price, but two of those games are winnable against Ottawa and the Islanders with a contest against Boston next weekend. He has some good matchups if you need an option in leagues with daily lineups.

- Karri Ramo didn't stay in the AHL too long, as he was back with the Flames in the wake of Jonas Hiller's injury. Ramo earned the win Saturday over Edmonton, albeit while allowing four goals on 23 shots. At this point, Calgary's crease appears to be a liability. No one out of Ramo, Hiller or Joni Ortio appears to want the job in balmy southern Alberta.

- Lastly, Andrei Vasilevskiy (blood clot) was recalled by Tampa Bay and looked rather good against Carolina Sunday, earning a 4-3 win. (The last two goals came with under five minutes in the third.) Ben Bishop has a firm hold on Tampa Bay's No. 1 job, but expect Vasilevskiy to see his share of starts. He's a great handcuff or bench option in most leagues, considering the talented Lightning team in front of him.