Lob & Kritik » easier.Willis can relate to the single moms

It was just a quick-hit edition of the list two weeks ago in the Fantasy Forecaster when we mentioned Jonathan Marchessault, Alexander Radulov, Artem Anisimov, Zach Werenski and Cam Fowler as five players who werent anywhere close to universally owned in ESPN fantasy leagues, but should be. Its good to see all five have climbed up in ownership percentage since then.We want to argue for another five players here. The reasons for trepidation are different for each, but fantasy owners need to let go of their fear and embrace these guys as contributors for the remainder of the season.Nazem Kadri, C, Toronto Maple Leafs: Even though hes getting ice time on what is arguably the Leafs third line, Kadri is operating as if he is the Leafs top forward. Currently on pace for a 60-point season, there is a strong likelihood his 20.6 shooting percentage regresses and brings down his goal-scoring pace. But he could also easily start playing more than the 15:21 he is currently averaging in ice time per game. All told, Kadri is stepping up in a big way in this young Leafs offense, and his 54.6 percent ownership in ESPN leagues is well below the threshold hes established -- even accounting for a slip in his goals and penalty minutes.Nikolaj Ehlers, LW, Winnipeg Jets: No matter how the Jets shake out their lines going forward, Ehlers is near-golden for a prime spot. With Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine and Blake Wheeler all acting as superstar catalysts in the top six, Ehlers will almost assuredly remain tied to one or more of them. A recent run of 10 points in five games shows that he can be streaky, but thats OK. There are more streaks to come. If you are patient with Ehlers through the cold spells, hell provide more than adequate fantasy value in your lineup at the end of the season -- especially if the Jets power play ever finds its footing with some permanence. Owned in only 65.7 percent of ESPN leagues, Ehlers is there for the taking.Charlie Coyle, RW/LW, Minnesota Wild: While his numbers dont leap off the page like Kadri or Ehlers, Coyle is playing big minutes on the top line for a winning Wild team. With just shy of 18 minutes per game on the ice, Coyle is on a clear pace to eclipse his 21 goals and 21 assists from last season. Hes managed to keep up the pace with Zach Parise sidelined, and should elevate his pace once Eric Staal, Parise and Coyle get more than eight games to establish their rhythm. Owned in only 27.6 percent of ESPN leagues, Coyle should be a staple as your eighth or ninth forward.Damon Severson, D, New Jersey Devils: We werent sure if the Devils would try something different this season after getting underwhelming offensive contributions from the blue line in recent campaigns. Its not a wholesale changing of the guard, but Severson has been positioned as the clear power-play quarterback as opposed to the rotation the team had last season. With 11 points in 14 games, Seversons pace will come down to Earth in the near future, but maybe not as much as one might think. His current pace of 64 points is a little out of the realm of possibility, but there is no reason Severson cant get 50 points playing as the main offensive defenseman on a team with Taylor Hall powering the attack. Owned in just 55.6 percent of ESPN leagues, Severson is a freebie No. 2 fantasy defenseman for the taking.Craig Anderson, G, Ottawa Senators: Andersons ratios are in the unsustainable range right now, but there are some signs that he can at least somewhat keep up a strong pace this season. First and foremost is the evidence that the Senators quality defense is a team effort. Mike Condon has stepped in twice for Anderson in November and stopped 58 of 59 pucks thrown his way. That kind of play by a backup who came into the season without a clear job speaks volumes to the teams defensive play -- even if it was the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres facing Condon. Secondly, while Anderson has allowed four goals on three occasions this season, we are now 11 games into his campaign without a blowup of five or more goals allowed. Those are the games that have killed his value in the past. We arent saying its not going to happen, but getting about 20 percent of the way through his season without one is a very good sign. Finally, we have a nice improvement for far in the Senators penalty killing, which can go a long way to preserving a goaltenders ratios. The Sens were 29th last season on the kill, at 75.8 percent. So far this season, they are seventh in the NHL, at 86.4 percent. The difference is reflected in Andersons save percentage and can help keep his numbers in line with that of a No. 2 fantasy goaltender if the trend continues. Owned in 65.6 percent of ESPN leagues, Anderson needs to be on rosters in all formats.Forwards rising and fallingNick Foligno, LW, Columbus Blue Jackets (up 98 spots to No. 70): Yet another example of how we all had this Blue Jackets offense pegged wrong coming into this campaign. Leading the team with Zach Werenski and Alexander Wennberg, Foligno was the only one of the three to actually be drafted in some leagues coming into the season, but his 143.8 average draft position shows he was just a late flier. Now, a month and a half into season, Foligno, Werenski and Wennberg are fueling a 7-4-2 start by the Jackets. The best part about this for fantasy owners who jumped on board with Foligno already is that hes done this before. Sure, last season was a write off and had us believing that he couldnt be a fantasy contributor without Ryan Johansen. But we were wrong. The name didnt matter as much as Foligno simply playing with a quality center. Wennberg has filled that void, and helped Foligno to get closer to his pace from the 2014-15 season when he had 31 goals and 73 points. Hoping for a repeat of those totals might be a bit too optimistic, but not by too much. Hopefully you were quicker than we were to embrace Folignos resurgence with open arms.Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, Washington Capitals (down 15 spots to No. 48): Wed be a lot less worried about Kuznetsovs slow start if the Capitals didnt have Nicklas Backstrom around. But as it stands, the hill Kuznetsov will have to climb to get back into his plum position next to Alex Ovechkin becomes ever steeper. His seven points in 14 games to open the season has him squarely in the dog house, as Kuznetsov is now on the second line and second power-play unit after starting the season on the first for both. Backstrom isnt streaking by any means by comparison, but has picked up the pace since he and Kuznetsov swapped roles. We arent saying the third-year Russian is down for the count just yet, but hes certainly not looking like the third-round draft pick he was at the start of the season.Marian Hossa, RW, Chicago Blackhawks (up 27 spots to No. 101): A little respect for Hossa here, as hes stringing together a nice little bounce-back campaign. Settling in nicely as the winger with Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov, Hossa has eight goals in his past nine games. Hes not going to keep it up to quite this pace, as a 23.6 shooting percentage is close to double his career average, but staying healthy is going to go a long way to Hossa regaining his status as an elite winger this season. Just dont forget that he is scoring twice as often this season compared to last season and will turn 38 in January. Hes great to have on your team right now, but probably isnt a trade target for whom you want to pay market price.Defensemen rising and fallingCam Fowler, D, Anaheim Ducks (up 27 spots to No. 155): While its likely the Ducks are easing Hampus Lindholm back into the lineup, its also very promising that through three games since getting Lindholm back, Fowlers ice time remains sky high. Even if we are to believe the rumors that Fowler is on the block, this kind of usage could keep up as the team showcases his potential value. Fowler is leading the Ducks in both ice time per game and power-play ice time per game. Until that changes, we need to start looking at him as the fantasy darling hes been so far.Goaltenders rising and fallingMatt Murray, G, Pittsburgh Penguins (up 28 spots to No. 74): Weve seen enough to call this one in favor of Murray for the time being. Marc-Andre Fleury isnt out of the mix and will still play a ton of hockey, but Murray looks every bit the goaltender that took over the crease late last season and backstopped the Penguins to the Stanley Cup. Through four games, Murray has four wins, and has posted a .961 save percentage that makes Fleurys .910 look particularly underwhelming given that its the same team in front of them.Quick hitsThe Dallas Stars dont seem anywhere close to being over their injury woes, and Antoine Roussel continues to pile up enough offense that he may get some top-six consideration even after Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza and Jiri Hudler are back in the mix. Furthermore, Roussel has peripheral value as an annual leader in penalty minutes.The Anaheim Ducks are still playing Nick Ritchie on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. We still think that role is ultimately going to Rickard Rakell, but this continued presence of Ritchie certainly takes some of the shine off Rakell for now.Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastien Aho had their first relevant game (in fantasy terms) as Caroline Hurricanes on Saturday. Unfortunately for any potential momentum, they managed the feat with Jordan Staal playing center for them, and Staal is now day-to-day with a wrist injury.Anthony Mantha played 18:58 in his season debut with the Red Wings on Saturday, including a team-high 5:38 on the power play. Mantha finally looks like hes solved the pro hockey circuit this season, scoring eight goals and two assists in 10 AHL games to start the season. The Red Wings are starved to find some consistency on offense, and Mantha might offer them an opportunity to do just that.The latest Connor McDavid watch has Tyler Pitlick replacing Jordan Eberle on the top line. Even if its only temporary, take notice of Pitlicks potential for this coming week.And moving east, the latest Sidney Crosby watch has Connor Sheary replacing Carl Hagelin on the top line. Even if its only temporary, take notice of Shearys potential for this coming week.We declared Robby Fabbri dead to us last week, but coach Ken Hitchcock is pushing his buttons the right way. After making Fabbri a healthy scratch, Hitchcock brought him back into the lineup on Saturday in a top-line role with Vladimir Tarasenko. Fabbri responded with two goals. Stay tuned.With Drew Stafford, Mathieu Perreault and Bryan Little all on the shelf, Nic Petan is serving as the Winnipeg Jets final top-six forward. He has four assists in his past four games, and will continue subtle contributions so long as he can retain a role on a scoring line. Really, any warm body would in this Jets top six.Top 250 rankingsHere are the updated rest-of-season, top 250 rankings of forwards, defensemen and goalies, including position ranks.Note: Sean Allens top 250 players are ranked for their expected performance in ESPN standard leagues from this point on. ESPN standard stats include goals, assists, power-play points, shots on goal, plus/minus, penalty minutes and average time on ice for skaters, and wins, goals-against average and save percentage for goalies. Cam Reddish Hawks Jersey . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. DeAndre Bembry Jersey .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. https://www.thehawkslockerroom.com/Cam-Reddish-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. Mike Bibby Jersey . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. Spud Webb Hawks Jersey HOUSTON -- Standing next to aisle B50 where Nate Berkus lamps are being sold, a young girl started singing Lauryn Hills Killing Me Softly by request.On this cold Sunday afternoon at Target, her mom, meanwhile, was telling Monja Willis about the talent of her daughter.She can really sing, said Willis, who hugged the girl before moving on to mingle with other families.Willis was co-hosting an event with her son --?James Harden, the 27-year-old MVP candidate from the Houston Rockets -- for 20 single moms, who were given instructions to get their children anything they wanted for Christmas.Well, almost anything.No cell phones, said Willis, who is a a single mom with three kids of her own, including her youngest, Harden.For the last five years, Harden and many of his family members have gone through the store to help single moms and their kids pick out items. This year, Hardens foundation spent roughly $1,500 per family so single moms could buy groceries, toys and clothes.We always wanted to give back, and James is a big kid at heart, Willis said. We figure this would be the best thing to do.Willis worked for nearly 30 years at AT&T as a dispatcher in Los Angeles and had to save every penny to put food on the table. Once a year, Willis would receive a bonus check from AT&T for various amounts which turned into Christmas money.After I started making a little bit more money at AT&T, we would get a bonus check in February and I would hold onto that check until December and thats how I was able to shop for my kids, she said. I asked them for five things on their list and if I was able to get two or three of them and to see their faces when they opened up the gifts, I was happy to see the smiles on their face. I was happy, the joy in their heart.?Christmas is real special, its special to everybody as it should be.ddddddddddddThe families selected came from one of the oldest sections of the city, the Third Ward. The moms came with babies and teenagers, pushing red shopping carts while Harden and Willis walked behind them offering suggestions.Its tough, theyre so shy in the beginning, Harden said of the children. Once they realize how cool I am and I have a conversation with them, they open up. It takes some time and once they get around to the toys it makes it a lot easier.Willis can relate to the single moms.It was very hard, but you just have to have in your heart to do it, Willis said. You might not be able to get your kids everything they want, but if they get one gift, it should be OK for them. It was hard. But you just have to keep trying and save up those pennies and dimes and catch the sales and do what you have to do.While Hardens financial success has allowed her to retire and move from city to city with Harden during his NBA career, she said giving back and helping those in need is something everyone should do, especially during the holiday season.I dont look at what James make, I look at having extra and doing that for families for Christmas and what we do for Thanksgiving, Willis said. Its a blessing to share with other families. Its not important what he makes, he could be a manager at McDonalds. If you have an extra dime and do something for somebody else, thats a blessing for me and my family. I dont look at what he makes. He has a good job, just like some of these other CEOs. Whatever we could do to help out to make a kids heart smile thats what we try to do. ' ' '