This season our scouting department will be giving an update prior to the start of each game week to give you all the information you need to get your team top of the standings.
Roster Moves
We’ve got a lot of new players joining the league this week as some teams are starting to struggle with injuries, while others are thinking a few roster changes will turn around some poor form. First we go to Manchester where forward Alex Robert left the club during the week, so that means seven GM’s need to trade him out. In his place Storm have brought in defenceman Tyler Rockwell who played straight away at the weekend, although they did play seven defencemen. Rockwell joins after playing in Marseille last year where he scored 23 points in 44 games. The majority of these were assists though which are worth slightly less in fantasy points, therefore he is added in to the game at 5.5M. Next we have Nottingham who have made a signing to help a team who is towards the bottom of the league in goals scored. Mitchell Fossier has one of the most impressive points per game totals from the ECHL that we have ever seen in the Elite League, with a 1.22 points per game over the last two seasons. He is set for a lot of minutes with the Panthers and picked up a point on the game winner in his first game over the weekend. He is added into the game at 9.5M
The Cardiff Devils have some injury issues in goal at the moment with both Ben Bowns and Mac Carruth struggling. Bowns should be back soon but the Devils have signed former Flames goalie Taz Burman to cover until he is back. Burman split time in Guildford for the last two years and was generally solid if not spectacular. He is added in at 8.0M. The Glasgow Clan have signed Chris Martenet to provide some competition on defence and make them more solid at the back. At 6″7 he will certainly be a big presence in his own zone even if he doesn’t put up many points offensively. He is added in at 5.0M. Finally former Storm forward Jordy Stallard has joined Fife, with the Flyers struggling to fill three lines at the moment. Stallard moved around four different teams last year without playing many games for any of them, but he did score in Fife’s game on Saturday. He is added in at 5.5M.
In terms of selections, Coventry goalie Mat Robson was brought in by an additional 8 teams this week as he is taking nearly all the starts for a solid Blaze team. Behind him both Elijiah Barriga and Grant Hebert had an additional 5 selections. The Ben Bowns injury news clearly made it to our GM’s as he was traded out by 5 teams over the last week.
Who’s Hot?
As we have reached the end of week 12 it is time for our value increases. The top ten scoring players from week 7 to week 12 will get a 0.5M increase in their value. If you already have them in your team then you’ll keep them at the value you initially traded them in for.
| Scott Conway | Belfast Giants | 11.5M | 195 points |
| Sacha Guimond | Sheffield Steelers | 10.0M | 175 points |
| Steven Seigo | Glasgow Clan | 8.0M | 171 points |
| Nick Seitz | Coventry Blaze | 6.0M | 170 points |
| Tom McCollum | Belfast Giants | 9.5M | 159 points |
| Mat Robson | Coventry Blaze | 8.5M | 157 points |
| Ben O’Connor | Dundee Stars | 9.5M | 155 points |
| Marc-Olivier Vallerand | Sheffield Steelers | 10.5M | 154 points |
| Drydn Dow | Dundee Stars | 9.0M | 140 points |
| Alessio Luciani | Coventry Blaze | 7.0M | 140 points |
Player Scores – Fantasy hockey league UK
Who’s Not?
In this section we will look at those players performing below their projections based on value and whose form has dropped off.
With all the new signings lets have a look at those players who aren’t making their respective teams roster in their last game, whether that be due to injury or poor form. In Cardiff we mentioned about how both goalies are struggling at the moment but there was also no Josh Batch or Hunter Shinkaruk in the win at Fife on Saturday. Fife had no Johnny Curran, Austin Farley or Maxim Musorov.
One team with a lot of injury troubles are the Sheffield Steelers. Matt Greenfield is currently out injured and backup Marco De Filippo is playing injured, so coach Aaron Fox has mentioned a new goalie is a priority this week. In defence Colton Saucerman is out long term and Veeti Vainio was also missing on Sunday. Up front Robert Dowd and Joel Janatuinen are also out. For Dundee Jake Elmer, Kameron Kielly, Brogan O’Brien and Alex Tonge are all missing.
Upcoming Schedule
This week we have the leagues European participants playing three times each as they meet in Cardiff on Wednesday. Sheffield then host Nottingham on Saturday before travelling up to Fife on Sunday. Cardiff go to play the Storm on Saturday before hosting Guildford on Sunday. All the other teams play twice with Glasgow having a home double header with Belfast and Fife the visitors on Friday and Saturday. Belfast stay in Scotland and travel to play Dundee on Saturday. The Blaze play in Guildford on Saturday before welcoming the Storm for a cup game on Sunday.
