Top 10 Band-Aid Boys you can’t resist

Tom Collins

2016-05-02

Collins takes a look at the Top 10 Band-Aid boys you can't resist

 

There are always players we know we should shy away from. They're injury-prone and are pretty much guaranteed to miss games. But we can't help ourselves. These guys are just too good to pass on, whether we draft or trade for them. Sure there are some guys you always stay away from because of their penchant for getting injured. Marian Gaborik is a prime example of this. Despite that he was such a beast when he was healthy, you could never be sure if you would get 60 games out of him or 20. So his fantasy value plummeted.

The guys on this list are opposite. No matter how often they get injured, they're always highly-sought after. They might drop a little bit in the draft, but overall, they are irresistible.

Here are the top Band-Aid boys you can't resist owning.

 

10. Tyler Seguin

Technically, Seguin isn't listed on Dobber's Band-Aid boy list. But he should now be a trainee at the very least. He's missed at least 10 games in each of the last two seasons and has only played one game in the playoffs so far this year. Regardless, he'll still be a first round pick in the majority of pools next season and his draft status won't change because of his recent injury history.

 

9. Mark Giordano

Despite never having a 50-point season going into this year's campaign, Giordano was still the fourth defenseman taken on average in Yahoo pools last year. That says a lot about poolies' belief in the Flames dman. After all, he had missed at least 20 games in three of his previous four seasons. This year he rewarded owners by playing in all 82 games and cracking 50 points for the first time.

 

8. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

This one is baffling because besides being injured, he's never been able to get over that hump. He doesn't score, doesn't get assists, doesn't get PIM, doesn't hit is a minus-player and loses more faceoffs than he wins. None of that takes into account him being injury-prone. But he's still somehow highly coveted, drafted 98th overall in Yahoo pools last year. Behind him were guys such as Kyle Okposo, Brian Elliott and Justin Faulk.

 

7. Sergei Bobrovsky

This one can be summed up by the fact that Columbus always seems to be a sleeper pick for the playoffs. They often disappoint, and so does Bobrovsky. But doesn't stop many poolies from selecting the netminder. Bob was the 13th goalie take in Yahoo pools last year, ahead of guys such as Roberto Luongo and Frederik Andersen. However Bobrovsky did lead the league in IR stints with three. And he'll probably be close to a top-10 pick again next season. Poolies just can't stay away.

 

6. Max Pacioretty

It's helpful that when Pacioretty  does miss time, it's not usually for that many games. Which is crazy when you think everything he's gone through. There's been a fractured vertebrae, appendicitis, concussion and ligament damage in his wrist. He's buoyed by the fact he's a consistent 35-goal man and he takes plenty of shots.

 

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5. Evander Kane

It's his peripherals that make him such a hot commodity in most H2H and roto leagues. People look at his 2.6 hits-per-game and 4.2 shots-per-game and see a guy who is a beast on the ice. And then he plays 60ish games and partially destroys his fantasy value until the start of the next season. Kane has missed an average of 27 games per year for the past three seasons but will still be sought after in most leagues.

 

4. Taylor Hall

Hall played all 82 games this season, the first time he's been above 75 and only the second time he's ever been above 65. So that had to have been a surprise for fantasy GMs. But he had a somewhat disappointing season with just 65 points. He's still a top 10 selection in Yahoo among left wingers and will be for the next few years.

 

3. Kris Letang

One of these days, Letang is going to shock the hockey world by playing in all 82 games. He did it once back in 2010-11, but he's missed at least 10 games for five straight seasons since (and actually missed more than 30 twice). He's actually underrated in many leagues as he brings a lot of value to peripheral categories such as hits and blocked shots. Look at his 82-game pace for this season:

2015-16: 18 goals, 59 assists, 77 points, plus-10, 76 PIM, 31 PPP, 252 SOG, 155 hits, 141 blocked shots

That's a Norris-type season, no? Letang's stock is probably the most impacted by injuries on this list but will still be taken ahead of players such as Roman Josi, John Carlson and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

 

2. Carey Price

Price owners were lucky when it came to his Band-Aid status but that all changed this season. Like Seguin he is not listed on the Band-Aid boy list but he should be. He has a tendency to be hurt late in seasons so it doesn't seem as bad. In 2008, he injured an ankle and missed a month of action. He missed four games at the end of the 2011-12 season with a concussion. He had a groin injury against the Ottawa Senators in the 2013 playoffs. He aggravated an injury during the Olympics which caused him to miss eight games for the Habs. He was injured when Kreider took him out of the 2014 playoffs. That's why it should have been no surprise when he went down with an MCL sprain injury in November and missed most of this season. It was just a matter of time. He'll still be one of the top two goalies drafted next season and probably a first rounder in most leagues. We can't help it.

 

1. Evgeni Malkin

In my points-only keeper pool that began in 2009, I drafted Malkin with the second overall pick. Malkin has missed 138 regular season games since then. He's usually injured during the second half of the year, which is painful in head-to-head leagues as he's missing during championship weeks. But his playoff run shows why we love him. He has nine points and has notched a point in all six of his postseason games. Malkin also had 58 points in 57 games when the Pens were struggling the first half of the year. Injury-prone or not, we're still willing to gamble this will be the year he plays 80 games. 

 

 

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