Sabres, Stars leaving fantasy hockey owners perplexed

If you own any of the high-end talents on the Buffalo Sabres or Dallas Stars, chances are you’re wondering what you should do.

Let’s start with the Sabres. Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner, Rasmus Dahlin, Sam Reinhart and Victor Olofsson have all largely exceeded expectations in the early going. While I do believe Eichel, Dahlin and Skinner can keep up their production given their track records, I do think some regression should be expected for Olofsson and Reinhart. I don’t necessarily think they will be bad players to own in fantasy hockey, but I do expect them to cool off a bit from their current pace. If you can flip either Olofsson or Reinhart and get a slumping star, I would recommend trying to do that.

Here’s an example of where I would be ok dealing Reinhart.

When it comes to the Stars, the problem for players on this team has been the exact opposite. Despite being absolutely loaded with star power, nobody on this squad can find the back of the net. All of the club’s top players are shooting below their career percentages (with the exception of Roope Hintz), which is a sign they are likely to get going sometime soon. Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov and John Klingberg were all shooting below 6% this season prior to their offensive outbreak against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. Considering all three forwards own a shooting percentage above 11% throughout their career, and Kilngberg’s career number is more than double what it is now, it’s very likely that Tuesday’s effort isn’t a one-time occurrence. I would recommend trying to buy low on members of the Stars while you can.

Joe Pavelski’s struggles don’t really fall in line with the other Stars players. His shooting percentage this season (13.6%) is actually higher than his career number (12.5%) despite only having three goals on the year. I think the biggest issue with Pavelski has been building chemistry with his new teammates. Head coach Jim Montgomery has been shuffling up the lines, trying to find the right combinations to get the squad going. It may take time for Pavelski to acclimate, but fantasy owners are likely going to need to exercise some patience. I would try to buy low on Pavelski, as I do believe he is better than he has performed so far.

More fantasy hockey coverage on Yahoo Sports