Puck Drops: Laine a Bust

The fantasy season hits the midway point of its regular season at the end of this week if you're playing head-to-head. Don't forget there are no games Sunday the 24th, Christmas Day and Dec. 26 as the NHL takes its Christmas break. Let's consider some players who are rostered in ample Yahoo leagues and who could be easily dropped.

Dylan Cozens, C, Buffalo Sabres (53% rostered)

Cozens is having an okay season with five goals and 16 points in 30 games, but he is not even close to his pace of last season when he garnered 31 goals and 37 assists as a 21-year-old. Cozens is seeing 31 seconds fewer on the power play (going from 2:48 in 2022-23 to 2:17 this year) and as a result is averaging a point with the man-advantage every 7.5 games, down from one every 4.5 games last season when he picked up 18 points. Cozens had a big game Friday in Vegas when he had a goal and two assists, but those type games are few and far apart to warrant keeping him on your roster at this time. There are too many centers better than him if your league plays by position rather than grouping all forwards together.

Patrik Laine, RW, Columbus Blue Jackets (35% rostered)

Laine will be lost for six weeks with a fractured clavicle, but he wasn't worth having on your fantasy roster before the injury. Laine had scored 198 goals in his first seven seasons in the NHL, including a 44-goal season as a 19-year-old, but he has fallen upon hard times in 2023-24, scoring only six times while adding three helpers in 18 games. Laine missed 13 games before getting hurt Dec. 14 in Toronto, nine via an upper-body injury early in the season, three with an illness and one more as a healthy scratch due to ineffective play. It all adds up to dropping Laine as he could be out until the All-Star break in early February.

Cam Fowler, D, Anaheim Ducks, (35% rostered)

Fowler has three assists in his last two games, giving him two goals and 15 points in 31 games. His point total places him tied for 36th in scoring by a defenseman, but his minus-14 rating is fifth-worst (or 269th-best depending on your view) among blueliners. If you play with that category, that is really going to hurt your fantasy team and his lack of shots on goal this season — only 40 in 31 games — makes him not worthy as far as fantasy is concerned.

Matty Beniers, C, Seattle Kraken (34% rostered)

Beniers snapped a six-game pointless streak Monday with a goal and an assist, but he is still struggling in his sophomore season with only five goals and 15 points in 33 games. That's a far cry from last season's 24 goals and 57 points, which was good enough to garner Beniers the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. Perhaps Monday's performance is a sign of good things to come for Beniers, but I think there are far better choices at center than the 21-year-old.

Anders Lee, RW, New York Islanders (30% rostered)

Lee is off to a horrible start with seven goals and 10 points in 30 games. It has been his worst performance in his career, surpassing the 2015-16 campaign when he had 15 goals and 36 points in 80 games. Lee has seen his power-play time go down from 3:05 last season to 1:38 this year, and that has been reflected in his two power-play goals and nary an assist, a big step down from his six goals and 14 points with the man-advantage in 2022-23. Lee struck for a pair of markers Dec. 9, but that has been the only time he has hit the scoresheet in the last seven games.