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 have had a couple of moves over the last few weeks with Nick Seitz moving to Guildford, who are in the middle of an injury crisis, after his time in Sheffield didn’t work out. He has been added with the same value as he was at the start of the season. Elsewhere Fife strengthened their forward group with the signing of Giordano Finoro, who has spent all his professional career in Italy prior to moving to Sweden to start this season. He is added at 5.5M however throughout his career he has generally had more goals than assists which are weighted for more fantasy points. In 2022-23 in Asiago he had 28 goals in just 48 games, if he can show that scoring touch in Fife he would far exceed the 5.5M.
Who’s Hot?
Over the first part of the season we have seen a lot of volatility in scores with players who were towards the top now sinking down, and those who had a slow start now hitting form. Lets look at the top scoring players over the last four weeks –
| Player | Team | Score |
| Mitchell Balmas | Sheffield Steelers | 10.5M |
| Jackson Whistle | Belfast Giants | 9.0M |
| Gary Haden | Manchester Storm | 8.0M |
| Ben Bowns | Cardiff Devils | 9.0M |
| Robert Dowd | Sheffield Steelers | 9.0M |
| Mike Lee | Belfast Giants | 8.5M |
| David Noël | Nottingham Panthers | 9.0M |
| Brendan Harris | Nottingham Panthers | 8.5M |
| Dominic Cormier | Sheffield Steelers | 8.0M |
| Kaleb Ergang | Manchester Storm | 6.0M |
In terms of those players who have struggled, early points leader Colton Saucerman has now not scored in the last four weeks, but still has 229 selections in the game while only three other players have over 100. GM’s haven’t lost faith yet but it can’t be long before he is started to be traded away. Josh Winquist had 105 points over the first four weeks of the season but has just 25 points over the last four weeks, while Alessio Luciani has dropped from 113 points to 21 over the same period.
Our pick of week 7 was the struggling Josh Winquist who we thought might improve over his three games in that week. It wasn’t to be though as he scored just the seven points. That brings our average score for the year down to 26.4.
Week 9 is tricky as we have Coventry playing three times but they haven’t been scoring many goals lately. However with home games against Guildford and Fife, and then a trip to Manchester, their schedule gives them the opportunity to turn it round. Colton Saucerman is still churning out huge minutes each game so even though he hasn’t scored in a while we will back him to turn it around.
Current average points per week so far – 26.4 points.
Latest player scores are available on our site –
Upcoming Schedule
Week 9 in the Elite Ice Hockey League season sees us wrap up the Challenge Cup group stage, with the Dundee Stars hosting the Glasgow Clan at the DIA in what is effectively a knockout game. That game could either decide top spot and a place in the Semi-Finals or see the Giants needing a win to secure first place in the group. Dundee travel to Belfast on the Sunday.
In league play, Coventry Blaze host Guildford Flames in midweek action on Wednesday, while on Friday Cardiff Devils host Belfast Giants in a reverse of their recent meeting in Northern Ireland, while Nottingham Panthers and Manchester Storm – separated by just two points inside the top four – meet at the Motorpoint Arena.
Saturday’s league schedule has the Panthers heading north to Fife, while Manchester return to home ice to face Coventry.
On Sunday, league leaders Sheffield Steelers welcome Cardiff Devils in their only game of the weekend. Fife travel south to face Coventry, and Guildford – who will be hoping to have some players back from injury – are at home against Glasgow Clan. Overall everyone plays twice except for Coventry who have three games, while Sheffield just play once.
