It was just a quick-hit edition of the list two weeks ago in the Fantasy Forecaster when we mentioned Jonathan Marchessault, Alexander Radulov, Artem Anisimov, Zach Werenski and Cam Fowler as five players who werent anywhere close to universally owned in ESPN fantasy leagues, but should be. Its good to see all five have climbed up in ownership percentage since then.We want to argue for another five players here. The reasons for trepidation are different for each, but fantasy owners need to let go of their fear and embrace these guys as contributors for the remainder of the season.Nazem Kadri, C, Toronto Maple Leafs: Even though hes getting ice time on what is arguably the Leafs third line, Kadri is operating as if he is the Leafs top forward. Currently on pace for a 60-point season, there is a strong likelihood his 20.6 shooting percentage regresses and brings down his goal-scoring pace. But he could also easily start playing more than the 15:21 he is currently averaging in ice time per game. All told, Kadri is stepping up in a big way in this young Leafs offense, and his 54.6 percent ownership in ESPN leagues is well below the threshold hes established -- even accounting for a slip in his goals and penalty minutes.Nikolaj Ehlers, LW, Winnipeg Jets: No matter how the Jets shake out their lines going forward, Ehlers is near-golden for a prime spot. With Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine and Blake Wheeler all acting as superstar catalysts in the top six, Ehlers will almost assuredly remain tied to one or more of them. A recent run of 10 points in five games shows that he can be streaky, but thats OK. There are more streaks to come. If you are patient with Ehlers through the cold spells, hell provide more than adequate fantasy value in your lineup at the end of the season -- especially if the Jets power play ever finds its footing with some permanence. Owned in only 65.7 percent of ESPN leagues, Ehlers is there for the taking.Charlie Coyle, RW/LW, Minnesota Wild: While his numbers dont leap off the page like Kadri or Ehlers, Coyle is playing big minutes on the top line for a winning Wild team. With just shy of 18 minutes per game on the ice, Coyle is on a clear pace to eclipse his 21 goals and 21 assists from last season. Hes managed to keep up the pace with Zach Parise sidelined, and should elevate his pace once Eric Staal, Parise and Coyle get more than eight games to establish their rhythm. Owned in only 27.6 percent of ESPN leagues, Coyle should be a staple as your eighth or ninth forward.Damon Severson, D, New Jersey Devils: We werent sure if the Devils would try something different this season after getting underwhelming offensive contributions from the blue line in recent campaigns. Its not a wholesale changing of the guard, but Severson has been positioned as the clear power-play quarterback as opposed to the rotation the team had last season. With 11 points in 14 games, Seversons pace will come down to Earth in the near future, but maybe not as much as one might think. His current pace of 64 points is a little out of the realm of possibility, but there is no reason Severson cant get 50 points playing as the main offensive defenseman on a team with Taylor Hall powering the attack. Owned in just 55.6 percent of ESPN leagues, Severson is a freebie No. 2 fantasy defenseman for the taking.Craig Anderson, G, Ottawa Senators: Andersons ratios are in the unsustainable range right now, but there are some signs that he can at least somewhat keep up a strong pace this season. First and foremost is the evidence that the Senators quality defense is a team effort. Mike Condon has stepped in twice for Anderson in November and stopped 58 of 59 pucks thrown his way. That kind of play by a backup who came into the season without a clear job speaks volumes to the teams defensive play -- even if it was the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres facing Condon. Secondly, while Anderson has allowed four goals on three occasions this season, we are now 11 games into his campaign without a blowup of five or more goals allowed. Those are the games that have killed his value in the past. We arent saying its not going to happen, but getting about 20 percent of the way through his season without one is a very good sign. Finally, we have a nice improvement for far in the Senators penalty killing, which can go a long way to preserving a goaltenders ratios. The Sens were 29th last season on the kill, at 75.8 percent. So far this season, they are seventh in the NHL, at 86.4 percent. The difference is reflected in Andersons save percentage and can help keep his numbers in line with that of a No. 2 fantasy goaltender if the trend continues. Owned in 65.6 percent of ESPN leagues, Anderson needs to be on rosters in all formats.Forwards rising and fallingNick Foligno, LW, Columbus Blue Jackets (up 98 spots to No. 70): Yet another example of how we all had this Blue Jackets offense pegged wrong coming into this campaign. Leading the team with Zach Werenski and Alexander Wennberg, Foligno was the only one of the three to actually be drafted in some leagues coming into the season, but his 143.8 average draft position shows he was just a late flier. Now, a month and a half into season, Foligno, Werenski and Wennberg are fueling a 7-4-2 start by the Jackets. The best part about this for fantasy owners who jumped on board with Foligno already is that hes done this before. Sure, last season was a write off and had us believing that he couldnt be a fantasy contributor without Ryan Johansen. But we were wrong. The name didnt matter as much as Foligno simply playing with a quality center. Wennberg has filled that void, and helped Foligno to get closer to his pace from the 2014-15 season when he had 31 goals and 73 points. Hoping for a repeat of those totals might be a bit too optimistic, but not by too much. Hopefully you were quicker than we were to embrace Folignos resurgence with open arms.Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, Washington Capitals (down 15 spots to No. 48): Wed be a lot less worried about Kuznetsovs slow start if the Capitals didnt have Nicklas Backstrom around. But as it stands, the hill Kuznetsov will have to climb to get back into his plum position next to Alex Ovechkin becomes ever steeper. His seven points in 14 games to open the season has him squarely in the dog house, as Kuznetsov is now on the second line and second power-play unit after starting the season on the first for both. Backstrom isnt streaking by any means by comparison, but has picked up the pace since he and Kuznetsov swapped roles. We arent saying the third-year Russian is down for the count just yet, but hes certainly not looking like the third-round draft pick he was at the start of the season.Marian Hossa, RW, Chicago Blackhawks (up 27 spots to No. 101): A little respect for Hossa here, as hes stringing together a nice little bounce-back campaign. Settling in nicely as the winger with Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov, Hossa has eight goals in his past nine games. Hes not going to keep it up to quite this pace, as a 23.6 shooting percentage is close to double his career average, but staying healthy is going to go a long way to Hossa regaining his status as an elite winger this season. Just dont forget that he is scoring twice as often this season compared to last season and will turn 38 in January. Hes great to have on your team right now, but probably isnt a trade target for whom you want to pay market price.Defensemen rising and fallingCam Fowler, D, Anaheim Ducks (up 27 spots to No. 155): While its likely the Ducks are easing Hampus Lindholm back into the lineup, its also very promising that through three games since getting Lindholm back, Fowlers ice time remains sky high. Even if we are to believe the rumors that Fowler is on the block, this kind of usage could keep up as the team showcases his potential value. Fowler is leading the Ducks in both ice time per game and power-play ice time per game. Until that changes, we need to start looking at him as the fantasy darling hes been so far.Goaltenders rising and fallingMatt Murray, G, Pittsburgh Penguins (up 28 spots to No. 74): Weve seen enough to call this one in favor of Murray for the time being. Marc-Andre Fleury isnt out of the mix and will still play a ton of hockey, but Murray looks every bit the goaltender that took over the crease late last season and backstopped the Penguins to the Stanley Cup. Through four games, Murray has four wins, and has posted a .961 save percentage that makes Fleurys .910 look particularly underwhelming given that its the same team in front of them.Quick hitsThe Dallas Stars dont seem anywhere close to being over their injury woes, and Antoine Roussel continues to pile up enough offense that he may get some top-six consideration even after Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza and Jiri Hudler are back in the mix. Furthermore, Roussel has peripheral value as an annual leader in penalty minutes.The Anaheim Ducks are still playing Nick Ritchie on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. We still think that role is ultimately going to Rickard Rakell, but this continued presence of Ritchie certainly takes some of the shine off Rakell for now.Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastien Aho had their first relevant game (in fantasy terms) as Caroline Hurricanes on Saturday. Unfortunately for any potential momentum, they managed the feat with Jordan Staal playing center for them, and Staal is now day-to-day with a wrist injury.Anthony Mantha played 18:58 in his season debut with the Red Wings on Saturday, including a team-high 5:38 on the power play. Mantha finally looks like hes solved the pro hockey circuit this season, scoring eight goals and two assists in 10 AHL games to start the season. The Red Wings are starved to find some consistency on offense, and Mantha might offer them an opportunity to do just that.The latest Connor McDavid watch has Tyler Pitlick replacing Jordan Eberle on the top line. Even if its only temporary, take notice of Pitlicks potential for this coming week.And moving east, the latest Sidney Crosby watch has Connor Sheary replacing Carl Hagelin on the top line. Even if its only temporary, take notice of Shearys potential for this coming week.We declared Robby Fabbri dead to us last week, but coach Ken Hitchcock is pushing his buttons the right way. After making Fabbri a healthy scratch, Hitchcock brought him back into the lineup on Saturday in a top-line role with Vladimir Tarasenko. Fabbri responded with two goals. Stay tuned.With Drew Stafford, Mathieu Perreault and Bryan Little all on the shelf, Nic Petan is serving as the Winnipeg Jets final top-six forward. He has four assists in his past four games, and will continue subtle contributions so long as he can retain a role on a scoring line. Really, any warm body would in this Jets top six.Top 250 rankingsHere are the updated rest-of-season, top 250 rankings of forwards, defensemen and goalies, including position ranks.Note: Sean Allens top 250 players are ranked for their expected performance in ESPN standard leagues from this point on. ESPN standard stats include goals, assists, power-play points, shots on goal, plus/minus, penalty minutes and average time on ice for skaters, and wins, goals-against average and save percentage for goalies. Fake Air Max .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. Fake Air Max . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. http://www.fakeairmax90.com/ . In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves. Fake Air Max 90 . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. Fake Shoes . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Weve seen this before.The 2016 season starts right where it left off -- with No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson leading the polls. But what we havent experienced is a Week 1 that features a loaded Saturday (Sept. 3) highlighted by the defending national champs opening against No. 20 USC (8 p.m. ET, ABC), Clemson traveling to Auburn (9 p.m., ESPN), No. 15 Houston trying to upend No. 3 Oklahoma (noon ET, ABC) and No. 5 LSU taking on Wisconsin at Lambeau Field (3:30 p.m ET, ABC), followed by No. 10 Notre Dame heading to Texas (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) for a Sunday showdown.As Maximus from Gladiator would ask,?Are you not entertained?!As if those ranked matchups arent enough, No. 4 Florida State and No. 11 Ole Miss cap the weekend with a Labor Day battle (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) that will punctuate an unprecedented opening to the season that could shake up the playoff picture before the selection committee even begins to draw it up.Sundays Top 25? Its a starting point, an educated guess at this years front-runners for the College Football Playoff. Its a holdover until the selection committee releases its first official ranking on Nov. 1. Take a closer look, though, and it offers some potential storylines that could make for fascinating debates within the selection committee meeting room:Could the ACC get two teams in the top four?Sure. So could the SEC. The reason the CFP is set up the way it is -- without automatic qualifiers -- is so the selection committee has the freedom to select two teams from one conference. Nowhere does it say that a team must win its league title to earn a spot in a semifinal (otherwise Notre Dame would be out of luck entirely). The tricky part is that a team that failed to win a conference title bears the burden of being unequivocally one of the four best teams in the country.What does that mean? Clearly one of the four best, CFP executive director Bill Hancock says. That team doesnt have to be a unanimous vote among the 12 committee members, but there has to be no doubt in the meeting room that the ACCs Atlantic Division runner-up -- either No. 2 Clemson or No. 4 Florida State -- is better than one of the other Power 5 conference champions and Notre Dame. If Clemsons only loss of the season is by three points to an undefeated FSU team in Tallahassee, theres no question that the Tigers would at least be considered for a semifinall.dddddddddddd The same can be said for a one-loss FSU team that beats Ole Miss and Florida. If theres a one-loss Notre Dame team (No. 10 in the APs preseason rankings) in the mix, though, this scenario gets much murkier.Will a new team crash the playoff party?The top four teams in the AP poll -- Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma and Florida State -- have already been on this ride. Cant somebody else get a turn? At No. 5, LSU is the highest-ranked team that hasnt participated in the playoff yet. If LSU loses to Wisconsin in Week 1, the Tigers margin for error shrinks drastically, but any team that has a shot to win its league -- especially the SEC West champ -- has a chance at the top four. Remember, there is almost always a surprise team. Iowa wasnt ranked in last years preseason poll, and the Hawkeyes were in the committees top four heading into the Big Ten title game. This year, it could be No. 9 Tennessee, No. 13 TCU or No. 14 Washington that could make significant leaps.Will the Pac-12 get shut out again?At No. 8, Stanford is the highest-ranked Pac-12 team in the poll, and its a safe pick this time of year, as the Cardinal have won three of the past four league titles. The problem isnt Stanford. Or UCLA. Or USC. Its a grueling, nine-game league schedule, which is a major reason ESPNs Football Power Index projects a 65 percent chance that the Pac-12 champ loses multiple games in conference play. Not only will the members of this league beat up on one another -- the Pac-12 has five teams ranked this preseason -- but also USC opens against Bama, and UCLA opens against Texas A&M. Strength of schedule? Check. Undefeated team? Good luck.What about Jim Harbaugh?College footballs most polarizing personality and Twitter account were one of the top storylines of the summer, but look at the AP Poll and -- gasp! -- Ohio State (No. 6) is still ranked ahead of Michigan (No. 7). Until proved otherwise, the Buckeyes remain the team to beat. ESPNs FPI tells a different story, as it projects the Wolverines to win their first outright Big Ten title since 2003. In order to do that, Michigan has to win at Michigan State, at Iowa and at Ohio State. Its unlikely that well know Michigans true place in the playoff until late November. ' ' '
