Detroit Red Wings - Fantasy News

NHL Fantasy Picks: Andreas Athanasiou

by Jeff Gordon

1/5/18

NHL

Detroit Red Wings

Andreas Athanasiou

If you saw Detroit Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou skate circles around the Ottawa Senators in a 2-1 victory on January 3, you might have thought he ranked among the NHL's top players.

Athanasiou scored twice, including the game-winner six seconds into overtime. He had nine shot attempts and put seven of them on goal. While he was on the ice the Red Wings generated 11 high-danger chances and allowed just one.

He racked up 23 Dober Fantasy Points, crushing his Projected Fantasy Points total of 5.0. That was the fourth time in seven games he bettered his PFP.

“I don’t know how many breakaways he had today,” Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg told reporters after the game. “Probably the amount I had in all my career. He’s good, he’s fast, and it was good to see he scored the last one because he had a few chances.”

Athanasiou, 23, is one of the flashiest offensive players in the league. But thus far he has only produced in spurts during his young career. In his first 29 games this season he had just eight goals, seven assists and a minus-10 rating.

His ill-advised holdout earlier this season didn't help matters. After scoring 18 goals and adding just 11 assists in 64 games in 2016-17, he was hardly positioned to command a big raise.

Did anybody really believe he was going to play in Europe after rejecting offers from the Red Wings?

Athanasiou's inconsistency continued this season. After scoring no goals and dishing just four assists during a 15-game drought, he had three goals and two assists in his next seven contests.

Head coach Jeff Blashill played him at least 19 minutes in three consecutive games, occasionally double-shifting him as a winger on one line (with Dylan Larkin) and as the center on another line (with Anthony Mantha).

"As a center you can come in with the puck a little more," Athanasiou told reporters. "As a winger, you can kind of push the (defensemen) back and blow the zone. Get those high flips and get in puck races. So there’s pros and cons to both.”

Blashill is testing his young veterans as general manager Ken Holland mulls his next moves in a potential team makeover. Which of these guys are cornerstone players? The organization is trying to define that.

“Like any young player, they have to learn how consistent they have to be to be successful in the NHL,” Blashill said during his postgame media session after the Ottawa game. “That is one of the biggest lessons young guys have to learn, I don’t care who you are. Larkin has had to learn it, [Athanasiou] has had to learn it.

"It’s a continued step. The more games you build up where you are playing great hockey, you’re playing engaged, the more you’re taking steps towards being a great hockey player in this league. You just can’t if you don’t have that level of consistency.”

The Red Wings have reached a favorable stretch of their schedule with eight home dates in 11 games. Given his recent upturn and his expanded role in the Red Wings offense, Athanasiou will be a good bet to top his Projected Fantasy Points total in the near future.

So start him while he's hot and before his PFP gets too much higher.