Market Buzz - Buy. Hold, Sell...

After about 30 games each for the respective NHL teams, and given the state of the the world-wide economy, we thought it was time for us to chime in on our annual buy, hold or sell segment during our trip around the league. We'll start with the Northwest Conference first:

Vancouver Canucks - with the recent signing of Mats Sundin, the Canucks appear to have found the offensive shot-in-the-arm that they have been looking for all season. Sundin's arrival should bolster the Canucks PP, and allow for further offensive opportunities for his linemates and even the defencemen. It's likely Sundin will be paired with Demitra and Wellwood, and both those guys should be good "buys" in your trade dealings. Of course, like all things fantasy pool related, much of this depends on Sundins' own health - and frankly, we are not convinced he's 100%. Track records of guys similarly coming back mid-season as free agents (see Niedermayer and Selanne from last year) has not been great. Their conditioning usually is not good, and they are prone to the dreaded "groin injury". Right now, the buzz around Sundin is terrific - and he hasn't played a game yet. As a result, we'd be "selling" as his trade value won't be any higher. Kevin Bleiksa squeaks in as a "hold" commodity right now, as he's playing well on the Canucks PP and should see an uplift in points. Sami Salo is hurt, big surprise, and gone for about a month. You might be able to convince someone else to take a flyer on him with Sundin in the mix, so we'd "sell" if you could. Same goes Edler and Ohlund, who we think are about maxed in terms of offensive production, even with Sundin. Roberto Luongo is taking longer to come back from his groin injury, and that's never a good thing. Look for him sometime mid-January and should be a "hold".

Edmonton Oilers - such high expectations are the start of the year that have not been realized is how we'd characterize the Oilers to date. Hemsky and Souray are the only consistent guys at this stage - and both are high on our "sell" lists. Hemsky continues to be the marquis name in trade rumors for guys like Boumeester and Kovulchuk. His move to either of those teams could adversely impact his fantasy value. Souray has been very good, and there is sure to be a lesser "injury-risk" defenceman that you can parlay him into at about the same fantasy value. Erik Cole has been a big disappointment and he's a "hold" for now. Playing now the 3rd line, he's trying - just not producing. You won't get much for him. Horcoff is under-achieving, and at this stage looks to have reverted tio his 2nd line status of a few years ago; he's a "sell" in our books. Ditto Dwayne Roloson, who for now appears to be the #1guy in Edmonton. Despite Sam Gagner's sophomore slump, which we did warn about, he's a "hold" or "buy" if you can. He should come cheap and he might not turn it around this year, but he's too good to be this bad for the remainder of his career.

...the rest of the Northwest conference tomorrow.