Erik Gustafsson: The Perfect Fantasy Hockey Injury Replacement
Erik Gustafsson is thriving again. I just hope we’re all paying attention to what’s actually happening and the future lesson that needs to be applied. Adam Fox is on the shelf and Gustafsson has taken over the Rangers first line powerplay unit. It’s raining fantasy points again for Gustaffson.
Gustafsson, 31, has 10 points in 14 games with the Rangers including five assists on the PP. What’s crazy is this is basically the exact same thing that happened with Gustafsson a year ago. John Carlson got hurt and Gustafsson popped off for 38 points in 61 games for Washington.
I say this all the time but this lesson needs to be applied to Gustafsson moving forward. Consider this the secret to picking defensemen in fantasy. Who is running the PP? Make sure they’re on your team. With Gustafsson, we know that he’s normally a depth bottom pair guy. However, when injury strikes, teams rely on him to be the new puck mover. He’s the perfect injury replacement fantasy hero at all times.
That’s all I have. It’s just something to monitor for fantasy hockey managers moving forward. Ask yourself these two questions.
What team is Erik Gustafsson on?
What injury needs to occur for Gustafsson to be fantasy relevant?
As long as Fox is out for the Rangers, Gustafsson is going to rack points. When Fox returns, Gustafsson is back to being irrelevant in fantasy. It just is what it is. Use this as a lesson moving forward for the remainder of Gustafsson’s career.
