<
>

Becker's Dozen: Setoguchi-mania

Every week, "Becker's Dozen" looks at 13 players whose value has recently gone up or down.

Devin Setoguchi, RW, Sharks: Here's one simple rule for picking up Sharks players. If he's playing on the top line with Joe Thornton, you want him. If he's playing on the power play with Thornton, you need him. Any questions?

Jason Arnott, C, Predators: Arnott's as under-the-radar a 30-goal man as there is, as he'd be working on his third consecutive such campaign had he not missed 14 games last season. He wasted the prime years of his career toiling for the defensive-minded Devils and Stars and had injuries cost him several 30-goal seasons in Edmonton before that. He has great hands and should be able to put up a 30-goal, 75-point pace for as long as he's healthy. He's been hot in November, with eight points in six games and a couple of penalty minutes in each contest.

Daniel Cleary, RW, Red Wings: We've seen this movie before, haven't we? Cleary has five goals in his past five games, two of them on the power play. He can probably keep up his hot play for a week or two, but I wouldn't bother holding on to him afterwards. Still, if you're the kind of owner who likes to switch up his ponies, this one's got some life in him right now.

Mikko Koivu, C, Wild: I used to only endorse Koivu when he found himself centering Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra, but it seems like Saku's kid brother found himself a new friend. Koivu and Mark Parrish have been skating together with solid results, including a three-assist game on Nov. 5 and a two-goal effort on Tuesday, bringing his season total to 15 points in 17 games. Koivu's 24 and in his third year, so we may well be witnessing a breakout season for the 2001 No. 6 overall draft pick.

Dany Sabourin, G, Penguins: Joke's over. Despite a 5-0 shutout on Nov. 5 and some sparkling numbers overall, Sabourin is clearly the backup to Marc-Andre Fleury, so his 15-point spike in ownership last week is just that. A spike. Back-to-back losses and three goals allowed in three of his past four games will make sure of that.

Ray Emery, G, Senators: Is thee even a controversy here? Emery has started just two of the Senator's past eight games, and he coughed up four goals in each. For a guy who was drafted as a top-5 goalie this season, this is tantamount to disaster.

Mark Recchi, RW, Penguins: Boy, does he miss Sidney Crosby. He's got two points in his past 10 games, and until such a time as Pittsburgh decides to split up their dynamic duo, he's just a 39-year-old trying to keep up on a team led by a player half his age.

Cory Stillman, RW, Hurricanes: Once upon a Calgary Flame, Cory Stillman was a near-30-goal scorer who couldn't quite get over the hump. Then, he became a 20-goal man, and a pretty consistent one at that. So how does he have 11 goals in 15 games so far? A 28.2 shooting percentage, that's how. That number will be halved by the end of the season, and while Stillman will likely be closer to 30 goals than 20 goals, he'll have played like the latter from here on out. But for now, he gets an "up" arrow because 11 goals in 15 games is just darned impressive.

Cory Murphy, D, Panthers: This isn't about his being knocked out of the game on Monday. He's fine and should be back on the ice shortly. The problem is that he hasn't been very productive lately (just two assists in 7 November contests) and his ice time has suffered for it. He's been held to under 15 minutes in four consecutive games leading up to Monday's early exit. He had failed to do so only once in October.

Francois Beauchemin, D, Ducks: Since Mathieu Schneider returned to the lineup at the beginning of the month, Beauchemin has returned to being the No. 3 man on the depth chart. He's still a solid NHL player, but unless he's skating with an offensive-minded partner or is running the point on the power play, he's not someone you can count on in fantasy. Ironically, he'll be a lot better if he gets knocked down to No. 4 by a Scott Niedermayer comeback, since he'd then get to pair up with one of the top three guys at even strength.

Douglas Murray, D, Sharks: I use a down arrow here because his ownership has dropped by 14 percent recently. Why? Murray is a plus/minus and penalty-minutes fiend whose contributions greatly outweight those of a 30-point defenseman. If he's available in my league, I'm picking him up. You should too.

David Perron, LW, Blues: Perron is a bit of a surprise. He's only 19 years old and was picked up by the team in the first round (26th overall) of the 2007 draft. He simply isn't supposed to be here this quickly. But how can you argue with his recent goal-scoring prowess? Perron has one more game to play (Friday) before the team has to decide whether to return him to his juniors club, but that would be a very surprising move considering that the Blues are currently playing .500 hockey and need all the weapons they have in order to make a run at the playoffs.

The Columbus Blue Jackets: Never underestimate the power of a good head coach. I did. I dismissed the Blue Jackets out-of-hand this preseason, and I was wrong. Ken Hitchcock -- who took over the squad in November last season -- has these guys playing the kind of hockey that turned the Dallas Stars into Stanley Cup champions (for you Buffalo Sabres fans out there, we'll make that alleged Cup champions.) There is no big "minus" threat on this squad, and they've actually managed to make Pascal LeClaire -- dare I say it? -- ownable. There's still a stigma attached to the Blue Jackets, but don't let that stop you from picking up a player you need. Even old man Sergei Fedorov.

Pete Becker is senior editor for ESPN.com Fantasy