Frozen Fantasy: (Quirky) Midseason Awards

Midseason fantasy awards. Overperformers and underperformers. Sell high, buy low. Stories of the second half.

Yawn. #Predictable.

It's that time of the season when fantasy writers everywhere almost universally pick the good, the bad and the sometimes ugly. I dunno - that's just a little too predictable for me this year. So, I'm taking a different look at the All-Star break.

There are loads of great angles to this season already. And some possible quirky awards. Like ...

Best get-out-of-jail-free card: Ryan Johansen. Who would have thought Nashville's steel guitars could resurrect a young man's career? #TortsFreeZone.

Reason 7,231 to NEVER trust peaks after 30:Jiri Hudler. Where have you gone little man? Is he even on the earth this season?

Separated at birth:Joffrey Lupul and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. When do RNH's ouches Lupul his career arc?

John Scott's "pinch me, I'm dreaming" buddy:Dale Weise. 'Nuf said.

The anti-Jonathan Drouin:Travis Hamonic gets it. He has zipped his trap and hasn't put his GM in a prong collar.

How dare you doubt me:Patrick Kane. Ba-BAM.

Carb loading gone bad:Phil Kessel's now snarfing Pittsburgh's famous pierogies instead of Toronto's street meat. No wonder he seems sluggish. The Thrill needs to cut the starch and get back to salty protein to get his game back on track.

Playing with fire:Erik Karlsson is blocking shots at a record pace. That can't be good.

Skinny guys really don't age well:Ryan Miller. You'd think a guy making $6mil could afford a few nice rib steaks. Or a bunch of chocolate croissants.

Me thinks thou doth protest too much: C'mon, Steven Stamkos. You hate the coach. The GM has insulted you. We don't believe your "I wanna stay" proclamations. Do YOU believe you?

Wookies love Tennessee:James Neal is one happy Chewie now that he has a Han Solo. You think the sidekick would've been an All-Star replacement pre-Ryan Johansen?

Old dogs CAN learn new tricks: Alexander Ovechkin is a different man. Same output, but a helluva lot more leadership. Lord Stanley is about to come to D.C.

Now let's look at who caught my eye this week:

Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, Winnipeg (16 percent Yahoo! owned) - Ehlers had never scored more than one goal in any NHL game until Tuesday. And that night, he became just the second teenager in Jets/Thrashers history to ring up three goals in a game (the sniping Ilya Kovalchuk was the first). He has eight points, including six goals, in his last seven games after struggling through a drought of five points in his previous 30. Ehlers is a stud and is now playing that way. I dropped him after his first 12 games (nine points). Yep, I'm kicking myself now.

Jussi Jokinen, LW/RW/C, Florida (18 percent) - The Panthers are damn good. And so is Juicy this season. Jokinen has meshed with line mates Vincent Trocheck and Reilly Smith, and he's been a leader on that line and his squad. He has six points, including four assists, in his last seven games and his goal Tuesday gave him nine, one more than he had all of last season. Jokinen has a shot at a 50-point season and that includes some on the power play. #Undervalued.

Joonas Korpisalo, G, Columbus (5 percent) - Korpisalo is 4-0-1 in five straight starts and has a remarkable .953 save percentage in that span. Jackets' coach John Tortorella trusts him (I'm not sure if that's good or bad). And he's playing a balanced, athletic game where he's letting the game just come to him. It's a nice change from his overaggressive NHL debut earlier in the season. Korpisalo is the de facto starter in Columbus with Sergei Bobrovsky and Curtis McElhinney on the shelf. The 21-year-old is relatively inexperienced, but a starter is a starter if you need net relief.

J.T. Miller, C, NY Rangers (9 percent) - Miller is finally growing up. His game is all about grit and skill, but it was clear he was a bit too big for his britches when he came into the league. That fine line between confident and cocky was far too blurred. It took a few years, but Miller has finally dug in and eaten a piece of humble pie, and his game has taken a real leap. It started around the beginning of December when he was one of the few Rangers who kept working hard night in and night out, even when the team struggled. And in six games since mid-January, Miller has five goals, 17 shots and 19 hits. He can inject a little juice into your lineup for at least a couple games.

Joakim Nordstrom, LW, Carolina (0 percent) - Nordstrom is one-third of the Canes' smother line, along with Jordan Staal and Andrej Nestrasil. The odd trio -- a Staal plus two guys plucked off the scrap heap -- has been dominant in its checking role since the end of December. But they've been doing the job in all three zones the last few games. Nordstrom, who was a pretty much a throw-in with Kris Versteeg in the trade with the Hawks, was arguably the best Cane on the ice in last Sunday's 5-2 win over the Flames. And he has a goal in each of his last three games. Sure, it's lightning in a bottle. But it's nice to see him resurrect his young career.

David Perron, LW/RW, Anaheim (21 percent) - Go grab him. NOW! He's free from Pittsburgh's pierogies and has snapped together like Lego with Ryan Getzlaf on the Quacks' first line. Hey, one team's trash is another's treasure, right? Perron has five points in five games with the Ducks, including at least one in every game he's played there. He won't keep that up, but he has been a 55-60 point guy. And he has every chance to deliver at that kind of pace (or a little better) for the rest of the season.

Reilly Smith, LW/RW, Florida (16 percent) - Smith is on a four-game, five-point streak heading into All-Star weekend and is on pace to deliver 26 goals on the season. Not bad for a third-round pick. His shooting percentage is a bit high compared to his career average, so he might slow down a bit. But Smith is really delivering alongside Vincent Trocheck and Jussi Jokinen on an impressive Panthers' squad. Thou shalt not overlook the Floridian felines any more.

Jakob Silfverberg, LW/RW, Anaheim (14 percent) - I dumped his sorry butt a couple months back - he was playing like somebody had asked him to shoot left the first half of the season. But Silfverberg has come alive in the last eight games, recording 11 points, including eight assists. And now those six points in his first 39 games look like a distant memory. His ownership should probably spike in the 50-60 percent range if fantasy owners are still paying attention. Get in now if you can. The Quacks are about to boot the Coyotes to the curb and move into the postseason ranks. And Silfverberg will be a big part of that surge.

Tom Wilson, RW, Washington (11 percent) - This guy is a beast when it comes to the heavy stuff -- hits and PIM. And Wilson does it without sacrificing offense. He's not going to dangle the jocks off opposing defenders, but will simply plow through them on the way to the net. He's on pace for 25 points, 200 PIM and 230 hits, and those last two projections might even be a bit light, particularly as the games tighten up.

Back to the quirk.

The NHL might not like John Scott at the All-Star Game, but everyone else does. Sure, the fan vote is quirky, but so is the skills competition -- how contrived is that? And the player intro Saturday night told the story.

John Scott's intro applause was the loudest of them all. Even greater than all those hometown Preds.

I have to say -- 95.9 mph isn't quirky at all. Scott surprised himself AND everyone else in the place with that powerful rip.

Hey, Gary Bettman -- how about you "Stick it!" I'll bet John Scott is thinking that right about now.

Until next week.