The best indicator that Alex Ovechkin is struggling is that he is now the best anti-fantasy pick from the “Art Ross Candidates” pool of players. Corey Perry, who long held that distinction, now has 21 points to Ovechkin’s 18. He also now has Ovechkin’s former coach. It’s unclear what impact the coaching changes in Washington and Anaheim will have on these players’ anti-fantasy value, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.

The bigger impact for anti-fantasy owners right now is injuries. Three of the best anti-fantasy options are currently on the injured reserve list. Matthew Lombardi has a shoulder injury that is expected to require surgery, but is expected to push that surgery into the off-season. For now, he’s expected to return in a couple weeks, but will likely be playing through pain. Even without the injury, he only had 6 points in 19 games, 4 fewer than Ales Hemsky, the next closest player in the appropriately-named “Injury Prone Players” category, and 15 fewer than Marian Gaborik, the leading scorer in that category.

Lubomir Visnovsky broke a finger on November 11th and hasn’t played since. It looks like he still isn’t close as the Ducks twitter is reporting that Visnovsky said gripping a stick still hurts. The earliest he might return is mid-December. His 4 points easily leads the “Puck Movers” pool of players, 6 fewer than Dan Boyle and 13 fewer than Dustin Byfuglien.

Speaking of Byfuglien, his defence partner Tobias Enstrom had 6 points before breaking his collarbone. While he’s close to returning to the lineup, he’s 10 points behind Duncan Keith and 12 behind everyone else in his category, giving his anti-fantasy owners a huge advantage.

Injuries have also affected the goaltenders, since Luongo hasn’t started a game since his injury that allowed Cory Schneider to take the reins. Luongo is stuck on 7 wins, making him the best pick at this point in the season.

This has ceased to be a surprise: holidayblues is still in first place. Ryan, however, is just two points behind, followed closely by Joeducklow. Eric Staal is the best anti-fantasy player for holidayblues, who still has only 8 points this season, but Enstrom is doing a lot of heavy lifting as well. Madwag is once again in last place, with Anze Kopitar, Claude Giroux, Thomas Vanek, Jeff Skinner, Dustin Byfuglien…actually, he’s in last place because he has a lot of high-scoring players.

Here’s the Anti-Fantasy All-Star Team, with a total of 111 points:

1. Alex Ovechkin – 18
2. Ryan Getzlaf – 19
3. Jarome Iginla – 12
4. Eric Staal – 8
5. Dany Heatley – 16
6. Matthew Lombardi – 6
7. Michael Grabner – 11
8. Brayden Schenn – 0
9. Cam Janssen – 0
10. Lubomir Visnovsky – 4
11. Tobias Enstrom – 6
12. Douglas Murray – 3
13. John Scott/Jason Strudwick – 0
14. Roberto Luongo – 7
15. Brent Johnson – 1

Current Standings