Die Macht » but coach Ken Hitchcock is pushing his butt

METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers each have banked on players with little experience to cover opponents starting receivers. Neither team has managed more than one victory through a quarter or more of the season.Whether theres a direct correlation is debatable, but both teams have seen their young defensive backs tested, and at times it has been costly enough that each club saw wisdom in adding veteran free agents at those spots after since the regular season began.The Saints hosts Carolina on Sunday and New Orleans receiver Willie Snead took notice when Atlanta passed for 481 yards against the Panthers, with the Falcons Julio Jones gaining 300 yards on his own.Snead said the secondary seems to be where the Panthers are struggling right now.Theyve got a lot of young guys, a lot of rookies that are playing, Snead said. We just have to take advantage of the rookies. We have to attack them.The Panthers released third-year cornerback Bene Benwikere after the loss to Atlanta. Meanwhile, rookie cornerback James Bradberry injured his toe, so Carolina went with journeyman veteran Robert McClain and rookie Daryl Worley as its primary cornerbacks, and Zack Sanchez, another rookie, in five-defensive-back (nickel) formations last Monday night.Carolina also benched third-year safety Tre Boston, who took over as starter after the release of safety Roman Harper, who has returned to his original NFL team in New Orleans.They wanted to see what Tre could do. I understand that, Harper said when asked if he understood why Carolina let him go last offseason. Tres a young safety they drafted out of North Carolina. I think hes got a lot of skills and its time for him to start to grow. ... Im kind of just in the way of the whole growth process, so you let me go and youve got to see what these young guys can do.While there have been growing pains for the Panthers, Carolina coach Ron Rivera expressed confidence this week in the direction of his young secondary, which last week allowed just 202 yards passing in a 17-14 loss to Tampa Bay.I know there are some things that we have to shore up, Rivera said, but having said that, I think those guys are developing very nicely and really are solid young players.Overall, the Panthers are still not particularly easy to pass against because of pressure applied by their exceptional, experienced defensive line and linebackers, Saints quarterback Drew Brees said.Saints right tackle Zach Strief added that Carolinas front is strong against the run, essentially forcing opponents to attack through the air.Carolina has allowed 246.4 yards passing per game, which ranks 15th overall, in the middle of the league. But thats down from 11th, where they ranked at the end of the 2015 regular season, when they allowed just 234.5 yards per game and made 24 interceptions. The Panthers have five interceptions this season -- on pace to finish with 16.New Orleans defensive numbers against the pass are considerably worse. The Saints are allowing 301.3 yards passing per game, which ranks 29th. Because of an early season injury to top cornerback Delvin Breaux, the Saints have been playing two undrafted rookies -- Ken Crawley and DeVante Harris -- at cornerback. P.J. Williams, a second-year pro who spent his rookie season in injured reserve, started two games before a severe concussion took him out of action for the remainder of this season as well. New Orleans has brought in veteran cornerbacks Sterling Moore and B.W. Webb since the regular season began.The Saints also are playing rookie Vonn Bell at free safety, but have been pleased enough with him to start him ahead of veteran Jairus Byrd in the Saints previous game, a victory at San Diego.Part of what we are paid to do is develop these young players and play them if we feel like theyre our best option, Saints coach Sean Payton said. Weve seen young corners now that are getting a lot of playing time. Thats not necessarily a bad thing. You hope each week they are improving.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report.Cheap NCAA Jerseys . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. 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JOHNS, N.It was just a quick-hit edition of the list two weeks ago in the Fantasy Forecaster when we mentioned Jonathan Marchessault, Alexander Radulov, Artem Anisimov, Zach Werenski and Cam Fowler as five players who werent anywhere close to universally owned in ESPN fantasy leagues, but should be. Its good to see all five have climbed up in ownership percentage since then.We want to argue for another five players here. The reasons for trepidation are different for each, but fantasy owners need to let go of their fear and embrace these guys as contributors for the remainder of the season.Nazem Kadri, C, Toronto Maple Leafs: Even though hes getting ice time on what is arguably the Leafs third line, Kadri is operating as if he is the Leafs top forward. Currently on pace for a 60-point season, there is a strong likelihood his 20.6 shooting percentage regresses and brings down his goal-scoring pace. But he could also easily start playing more than the 15:21 he is currently averaging in ice time per game. All told, Kadri is stepping up in a big way in this young Leafs offense, and his 54.6 percent ownership in ESPN leagues is well below the threshold hes established -- even accounting for a slip in his goals and penalty minutes.Nikolaj Ehlers, LW, Winnipeg Jets: No matter how the Jets shake out their lines going forward, Ehlers is near-golden for a prime spot. With Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine and Blake Wheeler all acting as superstar catalysts in the top six, Ehlers will almost assuredly remain tied to one or more of them. A recent run of 10 points in five games shows that he can be streaky, but thats OK. There are more streaks to come. If you are patient with Ehlers through the cold spells, hell provide more than adequate fantasy value in your lineup at the end of the season -- especially if the Jets power play ever finds its footing with some permanence. Owned in only 65.7 percent of ESPN leagues, Ehlers is there for the taking.Charlie Coyle, RW/LW, Minnesota Wild: While his numbers dont leap off the page like Kadri or Ehlers, Coyle is playing big minutes on the top line for a winning Wild team. With just shy of 18 minutes per game on the ice, Coyle is on a clear pace to eclipse his 21 goals and 21 assists from last season. Hes managed to keep up the pace with Zach Parise sidelined, and should elevate his pace once Eric Staal, Parise and Coyle get more than eight games to establish their rhythm. Owned in only 27.6 percent of ESPN leagues, Coyle should be a staple as your eighth or ninth forward.Damon Severson, D, New Jersey Devils: We werent sure if the Devils would try something different this season after getting underwhelming offensive contributions from the blue line in recent campaigns. Its not a wholesale changing of the guard, but Severson has been positioned as the clear power-play quarterback as opposed to the rotation the team had last season. With 11 points in 14 games, Seversons pace will come down to Earth in the near future, but maybe not as much as one might think. His current pace of 64 points is a little out of the realm of possibility, but there is no reason Severson cant get 50 points playing as the main offensive defenseman on a team with Taylor Hall powering the attack. Owned in just 55.6 percent of ESPN leagues, Severson is a freebie No. 2 fantasy defenseman for the taking.Craig Anderson, G, Ottawa Senators: Andersons ratios are in the unsustainable range right now, but there are some signs that he can at least somewhat keep up a strong pace this season. First and foremost is the evidence that the Senators quality defense is a team effort. Mike Condon has stepped in twice for Anderson in November and stopped 58 of 59 pucks thrown his way. That kind of play by a backup who came into the season without a clear job speaks volumes to the teams defensive play -- even if it was the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres facing Condon. Secondly, while Anderson has allowed four goals on three occasions this season, we are now 11 games into his campaign without a blowup of five or more goals allowed. Those are the games that have killed his value in the past. We arent saying its not going to happen, but getting about 20 percent of the way through his season without one is a very good sign. Finally, we have a nice improvement for far in the Senators penalty killing, which can go a long way to preserving a goaltenders ratios. The Sens were 29th last season on the kill, at 75.8 percent. So far this season, they are seventh in the NHL, at 86.4 percent. The difference is reflected in Andersons save percentage and can help keep his numbers in line with that of a No. 2 fantasy goaltender if the trend continues. Owned in 65.6 percent of ESPN leagues, Anderson needs to be on rosters in all formats.Forwards rising and fallingNick Foligno, LW, Columbus Blue Jackets (up 98 spots to No. 70): Yet another example of how we all had this Blue Jackets offense pegged wrong coming into this campaign. Leading the team with Zach Werenski and Alexander Wennberg, Foligno was the only one of the three to actually be drafted in some leagues coming into the season, but his 143.8 average draft position shows he was just a late flier. Now, a month and a half into season, Foligno, Werenski and Wennberg are fueling a 7-4-2 start by the Jackets. The best part about this for fantasy owners who jumped on board with Foligno already is that hes done this before. Sure, last season was a write off and had us believing that he couldnt be a fantasy contributor without Ryan Johansen. But we were wrong. The name didnt matter as much as Foligno simply playing with a quality center. Wennberg has filled that void, and helped Foligno to get closer to his pace from the 2014--15 season when he had 31 goals and 73 points.dddddddddddd Hoping for a repeat of those totals might be a bit too optimistic, but not by too much. Hopefully you were quicker than we were to embrace Folignos resurgence with open arms.Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, Washington Capitals (down 15 spots to No. 48): Wed be a lot less worried about Kuznetsovs slow start if the Capitals didnt have Nicklas Backstrom around. But as it stands, the hill Kuznetsov will have to climb to get back into his plum position next to Alex Ovechkin becomes ever steeper. His seven points in 14 games to open the season has him squarely in the dog house, as Kuznetsov is now on the second line and second power-play unit after starting the season on the first for both. Backstrom isnt streaking by any means by comparison, but has picked up the pace since he and Kuznetsov swapped roles. We arent saying the third-year Russian is down for the count just yet, but hes certainly not looking like the third-round draft pick he was at the start of the season.Marian Hossa, RW, Chicago Blackhawks (up 27 spots to No. 101): A little respect for Hossa here, as hes stringing together a nice little bounce-back campaign. Settling in nicely as the winger with Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov, Hossa has eight goals in his past nine games. Hes not going to keep it up to quite this pace, as a 23.6 shooting percentage is close to double his career average, but staying healthy is going to go a long way to Hossa regaining his status as an elite winger this season. Just dont forget that he is scoring twice as often this season compared to last season and will turn 38 in January. Hes great to have on your team right now, but probably isnt a trade target for whom you want to pay market price.Defensemen rising and fallingCam Fowler, D, Anaheim Ducks (up 27 spots to No. 155): While its likely the Ducks are easing Hampus Lindholm back into the lineup, its also very promising that through three games since getting Lindholm back, Fowlers ice time remains sky high. Even if we are to believe the rumors that Fowler is on the block, this kind of usage could keep up as the team showcases his potential value. Fowler is leading the Ducks in both ice time per game and power-play ice time per game. Until that changes, we need to start looking at him as the fantasy darling hes been so far.Goaltenders rising and fallingMatt Murray, G, Pittsburgh Penguins (up 28 spots to No. 74): Weve seen enough to call this one in favor of Murray for the time being. Marc-Andre Fleury isnt out of the mix and will still play a ton of hockey, but Murray looks every bit the goaltender that took over the crease late last season and backstopped the Penguins to the Stanley Cup. Through four games, Murray has four wins, and has posted a .961 save percentage that makes Fleurys .910 look particularly underwhelming given that its the same team in front of them.Quick hitsThe Dallas Stars dont seem anywhere close to being over their injury woes, and Antoine Roussel continues to pile up enough offense that he may get some top-six consideration even after Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza and Jiri Hudler are back in the mix. Furthermore, Roussel has peripheral value as an annual leader in penalty minutes.The Anaheim Ducks are still playing Nick Ritchie on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. We still think that role is ultimately going to Rickard Rakell, but this continued presence of Ritchie certainly takes some of the shine off Rakell for now.Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastien Aho had their first relevant game (in fantasy terms) as Caroline Hurricanes on Saturday. Unfortunately for any potential momentum, they managed the feat with Jordan Staal playing center for them, and Staal is now day-to-day with a wrist injury.Anthony Mantha played 18:58 in his season debut with the Red Wings on Saturday, including a team-high 5:38 on the power play. Mantha finally looks like hes solved the pro hockey circuit this season, scoring eight goals and two assists in 10 AHL games to start the season. The Red Wings are starved to find some consistency on offense, and Mantha might offer them an opportunity to do just that.The latest Connor McDavid watch has Tyler Pitlick replacing Jordan Eberle on the top line. Even if its only temporary, take notice of Pitlicks potential for this coming week.And moving east, the latest Sidney Crosby watch has Connor Sheary replacing Carl Hagelin on the top line. Even if its only temporary, take notice of Shearys potential for this coming week.We declared Robby Fabbri dead to us last week, but coach Ken Hitchcock is pushing his buttons the right way. After making Fabbri a healthy scratch, Hitchcock brought him back into the lineup on Saturday in a top-line role with Vladimir Tarasenko. Fabbri responded with two goals. Stay tuned.With Drew Stafford, Mathieu Perreault and Bryan Little all on the shelf, Nic Petan is serving as the Winnipeg Jets final top-six forward. He has four assists in his past four games, and will continue subtle contributions so long as he can retain a role on a scoring line. Really, any warm body would in this Jets top six.Top 250 rankingsHere are the updated rest-of-season, top 250 rankings of forwards, defensemen and goalies, including position ranks.Note: Sean Allens top 250 players are ranked for their expected performance in ESPN standard leagues from this point on. ESPN standard stats include goals, assists, power-play points, shots on goal, plus/minus, penalty minutes and average time on ice for skaters, and wins, goals-against average and save percentage for goalies. ' ' '