Every year in fantasy there are guys who get snatched up as soon as possible. Those guys will help your team make the playoffs and give you good reason to make fun of all your friends. At the same time there are certain players that couldn’t possibly ruin a fantasy team any more.

Whether it’s big name guys that just won’t get it done, or simply players who are producing well below their expected levels, these are the guys to stay away from in fantasy hockey this year.

Right at the top of the list is Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux. Yes, the same guy who graced the cover of ‘NHL 13’ and was seemingly the next big thing to help Canada’s Olympic team this coming February. Part of Giroux’s slump can be attributed to the Flyers’ absolutely terrible start to the season, but only to a certain extent. Giroux just isn’t scoring. He’s got 7 assists and ZERO goals after 14 games played, and considering he is owned in 100% of ESPN fantasy leagues… it might be time to dump him off to the Flyers fan in your league.

Speaking of Philly, gritty left winger Scott Hartnell is also not having his best season so far. With only 1 goal and no assists, Hartnell is hardly the offensive force he’s been in recent seasons. Pretty much as we’ll continue to see below, just stay away from the Flyers this year unless they make a complete 180 and start winning.

Another big name that’s having a rather rough season is Boston’s Brad Marchand. The pesky forward is always around the net and manages to put pucks in the net, but that’s not the case this year. In 14 games Marchand has a grand total of four points – including only one goal. While Boston is a solid team that will pile on the wins, this could just not be Marchand’s year.

Moving back to the blue line, it’s tough to get on the case of the defensemen about scoring, but this is fantasy hockey – that’s what it’s all about. Here are some defenders who are not going to help your fantasy lineup very much. Sergei Gonchar, with zero goals and one assist, is having a terrible year. If you’re going to argue for a defender to rack up points it’s going to be Gonchar and he’s just not getting it done. Christian Ehrhoff (0 goals, 4 assists), Dennis Seidenberg (0, 4), Dan Boyle (2, 2) Zdeno Chara (2, 2) and Kris Letang (2, 1) are other defenders that are struggling so far.

Out of that group, I would keep an eye on Boyle and Letang to pick it up, but the others are guys on plenty of people’s fantasy teams that will just be frustrating all season long.

Finally we have the goaltenders. This is the smallest group of players in fantasy, but choosing the right guys can make your team a contender. That being said, holding on too tightly to the wrong netminder and you’ll find your team fading rather quickly. Three goalies are having exceptionally terrible seasons so far – New Jersey’s Corey Schneider (1 win, 4 losses), Buffalo’s Ryan Miller (2, 10) and Philadelphia’s Steve Mason (3, 7 – see above). All three of these goaltenders are working hard to bail out struggling teams and not many guys can thrive in that kind of position so avoid these goalies at all costs.

While it’s still early on in the season, you still want to avoid falling into too deep of a hole in fantasy. Avoid the guys above, try to trade them to their fans and pick up some sleepers or rising players. And remember, this season stay away from Philly!