The recent returns of Mathieu Schneider, Sean Avery and Dominik Hasek have made many a fantasy owner happy in the last two weeks. The double return of Dan Boyle from the IR and back onto the IR probably less so.
One good thing about early season injuries to top players is that you can often get them for nothing off of the waiver wire early in the season. I managed to add Mathieu Schneider, Dan Boyle and Shea Weber to my defence core in one league. Sure, my defence isn't so hot right now with 2 of those guys on the IR, but by the end of the season it will probably be the best in the league. Oh, and did I mention that I drafted Chris Pronger and Wade Redden before picking the other three off of waivers?
Top Players last week:
Center: Vinny Lecavalier leads all centers with 2 goals, 6 assists, +6 and 16 SOG. It would be nice if he took a few penalties and got some power play points too... but how much can you ask for?
Vincent Lecavalier: 2 goals, 6 assists, +6
Steve Reinprecht: 4 goals, 3 assists, +3
Cory Stillman: 4 goals, 3 assists, +0
Peter Mueller: 3 goals, 3 assists, +3
Sidney Crosby: 2 goal, 3 assists, +0
Wingers: Sean Avery's return from the IR has been an unqualified success. He has produced 2 goals, 3 assists, a +1, 16 PIMs and 12 SOG. Not bad for a guy you are counting on for your teams PIM total!
Vaclac Prospal: 2 goals, 6 assists, +6
Jere Lehtinen: 1 goal, 5 assists, +5
Martin St. Louis: 3 goals, 2 assists, +5
Sean Avery: 2 goals, 3 assists, +1
Ray Whitney: 1 goal, 4 assists, +1
Defensemen: Daniel Girardi... really? Don't get too excited, sure he put up 4 assists and a couple PIMs this week to follow up a goal last week but Girardi only managed 6 assists in 40 NHL games last year.
Sergei Zubov: 0 goals, 6 assists, +2
Daniel Girardi: 0 goal, 4 assists, +0
Sergei Gonchar: 2 goal, 2 assists, -1
Ed Jovanovski: 1 goal, 3 assists, -1
Mathieu Schneider: 1 goal, 3 assists, +0
Goaltenders: Martin Gerber is giving the best team in the league the kind of headache they would like to have. His brilliant start to the season hasn't been bothered one bit by the return of Ray Emery. 3 starts, 3 wins, a 0.97 GAA and a .963 save percentage, the only thing the guy didn't do was get us a couple shutouts. In one of my leagues some idiotic owner dropped Gerber in favour of keeping Cristobal Huet and Peter Budaj... Idiot. (Editors note: you're the idiot who made that move)
Martin Gerber: 3 wins, 0.97 GAA, 0.963 SPct
Johan Holmqvist: 3 wins, 1 loss, 2.01 GAA, 0.933 SPct
Rick DiPietro: 2 wins, 1.50 GAA, 0.941 SPct
Patrick Lalime: 2 wins, 1.89 GAA, 0.921 SPct
Roberto Luongo: 2 wins, 1.49 GAA, 0.952 SPct
Players to watch: Sid the kid has woken up and is producing across the board and don't look now but Daniel Briere and Scott Gomez are showing signs of life... now where did Chris Drury end up again?
In case you missed it Sean Avery and Darcy Tucker are both back from the IR, both of these super pests are highly valuable in leagues which reward PIMs. Hell, when they are hot they are useful in any league and Avery is hot right now.
Don't look now but Phoenix is proving to be more difficult than many teams expected this year. Shane Doan and Ed Jovanovski are both contributing and could be worth a look on your team, especially if SOG and PIMs are a consideration in your league.
Roberto Luongo has been playing up to expectations lately and Ondrej Pavelec has taken over from veteran Johan Hedberg in Atlanta and won 2 of 3 with a respectable 2.32 GAA.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Last week in the NHL, Who's Hot
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Players to Watch
All right, on April 11th I wrote a post about which players to watch in round 1 of the playoffs and my prognostications were pretty good.
I told you that Pavol Demitra and Alexei Yashin would disappear, that Pavel Datsyuk would figure out how to score in the playoffs and that Dominik Hasek would stay healthy through round 1. I also told you to stay away from Jaromir Jagr and that Scott Niedermayer would be at the top of the score sheet for defenseman. Hey, I can't always be perfect and I used up a lifetimes worth of luck by marrying my beautiful wife.
Here is my snapshot of players to watch at each position in Round 2.
My top 5 Center Picks:
Daniel Briere
Chris Drury
Scott Gomez
Joe Thornton
Pavel Datsyuk
Disappointments: The Sedin twins are pretty much the only scoring option that the Canucks have right now but don't expect much from them against Detroit.
Surprises: Jason Spezza was outscored by teammate Chris Kelly during round 1. This isn't really a surprise but expect him to rebound in round 2.
Stay away from: I am unsure just how well the EGG line of New Jersey will do against Ottawa's top defensive pairing of Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips. Not quite worried about the EGG line getting shutout, but I would expect a serious drop-off in point production. If it wasn't for the power play I would be wary of using any of these guys in my pool (in fact I didn't use any of them).
My top 5 Winger Picks:
Daniel Alfredsson
Thomas Vanek
Zach Parise
Milan Mihalek
Dany Heatley
Disappointments: Again I am suggesting that you stay away from New Jersey's top line of Elias, Gionta and Gomez. Ottawa will surely key in on these three in round 2.
Surprises: Zach Parise and Brendan Shanahan will provide some 2nd line scoring punch for the Devils and the Rangers respectively.
Stay away from: The Detroit vs San Jose series could be a wide open high scoring affair, or it could be tighter than a newly minted choir boys bottom. I would lean towards the top players in the other 3 series and stay away from this one if possible.
My top 5 Defenseman Picks:
Niklas Lidstrom
Chris Pronger
Brian Campbell
Brian Rafalski
Joe Corvo
Disappointments: Wade Redden again, I can also see Mattias Ohlund disappearing in round 2, not because of lack of talent, but simply because the Canucks are going to have difficulty scoring at all against Anaheim.
Surprises: Brian Campbell has already surprised with 2 goals and 2 assists, Joe Corvo and Anton Volchenkov stepped up for Ottawa in place of Redden. Look for Francois Beauchemin to pick it up for Anaheim and both Craig Rivet and Fedor Tyutin to continue to produce in round 2.
Stay away from: The entire Vancouver Canucks defense core. If the front lines aren't scoring the back end won't get any points either.
My top 2 Goaltender Picks: (because who needs 5?)
J.S. Giguere
Ryan Miller
Disappointments: Henrik Lundqvist will come crashing back to earth against the high powered Buffalo Sabres offense.
Surprises: Domink Hasek will stay healthy, again, but lose anyway.
Stay away from: Martin Brodeur and Ray Emery. What? Yeah I know, that's Martin Brodeur we are talking about here. But he didn't play true to form in round 1 and if Ray Emery forgets himself and plays out of his head you could see a round 2 upset. And don't forget that Ottawa has more than just 1 scoring line to throw at the Devils.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
NHL Playoffs - Round 1 Players to Watch
The 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs are under way this evening with 4 games on tap.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Ottawa Senators @ 7:00 pm
San Jose Sharks vs Nashville Predators @ 8:00 pm
Dallas Stars vs Vancouver Canucks @ 10:00 pm
Minnesota Wild vs
In round 1 of the NHL playoffs there are several tough matchup's which should produce some great games and some great scoring. I already went over my 1st round predictions here, today I will take a look at who I think will be the top 5 performers at each position as well as the disappointments, surprises and players/teams to stay away from in round 1.
Centers: I see the Penguins and Senators series as the one which will produce the most points. Sidney Crosby and Jason Spezza will probably lead all centers in scoring through round 1.
My top 5 Center Picks:
Sidney Crosby
Jason Spezza
Daniel Briere
Vincent Lecavalier
Chris Drury
Disapointments: Demitra almost completely disappeared through the last few weeks of the regular season, expect that to continue into the playoffs. Alexei Yashin will continue his lackluster play from past seasons as well.
Surprises: Pavel Datsyuk is not known as a playoff performer, expect that to change this season as he feels he has something to prove. Also keep an eye on Daymond Langkow in
Wingers: Back to the Sens vs Penguins series, I look for Dany Heatley to continue his dominance here closely followed by Martin St. Louis of
Stay Away From:
My top 5 Winger Picks:
Dany Heatley
Martin St. Louis
Marian Hossa
Jonathan Cheechoo
Henrik Zetterberg
Disappointments: Ryan Smith of the Islanders is a clutch performer, but I see the Sabres knocking out the Islanders in 5 games which limits his production in round 1. The Canucks Markus Naslund has had a let down season, expect it to continue into the playoffs.
Surprises: Thomas Vanek will likely play on the Sabres 3rd line but he will put up some good numbers as will Jason Pominville. Paul Kariya in
Defensemen: There are some obvious choices here, Niklas Lidstrom, Sergei Gonchar and Chris Pronger will be at the top of this list.
Stay Away From: Alex Tanguay may show up, he may not. Jaromir Jagr, he will probably show up but who can guess who else on the Rangers will join him.
My top 5 Defensemen Picks:
Niklas Lidstrom
Sergei Gonchar
Chris Pronger
Sergei Zubov
Scott Niedermayer
Disappointments: Wade Redden will perform, but not at the level you are looking for from him and the Senators and Marek Zidlicky will continue his subpar season on the blue line.
Surprises: Brian Campbell will push the Dman scoring leaders and Tom Preissing will step up for the Senators in place of Redden.
Stay Away From: Mattias Ohlund and Sami Salo, the Canucks scoring issues make them a scary bet. Matt Carle, tough series to call, could be a barn burner or a low scoring affair. Don’t gamble on any defensmen from either
Goaltenders: Domink Hasek will remain healthy and single handedly pull the Red Wings over the Flames in Round 1. Expect this series to be low scoring as Hasek and Kiprusoff combine for a healthy number of shutouts.
My top 5 Goaltender Picks:
Dominik Hasek
Miikka Kiprusoff
J.S. Giguere
Roberto Luongo
Ryan Miller
Disappointments: Kari Lehtonen will crack under the pressure of his first NHL Playoffs, as will the rest of the Thrashers team. Ray Emery, yes he will win 4 games but his GAA and Save % will be horrendous.
Surprises: Johan Holmqvist will put up some good numbers, especially GAA and Save %, but will eventually lose against Brodeur and only get two wins. Niklas Backstrom will continue his strong play but it is not enough against Giguere and the Ducks, he will get 3 wins and probably 1 shutout though.
Stay Away From: The
Friday, February 16, 2007
Forsberg traded to Nashville
Hmmm, so much for the Leafs, or the Red Wings.
Peter Forsberg is now a Predator.
I hope you decided to take a 'flyer' on Forsberg before this because his price will likely be too high for you now. With the injury questions that perennially surround Forsberg any trade for him in your fantasy league now would be very risky. His value certainly increases now that he is with the Preds, the second best team in the NHL.
Who's Hot:
Milan Hejduk, he has had a dissapointing season this year, I think I dropped him from my team in week 4. However, he is currently on a 5 game point streak and has 12 points in his last 8 with 3 game winners and only 1 pointless game in that time. Last night he potted a hat trick to propel the Avs to a 7-5 win over the Flames.
Jamie Langenbrunner, still hot with a 7 game point streak (12 points).
Joe Sakic, speaking of the Avs, Sakic had 5 points in the Avs win and he has a 6 games point streak and has also put up points in 7 of 8 games. He has 15 points and 1 game winner in that span.
Henrik Zetterberg, continuing his torrid pace he has points in 8 of his last 9 games. 8 goals, 12 assists and 4 games winners in that span make him the hottest player in the NHL right now. Over the last month he has put up 23 points, 3 more than Sidney Crosby.
Who's Not:
Well Maxim Afinogenov, Cristobal Huet and Alexei Kovalev aren't. Afinogenov is out for at least 6 weeks and Kovalev for three, no one is quite sure how long Huet will be out but he went for tests on his pulled hamstring yesterday. Hamstrings are a tough injury for goalies to come back from so don't expect him back any time soon (cough, Hasek, cough).
Jason Pominville has shown some flashed of brilliance this year with the Sabres but he is currently in a 4 game point drought, his longest of the season.
Alexander Ovechkin. Seriousely, the Russian forward only has 2 points in his last 6 games following a 13 games point streak and I know EXACTLY why this is happening. I just traded for him.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Last week in the NHL, Who's Hot
Interesting week in the NHL.
Dominic Hasek finally went down with an injury that every one of his owner's has been fearing this season. The good news is that it is not the dreaded groin injury that would likely take him out for the rest of the season. He was out yesterday and is expected to be out of the lineup again tonight with a swollen wrist. Makes one wonder what he has been doing in his spare time...
Since Chris Osgood is also out with a broken finger Joey MacDonald is expected to start his second game in two nights. On Sunday night MacDonald made 16 saves to earn his first NHL win. The defensively minded Red Wings give any goaltender a chance to win, if you have the option, pick him up and start him in goal tonight as the Wings play the lowly Flyers.
Top Players last week:
Center: Pavol Demitra is really enjoying the return of Marian Gaborik. The return of
Gaborik has woken Demitra who has slowly increased his play of late and now has 41 points in 48 games.
Jordan Staal: 5 goals, 1 GWG
Joe Sakic: 2 goals, 4 assists, 1 GWG
Evgeni Malkin: 2 goals, 4 assists, 1 GWG
Pavol Demitra: 2 goals, 3 assists, 2 GWG
Rod Brind'Amour: 1 goal, 5 assists
Wingers: Henrik Zetterberg has definitely lived up to his promise lately. Z has sparked the Red Wings to 6 wins in their last 7 with 16 points in those 7 games. In fact the Wings one loss in that period happens to coincide with Z's one pointless game (a 1-0 loss to St. Louis, no this is NOT typo).
Henrik Zetterberg: 5 goals, 4 assists, 2 GWG
Ray Whitney: 4 goals, 4 assists, 1 GWG
Martin Havlat: 5 goals, 3 assists
Marian Hossa: 2 goals, 4 assists, 1 GWG
Jaromir Jagr: 2 goals, 4 assists
Defensemen: Michal Rozsival led all defensemen last week with 2 goals, 2 assists and a game winner, for the Rangers. Despite my recent unhappiness with Jagr's play of late the Rangers seem to have woken up in the stretch run and Rozsival has been a huge part of that.
Michal Rozsival: 2 goals, 2 assists, 1 GWG
Sergei Zubov: 1 goal, 3 assists, 1 GWG
Roman Hamrlik: 1 goal, 3 assists
Sergei Gonchar: 4 assists
Phillippe Boucher: 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 GWG
Goaltenders: Mike who? Mike Smith replaced Marty Turco twice last week and both times led the Stars to comeback wins over Minnesota and Colorado. Just to make his week even more remarkable he earned a shutout win against Anaheim on Saturday night.
Mike Smith: 3 wins, 1 shutout
Marc-Andre Fleury: 3 wins
Martin Brodeur: 2 wins, 1 shutout
Henrik Lundqvist: 2 wins, 1 shutout
Ryan Miller: 2 wins
Players to watch:
Although Mike Smith lead all goaltenders last week the odds of him permanently replacing Marty Turco as the starter in Dallas are extremely low, still he might warrant a pickup as your third or fourth goaltender. Dallas plays a lot of Sunday games so if you are behind in goaltender starts Smith may help you as you likely don't have two regular starters to go every Sunday. The Stars play Sunday games for the next six weeks in a row so you can take a flier on Smith getting a few starts/replacements for the rest of this month.
Evgeni Malkin is probably not available in your league, and if he is you might want to find a new league. However, Jordan Staal has been red hot lately with points in 9 of his last 11 games potting 10 goals and two assists in that span. If you are lacking in goal production he would be a great pickup right now. Malkin and Staal have been skating on the same line and they are playing well together, Malkin has garnered 5 goals and 13 assists in that same period.
