Anaheim, Atlanta off-season report

Dobber Sports

2008-06-26

Anaheim Ducks 

 

As keeper league hockey pools increase in number each year, fantasy junkies are becoming more active in the off-season as they prepare their teams for the coming season. Rebuild? Retool? Tweak? Whatever your intentions, it helps to get all the information you can about your players. Each week, FPL will look at a pair of and give you the fantasy lowdown. This week we’ll look through our fantasy hockey goggles at the outlooks for Anaheim and Atlanta.

 

(Originally posted by The Hockey News on May 16) 

 

ANAHEIM DUCKS
Potential UFAs  –Joe Dipenta, Teemu Selanne, Doug Weight.
Potential RFAs – Ryan Carter, Jonas Hiller, Stephen Dixon, Andrew Ebbett, Drew Miller, Corey Perry, Brian Sutherby.

Looking to Add  – An elite center for the second line to take some heat off Ryan Getzlaf. Weight didn’t cut it last season. The Ducks will also look to replace Selanne if he chooses to retire and will consider pushing Bobby Ryan and Drew Miller into more prominent roles.

Ready for full-time – Ryan, Miller and Carter were all given sporadic opportunities and ice time this season and should develop into regulars. All three have offensive ability, although Ryan is probably the best shot to hit 55 points next season. Ebbett and/or Geoff Platt are facing make-or-break years.

If the Ducks didn’t already have Chris Pronger, Mathieu Schneider and Francois Beauchemin, high-scoring AHLer Brian Salcido would be a lock to make the jump. The 23-year-old had 53 points in 71 games for Portland of the American League and could still be eased in if Scott Niedermayer retires.

Fantasy Outlook  – Anaheim didn’t really start scoring until Selanne arrived mid-season. If you want someone other than Ryan Getzlaf to get you points then you better hope the Ducks find a No. 2 pivot. Anaheim is also in danger of losing Perry, who should get offer sheets if they don’t sign him by July 1. All in all, they are still a playoff team and it can’t hurt to own a few of their players in your fantasy league.

Fantasy Grade: B+ (Last year: A-)

📢 advertisement:

ATLANTA THRASHERS
Potential UFA’s  – Bobby Holik, Mark Recchi, Eric Boulton, Steve McCarthy, Mark Popovic, Johan Hedberg, Steve Rucchin.
Potential RFA’s – Kari Lehtonen.

Looking to Add  – An elite centerman to feed pucks to a hungry Ilya Kovalchuk. The Thrashers are also in need of an upgrade to their defense corps. They will probably look to Ondrej Pavelec to replace Hedberg as the backup goaltender, but they better sign Lehtonen before July 1 or they could lose him to an offer sheet.

Because of the lack of high-end unrestricted free agents this year, the team may look at trade avenues and/or offer sheets. Among the players who are allegedly available: Olli Jokinen (via trade), Mike Cammalleri (via trade), Jeff Carter (offer sheet) and Patrick Marleau (via trade).

Ready for full-time – Bryan Little will play a full season in Atlanta next season. Brett Sterling will get another long look to play on the wing of the second line. A strong start could boost either of them above 50 points. The team is also high on center Riley Holzapfel, so he could surprise and steal a roster spot.

Defensemen Boris Valabik and Nathan Oystrick are on the cusp of making it to the big leagues. While Valabik is almost a shoe-in, Oystrick will either make the team or be labeled a career minor leaguer.

Fantasy Outlook  – On one hand you could say the Thrashers are rebuilding, yet on the other, they have a ton of cap space freed up after trading Marian Hossa at the deadline. They will add at least one more star and a middle-of-the-line defenseman.

However, even with strong seasons from both Little and Sterling, Atlanta is still at least a year away from contending for the post-season again. Does Kovalchuk have that much patience? If not, he could be dealt at the 2009 deadline like Hossa was in 2008.

Fantasy Grade: D+ (Last year: B-)

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Jun 17 - 20:06 FLA vs EDM

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
MARCO ROSSI MIN
JJ PETERKA BUF
K'ANDRE MILLER NYR
CONNOR BEDARD CHI
BRADY TKACHUK OTT

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
DARCY KUEMPER L.A
KAREL VEJMELKA UTA
JAKUB DOBES MTL
UKKO-PEKKA LUUKKONEN BUF
NICO DAWS N.J

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency DAL Players
23.2 TYLER SEGUIN MASON MARCHMENT MATT DUCHENE
14.3 MIKKO RANTANEN ROOPE HINTZ MIKAEL GRANLUND
13.1 JASON ROBERTSON MIKKO RANTANEN WYATT JOHNSTON

DobberHockey Podcasts

Keeping Karlsson: Kreider Down South

Elan and Brian check in on the NHL playoffs (and the Keeping Karlsson Playoff Pool), announce a change to the draft rules for Season 11 of the Keeping Karlsson Ultimate Patron Fantasy League (KKUPFL), share thoughts on the one single relevant offseason transaction so far, and put a handful of 2024-25 breakout performances under the microscope to see if they’ll continue into 2025-26.

Fantasy Hockey Life: Montreal Canadiens with Ryan Szporer

Ryan Szporer is back to report on the Montreal Canadiens. Jesse and Victor interview Ryan about returning pros Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, Juraj Slafkovsky, Patrik Laine, Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Sam Montembeault, and Jakub Dobes. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag breaks down Jakub Dobes, Cayden Primeau, and Jacob […]

Fantasy Hockey Life: Detroit Red Wings with Max Bultman

Max Bultman of the Athletic is here to report on the Detroit Red Wings. Jesse and Victor interview Max about returning pros Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, Marco Kasper, JT Compher, Elmer Soderblom, Andrew Copp, Vladimir Tarasenko, Moritz Seider, Simon Edvinsson, Erik Gustafsson, Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat […]

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: