September 13, 2008

Washington Post's Tarik El-Bashir is reporting in his blog that Nicklas Backstrom sprained his ankle yesterday when he collided with the goal. It is too soon to know if he will miss time, but he can walk on it gingerly.

In a small case of "I told you so", the Detroit News is now reporting that Datsyuk and Zetterberg will not be playing together and that the line combos will be Datsyuk, Hossa and Holmstrom followed by Zetterberg, Hudler and Franzen. So again I say – pay no attention to the line combos here and just draft as if the stars will put up big points and the support cast will all get shots on the top two lines at different times of the season.

Some good news for Ilya Zubov owners. The Ottawa Sun is reporting that he remained in Canada through the summer to improve his English and work on his conditioning. He has trimmed his body fat and dropped 14 pounds (a little too much, maybe, but he has nothing to lose – pun not intended). GM Bryan Murray is impressed to say the least. Zubov, ranked 82 on my Fantasy Prospects List, has tremendous skill but is held down the list because of the KHL threat. I don't think he will have a big fantasy impact this season, but now I have hope for the 2009-10 season. Watch for a big AHL year.

The Dispatch's Aaron Portzline has an update on the Filatov situation – he has a hairline fracture of his fibula. The Jackets stick their announcement that it is a 10-14 day injury, and will not confirm what the Dispatch's sources are saying. The injury apparently happened a few weeks ago and has already been healing and that Filatov's rest is just a precaution.

Helene Elliot of the LA Times is suggesting that, since the Kings are $3 million under the floor, they should trade for Mathieu Schneider. Anaheim GM Burke has confirmed that they have discussed a trade with the Kings, but nothing is imminent.

The Habs have signed Patrice Breeze-by Brisebois to a one-year contract. 

The San Jose Mercury is reporting that Jeff Friesen has reported in great shape. His best hope is to steal a third-line spot, which even so has limited upside. The smart money is on him not making the team at all.

The Fantasy Guide will be updated today – at least the English. The French will be updated tomorrow – complete with the results/analysis of the Expert Roto League draft. Incidentally, this will be the final update where I highlight the changes. On September 15, I remove all the highlights and start fresh highlighting new updates. The Guide will be updated into the second week of October.

By the way – the guide is not emailed, it is downloaded from your downloads section. I am surprised at the amount of people emailing me wondering when they will get their guide – the instructions on how to download it are pretty clear in the Fantasy Guide section!