Dobber Nation will be out late this evening or tomorrow morning. Lots of WJC coverage and fantasy hockey talk – Guests: Mark Pysyk of the Edmonton Oil Kings, a potential first rounder next summer; Sportsnet’s Peter Loubardias; Russian prospects expert Alessandro Seren Rosso; and I will also be on the show. Be sure to catch it – it’s time to brush up on your prospects!

The keeper-league rankings for pitchers are up over on DobberBaseball. Have a look!

Under the radar, but Marcel Goc has six points in his last three games. Don’t expect it to continue, as he is no more than a 35-point guy at best – but right now the Preds have three lines that are really clicking and with Jason Arnott out (UBI), Goc moves up the depth chart.

David Legwand has 18 points in his last 18 games. He showed these kinds of signs back in 2006-07, but then struggled with injuries in the seasons since. That’s the story of his career – injuries. He’s played 79 games or more just twice in 10 seasons. Look for 55 to 60 points in 70 or 75 games this year.

Those of you waiting for Mason Raymond to slow down after Daniel Sedin returned – keep waiting. Raymond has eight points in his last six games – off the Sedin line.

Promising signs from Shawn Matthias – four points in his last six games and that’s while averaging about eight minutes a game of ice time. I think he’ll be full-time next year and should be at least a 60-point player in three  years – with upside. He’s ranked 25th on my prospects list.

Dark horse for you – Drew Miller. All it took was a trade, a waive, and several injuries, but he’s finally in a position to pick up some points. Five points in his last five contests and is now seeing over 15 minutes per game. His hold is tenuous, so he needs to keep producing.

Ryan O’Reilly – three points in his last 20 games. That’s the two-way O’Reilly that is more in line with what I expected at his age.

Here’s a turn of events – Rick DiPietro is going to practice with the Isles today. Furthermore, he says that his injury in that last AHL game was not only minor, but unrelated to his bad knee. I sense a bit of a snowjob here, but have opened my mind up to the possiblity that we could see him just after Christmas in a game.

The Dispatch is reporting that Columbus has the right to recall Nikita Filatov when his KHL team is out of the playoffs. The KHL season ends a month earlier than the NHL season. I’ll say right here that he won’t be recalled by Columbus. If he’s traded, and my instinct says that’s a real possibility, then his new team would recall him with two or three weeks left in the season.

As reported over at ajc.com, Kari Lehtonen is back skating. I think we may see him back by mid-January.

Multi-cat stud David Clarkson is back skating, but is still one to two weeks away.

I just caught this in the Sentinel – the Panthers play the Flyers tonight – their first game against Richards since the Booth hit. That is why they sent down Repik and called up Steve McIntyre and Mike Duco. That’s 450 pounds of muscle and two pairs of stone hands. Look for some fights

After four points in 21 games, David Backes has 14 in his last 13. He’s clearly beat the dreadful slump and is back to what we expected of him. I think he’s a 65 or 70-point player, but that terrible start will only see him get around 55 this year.

Paul Kariya has 10 in his last 12. Looks like we were worried for nothing. Granted, he’s slowing down, but it wasn’t the sudden slap in the face we thought it might be a few weeks ago.

The streakiest goaltender I know now has back to back shutouts – Cristobal Huet will be one of the hottest goalies to own over the next two or three weeks, just watch.

The word on Nathan Gerbe (groin) is that he is doing light skating, but is still a ways away. Meanwhile, Tomas Vanek is out with an upper body injury. He can play, but the coach doesn’t want him to if he’s playing in pain – which he is.

The Rangers have recalled Gilroy and sent down Sanguinetti.

Carolina has sent down Bryan Rodney despite his three points in his three-game call up.

Florida has sent down Michal Repik.

I’m putting together a couple of articles – one for DobberHockey and one for The Hockey News – on hockey events (or players…or both) that most impacted fantasy hockey over the past decade, and over the past year. Your input is valued, I would hate to miss something. The place for feedback is here.

Dobber Nation should be out early this month, due to Christmas. Look for it Tuesday or Wednesday. I’ll keep you posted.

Goalie rankings up later today. Also – don’t forget to pre-order your Midseason Guide

Matt Stajan missed practice as a result of this hit, but indications are that he will not miss any games.

More to come…