May 07, 2010

Tampa Bay is interested in 26-year-old Vadim Krasnoslobodtsev. Now that name is a mouthful. Hopefully some of our Russian faithful can fill us on this guy – type of player, upside, how to pronounce his name, the typical stuff.

Every Friday I am going to open the floor up (so to speak) to the DobberHockey readers. I want to hear your thoughts on a prospect or two. I received a few requests and chose the first two for today.

Two prospects this week – comment with your thoughts! Marcus Kruger (Chicago) and Lars Eller. ETAs? Upsides? I want to hear what you think! Chicago’s young forwards all bear watching, as there will be some spots to earn for next season. The Hawks need to cut salary and will be forced to deal a veteran or two, opening up a few spots. The likes of Skille, Beach, Aliu, Kruger, and Makarov are all in the running.

As for Eller, I have heard the Zetterberg comparisons a lot. I haven’t seen Eller play all that much, though. Does he get caught up in a numbers game in St. Louis?

Versus beats ESPN in a key demographic? Veeeery interesting… Thanks to Anthony L. for the heads up.

According to Puck Daddy's Dmitry Chesnokov, Montreal prospect Alexander Avtsin is set to leave Russia this summer and make the move over to North America. I don't know how close Avtsin is to being NHL ready, but I wouldn't be surprised if the 2010 Prospects Report does…

Red Wings forward Mattias Ritola impressed me last night. I know it was a laugher after the first five minutes or so, but he made some nice plays with the puck. I think Detroit is decent at developing young European forwards, aren’t they?

Johan Franzen had four goals and six points in under 15 minutes of ice time last night. Now that is efficiency!

ESPN is reporting that Jerry Reinsdorf has pulled his bid to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes. I'm not sure if this is the last straw for the team remaining in the desert, but it sure is getting awfully close…

Use twitter? Follow myself (@angus_j) and Dobber (@DobberHockey)! Since getting twitter on my cell phone, I am now able to comment on fantasy hockey 24/7, 365. Other DobberHockey tweeters: @AlexSerenRosso , @HockeyScribe (Van Horne), @DobberBaseball, @notch4077, @TheGoalieGuild (Goldman).

Chris Kunitz has nine points in his last ten games. He was productive this season when healthy, with 32 points in only 50 games. Before this season he had only missed one game since 2006 – expe