August 05, 2010

Jeff Angus

2010-08-05

 

Taking questions for my daily Fantasy Mailbag!

 

Calgary unveiled their jerseys for the outdoor game against Montreal this coming season. In one word: barf. In two words: Ronald McDonald.

 

A few fearless forecasts for 2010-11:

 

Vincent Lecavalier leads the Lightning in scoring.

 

Matt Duchene scores the most goals in the Northwest Division.

 

Tyler Ennis leads Buffalo in scoring.

 

Someone not named Crosby or Ovechkin (or Stamkos, for that matter) scores 55 goals. Any guesses?

 

Tampa Bay has apparently been shopping Malone this summer. If he is moved, a huge opportunity alongside Lecavalier and Gagne opens up. Teddy Purcell may get the first crack at it, but I don't see him sticking long term (unless he really ups the intensity of his game).

 

One player I really like who is flying well below most fantasy radars is Dana Tyrell. Solid at everything, thinks the game very well. Tampa Bay also has the likes of James Wright (natural center) and Carter Ashton, but Tyrell is a bit more ready at this point.

 

I don't think the Bruins will put Tyler Seguin at wing, but stranger things have happened. Joe Colborne seems more like a natural winger to be – big, good on the forecheck, and a scorer. If Savard isn't dealt, the Bruins may have no choice but to bump Seguin to wing, though.

 

If Savard is traded, the biggest benefactor is David Krejci. All three centers (Krejci, Bergeron, Seguin) would benefit, but Krejci becomes the go-to playmaker and the guy who will skate with Lucic and Horton (how's that for some size on the wings) on the top line.

 

Early evaluation of Dale Tallon – obvious he is expecting to tank this season in hopes of landing Adam Larsson next summer. Florida struggled to score last season and they replaced Nathan Horton with Chris Higgins and Michael Grabner. Ballard to Wideman is a bit of a downgrade, too. Vokoun won't last past the trade deadline.

Another team obviously tanking is Long Island – that roster is simply abysmal. Tavares could score 90 and they'd still be a basement dweller.

 

Some sleeper picks (pick up the Guide for about 100 more) – Peter Regin, Sam Gagner, Logan Couture, Radim Vrbata, Jeremy Morin (more of a longer-term sleeper pick).

 

Sticking with Morin, he has had a fantastic camp with the American World Junior team these past few days. I said at the time of the trade that Chicago will LOVE him, and I still stand by that today (although the fact that zero hockey has been played would have made any opinion change a bizarre one).

 

Morin is big, talented, and a natural scorer. Think Jeff Carter. He won’t make Chicago this year but he’s a lock for 2011-12.

One of Ehrhoff/Edler hits 50 points this season. My money is on Edler.

 

 

I think a wave of free agents will sign in the week or two before training camp in early September. Players will have to accept those offers they have been hesitant to sign all summer (unless they decide to bolt to the KHL or elsewhere in Europe).

 

Anaheim has signed prospect Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri played just one season at Notre Dame, and he will need at least a year in the AHL (probably two or three) before making the jump to the NHL ranks.

 

Detroit is one of few situations where Mike Modano still has some fantasy relevance. He'll see some time on the second PP unit with the likes of Nik Kronwall, Jiri Hudler, and Johan Franzen. He doesn't have the wheels anymore, but he still has hands and a great shot. Look for him to line up with Abdelkader and Cleary on a fantastic third line.

 

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Lots of options in Detroit, and Helm would probably get bumped down to the fourth line, where he is a more natural fit. Draper is done as a center (legs aren't there), so expect him to shift to the wing

 

Some banter on Twitter yesterday about Anze Kopitar contending for the Art Ross. Kopitar is a phenomenal talent and I wouldn't be surprised to see him flirt with the 100-point mark, but it won't happen with Smyth and Williams/Simmonds as his wingers.

 

Los Angeles has had the most disappointing off-season in my eyes out of ANY NHL club. They had a lot of cap space and were promising to be significant players in the free agent market. However, they missed the boat on every defenseman and downgraded up front from Frolov to Ponikarovsky.

 

They also lost Sean O’Donnell, who was a steady veteran presence last season (although his skating was exposed in the series against Vancouver). Ponikarovsky-Stoll-Brown is an average second line at best. The depth is decent but not great.

 

Doughty and Johnson are fantastic young defensemen, but past them there isn’t a whole lot right now. Greene is injured and will miss some time as well.

 

Dean Lombardi has been a very patient GM, but his inability to get this team over the hump may bite them in the rear when all of their young players are seeking new contracts. The key to success in the cap era isn’t a full-scale rebuild, but instead it is mixing young players with proven veterans. A great example of this is Philadelphia. Lots of veteran talent, and also some young players playing well above their entry-level salaries (Giroux, JVR).

 

Look for Vancouver to reap this same benefit next season (2011-12) with Hodgson and Schroeder both playing significant roles.

 

Were any of you able to successfully pry Marty Turco away from a competitor last week? I killed my chances by rambling about it, but hopefully some of you were able to make it happen!

 

Mike Weaver signed with Florida two days ago. Why is this fantasy relevant? Not because Weaver will steal PP time from Kulikov or Wideman, but because he is a significant upgrade on Florida's bottom pairing defensemen, which will help out the goaltender (Tomas Vokoun… but for how long?) in a big way.

 

Never underestimate depth signings in terms of fantasy relevance.

 

Puck Daddy sums up why we are all in love with the Steve Yzerman era in Tampa Bay.

 

Yzerman came in with a lot of optimism and most everyone was hoping to see him succeed since he is such a likable person. However, even the most levelheaded person would have a hard time finding anything wrong with what Stevie Y has done.

 

He locked up the best player for the rest of his career (St. Louis).

 

He signed a very capable goalie to push Smith (Ellis).

 

He got a fantastic checking center to take away defensive minutes from his offensive studs (Moore).

 

He acquired a proven top-six winger with a lot of hockey left in his legs for nothing, ridding himself of a bad contract in the process (Gagne).

 

He got rid of Meszaros' monster overpayment.

 

He hired the most exciting young coach in the hockey world (Boucher).

 

Hockey isn't played on paper, but so far so (very) good for Stevie Y.

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UPCOMING GAMES

Oct 22 - 18:10 PHI vs WSH
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Oct 22 - 21:10 UTA vs OTT
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Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
ROSS COLTON COL
YEGOR CHINAKHOV CBJ
PHILIP BROBERG STL
MORGAN FROST PHI
OLIVER EKMAN-LARSSON TOR

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
LUKAS DOSTAL ANA
JOEL HOFER STL
ANTHONY STOLARZ TOR
KAAPO KAHKONEN COL
KEVIN LANKINEN VAN

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency VGK Players
22.8 MARK STONE JACK EICHEL IVAN BARBASHEV
17.9 NICOLAS ROY TANNER PEARSON KEEGAN KOLESAR
15.8 BRETT HOWDEN TOMAS HERTL PAVEL DOROFEYEV

DobberHockey Podcasts

Keeping Karlsson Short Shifts – Injured Goalies and Ice Cold Defense

Jeremy and Shams cover a long list of injury updates which is headlined by several goalies. After that they cover new lines and their fantasy impact. The show is closed out by a list of ice cold highly drafted defensemen and a group of surprising forwards from an unsuspecting team.

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