Boston isn’t trading Marc Savard. Do they plan on burrying Michael Ryder? Seguin’s short-term value takes a bit of a hit as well.

September 4th – the Fantasy Mailbag is open!

Dobber here: The Fantasy Guide is now updated to today, complete with Kovalchuk, Comrie, Niemi, Stempniak signings, new lowdowns, and more. Buy it HERE. The Draft List will be posted/updated shortly. I also have my fingers crossed that by late late tonight the new DobberHockey shop will be open for business and skip the middle man that is Paypal.

Fantasy mailbag coming later today…

Dallas has invited Jonathan Cheechoo to training camp.

Here is how I see Kovalchuk fitting in with the Devils:

Line 1: Parise-Zajac-Zubrus, Line 2: Kovalchuk-Arnott-Elias

PP 1: Kovalchuk-Greene, Parise-Arnott/Zajac-Clarkson

PP 2: Tallinder-Eckford, Elias-Arnott-Zajac-Zubrus/Langenbrunner

I am of course assuming that Brian Rolston is traded.

Something about Jordan Schroeder makes me think he has star upside. I see a similar quality in him that I saw in Parise and also see in Eberle.

He is pretty tiny on the ice (5'8" is a very favourable measurement), but he simply gets the game of hockey at a very high level. He is heading into training camp with the mentality that he is going to make the Canucks, and I don't blame him. With Burrows out, a hole in the top six has opened up.

I have Patrick Kane scoring 37 goals in my projections. I see him changing his game a bit and becoming more of a finisher. Over his brief NHL career, he has set up more goals, but I think he'll start to play more selfish.

He's got a filthy shot, and has a scorers knack for getting the ugly ones too (just ask Michael Leighton…).

The Avalanche have hired Kirk McLean to be their goalie coach. I wonder if we'll see some standing pad stacks from Craig Anderson next season?

Dale Tallon, Mike Gillis, Peter Chiarelli, and Lou Lamoriello have to feel great about being the only GM's able and/or willing to take advantage of the salary cap loophole with frontloaded deals.

Ottawa's defense is more wide open than it appears to be. I wouldn't consider Brian Lee a lock for the roster at all, and the same goes for Chris Campoli. Filip Kuba is probably trade bait.

Keeping that in mind, there are two prospects who have legitimate shots at a roster spot – Patrick Wiercioch, and Jared Cowan. Wiercioch is the most fantasy-relevant of the two. He's a solid young puck-mover who has 40-45 point upside.

Some more line combinations of mine… Long Island. Comeau-Tavares-Moulson, Bailey-Schremp-Okposo. I have Schremp getting 44 points. Tavares 77.

I think a bit part of the offensive improvement will come from a stronger back end (Wisniewski is a huge upgrade, and I see both Hillen and MacDonald taking big strides forward).