September 17, 2010

Jeff Angus

2010-09-17

 

Dobber: Fantasy Guide updated with all of the blue highlights removed from the previous updates. Includes the O’Sullivan signing is in the Guide (try and find that anywhere else!), the Cormier news (broken foot) and Enver Lisin is trying out for…Atlanta. It’s all there!

 

Goldie: I posted a Top-10 Training Camp Battles piece on goalies fighting for jobs at different levels. Guess which one snagged the #1 spot? Should be a no-brainer. I’ll be at Avs training camp over the weekend and report on Monday.

 

Gary Roberts, who trained all summer with Cody Hodgson, has nothing but good words for him.

 

“Roberts said the only challenge of working with Hodgson was making sure he was taking scheduled days off from training.

 

"This kid wants it as bad as anyone I've ever seen," he said. "He's determined and committed and wants to prove he belongs. I want people to realize what kind of person he is. I know from working with him he's going to be that outstanding player the Canucks thought he would be."”

 

Roberts knows a thing or two about rehabbing from a difficult injury, as well.

 

Dobber, get ready to root for the Hurricanes! Carolina has inked Patrick O’Sullivan to a contract. He was a member of the team for about five minutes during the 2008 trade deadline, but was quickly flipped to Edmonton for Erik Cole.

 

The Ducks officially inked defenseman Paul Mara to a contract, but they also lost defenseman Toni Lydman on the same day.

 

Lydman has been suffering from double-vision, and doctors can't figure out why. Without him Anaheim's defence goes from awful to atrocious. Visnovsky better get ready to average 35+ minutes a night!

 

Rotoworld speculates that the Ducks could be interested in Bieksa or Souray. I don't see the Canucks moving Bieksa until Salo returns (no pressing cap issue any more with Salo on the LTIR).

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Souray on the other hand… I think Edmonton wants to get rid of him, no? (Sarcasm, in case you couldn't tell).

 

John Tortorella plans to play Frolov and Gaborik together. I think they will work well together – Frolov is a solid defensive player (when he tries), he is hard to move off of the puck, and he sees the ice well.  A one-year deal will give him plenty of motivation to produce as well.

 

Solid interview from Canucks GM Mike Gillis from yesterday – listen to this one if you have five or 10 minutes to spare.

 

Some highlights:

 

Extremely high on Edler. Thinks he has 50 point upside (I agree and have Edler at 51 points). Same with Ehrhoff. Those two are going to rack the points up on the first PP unit with the Daniel and Henrik.

 

The cap relief from five months of Salo being out and one month of Burrows being out has enabled them to keep Bieksa around.

Brendan Morrison has earned an invite to training camp with the Canucks. He has a great shot at making the team as the fourth line C. His versatility and ability to play in different situations will also help him out.

 

He won't have to play any tough defensive minutes either, as both Kesler and Malhotra are elite in that regard. Morrison is a massive upgrade on Ryan Johnson, who was one of the worst hockey players I have ever seen. Flanked by two physical players (like Glass, Rypien, or Oreskovich), he'll be a great compliment with his skating and playmaking.

 

Morrison and Schaefer formed a dynamite third line with Matt Cooke about a decade ago. An Andrew Cassels injury pushed Morrison up to the line with Bertuzzi and Naslund, and the rest is history. Will be interesting to see if Schaefer-Morrison can rekindle any lost magic in camp.

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