This has flown under my rader – John Tavares has six goals in his past five games. He may not be as flashy as Stamkos, but he will be as productive once the Islanders get some better players for him to skate with.

 

A good read on Jordan Schroeder from the AHL website here. Schroeder has moved full time to the right wing – expect him to stay there at the NHL level too.

 

Watching some of the NJD/SJS game this morning… Patrik Elias looks done. He couldn’t even keep up with David Clarkson on a two-on-one. No offense to Clarkson, but he will never be mistaken for Marian Gaborik on the ice.

 

Elias was ineffective all game long. I may rethink my “buy low” advice with regards to him.

 

If you are a frustrated Boyes/McDonald/Backes owner, a column to quell your doubts is on the way. Expect to see it up tomorrow.

 

The Islanders have returned Niederreiter to Portland. This is the right move, and I am glad to see they made it.

 

Pascal Leclaire hasn’t skated in three days due to his knee injury not progressing as anticipated.

 

The newest and greatest fantasy hockey planning tool – the Game Planner. Today’s PHI/PIT game as an example.

Henrik Sedin is without a goal through the first nine games. Good thing he has 11 assists. It is funny how there is almost no mention of his lack of scoring.

 

I don’t see him hitting 29 again (he looked to shoot a lot more without Daniel during that 18 game stint last season), but he should find his way to the 20-goal mark. The assist total, who knows. 70, 80, 90…

 

San Jose’s top line combined for 13 points last night against the Devils. Thornton had five points (including a hat trick).

 

New Jersey defenseman Matt Corrente had an assist. More importantly, he had 29 PIM. I like his upside as a combo defenseman, and last night was a great example as to why.

 

New Jersey’s defense last night – Greene, Taormina, Corrente, Magnan-Grenier, White, and Tallinder. No wonder they are struggling.

 

David Clarkson is on the board in 2010-11 after scoring last night. He now has one goal (and no assists) in 10 games.

 

Zajac was 1-for-13 in the faceoff circle.

 

New Jersey PP update:

 

Greene – 5:14 PP time (goal, 3 SOG)

 

Taormina – 3:39 PP time (pointless, 3 SOG)

 

Quite a few Devils are prime buy-low candidates right now – Parise, Zajac, Elias, Brodeur, etc.

 

Dallas prospect defenseman Philip Larsen will most likely play against the Kings tonight. Stephane Robidas will miss the game due to suspension.

 

Larsen has a lot of offensive potenial. In six AHL games this season, he has two points. The Stars are a team really yearning for a young offensive defenseman to emerge – Matt Niskanen isn’t that guy (at least right now).

 

Larsen probably needs a year or two at the AHL level, but get him on your radar.

 

Nashville prospect Linus Klasen has been tearing up the AHL. He reported in terrible shape to training camp, but he has been far and away the best player for the Admirals.

 

He leads the AHL with seven goals in seven games. I’d expect him to be up with the Predators within the next month.

 

New York's defense is abysmal.

 

Evander Kane is about two years ahead of where many projected him to be in terms of production – he scored his sixth goal of the young season last night. He could hit 30 this season if he continues to see prime offensive minutes.

 

Kane has the physical tools (size, speed, hands) as well as the hockey sense required to be a star player. It is only a matter of time until he is consistently dominating NHL defensemen on a nightly basis.

 

Burmistrov had an assist on Kane's goal – his first NHL point.

 

Andrew Ladd is currently on a six-game point streak – three goals and 10 points I wonder if he likes the bigger role he has with the Thrashers this season?

 

Anisimov left the game after blocking a shot – looks to be a right ankle injury.

 

Niclas Berfgors has five points in his last six contests. He has had a slow start to the season (including a healthy scratch along the way), but he has quickly turned things around.

 

The Thrashers need his speed and creativity in their top six, as he compliments their size very well.

 

With all of the injuries up front for the Rangers, Ryan Callahan has stepped up offensively. He has six points in his last four contests.

 

Marian Hossa sustained an upper body injury last night in Chicago's win over Los Angeles. As always, I will update as soon as I come across something definitive.

 

Tomas Kopecky and Patrick Sharp switched positions for the Hawks – Sharp moved up to play with Toews and Skille, while Kopecky centered Brouwer and Hossa (thanks to John H. for the heads up on the new lines).

 

This positional move hurts me as I have Sharp in a league that counts face off wins. Kopecky was 5-for-8 on the draw.

 

Sharp had a goal, played over 22 minutes, and led Chicago players with seven shots on goal.

 

Jonathan Toews has seven points in 11 games. I expect him to finish up with 75-80 points. He has the talent to be a 90+ point player, but he doesn't play the role to do it – at least not on this Chicago team.

 

Dave Bolland is off to a very slow start offensively – he is Chicago's checking center, but one goal and two assists in 11 games isn't going to cut it.

 

Turco had a strong game for the Blackhawks. He's looked good this year, and I'd expect his workload to increase if he can keep a consistently high level of play going.

 

Steven Stamkos was scoreless last night, but he did have three helpers.

 

Alex Goligoski was pointless for the Penguins, but he played almost 30 minutes (including over eight on the power play).

 

Matthias Ohlund played his first game of the season for the Lightning – he saw limited action (only 12 minutes).

 

After Mike Smith allowed three goals on seven shots, Dan Ellis came in and stopped all 24 he faced.

 

Dana Tyrell scored his first career NHL goal for the Lightning. I like his upside – he doesn't do anything at an elite level but he is a very solid overall player. Reminds me of Blake Comeau a bit.

 

In my one-year league, I benched Neuvirth this week and put Lundqvist in for this past week. Last night wasn't too kind to me. Neuvirth shut out the Hurricanes, and the Thrashers lit up the Lundqvist-less Rangers (he sat for Biron) for six goals.

 

Sticking with Neuvirth – I am glad I drafted him in a few leagues. After watching him dominate the AHL for a few years, I was pretty certain he'd find a way to take hold of the starting position for the Capitals.

 

He may not be as naturally talented as Semyon Varlamov, but he is mentally tough and very consistent. Neuvirth is seizing the opportunity in front of him right now, as Varlamov can't seem to stay healthy.

 

Before the season started, several in the hockey world blasted the Thrashers for moving Byfuglien back to defense.

 

He already has three goals and seven points this season (nine games), and he is playing very strong defense on the top pairing with Toby Enstrom.

 

Parenteau and Comeau were pointless and a combined minus-5.

 

Is this the year Andrei Kostitsyn finally breaks out? The Habs need to give him one-year contracts for the rest of his career. I'd be thinking about a) selling high, or b) trying to snag him off the waiver wire if he is still there.

 

James Wisniewski is off to a great start this season. He has two goals and 10 points in only seven games.

 

Toss in his humiliation of Sean Avery… things are going about as well as one could have imagined.

 

Last night was Niederreiter's ninth with the Islanders. They now have to decide if they should keep him (two points in nine games) or send him down (the right move).

 

Nickname ideas for the Downie-Stamkos-St. Louis line?

 

DobberHockey member shook81 digs up this gem regarding Hemsky and Columbus – don't even think about benching him tomorrow!

 

 

Neuvirth's best from last night:

 

Bryan Little with a filthy goal last night against the Rangers – his little change of pace move at center ice was unbelievable:

 

Beauty save on Ovechkin by Cam Ward: