June 04, 2011

 

Robin Lehner stopped all 21 shots he faced for the shutout over Houston in the Calder Cup last night.

 

Lehner’s playoff stats – 12-4 record, .938 save percentage, 2.12 GAA.

 

Malhotra sounds like he is a go for tonight on the fourth line. Andrew Alberts likely draws in for Dan Hamhuis. Alain Vigneault’s confidence in Ballard is about 0.00000%

 

Sticking with Ballard – I get that he is being a good team player, but I think the team probably would want to see some more fire from him. Maybe not now, but earlier in the playoffs/season when he was scratched.

 

He is a top four defenseman who makes a lot of money, he should be embarassed that he is sitting on the sidelines. He seemed to accept his fate without a peep.

 

The NHL combine was yesterday – Adam Larsson and Gabriel Landeskog stood out. I don’t really get the point of the combine, but at this point I think teams try and get as much information (physical and mental) about a player as they can.

 

The argument can be made both ways – a player who is weak physically has more room to improve and grow, while a player who is strong and really filled out may  be closer to reaching his upside.

 

An example is Kyle Turris. String bean as a prospect, but had a ton of skill. Scouts saw him, added about 20 pounds, and liked what they saw. He isn’t there (yet).

 

Another example is Nick Petrecki. Absolute monster, crushed the combine. Has that translated over to the pro game for him?

 

If you downloaded the Fantasy Prospects Report Wednesday, you may want to do it again as Dobber made some additions. Ryan Johansen and Brayden McNabb, which had disappeared into cut/paste purgatory, are back in.

 

He also added profiles for Andy Miele, Taylor Doherty, Matt Frattin, Aaron Palushaj and two other players who I won't name because they make decent dark horses and I don't want to give the names up to the non-paying public!

 

The Sabres locked up Drew Stafford to a four year deal worth $4 million per season. A bit on the high side in my opinion, but he is only 25 and does have a lot of offensive upside. As I wrote about in my column yesterday, Buffalo's new owner isn't afraid to spend some coin.

 

Met up for a few beers yesterday afternoon with Mike Colligan – my writing partner for last summer's Business of Fantasy Hockey series. He is in town covering the Final for his site, the Hockey Writers.

 

The Flyers were unable to sign goaltender Joacim Eriksson, who is now free to sign elsewhere in the NHL. Justin Goldman's take on the Eriksson situation is right here.

 

Any guesses as to the contract Brad Richards receives this summer?