The DobberBaseball Fantasy Guide is available and fully updated – fantastic work by Chris Goudey and the gang.

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Some afternoon updates – Tim Sassone is reporting that Marian Hossa, Andrew Shaw and Michael Frolik will all be in the lineup for the Blackhawks. Which is good because this is a “must win” game for them. One more loss and they’ll have… one loss.

Ryan Getzlaf has signed a huge contract extension with the Ducks. He will be there for another eight years, at $8.25 million per. I guarantee that number would have been closer to $6.5 million were it not for this amazing start he’s having. So by playing extra well, he made himself $12 million minimum.

Ales Hemsky is out day-to-day with a bruised foot.

DobberBaseball writer Anatoliy Metter posted a piece today over at The Hockey Writers giving his thoughts on five defensemen to consider in fantasy hockey – here. 

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Well, you’re stuck with me again as Jeff Angus recovers from an 11-hour train ride that should have arrived around midnight on the west coast. He’ll be back tomorrow.

Tough day Thursday, I can’t remember the last time I did four articles in a single day. But yeah, besides the Ramblings and my piece on Advanced Stats right here on the site, I also did:

The Hockey News – looking at how “luck” impacts a player’s stats – basically analyzing PDO’s that are far too high or low, digging deeper into just one aspect of the PDO (team on-ice shot percentage) and then from there musing about what to expect going forward.

Puck Daddy – my usual weekly piece.

All-in-all, it was a good 5000 words. Sprinkle in a 4-year-old with a fever and a 1-year-old with pink eye, and wow! Anyway, that Advanced Stats piece I wrote was actually going to go into the ramblings as an afternoon add-on, but I kind of got carried away.

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Yesterday’s Draft Street contest – I had a kickass team. I know I had a kickass team when I picked it and had full confidence of a big night. And indeed I had a huge night… with nine of my players. But one player put a damper on things. Jacob Markstrom. He faced two shots, both went in, and was pulled at the 3:10 mark. Instead of cracking the Top 50, I was hovering around 200th with three players still to finish as I write this blurb.

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Wojtek Wolski has found his rhythm. After scoring on March 5, he carried that into last night and posted a goal and two assists. He’s also plus-5 in his last three games. The market correction that those three games did for his stats could very well have saved his career. But only if he keeps it up.

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So defenseman Steve Oleksy – best known for his ECHL penalty minute prowess – has points in each of his first two career NHL games for the Caps. Three points in two games and plus-4 should be enough to keep him around, no? Especially when he was brought up for his grit and tenacity, not his crafty set-up plays. I would scoop him up if only for his downside – which is decent PIM. His short-term upside is…well, him doing what he’s doing right now.

Alex Ovechkin had three points in the first eight games, but since then has quietly posted 17 points in 14 games. He’s averaging just over 4.5 shots per game over his last nine games.

And what Ovechkin has been doing for 14 games, Mike Ribeiro has been doing it all along. Let’s give a shout out to Mike! Even a prolonged slump that sees just 10 points in his last 26 games… Would still give him a successful 38-point season. A very underrated player in fantasy circles. My buddy, who owns him in a points-only keeper league, raves about the ridiculous lowball offers he gets for him. As little as just a draft pick, in one case. It’s like nobody trusts Ribeiro to continue this in future seasons. But he’s a steady 63-to 78-point player, year after year.

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You gotta love how Tomas Kopecky teases poolies. He pokes his head up for a couple of huge games, and then disappears again for weeks on end. Since his four-point game on February 26, he has one points in five games and is minus-4.

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Jeremy Welsh picked up his first career NHL point for the Hurricanes. He saw just 2:51 of ice time though, and in no way should he be acquired in any league. There is some potential as a keeper, but he needs to show more signs of that then what we’ve seen so far.

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Brandon Prust has 81 PIM (to lead the league) but only five in his last seven games. In his last 10 games he is plus-10 and has never once been in the negative. Three points last night.

Also with three points – Lars Eller. And what’s more – Eller’s 14 points have come in his last 18 games. I forecast a likely breakout for Eller, but had been disappointed that he hasn’t really been playing on a scoring line. It doesn’t seem to matter to him, he’s still getting his points.

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Justin Peters wasn’t as sharp as he was in his first game, stopping just 24 of 28 shots. Dan Ellis was still under the weather, but he’s holding down food and I would expect he plays almost every game going forward.

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Ryan Malone returned to the TB lineup and picked up an assist while playing 19:26. Those minutes had to come from someone and it looks like Cory Conacher took the biggest hit, seeing just 13 minutes. Malone had a ton of power-play time. Here were the TB line combos:

Killorn – Lecavalier – St. Louis

Malone – Stamkos – Purcell

Conacher – Thompson – Palat

Dobber Provides FREE Updated Line Combos Click Here!

(The above is me trying be more obvious – I can’t believe people who come to the site don’t know that we have line combos. It astounds me!)

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Mike Smith has allowed four or more goals in five of his last six starts.

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Patrick Sharp has a separated shoulder and will be sidelined for three to four weeks. He is known for quickly coming back from injury though, so at this point I’m leaning on the early end of that range.

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BIG NEWS – Darren Dreger is reporting that prospect Carl Soderberg has decided to join the Bruins after the SEL playoffs. You can read up on Soderberg here. But basically he’s 28 years old and we had all given up on him. In fact, last month I removed him from my Prospects List template. That usually means the player will become a superstar all of a sudden.

Soderberg finished second in SEL scoring with 60 points in 54 games. The Bruins acquired him nearly seven years ago in a trade that sent Hannu Toivonen to St. Louis. Pick him up? That all depends on your level of desperation and how much bench room you have. Treat him like you should have Roman Cervenka with the benefit of hindsight.

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Ian White has been a healthy scratch for five consecutive games. Oh Nicklas Lidstrom, why hast thou forsaken me?

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Look at this Matt Calvert OT winner – I think you could do this move in NHL96?

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Strachan with a possible suspension for this?