October 8, 2013

Dobber Sports

2013-10-08

Damien Brunner picked up another goal and an assist for the New Jersey Devils in their shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night. He looks much more confident in his second NHL campaign.

 

Brunner and Adam Henrique seem to be building a bit of a connection on the power play and they both saw over three minutes of ice with the man advantage Monday. Henrique assisted on the Brunner goal and added four hits. If they continue to build chemistry they should be a dangerous one-two punch as the season progresses.

 

Marek Zidlicky's game was solid last night posting two assists, two shots, three hits, and two blocks. Zidlicky does a lot of things well and is only owned in 30% of Yahoo leagues.

 

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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was pushing 30 minutes of ice-time in his first game back from injury and over four of those came on the power play. He scored a goal, but more importantly it allows Taylor Hall to move back to the wing. Hall seems to be much more aggressive there as opposed to center, where there is a bit more defensive responsibility. He didn't seem to be hesitant at all Monday, which is a great sign, as he recorded a goal and four shots.

 

David Perron picked up a goal and an assist to go along with three shots. He also played over four minutes with the man advantage and must be ecstatic to get out of that defensive system in St. Louis. If he can stay on that top line he has a shot for a huge year, but anywhere in Edmonton's top six gives him a chance at solid production.

 

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It looks like Brad Richards wasn't a fan of that fourth line demotion he received late last year. Richards was flying Monday night and potted a pair of goals. The combination of Richards, Rick Nash, and Derek Stepan is working out well so far. Alain Vigneault might be just the coach to ignite the Rangers offense in 2013-14.

 

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Another rough outing for the Kings from a fantasy perspective, losing to the Rangers 3-1. Matt Greene arguably had the best output going plus-1 with five hits, and that shouldn't happen with the roster Los Angeles has at their disposal.

 

Jeff Carter deserves an honourable mention for his six shots, two hits, and three blocks.

 

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Tough break for those that took a gamble on Minnesota Wild forward Charlie Coyle as a potential sleeper this year, as he looks to be out for close to a month with a sprained knee. Coyle's eight goals in 39 games last year left many to believe he could do some damage in a full season, especially with a forward group in Minnesota that allowed for opportunities to move up in the depth chart.

 

Coyle was playing most of his time in the first two games with Dany Heatley and Nino Niederreiter and despite going pointless with a minus-2 rating, playing with an offensive pair like that long-term should have yielded favourable results.

 

It will be interesting to see who fills Coyle's spot in-between Heatley and Niederreiter as Kyle Brodziak may be the logical option. Brodziak has already been playing four more minutes than Coyle a night after two games, but with Matt Cooke and Mikael Granlund. Granlund has a nice skill set, but Heatley and Niederreiter are a solid upgrade over Cooke. Getting some more offense to go along with Brodziak's hits, shots, and PIM would be a nice bonus.

 

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The Philadelphia Daily News is reporting the Flyers have some interest in Calgary Flames forward Curtis Glencross. Although they aren't showing it right now, Philly has a more talented roster than the Flames, but would heading to the City of Brother Love really be beneficial for Glencross and fantasy owners? He's currently getting first line minutes in Calgary and has proven to be a 25-goal scorer when healthy, but in Philadelphia he probably gets second or third line minutes. Not only that, but the Flyers have scored just three goals in three games so far this year, while the Flames have been averaging four per night. Long-term it's probably beneficial from a fantasy perspective, but in the short-term, not so much.

 

The Flyers would likely be trying to move a defenseman in exchange for Glencross as they have eight on their roster at the moment. Ideally they would probably like to deal Andrej Meszaros and his $4M cap hit, who is an unrestricted free agent at season's end, but getting the Flames to take that contract would be easier said than done.

 

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Kyle Palmieri left Sunday's game against the Winnipeg Jets with an upper-body injury and didn't return. Palmieri was on the receiving end of a Dustin Byfuglien hit. This is something to monitor as he posted 21 points in 42 games in 2013 and many felt this would be a breakout year for the youngster with the Bobby Ryan departure. Palmieri was skating with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry for the first three games of the campaign. Perhaps Jakob Silfverberg or Teemu Selanne benefit with some extra time with Perry and Getzlaf if Palmieri ends up missing significant time.

 

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How about the start from Marc-Andre Fleury? It's only two games, but giving up just a goal has to be a pleasant surprise considering the debacle he went through in the playoffs last year. Fleury owners shouldn't have anything to worry about when it comes to playing time with Tomas Vokoun on the shelf for 3-6 months after dealing with a blood clot. Unless of course Jeff Zatkoff is the second coming of Tom Barrasso.

 

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Not that it's necessarily fantasy relevant, unless you are in a bizarro league that counts shootout goals, but the NHL is planning to crack down on the spin-o-rama move. This likely comes about after Mason Raymond scored on one in a shootout Saturday night, that looked like a thing of beauty if you were a Leafs fan and completely illegal if you were a Senators fan. 

 

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Should Raymond's goal have counted?

 

 

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Anatoliy Metter of The Hockey Writers has a look at some backup goalies that could add value this season.

 

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St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said there is a possibility that Jaroslav Halak could start the team's first six games of the season. Not great news for Brian Elliott owners if Halak goes on a run and claims the starting role.

 

 

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Tuesday Morning Prospect Ramblings are up over at Dobber Prospects. Don’t forget to bookmark the site for great hockey information as well.

 

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Vesa Toskala would have stopped this.

 

 

 

Michael Amato is an Associate Editor for DobberHockey and a News Editor for theScore. You can follow him on Twitter at @amato_mike

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