13 CAMMALLERI,MIKE – 24 HUDLER,JIRI – 23 MONAHAN,SEAN

9.5%

PP

13 CAMMALLERI,MIKE – 24 HUDLER,JIRI – 23 MONAHAN,SEAN

 

Monahan has skated over 19 minutes in each of the past two games and hasn't looked out of place doing so.

 

I would imagine that he will hit the rookie wall at some point, especially when you consider he is currently shooting 28.6%, which is bound to regress but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to be here. I still wouldn't try to get him in one-year leagues but it's worth consideration now.

 

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Apparently word has come down that NHL linesmen are to stop fights when the fighters take off their helmets prior to the fight. This occurred during the Montreal-Edmonton game on Tuesday when Travis Moen and Luke Gadzic intended to throw down. The fight was stopped early and the players were issued unsportsmanlike minor penalties rather than fighting majors.

 

Might this have a detrimental effect on the value of goons in multi-category pools?

 

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In Lou We Trust, the Devils' SB Nation blog with a nice breakdown of the Devils' power play struggles this season:

As nice as the set-up was, it’s been unfamiliar so far this season. Ryder’s lamplighter was only the third power play goal scored by the Devils this season. Only their second in 5-on-4 play, the most common of power play situations. Disregarding Sunday’s games, the goal moved the Devils’ overall conversion rate to 11.5%, putting them in a tie with Boston for the fifth-lowest conversion rate in the league. Yes, there are four teams that have been more woeful: Philadelphia, Buffalo, Vancouver, and Anaheim.

 

I think that the biggest issue here is coaching. The team hasn't had a good power play since Peter DeBoer took over as head coach and I know not all head coaches are responsible for special teams play but the assistant responsible for the power play (Dave Barr) has been there since DeBoer took over so they both take responsibility, in my opinion.

 

I am not sure DeBoer needs to be canned as he has the Devils winning the shot differential battle at five-on-five but he really needs to consider making a change with his assistant before it costs DeBoer his own job.

 

But to be perfectly fair, the Devils don't have a ton of talent this season. Ilya Kovalchuk is gone so they've had to craft a new power play strategy and their best playmaker, Patrick Elias, has missed time due to illness. The Devils also have never had a standout puck-moving defenseman during DeBoer's tenure. Their best option is veteran Marek Zidlicky, who is solid but far from elite.

 

Still, I think a better coach with have this unit performing at a better rate. They have solid veterans in Elias, Jagr, Zidlicky and Michael Ryder who have a history of producing with the man-advantage. They may be older and slower but they have the hockey IQ necessary to run circles around opponents when given the space that a power play affords them. For the coaching staff to not produce at least league average play from this unit is a failure. It's still early and maybe they turn it around but I wouldn't expect a ton out of these guys without some kind of a change made behind the bench.

 

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Are the Minnesota Wild once again the lamest team in hockey? Only the Sabres have seen fewer goals scored in their games than the Wild this season but the Sabres suck so at least you can count on them to fluff your fantasy team whenever your players roll through Buffalo. What excuse do the Wild have?

 

I would argue for bad luck. They currently lead the league in five-on-five shot differential and sit second to the Sharks in overall shot differential. Yet they have only scored 21 goals this season shooting just 6.9% as a team. That figure has to come up.

 

Of particular interest, the Wild's top line of Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Jason Pominville have yet to be on the ice for a five-on-five goal against. They are dominating opponents but have just four goals of their own to show for it. I look at those three as solid buy-low candidates.

 

The one area where the Wild are not failing to produce goals is special teams. The Wild power play is clicking on one of every four chances good for fifth in the league but on the flip side the Wild penalty kill ranks 27^th allowing a goal 24.4% of the time. Clearly the refs need to start blowing their whistles more often.

 

Our very own Thomas Drance took a look at how the Wild revamped their approach to puck possession, in particular offensive zone entry, in order to improve their overall performance:

The Wild have eschewed the dump and chase this season, in favor of gaining the blue line with speed and possession. The defensemen are activating more often. In fact, Wild defenders have already contributed four goals through seven games, where the Minnesota defense managed just 15 goals in 48 games last season.

 

So buy low on the Wild. I cannot stress that enough.

 

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Your top 10 luckiest players based on five-on-five on-ice shooting percentage (have played at least 100 minutes) as of Tuesday:

 

Hampus Lindholm – 18.18%

TJ Oshie – 18.00%

Francois Beauchemin – 17.14%

Frans Nielsen – 16.98%

Ladislav Smid – 15.38%

Jeff Petry – 14.29%

Jeff Skinner – 14.29%

Jakob Silfverberg – 14.29%

Tomas Hertl – 14.29%

Ryan Getzlaf – 14.04%

Aleksander Barkov – 14.04%

 

A lot of Ducks on that list!

 

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And your top 10 unluckiest players:

 

Andrej Sustr – 0%

Alex Goligoski – 0%

Tomas Kopecky – 0%

Kevin Klein – 0%

Dany Heatley's corpse – 0%

Matt Hendricks – 0%

Matt Read – 0%

Johan Franzen – 1.56%

Jason Pominville – 1.59%

Brett Bellemore – 1.59%

 

A lot of underachievers on this list. Obviously these guys are at least somewhat to blame for their failures thus far but I would say these guys are good buy-low candidates, even Dany Heatley's corpse.

 

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I won't list them but check out the individual shooting percentage leaders to start the season. A lot of sell-high candidates on that list.

 

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From Elliotte Friedman's latest 30 Thoughts:

The word on Philadlephia Flyers forward Claude Giroux — three points in eight games — is he is trying to do way too much. You can see him forcing plays that aren’t there, especially as the losses and injuries mount. One thing teams look for in their best players is, do they raise their game when things are going badly? He’s trying yet not succeeding.

 

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Sean McIndoe gives us Great Moments in Goalie Goal-Scoring History, if you are into that sort of thing.

 

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Did you watch the new 30 for 30 documentary Big Shot on Tuesday night? It's about how John Spano defrauded his way into ownership of the New York Islanders. A really great watch. I actually found myself rooting for him, even knowing how it all worked out, which is a testament to how well made the film was. I love the 30 for 30 series, which debuted four years ago with Kings Ransom, a doc on the Wayne Gretzky trade. You can watch that Gretzky one in full on Youtube.

 

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Seen Steven Stamkos' Coke Zero commercial?

 

 

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You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.