December 1, 2013

Dobber Sports

2013-12-01

December already? This hockey year is just flying by, much like the lede to today’s Ramblings…

Before we get to the 11 games that were on tap in the NHL last night, I want to quickly discuss two young players who will face each other on Sunday afternoon. Between Mika Zibanejad and Gustav Nyquist, Nyquist is far and away the more ballyhooed fantasy asset at the moment. But don’t sleep on Zibanejad, who gave me more this past week and who I’m modestly higher on at the moment.

Five games ago Zibanejad’s minutes spiked as he was bumped into Ottawa’s top-six forward group (alongside Jason Spezza). This past week the Swedish forward gave fantasy owners 2 goals, 0 assists, was -2, had a PPP, and recorded 7 shots and 6 hits. That’s an OK weekly line for a guy available in 95% of fantasy leagues, but nothing eye popping.

Thing is: it’s comparable production to what Nyquist provided this week and everyone’s rushing to pick him up. Also, Mika’s the modestly better bet for the balance of this season I suspect. Consider that since Mika joined Jason Spezza’s line at even-strength, he’s “Corsi’d” near 60% at even-strength. He’s been a minus player in more games that not as a top-six forward, however, because of an ~.850 on-ice sv% (and a 916 PDO) during that stretch. Those tough bounces won’t continue, but it seems very possible that the Zibanejad, Spezza, Michalek line will continue to crush it possession-wise…

Nyquist is the other side of the coin. In his five NHL games so far this season, Nyquist’s PDO is up near 118, thanks both to an on-ice save percentage north of .960 and an on-ice sh% that is hovering near 16%. Those are some damn lucky bounces…

All of which is to say that if you’re in a deeper league and need a multi-cat player, Zibanejad looks promising and is likely to crank it up if he continues to see big minutes in Ottawa…

Okay, let’s move onto the afternooner. Chris Kreider broke out and rung up a hatty against the coach who used to bench him, or make him ride the train to Connecticut. Kreider has been fantasy gold over the past couple of weeks and we all could sort of smell a game like this coming. Perhaps more notable is that Kreider was shifted up and onto New York’s top-line with Rick Nash and Derek Stepan, and that group had instant success and chemistry (obviously). Kreider owners should be happy, it’s not difficult to imagine the big forward’s production spiking if he continues to skate on the top-line…

Alex Burrows continues to rack up hits, which is some consolation I suppose for his lack of goal scoring, but is crazy snakebit. Burrows has put up more than 20 even-strength goals like clock work for years, but he’s yet to score his first this season despite a myriad of opportunities.

With Nabokov expected to miss at least another week and Kevin Poulin’s effectiveness cratering, it’s no surprise that the Islanders are rumoured to be working the phones and looking to acquire a goaltender. In the meantime, Anders Nillsson played pretty well on Saturday night in his first career start (in a losing effort) and may see some playing time based on nothing beyond necessity on Long Island. Worth keeping an eye out for.

Cal Clutterbuck with a nice line for the Fishsticks: a goal, +1, 4 shots and 4 hits. Not to shabby for the mustachioed one. Thomas Vanek also managed 6 shots and a messy goal, which is interesting. Vanek has been solid on Long Island, but I’m not sure that trade has paid off in spades the way Garth Snow and company were hoping.

The Nashville Predators dressed precisely one defenseman with more than 100 games of NHL experience on Saturday (Roman Josi). So you might not be surprised to hear that they blew a two goal lead in the third period on their way to a shootout loss.

Predators center Matt Cullen has been on a bit of a tear of late, and though it came to an end production wise on Saturday, the skilled American born centre still managed five shots on goal…

The Chicago Blackhawks butchered the Coyotes in Glendale, and their fourth line was particularly good. Brandon Bollig scored a lovely insurance marker with a really nice wrist shot and has evolved into particularly the type of useful size that teams should be looking on their fourth line. He’s legitimately a player.

Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith contributed two more assists to put the cherry on top of his dominant fantasy week. 6 assists from a defenseman? I’d imagine Keith singlehandedly won a lot of owners the assist category this week.

I’m still not buying the Avalanche, even after they took two in a row from the Wild (who I do believe are a sleeper team in the West). Colorado led most of the game so it’s tough to tell, I suppose, but Saturday’s game looked to me like another Roy special: “Varlamov saves nearly 40 shots and the Avalanche win narrowly.”

Interesting thing to look for is the production from Minnesota’s third-line. Matt Cooke, for example, had a dynamite outing on Saturday night with a goal, five shots and three hits. That’s cool, but it’s worth pointing out that Cooke’s linemates Torrey Mitchell and Kyle Brodziak also had points and their fair share of offensive opportunities (3 and 2 shots on goal respectively).

That’s a pretty nice third line with some skill and speed, and under Mike Yeo they’re empowered to make the decisions that top-six forward lines are. I don’t think it’s worth going out and picking up Torrey Mitchell unless you’re in a league deeper than James Earl Jones’ voice, but if you need shots and hits and maybe some production in free-agency some week: consider Minnesota’s grinders.

Mike Cammalerri scored a late goal, taking a can opener to the Los Angeles Kings defense. He played 22 minutes on Saturday night and single-handedly bested one of the stingiest defensive teams of my life-time. Be fun to see him on a good team in the Pacific…

Kris Russell is having an impressive season for the Flames, both in real life and in fantasy. He added another three hits and soaked up well over 26 minutes on Saturday night against Los Angeles.

Finally there was the late game: an enteraining contest between the Sharks and the Ducks. The Sharks started the game so, so strong but couldn’t hold a lead in the third period as the Ducks came storming back. Anaheim’s performance in the third period was spectacular, and though they’ve been successful on and off for a several seasons this is the first time I’ve ever thought Anaheim was “for real.” It’s their depth guys stepping up and rounding into quality young forwards, guys like Nick Bonino who was dynamite on Saturday, that has me believing what the Ducks are selling this year…

Sharks defenseman Justin Braun managed a couple of assists, and had a nice line too (2 shots, 2 hits). Good to see because Braun is massively under-rated, and deserves more attention. He’s soaked up top-pairing minutes for the past couple of seasons and he’s done it capably. Meanwhile for San Jose the likes of Hertl, Wingels and Burns continue to post excellent fantasy lines while also playing exciting hockey… Ho hum!

Thomas Drance is a news editor at theScore.

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