I am honored to be making my ramblings debut today as I follow in Gates’ footsteps to “John Gibson” myself into the mix. There were no games last night which sucks… but there is no shortage of fantasy-relevant information worth mentioning.

Before I begin, hats off to forum member “Axeman33” for posting a bunch of news items on the forum. I had to stay at work a bit longer so it was nice to see things posted in one location.

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Nice article by Sean McIndoe about the state of each goalie’s stock (17 in all) as a result of their respective performance in this year’s playoffs. In particular, I want to highlight a couple of the the goalies with a declining stock.

Anders Lindback: He was initially brought into Tampa Bay to immediately become the goalie of the future and quickly fell out of favor. He was given an unexpected chance to re-establish himself as a relevant goaltender with the injury to Ben Bishop. He held his own early against the Canadiens but ultimately could not get the job done.

So what is next for Lindback? He is a RFA this summer and with Kristers Gudlevskis showing promise it is possible that Lindback is simply not retained or traded. If he is moved he would be wise to find a cushy backup role like he had in Nashville to get his numbers and confidence back up. At 26, time is running out for him to make his mark.

Ryan Miller: His move to St. Louis was supposed to be a match made in heaven as the elite roster finally landed an upper-tier goaltender to take them over the top. The end result was a very mediocre output from Miller and possibly (probably?) a trip to free agency this summer. One thing is for sure: he will land in a better situation than the one he had in Buffalo so his potential to obtain wins for your fantasy squad will be better than it has been in recent years.

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This playoff has had its share of controversial moments that earned some players a lot of backlash. Looking at comments made on the forum and on social media it is clear that many hockey fans are emotional and absolutely hate some players.

The reason I bring this up is because in some cases a player’s reputation among fans can affect his trade value in fantasy leagues. A player that is globally hated may not be valued by his owner which could make him easy to acquire. Production is what wins in fantasy so if you are able to separate the art from the artist you could take advantage of some buy-low opportunities to make your squad better.

In the UHL league that I will mention in more detail later, I own Matt Cooke. In a deep multi-category league, he scores quite well. With competition stiff at the top, I have no problem putting my feelings aside to own one of the most disliked players in the league.

It is never a bad time to make a pitch for a guy like Brad Marchand in your league, especially if his owner dislikes the Bruins. Like him or not, he produces.

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Tough loss for the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night. Goaltender Tuukka Rask clearly lost his duel with Carey Price and will be seen by some as the goat, regardless of whether or not that criticism is fair. Regardless, Rask remains the team’s undisputed starter so to me the more important story to follow is what happens with his backup situation where the current guy, Chad Johnson, is an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Johnson enjoyed a breakout campaign where he was nothing short of excellent in his role providing spot starts for both his team and to fantasy owners. If he moves to another team, that opens up a roster spot that could be very relevant in fantasy land next season.

If the team decides to promote from within, Niklas Svedberg has to be considered the front-runner as he was the main guy down in Providence this year. However, he had a down year compared to his rookie season so he is not exactly putting his best foot forward to audition for the job.

The other option is 20-year-old Malcolm Subban who out-produced Svedberg statistically in the AHL this year and holds more long-term potential. In his case, it may be best to give him more time in the minors instead of spending the majority of the season on the bench while Rask plays.

Of course, the Bruins could head to free agency for help. There will be no shortage of talented netminders available this summer that could fill the spot for cheap. 

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I was impressed with the end-to-end rushes and the overall flow of the final game in the Hawks/Wild series. The Wild were eventually put away by Patrick Kane’s OT winner but nonetheless put up a valiant effort in defeat.

The fate of the team’s goaltenders remains a mystery at this time. Ilya Bryzgalov probably bought himself another year in the NHL with his late-season play. He is a good fit in Minnesota but Darcy Kuemper, Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom are also in the mix.

Backstrom’s time in Minnesota may be done. The team has one remaining compliance buyout and could use it to part with their longtime starter unless he is deemed ineligible for buyout as a result of his ongoing injury problems that kept him out for most of the season.

Bryzgalov might be brought back with the Wild or the team could go the free agency route (Jonas Hiller, perhaps) to sit atop the team’s goaltending depth chart. Harding is capable of providing excellent play whenever his health permits him to play. Kuemper can split the season between the AHL and NHL, getting called up whenever Harding has to step aside.

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Yesterday we learned that Dan Boyle and Martin Havlat will not return to the Sharks next season and that Brent Burns will be returning to defense next year. After so many years of teasing the world, something had to happen and Boyle is the first significant casualty.

Boyle has been in decline even though he remains an excellent puck-mover. Burns will fill his role on the back end and has a decent history of putting up points at that position. Still, he does not possess Boyle’s abilities as a distributor having never eclipsed 30 assists in season.

Up front, Burns’ change of position and the departure of Havlat will give some opportunities for guys to step up. As of right now youngsters Tomas Hertl and Matt Nieto appear primed for increases in ice time on the wing.

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Remember Leo Komarov? It appears that he may be returning to the NHL and that he would likely land back in Toronto. He had a good year over in the KHL and was already a hitting machine during his one NHL season.

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Penguins’ forward Beau Bennett is scheduled for wrist surgery. With just seven points in 21 games and a weak playoff showing, this was mostly a wasted season for him after showing so much promise a year ago.

Assuming that Bennett is ready to go for next year, he finds himself as a good buy-low candidate. There are more than a half-dozen Penguins’ forwards headed for unrestricted free agency and with changes coming his cheap entry-level contract could come in handy next to the many large salaries already on the roster.

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Be sure to check out this year’s Prime Cuts series as Gates Imbeau and Steve Laidlaw have taken over for the departed Jeff Angus. You can check out Part One and Part Two as well as last year’s roster. Be sure to let them know what you think about the selections!

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Last but not least, I have to take some time to talk about the UHL league that Gates referred to yesterday as “Dobberhockey’s unofficial Dynasty league” (I call it the real Experts League). This is the best league I’ve ever been a part of mainly due to the high level of competition and fun trash-talking. Many of the more frequent faces from around here are in the league. Gates put it well: ” The league comprises of a nice mix of writers, avid readers, and forum juggernauts alongside some random stragglers who seem to have proven their worth.”

The league is deep (more than 1000 assets owned) and has 16 scoring categories in a head-to-head setup. No better way to put your hockey knowledge to good use than in a tough league where so many players are relevant…

We are always looking for good candidates to step in whenever a team becomes available. In order to stick with yesterday’s application process, fire an email to Gates if you are interested – gates at dobbersports dot com.

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Last but not least, give me a follow on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust.