July 19, 2014

Michael Amato

2014-07-19

Our Rick Roos has an article over at Puck Daddy looking at the free agent signings from a fantasy hockey standpoint. Give it a read!

*

The New York Rangers are dealing with a tough RFA situation right now as Derick Brassard, Chris Kreider, and Mats Zuccarello all still need to be signed. According to CapGeek, the Rangers have just over $13 million of space available and Zuccarello is looking for $4.5 million per season while Brassard wants $5.5. million. They should be able to get that done, but it won't leave a ton of wiggle room for Kreider and defenseman John Moore, who is also an RFA. Not to mention Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin will need signing next summer, so New York will need to leave themselves some flexibility.

From a fantasy perspective the Rangers haven't done a lot to improve their forward lineup, other than the fact Martin St. Louis will be there for a full year now. However, I'd be worried about Brassard as an owner because of the loss of Benoit Pouliot. Those two really started to click last season with Brassard being the setup man. He'll really miss Pouliot's goal scoring.

Someone that could be a gem, though, is J.T. Miller. Some of the guys in their bottom six like Tanner Glass and Matthew Lombardi aren't exactly offensive stalwarts, so one would think someone with Miller's skill set will get more of a featured role this season. His numbers weren't great in limited action with the Rangers in 2013-14, but with Hartford of the American Hockey League he was better than a point per game player.

*

Here's an interesting piece from the Detroit Free Press showing Mike Babcock's response about his coaching style and if it is the reason the Detroit Red Wings have struggled to attract big name free agents in recent years.

 “The way I look at it here, if you don’t want to be coached, don’t come here. If you want to be pushed to be the best that you can be, that’s what we do here. You know what? The proof is in the pudding."

It's hard to imagine that would actually be the case, considering Detroit's history of postseason success and the fact that Babcock has done such a great job with Team Canada at the Olympics, coaching players from all over the league. Still, it is a bit curious how the Wings have struggled to land a major name, especially on defense.

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
RYAN LEONARD WSH
NAZEM KADRI COL
OWEN TIPPETT PHI
ROOPE HINTZ DAL
ALEX LAFERRIERE L.A

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
JAKUB DOBES MTL
JET GREAVES CBJ
KAREL VEJMELKA UTA
LINUS ULLMARK OTT
JESPER WALLSTEDT MIN

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency S.J Players
23.5 WILL SMITH IGOR CHERNYSHOV MACKLIN CELEBRINI
21.9 PHILIPP KURASHEV COLLIN GRAF TY DELLANDREA
20.4 KIEFER SHERWOOD MICHAEL MISA WILLIAM EKLUND

DobberHockey Podcasts

Fantasy Hockey Life: Tampa Bay Lightning with Erik Erlendsson

Erik Erlendsson joins the program to discuss the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jesse and Victor ask about pros Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, Ilya Mikheyev, Gage Goncalves, Conor Geekie, Benjamin Rautiainen, John Carlson, Victor Hedman, Charle-Edouard D’Astous, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Jonas Johansson, and Dennis Hildeby. In Cat’s instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal […]

Fantasy Hockey Life: Carolina Hurricanes with Ryan Henkel

Ryan Henkel joins the program to discuss the Carolina Hurricanes. Jesse and Victor ask about pros Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svechnikov, Nikolaj Ehlers, Jackson Blake, Logan Stankoven, Jordan Staal, Bradly Nadeau, Felix Unger Sorum, Shayne Gostisbehere, K’Andre Miller, Alexander Nikishin, Sean Walker, Brandon Bussi, and Pyotr Kochetkov. In Cat’s instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal […]

FIND US ON FACEBOOK