More on the Islanders…

At the risk of stepping on my own toes as I spoke to this in the Fantasy Guide, I'm hard on Frans Nielsen as a regression candidate for this season.

Consider that he did most of his damage during the first quarter of the NHL season scoring 21 points in his first 21 games. He scored 37 in 59 the rest of the way – a 51-point pace much more in line with his career numbers.

Nielsen also scored on 15.0% of his shots despite being a 10.4% career shooter. That screams regression right there.

The Islanders just got much deeper with forwards Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin signed for big free agent money as well as young prospects like Ryan Strome and Michael Dal Colle potentially grabbing big minutes, not just on the power play but also at even strength.

Nielsen set career highs for goals, assists, points, PPP, SOG and minutes played. It's entirely possible that this is simply a player coming into his own with a combination of great opportunity and skill to match but odds are something comes along to derail his progress.

The big key is seeing whether one of Strome or Grabovski steals his top unit power play spot. You have to figure Strome is taking it eventually. It's just a matter of when, not if. If it's this year then Nielsen's upside goes way down. If it's next then you might scratch another 50-point campaign from him. Either way, I'm not expecting him to continue improving.

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Sean McIndoe has some sage advice for those of us freaking out over hefty contract extensions; don't:

When in doubt, just wait for the next deal: Does anyone remember Phil Kessel's extension? Signed on the eve of last season, his eight-year, $64 million deal was the largest ever handed out by the Toronto Maple Leafs. The deal drew its share of criticism from Leafs fans and outright mockery from fans of other teams. Ten months (and another 80-point season) later, a very similar player in Kane signs for $20 million more, and Kessel suddenly seems like a bargain-bin deal.

That has a funny way of happening. If Kane and Toews seem overpaid now, check back when Anze Kopitar re-signs with the Kings this time next year.

I made sure to include that Kopitar point in my excerpt because I am REALLY curious to see how much he pulls in.

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With all this news about NHL teams hiring analytics guys Elliotte Friedman went searching for one of the progenitors of hockey analytics – a real interesting profile.

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The San Jose Sharks will host an outdoor game next year with the LA Kings visiting. Should be an excellent event if the game at Dodgers Stadium last year was any indication. I said after that one was such a success that if the NHL went back to a warm venue for their outdoor game that I'd have to go. Didn't think they'd go back to the well so soon. That being said, this is looking REAL tempting for me.

I have to be honest, I love the notion of the outdoor game but I don’t actually want to go to most of them. A game played in a cold climate has little appeal to me. If it's cold or windy or snowing or all of the above then I'm going to be miserable and I'm not going to have a good view. I know it's about the atmosphere but it doesn't strike me as different from going to a football game, which is similarly miserable when the weather doesn't cooperate and only mildly enjoyable when the weather is nice.

Don't get me wrong on the live experience. I love live hockey (and basketball) when I can actually see the action taking place and the conditions are favourable. Remove both of those factors and I'd sooner be at home on my couch.

So I can justify going to an outdoor game in California because the weather conditions should be favourable so at least I won't be miserable. Plus it's an excuse to leave Northwestern Ontario in February, which, if you've ever been here then you'll know that any excuse will do.

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An oral history of The Mighty Ducks. Classic!

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You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.