October 22, 2014
Dobber
2014-10-22
My thoughts on the fantasy hockey impact of the Voynov suspension; Also Cory Conacher, Kevin Hayes and more …
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The situation with Cory Conacher reminds me of a similar situation a few years ago with Colby Armstrong. And frankly, I think the result will be the same. Armstrong was put on the Crosby line and the coach really felt strongly about it and gave it 13 games. Armstrong had two assists in that span and he began to see shifts on other lines. And by the 18th or 20th game he had about six points and that was the end of the experiment. Just an extraordinary amount of patience by the coach and it didn’t come to fruition. Conacher has now played six full games on the Tavares line and has one point to show for it. He’s getting pushed off the puck easily. One thing that he’s doing right is finding an open spot and hoping for the pass – the pass just never comes and to me that’s just a sign of zero chemistry. I have Conacher in two of my keeper leagues – grabbed him off the wire in both about 10 days ago. In one league, I can’t drop him. It was a permanent decision until I trade him or drop him next summer, but I don’t really need him. In the other league, I’m keeping him on my bench until he’s off the line because hey you just never know. But the smart money is on ‘bust’ – it’s just a question of how much longer Capuano gives him.
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It bugs me when I hear Leaf fans point to the lack of the No.1 center as a weakness and that Tyler Bozak isn’t a No.1 center. Because their definition of a No.1 center is Crosby. Or some are more reasonable and say “Thornton”. But how many true No.1 centermen are there? Twelve? Fifteen? And what is the definition of the average No.1 centerman? Someone who can get 70 points and win 55% of the faceoffs, and who goes out and takes all the key draws of the game? Because I think we’re getting pretty close to defining Bozak. I’m not ready to say 70 – I’d like to see an 80-game season before I’ll judge. But 65 is looking pretty promising.
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Jonathan Bernier did not play well last night. Then again, I turned off the game after the second period. Did I miss anything?
Apparently, I missed 17 saves. So it looks like he found his mojo. Which is a great thing for his fantasy owners because another period like the first two and the “Reimer is No.1” talk would heat up to a new level.
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Interesting players with six points already – Joe Colborne, Bozak, Alex Galchenyuk (who has seven, actually). Galchenyuk scored and had three hits last night – please stay healthy Alex, we’re pretty excited about what you can do and injuries have so far taken that from us!
Interesting players with five points already – Ryan Strome, Andre Burakovsky.
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While Eric Staal, Jordan Staal and Nate Gerbe recover from injuries, Chris Terry is seeing 17 minutes of ice time. He has five points in five games and the coach is noticing this. Very underappreciated prospect his entire career and now at age 25 he’s finally getting a chance – and only then, because the coach has nowhere else to turn. Definitely worth a pickup in most league formats and he may even be worth keeping when the other players return.
The night’s two goalies who got the hook – Jaroslav Halak and Ryan Miller.
The night’s two rookies who tallied their first ever NHL points – Jonathan Drouin and Seth Griffith. Second career points last night to Aaron Ekblad and Kevin Hayes, while Johnny Gaudreau picked up his third career point. And I mention Gaudreau because of this:
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| CAM FOWLER |
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| 21.4 | VINCENT TROCHECK GABE PERREAULT ARTEMI PANARIN | |
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| 18.7 | MIKA ZIBANEJAD CHRIS KREIDER WILL CUYLLE | |
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