November 14, 2014
Dobber
2014-11-14
Thoughts on Hayes, Forsberg, the ‘other’ R.Nash, Hartley, the Bruins and more …
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Kevin Hayes has points in three straight games, and Anthony Duclair was made a healthy scratch again. The Rangers are very lucky to have two quality prospects like them, but I think over the next couple of weeks the Rangers will decide that Duclair should get more ice time and they’ll send him down. Hayes is safe. For Hayes, Duclair, Miller, Fast and the rest of the fantasy-worthy Rangers prospects, check them out here.
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DobberProspects also has a ramblings up from Austin – right here (for yesterday) and right here (for today). Brendan jumps in with his Super Series reflections at some point late today or Saturday..
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Derrick Brassard has two points in the four games since Derek Stepan returned. Stepan has four in four. As we suspected, the points bonanza for Brassard appears to be over and he’s back to being a 50- or 55-point player.
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So I had to do a double take when I saw that Riley Nash has 12 points in 15 games this year. Did you just do a double take? When Nash was an Oilers prospect, we (and in this case I mean former Prospects writer Matt Bugg and myself) had him pegged as a future NHLer with surprising upside of over 70 points. But by the time he got to Carolina’s system he was looking like a checking-line forward. But now he’s putting up points like gangbusters when we haven’t seen this kind of offense since he was a junior in college. He’s playing on a line with Nathan Gerbe and Elias Lindholm – two players with very high offensive upside, but very little proven. From Frozen Pool:
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22.41% |
EV |
14 GERBE,NATHAN – 16 LINDHOLM,ELIAS – 20 NASH,RILEY |
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13.79% |
EV |
18 MCCLEMENT,JAY – 28 SEMIN,ALEXANDER – 53 SKINNER,JEFF |
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12.41% |
EV |
49 RASK,VICTOR – 12 STAAL,ERIC – 19 TLUSTY,JIRI |
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10.34% |
EV |
22 BOYCHUK,ZACHARY – 39 DWYER,PATRICK – 24 MALONE,BRAD |
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5.17% |
EV |
22 BOYCHUK,ZACHARY – 12 STAAL,ERIC – 19 TLUSTY,JIRI |
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The party is over for Cam Ward, who was enjoying a five-game winning streak. And despite the hot run, his save percentage is still just 0.906 – and the loss last night was just two goals allowed, so you can imagine how horrible the SV% was before the streak. His confidence is back, but it’s still fragile and a couple of quick setbacks would put him back to Square 1 again.
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23.21% |
EV |
42 BACKES,DAVID – 21 BERGLUND,PATRIK – 74 OSHIE,T.J. |
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21.1% |
EV |
12 LEHTERA,JORI – 17 SCHWARTZ,JADEN – 91 TARASENKO,VLADIMIR |
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11.39% |
EV |
10 LINDSTROM,JOAKIM – 26 STASTNY,PAUL – 20 STEEN,ALEXANDER |
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8.86% |
EV |
42 BACKES,DAVID – 74 OSHIE,T.J. – 20 STEEN,ALEXANDER |
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5.91% |
EV |
40 LAPIERRE,MAXIM – 9 OTT,STEVE – 75 REAVES,RYAN |
Look at those lines. Awesome team, with the way Lehtera and Lindstrom have fit in. So yeah, Vladimir Sobotka has about zero leverage for coming back next season under favorable terms.
TJ Oshie, as you can see, was back for the Blues and he scored his first goal of the season.
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Hear me out on this – is Boston going to make the playoffs? It’s a tight conference, and Montreal, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and yes the Islanders are locks. So four spots for the Rangers, Flyers, Capitals, Leafs, Red Wings, and even the Senators. And Bruins. Right now, Florida is six points behind Boston but have played 13 games to Boston’s 18. So pretty much the same record as Florida! Boston seems lost without Chara and now Krejci out as well (three straight without those two – two rather huge losses). I’m not stupid enough to say that Boston won’t make the playoffs – but right now I wouldn’t bet $100 that they will. I’d bet $50…but I’d get too antsy if the stakes were $100. This is just one hell of a crazy year for the playoff race. Parity. The Bruins, this is one of the best teams in the league, but if Rask is shaky (0.901 SV%) and Chara is out until mid-December and Krejci’s hip injury is more serious than we thought…well…
All we know with absolute certainty is that Buffalo will be out. And boy, would McDavid ever bring them up to the rest of the pack in an awful hurry.
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It’s always the young/new players who respond to benchings. Jiri Sekac watched from the press box for seven games. He returns and has peeled off four points in four games.
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So when Mark Giordano was in Russia for a season, did he drink a bottle of superstar juice? He left as a third pairing NHL defenseman with second pairing upside, and returned as Bobby Orr?
You know…full credit to Calgary coach Bob Hartley. The guy takes castoffs and makes them into players. Even in fantasy hockey, we gave up on Kris Russell. We gave up on Joe Colborne. We gave up on Paul Byron. Karri Ramo. We even had misgivings about Jiri Hudler being anything more than a second-line player. And then, of course, that ‘average’ No.4 defenseman Giordano. It seems like Hartley really has taken chicken shit and made chicken salad out of it. He’s made fringe players average, average players good, and good players great.
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Ales Hemsky‘s woes continue. After just one point in 15 games, he was made a healthy scratch last night. At 31, injuries have eroded his once formidable skills.
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Mike Hoffman strikes me as a clutch player. Not just from the OT winner last night, but he takes his minimal ice time and does something with it. He takes his small window of opportunity and produces. Already with seven goals, he’s on pace for over 35. That’s ridiculous, of course, as is his pro-rated assist total of seven. But he’s striking me as a 20-goal, 35-point player this season. And down the road he could be a 50-point guy, depending on opportunity. I think the Sens like him on the third line though, since he still chips in offense from there and that’s a great asset to have.
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Tonight – Anthony Mantha makes his pro debut for Grand Rapids. Back from a broken leg…
Also tonight – Scott Hartnell faces off against the Flyers. I’m sure you’ll see 100 articles about that throughout the day, so if I’m your first read – there’s your heads up.
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Kari Lehtonen – serious save of the year candidate: