December 6, 2014

steve laidlaw

2014-12-06

Perry and Eller hurt, Little with a hat-trick, buying low on Varlamov and more…

Update: The Ducks retracted their tweet regarding Perry’s injury not being considered to be serious. I think we’ll have to wait for an MRI here. That gets me back to my three week minimum guess, which was based on how long it took for Evander Kane to return after his knee-on-kee collision on opening night.

Semyon Varlamov got chased by the Jets last night allowing five goals on 30 shots on the back end of a back-to-back. I'd criticize the decision to start Varlamov in the back-to-back, especially coming off an injury, with both games on the road and the front half going to overtime but the Avalanche are desperate and Reto Berra stinks.

Colorado will eventually fall far enough out of the playoffs where it makes sense to start Berra as much as possible and limit the wear and tear on Varlamov but we haven't reached that point yet. That time comes somewhere around the All-Star break I'd guess. So expect a heavy dose of Varlamov over the next couple months.

That may not be a good thing, though because the Avalanche are not very good. It does make Varlamov a good guy to chase in a keeper league though. I recently offered up Ondrej Pavelec in a straight exchange for Varlamov in a dynasty league. That was a chance I was certainly willing to take. My offer was rebuffed but it was worth a shot. Varlamov is the better goalie.

Dustin Byfuglien was so excited to be back on defense. He played a loud game skating a game high 26:24, dishing out four hits, firing five SOG and scoring a relatively meaningless goal. Nice to see that pep in his step.

The night was all about Bryan Little though. He scored the first hat-trick I new Jets history, part of a four-point game. Linemates Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd came along for the ride with three points each.

This trio has struggled compared to expectations with 19 points apiece through 27 games. Perhaps Byfuglien's move back to defense can energize the team's offense and help get these guys back on track for 60 points. Though I wonder if that offensive surge wouldn't come at the expense of their own goaltenders.

Everything I talked about in yesterday's ramblings with regard to the Jets sticks, by the way.

Zach Parise went off about the Wild's miserable power play the other day:

“Our power play is terrible,” Parise said. “That’s where your top guys need to get some points, get some goals and feeling good. That carries into 5-on-5. When the power play is not working that’s frustrating and it can carry into the rest of the game.”

I don't know if it's a coincidence or not but the Wild had some success on the power play last night going 2/4 including a power-play marker from Parise himself.

Mikael Granlund benefitted the most with a couple of assists. He has gotten off to a really tough start but I still think he has something to offer (especially in keeper pools but even this season.) All the ingredients are there: over 15 minutes per game with Parise and Jason Pominville at evens and another three minutes per game on the power play. He simply hasn't produced yet. At least some of that is bad luck.

With 55 or so games left in the season I would look for 40 points from Granlund the rest of the way. That wouldn't make for a great season but it would be a very relevant finish.

Ryan Suter missed last night's contest with the mumps. I expected to see Jared Spurgeon filling his power play minutes but it was Jonas Brodin who stepped up skating a Suter-esque 28:39 with 3:03 on the power play.

Brodin had a two-point night with one score coming on the power play. He'll probably get bumped when Suter returns but given how poorly the Wild have performed up a man there is a chance they simply ride the hot hand, especially if Brodin keeps producing. Keep an eye out.

Darcy Kuemper got chased giving up five goals on 18 shots. That's not good at all and it marks the third time in his last four games that Kuemper has given up four goals or more. I'm not overly concerned though. The larger trend is that Kuemper is a perfectly adequate goalie starting for an elite defensive squad. He's good enough for the Wild and your fantasy squad.

It should be mentioned that Niklas Backstrom has been better for the Wild but in limited action. I also don't think he has the durability to go on a run of starts required to steal the starting job.

Tough break for the Ducks as Corey Perry was taken out by a hip-check from Keith Ballard. There was no penalty on the play and I don't think that it warrants discipline but you be the judge:

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My initial thought was that Perry would be out for a while, at least three weeks with potential for a lot more but apparently the Ducks' doctors don't think it is that bad. He'll continue travelling with the team and we'll just have to wait and see.

The Ducks didn't really need Perry last night. Ryan Kesler stepped up with three points.

Oddly enough, Matt Beleskey seems to have benefitted from the injury as he had been dropped from the top line in favour of Rene Bourque. Perry's injury sent the lines into disarray allowing Beleskey to sneak back onto the top line with Ryan Getzlaf for the game-winner and his 13^th goal of the season. That was also his sixth goal in the last nine games. Producing way over his head with a fat 17.6% shooting percentage but I'm enjoying the ride.

If it does turn out that Perry will miss some time I'm looking for Kyle Palmieri to get a boost but knowing Bruce Boudreau he'll probably give eight different players a shot on Getzlaf's right wing. Palmieri is a willing shooter on the right side but you could also make a similar case for Jakob Silfverberg or Devante Smith-Pelly. Palmieri did notch a couple of assists last night.

Someone asked me if Ilya Bryzgalov would be ready to go this weekend. My understanding is that he won't join the team until they return from this current road trip next week. They'll need him though as Freddie Andersen has been bleeding with 18 goals allowed in the last five games.

That's not necessarily Andersen's fault so much as it is a reflection of how banged up the Ducks are on defense but the schedule doesn't get any easier ahead. Yes, their next four are against the Jets and Oilers but next week they depart on a long Canadian road trip with five games in eight days including two back-to-backs.

I don't really see why Igor Bobkov isn't an option though. It's the same deal with Martin Brodeur in St. Louis instead of Jordan Binnington. I have to think that the young guys are at least as good of options. Look at how well giving the young guy a shot worked out for the Kings and Martin Jones or even the Ducks with Andersen.