December 102014

Dobber

2014-12-10

Not sold yet on Darling, Gomez is New Jersey’s best forward (huh?), Laich’s pulling a Weiss and more …

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For those of you looking for expanded ramblings today, in leiu of that – how about an entire article? My updated Calder picks and rookie thoughts…

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Scott Darling got his second consecutive start for the Blackhawks and he won again. However, this time his win was “average” instead of “robbery” so my guess is that Quenneville goes back to Antti Raanta. I’m posting an article later today with my Calder picks (updated) and I’ll have more on Raanta there.

The impressive goalie in this one was Keith Kinkaid, who got his first start of the season. Word came through after six o’clock last night (EST) and I sent the Goalie Post email notification myself. If you subscribe to the emails over there, you would have received the heads up in time to fix your lineup. Kinkaid stopped 37 of 39 shots. A decent prospect goaltender behind a decent defensive system. But the Devils want Schneider to be their next Brodeur – a decade of 35 wins and 72 starts. So that’s the end of Kinkaid right there.

Disturbing fact about the Devils last night: Scott Gomez played 21:28. The guy can’t get a contract until six weeks into the season, but now he’s their top forward I guess.

Eric Gelinas was a healthy scratch for the Devils. He has 16 points in his last 43 games (31-point pace) dating back to last season.

Make it 10 points in seven games for Mike Santorelli, and eight in seven for linemate Nazem Kadri. And that’s why the Leafs are winning. A second line makes all the difference. Santorelli is on pace for 57 points, which would be a career high (previous was 41). He’s setting one this year, you can take that to the bank. But 57 is a stretch. Think 48-51.

Montreal rookie Sven Andrighetto is still riding the adrenalin, with two points in two games now thanks to his assist last night. His ice time crept up to 14:41. A smallish player (5-9) with first-line upside, but this is still pretty early to expect anything from him fantasy-wise. Consider this run adrenalin, and a good start. Read up on Andrighetto here.

The Habs did some line shuffling last night and it resulted in a win:

19.38%	EV	27 GALCHENYUK,ALEX – 11 GALLAGHER,BRENDAN – 67 PACIORETTY,MAX
17.62%	EV	58 ANDRIGHETTO,SVEN – 14 PLEKANEC,TOMAS – 26 SEKAC,JIRI
12.78%	EV	20 MALHOTRA,MANNY – 8 PRUST,BRANDON – 22 WEISE,DALE
11.89%	EV	49 BOURNIVAL,MICHAEL – 51 DESHARNAIS,DAVID – 15 PARENTEAU,PIERRE

Poor David Desharnais. Parenteau needs help from his center to produce…Desharnais needs help from his winger to produce. A match made in hell.

Is Brooks Laich pulling a Stephen Weiss? Is he Weissing his way back to fantasy relevance? Four points in his last four games after struggling for months and years with injury. I’m much more cautious with Laich than when I blabbed about Weiss – because Weiss has more upside and wasn’t dealing with injury for as long as Laich was. But I’m certainly paying attention…

So yesterday I took your questions in the forum. Answered 30 or 35 of them. You can read/review them here if you’d like. I’ve been in the forum a lot this week, so throw your thoughts up and see what others think of your players/trade talks…

San Jose Sharks…wut.

* <a href="frozenpool_profiler.php?players=2243&sent=go&games=2014-2015%3AR">Jason Demers</a> may have four points in eight games for Dallas, but he’s also a minus-7. He’s seeing some of the weakest competition on the team and his CorsiRel is still -3.80. Meanwhile John Klingberg is seeing tough competition and is driving possession like nobody’s business (+14.70). Right-handed shot or not, I’m betting the Stars regret this Demers trade within a few weeks. He’s like John-Michael Liles in that he’ll need his minutes pampered to be of any use. * Seven shots on goal last night for <a href="frozenpool_profiler.php?players=3917&sent=go&games=2014-2015%3AR">Nathan MacKinnon</a>, so you know he’s pressing. I still refuse to believe he’ll fail to reach 65 points this year, but man my confidence is waning and he’ll need 47 points in 54 games to do it. He’s pointless and minus-8 in his last four games. * Nashville had two empty net goals, so <a href="frozenpool_profiler.php?players=2812&sent=go&games=2014-2015%3AR">Calvin Pickard</a> officially allowed just one goal on 34 shots. Still saddled with the loss because his team can’t score. With Varlamov on the IR, Pickard is going to post some good numbers (other than wins?) over the next several weeks. I get the sense that Varly is done until after Christmas. Pickard is playing very well, so if I’m the Avs I keep Varlamov off the ice for two months. Get him 100% for February/March/April stretch run. * Ugly hit on <a href="frozenpool_profiler.php?players=1179&sent=go&games=2014-2015%3AR">Keith Ballard</a>, head hits the ice. Despite the stretcher, he skates off with help, which is a good sign. It seemed to spark the Wild, who were down 3-0 at the time and won 5-4:   <iframe width="560″ height="315″ src="//www.youtube.com/embed/iSrSPwT84F4″ frameborder="0″ allowfullscreen>

UPCOMING GAMES

Oct 22 - 18:10	PHI	vs	WSH
Oct 22 - 18:10	FLA	vs	MIN
Oct 22 - 18:10	N.J	vs	T.B
Oct 22 - 19:10	BUF	vs	DAL
Oct 22 - 19:10	MTL	vs	NYR
Oct 22 - 19:10	CBJ	vs	TOR
Oct 22 - 19:10	NYI	vs	DET
Oct 22 - 20:10	STL	vs	WPG
Oct 22 - 20:10	CHI	vs	VAN
Oct 22 - 20:10	SEA	vs	COL
Oct 22 - 20:10	NSH	vs	BOS
Oct 22 - 21:10	EDM	vs	CAR
Oct 22 - 21:10	UTA	vs	OTT
Oct 22 - 21:10	CGY	vs	PIT
Oct 22 - 22:10	ANA	vs	S.J
Oct 22 - 23:10	VGK	vs	L.A