March 12, 2015

steve laidlaw

2015-03-12

Kadri’s suspension, Russell and the Flames sizzle, the latest Luongo news and more…

Real interesting contrast between how the Leafs are handling their discipline with Nazem Kadri and how the Stars are doing it with Cody Eakin. Both have been suspended for multiple games by their respective teams but only one had his team's president hold a press conference to talk about it.

Some of that is simply the disparity in the way that the media covers hockey in Toronto versus how it is covered in Dallas but this is still a case where one guy is getting publicly thrown under the bus while another is getting quietly dealt with.

The thing is, discipline like this happens all the time. How many times have you seen a young guy get scratched only for it to spin into a positive? It isn’t always about discipline, mind you but it can be an effective tool. It just rarely becomes available for public consumption. We'll see soon enough if it was the right decision. Kadri hits restricted free agency again this summer.

This is terrible timing for fantasy owners who had hoped to take advantage of Toronto's favourable schedule this week. On the other hand, I fully expect to get an engaged Kadri for the final few weeks of the season, which could make him a great asset once he returns.

More from the realm where molehills are mountains, Anthony Duclair (read more on him here) was scratched by his junior club earlier this week. I'm not all that concerned. This is a player who has already proven he can play at the NHL level so I'm not exactly surprised if he's having trouble getting up for all his junior games.

It's also my understanding that Quebec (his junior team) is hosting the Memorial Cup this year so it's likely that some complacency has seeped in. This might even be more about the overall play of the team than merely that of Duclair. If the coaches show that the best player can be scratched then the team sees that anyone can be held accountable. That's just speculation on my part, however.

The point is, this shouldn't affect your judgement of Duclair as a prospect. You already have a pretty good idea that he can hack it as a bottom-six forward. He may have potential for even more.

Buffalo's Nikita Zadorov is an example of a player who faced discipline for breaking team rules. He was scratched for a couple of games for missing a practice after the All-Star break. Zadorov hasn't necessarily returned smoothly from the scratches. He did score in five out of six games after returning but his minutes have been cut heavily having skated over 20 minutes just twice after frequently seeing big minutes before the All-Star game.

I've got Zadorov ranked behind both Zach Bogosian and Rasmus Ristolainen in terms of fantasy value but there's still a lot of time for that to get rearranged.

With Zemgus Girgensons possibly done for the year Johan Larsson is getting a shot alongside Tyler Ennis and Matt Moulson. All three scored three points last night. Two goals in two nights for Larsson too. Not advocating a pick up yet, but definitely worth watching.

A “Don’t Miss Read” over at Dobber Prospects as Brendan Ross provides his weekly ramblings on the happenings inside the hockey prospect world – William Nylander, Connor McDavid, new NHL Draft rankings, NHL Mock Draft, Sam Bennett’s return and much much more.

David Booth's scoring streak is now up to five games. No coincidence that it has come with a boost in playing time. He has skated over 16 minutes in three of those five games, the only three games Booth has skated that much all season. Maybe he is worth a flyer after all.

Andrew MacWilliam skated just 12:24 in his NHL debut but notched an assist.

We're all still waiting for that explosion of offense from Keith Yandle that's supposed to come. Still scoreless as a Ranger. Five games and counting. It should be noted that Yandle has skated over 20 minutes just once as a Ranger after seeing 22+ a night on the regular for Arizona. Definitely an adjustment to be made. Yandle is seeing big minutes on the power play though. It just hasn't clicked yet.

It's worth mentioning the quality of the opponents that New York has faced in Nashville, Chicago, Detroit, the Islanders and now Washington. All playoff teams and four of those games were on the road.

Final Yandle thought. He was ice cold before the trade deadline with just one point since Valentine's Day. He's working through more than just adjusting to a new team.

No Mike Green or Brooks Orpik for Washington last night. That's like $12 million worth of defensemen missing right there. John Carlson stepped into the big power play minutes but Matt Niskanen led the team in ice time skating over 28 minutes.

Whatever hopes you had for Curtis Glencross joining the Caps dispel them now. These have been the lines the past three games:

Frequency	Strength	Line Combination
15.69%	EV	19 BACKSTROM,NICKLAS – 90 JOHANSSON,MARCUS – 8 OVECHKIN,ALEXANDER
15.57%	EV	92 KUZNETSOV,EVGENY – 21 LAICH,BROOKS – 43 WILSON,TOM
14.84%	EV	25 CHIMERA,JASON – 16 FEHR,ERIC – 42 WARD,JOEL
14.72%	EV	83 BEAGLE,JAY – 20 BROUWER,TROY – 22 GLENCROSS,CURTIS

Glencross isn't getting much for power play chances either. Not necessarily a failed experiment but it's trending that way.

Watch Cam Talbot rob Nicklas Backstrom:

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UPCOMING GAMES

Dec 22 - 12:12	NYR	vs	CAR
Dec 22 - 17:12	T.B	vs	FLA
Dec 22 - 17:12	UTA	vs	ANA
Dec 22 - 17:12	WSH	vs	L.A
Dec 22 - 20:12	EDM	vs	OTT
Dec 22 - 20:12	COL	vs	SEA