March 31, 2015

steve laidlaw

2015-03-31

The Flames have the best line in hockey, Hedman and Tarasenko hurt, Galchenyuk’s woes, and more…

No Tyler Johnson for the Lightning last night, no problem. Ben Bishop stepped up with two assists. If your league doesn't score goalie assists (and if you use Yahoo! it certainly doesn't) then you aren't getting the full experience. I love my leagues where goalies can get me points and even penalties. Why not? If they are getting them on the score sheet then they should count for fantasy even if their occurrence is sparse enough to border on random.

The Lightning also had Vladislav Namestnikov step up into Johnson's spot on the second line to lead the team with two goals and one assist. I don't know that you can say that Namestnikov would be a "must own" on any other team but I do know that he makes for an interesting add any time the Lightning lose one of their elite centermen because the wingers on this team are outrageous.

Johnson is listed as day-to-day so I wouldn't necessarily run out to grab Namestnikov but do so if we find out later today that Johnson won't be playing tonight. He's almost a definite grab if Johnson is out because of the opponent (Toronto).

The Lightning win gives them a season sweep of the Canadiens, which has to be considered a huge psychological advantage going into the post-season, as they appear headed towards a second-round matchup if chalk prevails in round one. I haven't found season record versus an opponent to be all that informative regarding the outcome of a playoff series though so I wouldn't put too much stock in this result. That being said, Jon Cooper believes the team has exorcised some demons in sweeping the Habs.

It wasn't all roses and puppies for the Lightning either as they lost Victor Hedman in this one. The only word on his status was Cooper calling Hedman "questionable" for tonight's game.

Losing Hedman for any amount of time would be a huge blow, especially with news that Jason Garrison will miss 3-4 weeks. They are also without Brayden Coburn.

I'm not ready to call this an all-out trend but Alex Galchenyuk is showing a growing propensity to tail off in the second half of seasons, particularly in the month of March, where he has strung together three straight seasons of misery. With just four points in 15 games this month, Galchenyuk is just 11 for 43 in March for his career. Of course, he has scored 15 points in 18 April games for his career so let's flip that calendar!

Like I said, I don't think that this is an all-out trend. This is a young player lacking consistency. One who has missed a ton of time due to injury and is also bouncing back and forth between the center and wing position. I'm not too worried.

One of these years he's going to get put at a position consistently and will have done enough training to really hold up to the full 82-game grind and will have a breakout season. Until then, hang on tight or keep trying to buy low. He's still only 21 and hasn't yet ascended to the top power play unit.

Next season is Galchenyuk's fourth year. Dobber doesn't talk about the "fourth year breakout" as much as he used to, largely because so many players simply aren't following the traditional development path but here's one where you can see the progress being made each season. Not guaranteeing a breakout next year but I'd put good money it.

Alexander Steen sat out last night but is considered just day-to-day and said he feels better. Sounds positive. Olli Jokinen filled in for Steen on the Blues top line, which would have been great like four years ago. Actually, Jokinen managed an assist and five SOG so it wasn't a trainwreck or anything.

The Blues lost Vladimir Tarasenko last night. Ken Hitchcock said no update on his status until later today so keep an eye out. Dmitri Jaskin might make for a short-term pickup if Tarasenko misses any time.

In two games since returning Kevin Shattenkirk hasn't been the boost that the Blues were hoping for but this is probably just a feeling out period so I wouldn't worry.

Talk about a well-timed outburst. Radim Vrbata has gone off for five goals and 12 points in eight games the past two weeks. He wasn't enough to keep my sinking ship alive in my one head-to-head league but he made the loss a lot closer than it could have been. No doubt he has helped thrust some teams to victory during the fantasy playoffs.

You can't say there weren't signs of a turnaround for Vrbata either. Before this eight-game run Vrbata had scored 17 points in 23 games post-All-Star break. That's not great but it's right around a 60-point pace, which he clinched last night with his two points.

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The Jiri Hudler–Sean Monahan–Johnny Gaudreau line remains one of the hottest in the league. Hudler just cleared the 70-point plateau, which seems a bit unfathomable to me but it's true. He is now tied for seventh in league scoring. WOW.

There were a couple of leagues where I could have snagged Hudler at the trade deadline for relative peanuts because he was in the midst of a cold streak. I figured this was a case of his high percentage shooting finally coming back to earth. WRONG! His shooting percentage is up to 19.9%. If he can sustain this for just a few more games he has an honest crack at finishing top-five in scoring. He would be the most unlikely top-five scorer that I can think of though I'd love to hear some historical examples if you can think of any.

Gaudreau, meanwhile, hit 60 points, which puts him in some exclusive company. Sean Monahan isn't far off 60 points either. This slides the trio past Tampa Bay's triplets as arguably the most productive line in the NHL this season. I say arguably because Benn+Seguin, Ovechkin+Backstrom, Voracek+Giroux are all great duos that if they had a consistent third linemate would push for the title. You could also throw the Sedins+Vrbata on the list but Vrbata hasn't skated on their line consistently since the first half of the season. Plus, what kind of party-pooper doesn't want to celebrate this Calgary top line?

Trevor Daley has been used in more of a secondary capacity by the Stars since returning from injury but no matter, he has three points in two games any how.

Dominant game by the Blackhawks last night controlling much of the match against a desperate Kings team. How desperate were the Kings? They played Drew Doughty exactly half the game. 30 minutes on the dot. Part of that was because they lost Andrej Sekera for the third period. No update on Sekera yet, said he would visit the doctor today. The other reason was that the third pairing of Alec Martinez and Matt Greene was getting beat up all night, finishing minus-three apiece.

It should also be mentioned that the fourth line with Mike Richards spent a good deal of time getting outworked, often along with the aforementioned third pairing. Richards was a minus-two last night and is minus-four in five games since getting called up.

The Kings are in a big hole if Sekera is out for any amount of time.

Back to the Blackhawks. Brandon Saad looked excellent last night. Only one assist but he generated a great number of chances. The assist was enough to extend his scoring streak to four-games. He's on the verge of hitting 50 points, just one back.

Patrick Sharp also looked good skating on the second line. He had one glorious opportunity on a turnover that finished with straight pipe. It's been that kind of season.

Teuvo Teravainen somehow landed eight SOG last night despite skating just 13:29 on the fourth line. Those are pretty big minutes for a fourth line though, which tells you just how productive this unit was. No scores for Teravainen but he continues to show flashes.

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Johnny Oduya has put together quite the run since returning from injury. In 10 games he has a plus-11 rating and has been skating some big minutes. Lots of complaints about Oduya's play before he went down with injury but if last night is any indication this guy has found himself once again.

Since we're talking defensive defenseman plus/minus it seems an appropriate time to run down the Jeff Schultz Memorial Trophy power rankings. As always, the "Schultz" is a made up trophy handed out to the defenseman with the highest plus/minus at season's end who also fails to record 30 points in celebration of the one season where Schultz was fantasy relevant merely because of his gaudy plus/minus total.

First a note. Kevin Klein technically qualifies for this award with 26 points through 65 games but since he was lost for the year while on pace to clear 30 I've disqualified him. At plus-24 he'd be tied for the lead but let's get real, Klein was relevant in a lot of leagues for more than just his plus/minus.

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