April 7, 2015
steve laidlaw
2015-04-07
The Sabres goaltending plans, Staal’s season hasn’t been that bad, ane’s importance to the Blackhawks and more…
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Dobber is taking your fantasy hockey questions – here.
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The Sabres blew it. They had a chance to clinch dead last with a loss to Carolina and they went out and won.
You can't say they didn't try allowing 52 shots last night. Anders Lindback, playing for his career at this point, turned aside 49 of those shots for the win. Good for him. I no longer believe in Lindback as a starter in this league but his play for Buffalo has been pretty darn good. Maybe someone gives him a shot as a backup. If can stick around as a backup the door remains open for fantasy relevance. All it takes is one injury and some hot play.
I still think Buffalo go out and get Antti Niemi this summer. He's a perfectly mediocre starter, which would be an upgrade for a Buffalo team looking to establish competence. They could also be major players in the prospect goalie market.
The problem with the prospect route is that I can't see either Montreal or Boston looking to move their stud prospects within the division and those two teams have the most moveable prospects. Maybe Martin Jones comes available from LA or something shakes loose from the three-headed monster in Ottawa but again that would be within the division.
Even if the Sabres do nab a prospect they'll probably still look to bring in a capable veteran, which brings us back to Niemi. He can hold the fort for a year or two while the prospects acclimates to the league.
Niemi isn't going to light the world on fire but again he's competent. He'll be like Jaroslav Halak for the Islanders this year. Competence is enough to turn things around. I'm not projecting playoffs, mind you but they won't be embarrassing either. Think about the Florida Panthers this season as an example.
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More Sabres talk…
I hope no one is falling in love with Johan Larsson or Brian Gionta. Both have been hot down the stretch but don't forget that the Sabres are bringing in serious reinforcements next season who will push these guys down the depth chart.
Evander Kane and Zemgus Girgensons will be back healthy and ready to grab spots in the top six. One of Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel should get drafted and push for a big role as well. Last year's first round draft choice Sam Reinhart will be looking to join the squad as well. Not to mention a possible free agent splash or two. Add those four to Tyler Ennis and Matt Moulson and things are looking crowded.
Gionta and Larsson on the third line isn't a bad thing. It just means they won't consistently receive 19-20 minutes a night with the best players on the team.
Remember when Cody Hodgson was going to be the next Mike Richards? Who knew that would play out all too accurately.
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Some nice fantasy lines from Eric Staal and Alex Semin for those who were brave (or foolish) enough to put them in the lineup last night. For the record, Staal's season, while a disappointment hasn't been as bad as it seems. Using the Fantasy Hockey Geek player ranking system for a fairly standard six-category setup with Goals, Assists, Plus/Minus, PPP, SOG and Hits Staal ranks in the top 100 skaters and well within range of Joe Thornton, Bryan Little and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins fellow centermen with as many or more points on the season.
Don't like Hits? How about PIM instead? Staal once again finds the top 100 not far off the likes of Thornton, Ryan Kesler or Anze Kopitar.
53 points (and counting) isn't that bad. Staal's on-ice shooting percentage of just 5.51% is one of the worst that you will find in the entire league so you can make a good case for a rebound even if his sluggish play is at least part of the reason his numbers have slipped. I'm recommending a buy low if for no other reason than he won't perform worse than this.
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Derek Stepan came through in the clutch for the Rangers last night tying it late in the third period and then scoring the overtime winner to boot. He's been running hot the past month or so but I still don't trust this guy come playoff time. He's let me down too many times. The Rangers could make the final again and I still wouldn't necessarily want this guy on my playoff roster.
Okay that last part was hyperbole. But how about this? I wouldn't want Stepan on my playoff roster unless the Rangers make the final again.
Including playoffs Martin St. Louis has scored 72 points in 115 games as a Ranger. Over 82 games that's a 51-point pace. In related news, St. Louis has 49 points this season. Looking like a trend here.
The win last night puts the Rangers in the driver’s seat for the President’s Trophy.
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Huge shutout win by Ondrej Pavelec last night. I never thought I'd see this guy come through in the clutch like this but Pavelec has been playing some excellent hockey of late. He did have some stumbles in his last three contests allowing 11 combined goals but for the better part of the month Pavelec has been keeping the Jets' season alive.
How about Mathieu Perreault returning to add some offense? He skated just 8:40 in his first game back but since then he's been skating above 13 minutes a night with a bunch of time on the top power play unit. Give him five assists in the past three games.
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There's a push to re-sign Chris Stewart coming from the Wild camp but I don't know how hard I'd want to venture down that path. I guess it depends on what you are signing him for. I've long believed that he can be a good stats/bad team guy or if used perfectly then he can be productive on a winner. He sucked with Buffalo for the first half of the season before turning it on leading up to the trade deadline.
Stewart hasn't exactly lit it up for the Wild either. If they sign him as a 20-goal/40-point guy then that could have real value. If he wants David Clarkson money then run for the hills.
Most UFA contracts don't end up being bargains but really good signings are ones that offer the potential that a player can outperform his contract. You can't do that with Clarkson money. I don't think that's on the table here, mind you but just throwing it out there. I still wouldn't be comfortable with Stewart getting a long-term deal for the money he is currently making (~$4 million a year). I'm not certain he'd be motivated enough on a long deal.
I think that Stewart will be motivated this spring though. I could see a vicious run of scoring in the playoffs like we've seen from guys like Bryan Bickell in the past. That would certainly get Stewart paid.
Stewart doesn't have much of a track record of playoff scoring though. His teams have been knocked out in the first round the three times he has made it as a pro. The two years he made it with the Blues he was a depth player but Stewart did score three goals in six games during his breakout season with the Avalanche.
Buying Stewart stock means you believe that the Wild can make noise come playoff time. I'm still waiting for the final matchups but I do believe in this Wild team.
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I don’t think anyone wanted to see that Kings-Canucks game go to overtime so of course it did. Loser points for everyone!!!
The win all but locks up a playoff spot for the Canucks. Meanwhile, the overtime loss pushes the Kings back. Now the Flames and Jets are in control of their own respective destinies, kind of. They happen to play each other on the final day of the season and since they both can’t win someone will have to lose opening the door for the Kings again, and that’s only if the Jets and Flames do their part winning their other two games this week.
I’m really hoping it does come down to that last game for those two though. Think of the drama!
The latest playoff odds are available here.
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Zdeno Chara is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. We'll see if he can go in Boston's important game on Wednesday. I can't see him not playing.
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Adam Gretz with a cool piece on the players who provide the highest percentage of offense for their respective teams.
A really impressive number: Patrick Kane has had a hand in 29 percent of the Blackhawks goals this season, 26th best in the league. Keep in mind that he has only played in 61 of their 79 games and hasn’t appeared in one since Feb. 24. It took Jonathan Toews 17 games to move ahead of him for the team scoring lead, something he did not do until April 3 when he scored two goals in the final minute to lift them to a win over the Buffalo Sabres. Kane was probably going to win the scoring title this season.
That there is why I don't take the Blackhawks too seriously as a Cup contender if Kane is out. The team just doesn't score as much without him, which significantly increases their margin for error. Run into a hot goalie or Corey Crawford let's in a stinker and that could be the difference between winning a round.
If you want to take the optimistic view, Jason Zucker, who has been out since February 10 with a broken collarbone (same injury as Kane), might return on Thursday, which is less than two months recovery time for what is often a three-month injury. Could you fudge the numbers a bit and have Kane back into the lineup mid-way through the first round? Sure. But that would be something. We should check these guys for wolverine blood.
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Interesting rumour that the Sabres or Coyotes could look to trade for Marc Savard's contract to help them reach the salary floor these next couple of years. I don't buy that the Sabres would do that. I fully suspect that they will make a significant push to be competitive next season so tying up that kind of cap space wouldn't really fit. Arizona is a much more likely destination.
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Bob McKenzie surveyed a bunch of coaches for their end-of-year awards votes:
I started to wonder if Ovechkin's late-season goal splurge – he now has 52, which is 10 more than anyone else (Steve Stamkos and Rick Nash are tied for second) – could or should allow him to challenge the other-worldly goaltending dominance of Price for Hart supremacy.
So much for that question.
It was unanimous, 20 for 20, a veritable Carey Price Love-apalooza.
I don't see how it can't be Price.
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You can follow me @SteveLaidlaw.
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