June 03 2015
Dobber
2015-06-03
Thoughts on Kirill Petrov; Bishop vs. Crawford; Isles goalie of the future; Jeff Petry and more…
***
Wow – another year has passed. And so, for the ninth consecutive year, I have released the Fantasy Prospects Report. The release was Monday, but I already gave it an update.
Yesterday’s update consisted of fixing a few minor errors (the wrong arrow in front of some player names, etc.). But I also did three new profiles, bringing the total to 489 prospects profiled. Kirill Petrov (NYI), Maxim Letunov (ARI) and Eetu Laurikainen (EDM). I also moved two of the profiled players into a new UFA section because their teams did not re-sign them and they go back into the draft – Brendan Burke and Chris Clapperton.
*
Usually when I do these documents, I walk away having learned a lot. And then I ramble about a couple of my bigger revelations. Last year I went on and on about Anthony Duclair and Chris Tierney, and to a lesser extent Tristan Jarry. Duclair and Tierney helped more than one fantasy owner – hell, I took Duclair myself and cashed him in as part of a nice little trade package. This year the goalie who caught my interest was Stephon Williams. I ranked him 11th in my Top 25 goalies there (fewer than five NHL games played). But I really like his outlook – as well as his team. And that’s important. Team. Both talent and depth chart. The Islanders are still on the rise and seem to have the depth to sustain it for a good decade. Jaroslav Halak is only there for another three years. So four years from now – well, that’s about the time a guy like Williams gets ready to make the jump. And he’d be, ideally, ready to be backup the season prior.
So the Islanders signed Kirill Petrov, a player who I remember profiling about four times in the FPR, and then finally two years ago I left it. No more profiles for that guy, he’s not coming over. Well, now he is. And while he’s no Tarasenko, he has NHL size and he has the talent to keep up with a John Tavares. And like all wingers on the Isles with any talent – he’ll get a look there. It’s up to him if there’s chemistry, but he’s worth rolling the dice on. In terms of production curve – take what Tarasenko does/has done/will do and subtract 15 points each season. And there’s your Petrov.
*
Jeff Petry is staying with Montreal. It was a good, but expensive signing. But that’s the cost. Petry was a UFA, and one of the best available for his position. If not the best. So he was signing somewhere for at least $6 million and for at least five years. So signing for $5.5 for six years with Montreal was fair. So there’s one off the market as NHL GM’s try hard to make Free Agent Frenzy Day a boring as possible.
*
Tim Kennedy, a player who in 2008 I was called out by a reader for not ranking him high enough in my Prospect Rankings. A player who in 2010 finished with 26 points as a rookie. But…couldn’t get an NHL contract after that? Never understood that one – 26 points from a rookie seems promising to me. Anyway, he signed to play in the KHL next season. Last season was the first full season in which he didn’t play a single NHL game, since 2007-08.
*
I mentioned Clapperton and Burke not getting contracts and going back into the FA pool. Well, Martin Brodeur‘s son Anthony didn’t sign with the Devils and he goes back to the FA pool as well. Is that the Devils being bitter? Or Anthony being bitter? Or the Devils never liked or wanted Anthony, but was doing Marty a favor and now the favor has expired?
*
Still with the Devils – new coach John Hynes is apparently going to bring in a new attitude. The Devils will be a “fast, attacking team that knows how to play defense”. And wouldn’t that just undo their 20-year tradition.
Actually, they were a very good attacking team back in their Arnott/Elias/Sykora days. So who will play the role of Elias this year? I know who it won’t be – Patrik Elias.
*
Over in the AHL the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s affiliate, were eliminated from the Calder Cup. So that frees up the coach, Jeff Blashill, to talk to the Red Wings about the coaching job.
*
The Florida Panthers signed former Nashville draft pick (he was allowed to walk) Chase Balisy to a contract. Balisy is a 20-goal, 40-point power-play specialist at the AHL level, so probably not a lot of upside at the NHL level. Strictly depth.
*
The Bruins signed free agent prospect Noel Acciari, who played for Providence (NCAA) with Calgary prospects Mark Jankowski and Jon Gillies. Another depth signing.
*
In case you missed Don Cherry on Saturday…