October 7 2015

Dobber

2015-10-07

Rambling about each NHL team and the moves they made this week, and the fantasy impact…

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Everything that I write about here in the Ramblings is already in the Fantasy Guide as far as transactions go. I updated Tuesday around 4pm EST and will update again today around the same time. That will probably be it for updates unless a serious injury or trade strikes by Thursday (in which case I'll do one more for Thursday). Get my 10th Annual Fantasy Hockey Guide HERE for $9.99, or spend the same amount of money and get ALL of my guides by taking advantage of this Draft Kings offer. Hell, even if you bought the Guide already, taking advantage of that offer still gets you three other guides for $10 bones.

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I was trying to think of how best to ramble my way through all the news and my thoughts on said news, and decided to just go team-by-team.

Anaheim Ducks – They cut John Gibson as expected and I don't think we'll see much of him this year. If Anton Khudobin is huge (which could happen if Frederik Andersen hits a cold streak or gets hurt), then the Ducks may re-sign him. If he's "above average" then they'll trade him, as he's a UFA in the summer. I just don't like the outlook for Gibson and to be honest I never really did (although previously it was because he gets hurt too much)…Jakob Silfverberg is skating on his own and I think he'll be back for the first game.

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Arizona Coyotes – They may have cut Louis Domingue but he'll be back whenever Mike Smith gets hurt because I don't have any faith in Anders Lindback. And if you recall last year, I had at least "some" faith in Dubnyk. In keeper leagues, I like Domingue and I even had him on one of my lists this year (but in the end I decided I had too many goalies)…Dylan Strome was sent back to junior, but that's to be expected. DobberProspects has a good Ramblings out on some of the kids who were sent down (here).

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Boston Bruins – Signed Jonas Gustavsson to be their backup, but because he's so injury prone it likely means that we'll see a lot of Malcolm Subban this year. If Gustavsson can stay healthy though, I think he's an underrated goalie who can really push Rask.

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Hey, did you remember to put your team in for my free hockey pool? Don't forget! Unless you have no interest in $500 (from Draft Kings) or free jerseys (from Cool Hockey) or an autographed stick (from All-Sports Market App ). In fact, do it now or you'll forget for sure. I'll wait. You have three minutes. GO.

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Done? Alright. Moving on.

Buffalo Sabres – Zach Bogosian is on the shelf "week to week" with an undisclosed injury. I think if you were expecting more than 65 games out of him you were crazy to begin with. So all this means is that he misses those games right off the bat…Sam Reinhart has made the team. I have him playing the first handful of games, which will give him plenty of time to make his place on the team more permanent.

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Calgary Flames – Mason Raymond was waived and sent to the AHL, Paul Byron was waived and claimed by the Habs, Joe Colborne isn't ready due to a thumb injury. Colborne was recovering from wrist surgery when he broke his thumb last week. Even without Colborne, Raymond couldn't make this team…As expected, the Flames are starting with a three-headed monster in net. I hate those. But Karri Ramo gets the start in the first game, which bodes well for my Guide projection that he'll eventually be the top dog here.

Don't forget that Goalie Post the email sign-ups are free now. I hear that some people have trouble logging into Goalie Post to set this up, so I have a programmer working on this.

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Carolina Hurricanes – I touched on this Monday, but Eddie Lack signing that extension sure makes me feel more comfortable having him as a third goalie on my fantasy squad. In desperate times, I'd even be okay with him as my No.2 now (if the pickings are slim).

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Chicago Blackhawks – This.

Artemy Panarin makes the team based on his one preseason game. Is the "real deal" according to his coach. And pushed Marco Dano to the minors. I try not to get too caught up in European hype because a) the success rate of the hyped players is less than 10% and b) that 10% generally takes two to three seasons. But I'm starting to get caught up with this guy. He's small, so the injury risk (and we've already seen one) is very real. But if healthy, I'm starting to wonder if he'll be the steal of the fantasy draft.

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Colorado Avalanche – They released Curtis Glencross, signed Jack Skille, and 18-year-old Mikko Rantanen made the team (at least for nine games). Here are the line combos per the Denver Post:

Comeau-Duchene-Iginla

Landeskog-MacKinnon-Tanguay

Rantanen-Soderberg-Rendulic

McLeod-Mitchell-Skille                                  Extra forward: Grigorenko

This really helps Blake Comeau and hurts Carl Soderberg, but good to see Patrick Roy actually using these players in their proper roles. Many coaches would stick their big summer signing on the first line. It's also good for Roy to let the kid watch from the press box and take in the game that way. I have a good feeling about how they'll bring Grigorenko along.

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Columbus Blue Jackets – no big surprises here with this team, other than Nick Foligno still playing on the top line and shifting wings (or is Brandon Saad the one shifting wings? Anybody catch it?). The top line is really flying and in the Fantasy Guide this is the one line that I bumped projections up for.

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Dallas Stars – The Stars cut Curtis McKenzie and kept Mattias Janmark who, as you may remember, they got from the Red Wings as part of the Erik Cole trade. Cole played what, five games for the Wings? Already paying dividends. But we don't care about the fourth liners, we want to know about the goalies – and it would seem that Niemi has the edge, though still terrible. You can run the report on Frozen Pool for the goalies in the preseason here. But here is the breakdown:

Lehtonen: 0-3-0, 4.57, 0.821

Niemi: 1-2-0, 3.00, 0.877

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Detroit Red Wings – The Red Wings are keeping 28 players. That's the only way they can squeeze Dylan Larkin onto this team. That's not taking anything away from Larkin – he's been so good that they were looking for a way to swing it. But in the future, the best way to be to stop signing Daniel Cleary (who inexplicably made the team as well). But what I have to ask is – if Datsyuk and Helm were healthy, would Larkin still be there? This reminds me of a couple of years ago when Gustav Nyquist was clearly ready and yet they cut him because they signed too many veterans.

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Edmonton Oilers – Ben Scrivens was waived, Leon Draisaitl was sent to the AHL, and Anton Slepyshev has made this team. Also Nail Yakupov had a great preseason. Cam Talbot wasn't the best but he wasn't horrible. Anders Nilsson stopped all the shots he faced, though just 28 of them (missing a box score but I think he stopped another 25). Nilsson's play pushed Scrivens out of the mix. I'm admittedly nervous about my Talbot gamble, that's how good Nilsson's been.

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Florida Panthers – Lawson Crouse was beat out by Connor Brickley. I don't see a lot of upside in Brickley, but he's only been a pro for one year so I'll reserve judgment.

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Los Angeles Kings – They tried to sneak goalie J-F Berube through waivers but he was plucked by the Islanders. Also, Jordan Weal made the team and he's an interesting fantasy own. Could be a dark horse, though he won't be lights-out in his rookie year – but he'll be decent.

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Minnesota Wild – The team cut Jordan Schroeder and Mike Reilly, and placed Justin Fontaine on the IR (UBI). Which means Tyler Graovac has made the team. Again, no fantasy impact. Maybe minimal upside over the long term.

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Montreal Canadiens – Lots of moves here, including claiming depth guy Paul Byron. But the biggest surprise was the demotion of Dustin Tokarski, who did a fine job as backup last year. But the Habs saw him leaving as a free agent next summer, whereas Michael Condon still has a future in the organization and some untapped upside to boot…Zach Kassian has entered rehab – thus the need for Byron…Mark Barberio was also cut from the team.

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Nashville Predators – They set their roster several days ago. Austin Watson and Viktor Arvidsson have made the team, as well Anthony Bitetto. I'm not seeing a ton of upside here, though Arvidsson could be a 50-point player in a couple of years – and he took a ton of shots in the AHL so if your league uses that stat then he's a solid late pick…Bitetto is a potential PIM guy, but moderate – plus it's a long shot given that he's the No.8 defenseman. I'm more interested in seeing how Steve Moses produces in the AHL.

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New Jersey Devils – They decided to go with AHL star Brian O'Neill rather than Pavel Zacha as their last forward. Zacha was sent down and O'Neill was acquired from the Kings for a bucket of pucks. O'Neill is 27 and small, but had 80 points for Manchester last year. Could be another Darren Haydar (likely), but of all the teams I'd like to see him get a shot on it's this one. Lots of opportunity here.

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New York Islanders – Claimed J-F Berube off of waivers from the Kings. But that just means that they will have a three-headed monster to start the season because they're not sending Tomas Greiss down. Not sure why they did this move. Yes, Berube is a good goaltender and I'm a fan, but there's no fit here. Stephon Williams is a prospect I really like…and now Williams has to compete for No.3? I don't know why they did this, unless Halak's injury is more serious than we thought. But he was back in practice Tuesday so there goes that theory…

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New York Rangers – Oscar Lindberg made the team, but other than that there was nothing surprising about the Rangers this week. And even Lindberg was half-expected (I had him at 50% to make the team in the Guide). Lindberg's profile and scouting report here.

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Ottawa Senators – Colin Greening cleared waivers and was sent to the AHL, meaning Shane Prince and Matt Puempel made the squad. I don't see any Mark Stones there, obviously, but one of these two could turn into a Mike Hoffman-type later in the year…With Andrew Hammond out for a couple of weeks, Matt O'Connor makes the team to start. But Craig Anderson will get all the starts until Hammond's return. That being said, Anderson is not exactly Johnny Ironhealth so I wonder if will indeed see O'Connor?

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Philadelphia Flyers – Addition by subtraction. Are the Flyers a better team simply because Andrew MacDonald is gone?…The Flyers are scratching Vinny Lecavalier (ho hum) and Sam Gagner (wait, what?) for the first game. Gagner had an awesome preseason with four points in six games and playing all three forward positions on three different lines. So will this be a wakeup call or a sign of things to come? That one I gotta admit surprised me…

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Pittsburgh Penguins – The Penguins shuffled some paperwork around to help with the salary cap, so Olli Maatta was sent down yesterday. He'll be called back up today. Meanwhile, Daniel Sprong made the team. You can count on nine games or less – unless Sprong goes absolutely nutty. That being said, his camp was tremendous and his progress is much further along than I figured.

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San Jose Sharks – Raffi Torres suspension aside, the team also surprised by sending Melker Karlsson, Nikolay Goldobin and Mirco Mueller to the minors. The Mueller move isn't as surprising because he wasn't eligible to play in the AHL last year. Now he is. But Karlsson is a shocker as he was the team's top rookie last year…The Torres roster spot is vacant throughout his suspension, so the Sharks are capped at 22 players.

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St. Louis Blues – The Blues sent down Ty Rattie and Magnus Paajarvi, while keeping Robby Fabbri and signing Scottie Upshall to a two-way contract. Basically if Upshall doesn't play well, he'll be sent down as soon as Patrik Berglund returns from injury.

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Tampa Bay Lightning – TB sent Kristers Gudlevskis down, making it official that Kevin Poulin will be the backup for Ben Bishop…The team also sent down hard-luck skilled forward Jonathan Marchessault.

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Toronto Maple Leafs – The Leafs picked up Frank Corrado off of waivers…They waived Richard Panik, which floored me because I thought he had some upside and showed sparks of real talent last year. Didn't see it coming – in fact I thought he'd be ahead of Michael "overrated" Grabner on the depth chart. Apparently not…

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Vancouver Canucks – The Canucks waived Linden Vey and Corrado, of course losing Corrado to the Leafs. But Vey cleared and will start the year in the AHL. This means that Jared McCann and Jake Virtanen make the team, as well as defenseman Ben Hutton. All three are worth watching, though I suspect Virtanen will be sent down after a few games…Hutton has a bit of upside and had five points in six preseason games – eighth among defensemen. I've taken a closer look at him and adjusted my projection, putting him closer to 25 to 30 points for the 2015-16 season.

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Washington Capitals – It was good of the Capitals to agonize over the decision whether or not to keep Derek Roy and at the very last minute decided against it. That being said, he gets screwed because it's too late for him to find another team now…For now, Stanislav Galiev is on the team…

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Winnipeg Jets – It turns out that there's room for Nic Petan, Andrew Copp and Nik Ehlers after all. All three will open the season with the big club. Room was made for them by waiving Matt Fraser and Matt Halischuk. I can see Copp and/or Petan getting sent back down after a few games. Read up on the Winnipeg prospects here.

 

11 Comments

  1. isle b. 2015-10-07 at 05:28

    I suspect Halak is not quite ready to start the season and, with a home-and-home with the Hawks on back-to-back nights coming up, the Isles didn't want Williams's first professional game to be against the defending champs or Greiss starting both of them.

    What exactly is the deal with Maatta's demotion?

  2. Twiggy 2015-10-07 at 05:51

    I think the Sharks sent Karlson down because he was injured as much as anything

  3. Jesse Nguyen 2015-10-07 at 08:07

    Dobber! 

    Will you be posting your player points over/unders for this year? Or will I have to do it myself?

    • Max 2015-10-07 at 15:06

      Yah c'mon Dobber you're killing me here.

  4. Chad Burly 2015-10-07 at 12:10

    SJS – Donskoi made it!

    FYI – your captcha on an android mobile phone using chrome – is near impossible to see and use. I tried 5 times before I gave up.

    • Dobber Sports 2015-10-07 at 15:23

      Thanks, I'll have that fixed

  5. GB 2015-10-07 at 13:30

    Pens have ongoing cap compliance issues like they did last season and had to send Maatta down and will bring him back up today as a way around those rules

  6. frozenpools 2015-10-07 at 14:17

    What's your thoughts on Plotnikov? Think he sticks with Geno?

    • Dobber Sports 2015-10-07 at 15:23

      4 points in 10 games, then off the line

  7. Dobber Sports 2015-10-07 at 14:49

    Nobody's invited me into their Dobbernomics league! Set 'er up, I'm in!

  8. rexeverything 2015-10-07 at 21:21

    How are you going to announce that the updates are done?

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