Alexander Ovechkin reclaims the top spot and the glory of being the number one roto player for 2009.

Ovechkin and Malkin were neck and neck, but 550+ shots? That difference was the equivalent of adding a mid range forwards shot production to your roster. That was the deciding factor.

 

 

 

 

Mar/April	Player	Team	Feb	Jan	Dec
1	Alex Ovechkin	WAS	2	1	1
2	Evgeni Malkin	PIT	1	2	2
3	Jeff Carter	PHI	10	9	5
4	Sidney Crosby	PIT	5	5	4
5	Tim Thomas	BOS	3	15	22
6	Corey Perry	ANH	9	4	7
7	Ryan Getzlaf	ANH	4	3	3
8	Marian Hossa	DET	6	6	8
9	Zach Parise	NJ	8	9	11
10	Mike Green	WAS	17	24	NA
11	Alexander Semin	WAS	28	49	NA
12	Niklas Backstrom	MIN	7	14	37
13	Mike Richards	PHI	16	13	10
14	Eric Staal	CAR	27	19	12
15	Pavel Datsyuk	DET	11	24	30
16	Daniel Sedin	VAN	19	17	18
17	Marc Savard	BOS	12	8	6
18	H. Zetterberg	DET	18	26	13
19	Ilya Kovalchuk	ATL	20	30	33
20	Jarome Iginla	CGY	14	16	15
21	Sheldon Souray	EDM	30	18	18
22	Dany Heatley	OTT	21	29	16
23	Rick Nash	CLS	26	35	23
24	Zdeno Chara	BOS	36	25	32
25	Jason Spezza	OTT	NA	47	45
26	Shane Doan	PHO	31	28	20
27	M. Cammalleri	CGY	45	NA	NA
28	Patrik Elias	NJ	15	10	9
29	J. Langenbrunner	NJ	32	31	NA
30	Scott Hartnell	PHI	40	27	39
31	Dion Phaneuf	CGY	42	20	34
32	Roberto Luongo	VAN	NA	NA	35
33	Mikko Koivu	MIN	22	11	14
34	V. Lecavalier	TB	23	12	25
35	Shea Weber	NSH	47	38	28
36	Martin Havlat	CHI	46	NA	NA
37	Simon Gagne	PHI	48	NA	50
38	Patrick Kane	CHI	34	44	38
39	Steve Mason	CLS	13	42	17
40	Joe Pavelski	SJ	NA	NA	NA
41	Johan Franzen	DET	NA	NA	46
42	Alexei Kovalev	MON	NA	38	33
43	Jason Blake	TOR	38	39	NA
44	Rob Blake	SJ	33	34	21
45	N. Backstrom	WAS	41	NA	NA
46	Martin St. Louis	TB	37	50	NA
47	Scott Gomez	NYR	50	48	43
48	Dustin Brown	LA	29	22	31
49	Devin Setoguchi	SJ	39	NA	45
50	Patrick Marleau	SJ	24	36	30
51	Ray Whitney	CAR	67	72
52	Ryan Smyth	COL	35	22
53	David Backes	STL	82	66
54	Dan Boyle	SJ	61	55
55	David Booth	FLA	73	70
56	Olli Jokinen	CGY/PHO	68	56
57	Chris Pronger	ANH	60	42
58	A. Burrows	VAN	NA	NA
59	Derek Roy	BUF	44	58
60	Bill Guerin	NYI/PIT	65	36
61	Jonathan Toews	CHI	57	86
62	Brian Gionta	NJ	66	60
63	Joe Thornton	SJ	43	73
64	Nicklas Lidstrom	DET	75	90
65	Tuomo Ruutu	CAR	NA	NA
66	M. Samuelsson	DET	53	46
67	Thomas Vanek	BUF	52	54
68	D. Alfredsson	OTT	71	NA
69	S. Niedermayer	ANH	76	62
70	Jason Pominville	BUF	79	79
71	Travis Zajac	NJ	63	59
72	Henrik Sedin	VAN	81	NA
73	Phil Kessel	BOS	59	45
74	Chris Kunitz	PIT/ANH	NA	76
75	Ryan Kesler	VAN	NA	NA
76	Cam Ward	CAR	NA	NA
77	Anze Kopitar	LA	78	85
78	Brad Boyes	STL	83	81
79	Nikolai Zherdev	NYR	67	69
80	Ales Hemsky	EDM	84	98
81	Milan Michalek	SJ	89	NA
82	Slava Kozlov	ATL	NA	NA
83	Duncan Keith	CHI	NA	NA
84	K. Huselius	CLS	86	80
85	Jason Arnott	NSH	64	64
86	Pekka Rinne	NSH	25	NA
87	Mike Ribeiro	DAL	NA	NA
88	R.J. Umberger	CLS	95	87
89	Pavel Kubina	TOR	97	100
90	Brandon Dubinsky	NYR	87	77
91	Joffrey Lupul	PHI	NA	NA
92	Ryan Callahan	NYR	NA	NA
93	Chris Drury	NYR	NA	97
94	Michael Ryder	BOS	NA	74
95	Dennis Wideman	BOS	96	78
96	Markus Naslund	NYR	99	NA
97	Jay Bouwmeester	FLA	98	67
98	David Krejci	BOS	69	88
99	Andrei Markov	MON	90	84
100	Bobby Ryan	ANH	NA	NA

 

1. Alexander Ovechkin

Can Ovechkin be any more consistent? The guy is a machine and is the most exciting player in the NHL. How many goals would he have scored in 1986? 100?

 

2. Evgeni Malkin

Malkin has been as good as he is ugly. But as the new kid on the block, he is beginning to become overrated. The Crosby backlash has created a perception that Malkin has been a far superior player, but is that hyperbole or true? Here are Crosby’s numbers projected through 82 games.

 

 

Is it possible to go from severely overrated (ie. Gretzky claiming in an era where goals are scored at 75% of the 80s, that Crosby could break his records) to underrated by the age of 21? Malkin is a great player, but he has made it a three horse race, nothing more, nothing less

 

3. Jeff Carter

Do you think that Paul Holmgren knew how good Mike Richards and Jeff Carter were? With 42M wrapped up in 13 players (with no goalie and a yet to be signed Coburn extension) in 2011 with a spiraling cap, I am saying NO, because if he did, he wouldn’t have locked Daniel Briere until his 26th birthday

 

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt2AAenVpKg]

 

 

4. Sidney Crosby

Sid the Kid underrated? Looking at his age splits, I believe that fantasy keeper owners need to take a closer look at whether he has had his breakout year yet.

 

5. Tim Thomas

Thomas should be happy he plays hockey and not baseball, because journeymen whose numbers improve to All-Star calibre at the age of 34 would not escape unscathed. Can somebody provide a picture from Vermont so we can check his head size? If he is sharing hats with Zdeno Chara, then something is up.

 

6. Corey Perry

Perry had a monster finish with 13 pts (8G, 5A) in his final 9 games. That finish allowed him to vault 3 spots into 6th. He is on the verge of a 5 category stud and the best RW in fantasy

 

7. Ryan Getzlaf

Part two of the dynamic duo. How good can these two be? If I was going to compare them to a previous NHL duo, it would be Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull, not on talent, but hair folicles. Somebody needs to tell Getzlaf that the comb forward isn’t working, we can all tell.

 

8. Marian Hossa

Hossa is getting a lot of fantasy love this year, but when comparing his 2008 numbers to 2009, he has to be considered a disappointment. Not because his numbers are not good, but because he dropped almost 4 minutes of ice time per game and lost a minute and a half of PP time. That will put a major dent in your production.

 

9. Zach Parise

If Parise had a tiny bit of the crazy streak that allowed his father to almost slash referee Josef Kompalla in the 72 Summit Series then he would be a 6 category stud, unfortunately Zach is unlikely to ever make an impact in the PIMs department.

 

10. Mike Green

What type of numbers would Green have put up if he had played 14 more games? Who says you can’t pluck franchise players outside of the top 5, the Caps did when they stole Green at 29 from a pick they acquired from the Wings for Robert Lang.

 

11. Alexander Semin

Top 10 talent, but for me, because of his injury history, Semin has stained his reputation.

 

12. Niklas Backstrom

Talk about highs and lows. One month ago Backstrom signed a long term deal with the Wild and looked to be a fantasy lock, but with Jacques Lemaire leaving it will be interesting to see if the Wild keep the same philosophy, or shift gears. If they decide to shift gears, Backstrom’s numbers will take a hit.

 

13. Mike Richards

After a torrid early March, Richards pushed himself into the top 10, but 8 scoreless games and a -10 rating in his last 14 games hurt his early gains.

 

14. Eric Staal

Everybody has been looking for the 2006 Eric Staal, well if you have been watching Carolina recently, there he was. Since March 1st, Staal had 26 pts (13G/13A) in 18 games. I really like the Canes in these playoffs, as far as I am concerned, the two best goalies in the league right now are Ward and Luongo.

 

15. Pavel Datsyuk

You think Datysuk’s success has anything to do with him having his eyes on the sides of his head? Literally, his eyes are on the side of his head.

 

16. Daniel Sedin

Sedin is an Anti-Kovalev’s. His monthly breakdowns show how consistent he is.
Oct: 8 pts/11 games
Nov: 13 pts/14 games
Dec: 16 pts/14 games
Jan: 10 pts/12 games
Feb: 11 pts/11 games
March/Apr: 23 pts/22 games

 

17. Marc Savard

I wonder if Savard’s future lies in Boston after Thomas recently signed for $5M per. That contract coupled with Michael Ryder’s is going to bite them in the ass very soon.

 

18. Henrik Zetterberg

Zetterberg 12 yrs/Franzen 11 yrs? Ken Holland has entered the Glen Sather in the mid 90’s mode. He could sign Marian Gaborik to a 19 year deal and people would hail it as revolutionary. Maybe I am missing something, but in every other cap sport, flexibility is essential, 10+ year deals are extremely risky.

 

19. Ilya Kovalchuk

Kovalchuk has been fantastic since he became captain of the Thrashers. In his last 36 games:

Kovalchuk: 27G/21A/48P/+1/21 PIM/15 PPP/138 SOG
Ovechkin:   27G/26A/53P/-5/20 PIM/24 PPP/246 SOG
Malkin:        17G/27A/44P/+3/32 PIM/17 PPP/126 SOG
Crosby:       17G/35A/52P/-2/17 PIM/20 PPP/105 SOG

Those are elite numbers and compare favourably to Ovechkin outside of his ridiculous shot totals

 

20. Jarome Iginla

Iginla has been replaced as the best RW in fantasy and his offensive numbers have now declined for  the third consecutive year. At only 31 a bounce back is possible, but with 2 out of the last three seasons with 40 PIMs or less, you have to wonder if the PIMs will ever return.

 

21. Sheldon Souray

Souray is your prototypical fantasy player. All of his greatest attributes are rewarded in roto hockey. He has a booming shot, he is a PP specialist who is constantly fed shooting opportunities and is tough as nails. That is enough to cover off 4 of 6 categories and make him one of the most sought after defensemen in fantasy. If blown defensive zone coverages and outlet passes were negative categories, he wouldn’t be in the top 100.

 

22. Dany Heatley

Pencil Heatley in for 40 goals per year. It is almost a guarantee if he is healthy. Should the Sens rebound next season, Heatley should return to being a + player and a five category contributor.

 

23. Rick Nash

The light has gone on. Literally and figuratively.

 

24. Zdeno Chara

And to think Mike Milbury traded Chara and Spezza for Alexei Yashin. Yet this guy is working for 4-5 networks giving hockey advice? Bertuzzi, Jokinen, Luongo, DiPietro, Heatley, it goes on and on and on.

 

25. Jason Spezza

See 24. I am not a Spezza fan, and was not surprised to see him raise his game with the firing of Hartsburg.

 

26. Shane Doan

I would love to see Gary Bettman return the franchise he borrowed to Winnipeg and watch Doan finish out his career where it began.

 

27. Mike Cammalleri

You know a team has cap issues when they can’t afford to fill out their full roster to end the season. But I am sure they have enough to give Cammalleri his $5M per season, just one of the reasons I thought the Jokinen deal was a big mistake. 13 players at $50M? Bye bye Mike.

 

28. Patrik Elias

Next season is an even numbered year, so you can book Elias for 45-55 points. The Brett Saberhagen of hockey.

 

29. Jamie Langenbrunner

Langenbrunner is the 5th ranked RW. Did I mention that right wing is lacking in depth?

 

30. Scott Hartnell

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Did you guess which thing was not like the others?
Did you guess which thing just doesn’t belong?
If you guessed this one is not like the others,
Then you’re absolutely…right!

 

31. Dion Phaneuf

I don’t like happy Dion. What I want to see is the Flames and Rangers going out in the first round and Phaneuf and Avery being named to Team Canada. Can somebody make this happen?

 

32. Roberto Luongo

As the hair gets longer, the stats get better. Coincidence? I think not.

 

33. Mikko Koivu

When Jacques Lemaire announced his intentions to leave Minnesota I bet that Mikko Koivu had his car gassed up and his keys ready for him. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out Jacques. Now if Gaborik sticks around, Koivu’s ceiling gets higher, well, for the 40 games Gaborik will play it does.

 

34. Vincent Lecavalier

Injury was responsible for Lecavalier’s late season drop, it should be an interesting off season for Vinny as the Montreal rumours will continue to swirl.

 

35. Shea Weber

If you removed Dec 8th to Feb 19th from Shea Weber’s 2009 resume he would have 45 points in 49 games. See how easy stats are to manipulate.

 

36. Martin Havlat

He is trying to suck me back in! It will not work. I will not eat the apple.

 

37. Simon Gagne

Gagne made it through the season concussion free. Now if somebody could outfit him with one of those Mark Kelso gazoo helmets, I might draft him next season.

 

38. Patrick Kane

I really believe that Kane’s numbers suffered from his high ankle sprain. After he suffered the sprain on December 30th he struggled for 6 weeks producing only 5 points in 17 games. Remove that stretch and he is a point per game guy. See, I did it again.

 

39. Steve Mason

Although he should cruise to the Calder trophy, his ranking plummeted over the final 6 weeks as Mason registered some pretty mediocre numbers. He slumped to the finish line with a 9-6-4 record and a 2.62 GAA and a .906 SV%, impressive for 20, but a stark contrast to the rest of his season.

 

40. Joe Pavelski

Solid, but unspectacular.

 

41. Johan Franzen

Who was Holland negotiating against? Djurgårdens IF? Why 11 years?

 

42. Alex Kovalev

Kovalev is so talented that in a contract year he decided to take 2 months off and add some zeroes to his next contract over his last 10 games. Over those 10 games he had 17 points, a total it took him 2 and a half months to produce between Jan 10 and March 21st. 65 pts in 78 games is not as disgraceful as 48 pts in 68 games.

 

43. Jason Blake

If Jason Blake is your best player, odds are it was a long year.

 

44. Rob Blake

Watching Rob Blake finish up the 2009 campaign was like watching Miami University trying to finish off Boston U. The heart was there, but the legs were not.

 

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd9TCdZkK4Y]

 

45. Nicklas Backstrom

Backstrom finished up strong with 33 points in his final 28 games. Ovechkin and Backstrom are going to put up monster numbers for the next 10 years.

 

46. Martin St. Louis

One wonders how long Sergei Puckisin can remain among the elite. Puckisin’s production has declined for three seasons in a row and 33 year old 6 inch forwards usually don’t get better with age.

 

47. Scott Gomez

The Six-Million Dollar Man finished up strong and I expect him to comeback next season  better than he was before. Better, stronger….faster.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woOLEEu8RLI]

 

48. Dustin Brown

I am amazed that Brown held onto a top 50 spot after taking the last 6 weeks off. Over the last 21 games Brown had 5 pts (1G/4A), a -9, 10 PIMs, 0 PPP and 51 SOG. I think he owes the Kings $800,000.

 

49. Devin Setoguchi

See last month

 

50. Patrick Marleau

Marleau struggled with injuries down the stretch and likely would have been higher if he remained healthy.