Len and Oren, sitting in a tree… June 24, 2009
Dobber Sports
2009-06-24
For the seventh summer in a row, I am looking at each NHL team from a fantasy standpoint and giving an evaluation. You can find that each Tuesday at The Hockey News. Yesterday I profiled San Jose and St. Louis, you can find the articles here .
The Preds have qualified Ryan Jones, Ryan Maki, Cal O'Reilly, Antti Pihlstrom, Kelsey Wilson, Matt Ellison and Denis Platonov.
The Sens did not qualify Brenden Bell, allowing him to become a UFA. He showed flashes of offensive talent, but may not have the consistency or defensive acumen to warrant the ice time needed to put up the big points.
Len Barrie was unable to get more input on day-to-day operations of the Lightning, after he and co-owner Oren Koules met with Gary Bettman yesterday. The rampant theory is that Barrie wants to keep Lecavalier and a higher team payroll number (which goes without saying, with Vinny still on the team), while Koules wants a lower payroll number which means shedding Vinny's salary. They signed him just a year ago – I always think management are a bunch of misfits when they do stuff like that. The Sens did that too, they signed Ray Emery and bought him out a year later. Don't sign a player if you aren't going to think of things long-term. I mean, less than a year into a multi-year contract you change your mind? How dumb is that?
Anyway, Lecavalier has a no-trade clause that kicks in on July 1, so if he is moved it has to be before then, or he would have to waive it (which I'm sure he would to go to Montreal, so I'm not too concerned about that "deadline")
Upcoming on DobberHockey:
– Bugg will host part three – a TWO-HOUR Draft Q&A session Thursday (tomorrow) afternoon, which will be gold for keeper leaguers looking to get fully prepared and educated for Friday's Draft
– Stuart McDonald will LIVE BLOG his thoughts on the First Round – the impact of the player on his new team, how far away from cracking the roster he'll be, what his potential is, etc.
– Dobber Nation will be up on June 29 instead of June 25 this month to capture draft results and set up free agency. Confirmed guests so far are Lyle "Spector" Richardson and Matt Bugg.