February 11, 2011

Jeff Angus

2011-02-11

 

The (late) Fantasy Prospects List will be up later this afternoon.

 

Forsberg is playing for Colorado tonight.

 

There are rumors that Marian Gaborik is on the block. Does Pittsburgh make a move for him and figure out the tricky cap situation in the summer? The Kings are still in the market for a legitimate top line winger as well.

 

Does the Frolik trade impact Jeremy Morin? Maybe. I think the bigger impact will be the decision made regarding Troy Brouwer this summer.

 

It sounds like Chicago may try Frolik at center and move Sharp back to the wing full time. I still can’t believe the Hawks managed to pull this trade off…

 

DobberBaseball’s Fantasy Guide for 2011 is released later today…

 

Cody Hodgson has looked pretty good for the Canucks in his limited action, but he’ll have to improve on his sub-40% faceoff winning percetange if he wants to stick around long term.

 

Vancouver’s defense right now: Ehrhoff, Bieksa, Salo, Alberts, Rome, and Tanev. Bad, but not the end of the world. No word on Dan Hamhuis yet. Edler is out for a while and Ballard won’t be back until March.

 

Keep an eye on where Chris Neil goes – he has a lot of value as a PIM guy and in the right situation he could fill a few other categories as well.

 

Ilya Kovalchuk has eight goals in his last 13 games. Just saying…

 

New York goalie Mikko Koskinen recorded his first career win – he'll see the bulk of the starts with Poulin out for the season. Again – I don't know a ton about him – big and Finnish. Two good attributes for goalies these days…

 

The time in the AHL has done WONDERS for Max Pacioretty. I can't stress enough how much better he looks this season. No longer just using his speed – he's big, fast, feisty, possesses a great shot, and he is starting to think the game like a scoring forward. Upside has gone from 50 to 70 in my books.

 

John Tavares will score 50 goals at some point within the next three seasons. May not be a bold statement, but owners of JT need to believe in his future. Unbelievable from the faceoff dots in.

 

Michael Grabner will score 30 goals this season – he has a Marian Gaborik-like ability to create plays on his own only using his speed – few players can do that. He won't ever be more than a 50-60-point forward because of his lack of vision, but being a one-trick pony is fine as long as scoring goals is the trick.

 

He could have scored five or six last night. Another big thing – he gives the Islanders another weapon and spreads out the offense even more. He skated with Nielsen and Okposo last night, which takes some of the pressure off of Tavares and Moulson.

 

Lupul had three shots on goal and was pointless in his Toronto debut. He saw over four minutes of PP time.

 

Keith Aulie played almost 22 minutes for the Buds. Not a ton of offensive upside, though.

 

He doesn't get enough recognition because of his lack of production, but Luke Schenn has developed into a very good NHL defenseman. He went through some ups and downs over his first few years, but he is starting to figure the professional game out. Upside of 30 points (depending on PP time) – he has value in leagues that count the other stuff – hits, plus-minus (in a few years), PIM, etc.

 

Thanks to Dobber for covering my off re: the Fisher trade yesterday. Busy day for me at work.

 

My thoughts – I really like the deal for both sides. Nashville gets a strong two-way center and a huge marketing chip to their fan base (you know that his relationship with Carrie Underwood played at least a tiny part in this, I won't believe otherwise).

 

Nashville lacks high end talent, but a center group featuring O'Reilly, Fisher, Legwand, and Lombardi is pretty solid.

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I wonder what this means for Colin Wilson from a long term perspective. Obviously he remains on the wing. He is pretty raw defensively so this makes sense for the short-term…

 

Ottawa gets a solid draft pick and over $4 million of cap space.

 

Claude Giroux has points in 10 of his last 11 games.

 

Jeff Carter is en fuego recently and now has 26 goals on the season. Only one behind Danny Briere for the team lead.

 

It may be me, but Briere's 27 goal season is going largely unnoticed. I doubt those poolies who own him have missed his strong season, but he doesn't seem to be getting the praise he deserves. Been one of the most consistent offensive producers post-lockout.

 

Dobber had an interesting thought in an e-mail to me last night – could Karlsson/Rundblad/Wiercioch potentially be another Letang/Goligoski/Whitney? Ottawa lacks the Crosby/Malkin factor, but they have a trio of phenomenal young offensive defensemen.

 

Sterling-Jeffrey-Johnson combined for a goal and three points in Pittsburgh's win last night. With Crosby/Malkin/Letestu/Kunitz/Cooke all out, I like the trio to step up in the short-term. All are legitimate offensive talents.

 

Jeffrey left last night's game with an injury. That leaves Pittsburgh with Staal, Talbot, and………. They have no centers in the AHL signed to professional contracts.

 

Fleury had a very strong game – look for Pittsburgh to try and grind out a lot of 2-1, 3-2 games over the next few weeks. Their strength is the defense and they will be leaning on it heavily.

 

Ron Wilson after last night's 2-1 OT loss – "I don't count this as a loss." Great analysis, Ron.

 

James Reimer stopped 37 of 39 shots. The Jonas Gusvatsson news (heart rate issues again) only increases his keeper league value further. I'd love to see more analysis on Reimer from Leaf fans – I have only seen him play once aside from highlights. Seems very fundamentally sound like Luongo/Rinne.

 

Kovalchuk is a Reimer fan: "He played great, this kid,” Kovalchuk said. “I think we’ll see him more often. He’s a big guy, covers a lot of space and controls rebounds well.”

 

The Panthers are a garbage team – looking at that roster…. Ouch. Weiss is surely going to be dealt at the deadline as well. Poor Tomas Vokoun…

 

I wonder if Dale Tallon got to see Grabner’s two goal game on SportsCenter?

 

Jack Skille was pointless in his debut – nearly 18 minutes of ice time. He lacks the hockey sense required in a top six forward, and it is difficult (if not impossible) to suddenly develop on-ice awareness. Nice physical package, but no way to combine it all.

 

Rob Niedermayer has yet to score a goal this season for Buffalo. If your league rewards futility, pick him up now!

Jason Pominville has 11 points in his last 10 games. Quiet production. He's a steady player and a nice second or third RW to own (depending on the depth of your league). Won't ever wow you but he seems to slide in nicely between 60 and 80 points each year. Look for him to finish strong.

 

Kovalchuk with a beauty of an OT winner:

 

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