September 09 2014

Dobber

2014-09-09

Allen vs. Elliott, bargain contracts, Kuemper to the KHL? And more…

*

There is a new ramblings over at DobberProspects – check it out here

 

Dobber runs down the Eastern Conference Training Camp battles over on Yahoo! Puck Daddy Blog. Check it out

***

Buy the Fantasy Guide – here!

*

One goaltending situation I'll be keeping a close eye on this year is with the St. Louis Blues. It's going to be Jake Allen and Brian Elliott splitting time, but can one of them step up and claim the starting job?

I was always waiting for Jaroslav Halak to make Elliott an irrelevant fantasy option, but it never happened. He always did just enough to have importance on your roster. Again I feel like Allen is the more talented guy and should get more of the starts, but given Ken Hitchcock's history of rotating goalies, it's hard to imagine Elliott not being a factor this year. Especially when you consider his salary.

My guess would be that they will split starts with the idea that Allen is the goaltender of the future. The Blues obviously eventually want him to claim the job and try to move Elliott at some point, but I don't see it being this season. It's frustrating because given the way the Blues play defensively, both guys would be great to have on your squad. However, you can't use them as number ones because no one figures to get more than 50 starts.

*

Our pal from DobberBaseball – Anatoliy Metter – has a couple of fantasy hockey articles up over at The Hockey writers. Five Draft Day Sleepers – defense, and also forwards.

 

*

Raphael Diaz is reportedly passing on attending Detroit Red Wings training camp in favor of the Calgary Flames. Maybe he thinks he has a better chance at cracking the Flames roster, but I bet he would fit perfectly on the Red Wing blue line and is exactly what they need. He'd be a useful power play option in Motown.

*

I've been enjoying a lot of SB Nation's stuff lately. Here is a look at a bargain contract All-Star team.

We decided to not include players still on entry-level contracts (sorry,Nathan MacKinnon) and instead focused on players who were already in a position to sign second, third or even fourth contracts when teams are faced with major decisions on how much (and for how long) to invest in their players. Sometimes teams get it wrong. Very wrong. Other times they hit home runs.

*

And here's the flip side with bad contracts.

Some of those players offer minimal value to their team and are nothing more than a drain on their salary cap structure, making it more difficult to build a better team. But others still have something positive to offer and remain useful. They just happen to make a little more money than they probably should.

*

Here's a look at some of Jake Allen's work.

 

*

Lastly, some of you may or not know that this is my final post for Dobber Hockey. I wanted to take a moment and say how much I've enjoyed contributing to the site over the years and how thankful I am that you all take the time to read the content. There's a great community with this site and I've always felt privileged to be a part of it.

I also need to thank Dobber himself for giving me an opportunity years ago because I certainly wouldn't be where I am today without it. I'm covering the NFL full-time at theScore so any football enthusiasts can still read my stuff there. And of course I'll be on Twitter undoubtedly sharing my despair about the Toronto Maple Leafs from time to time.

Over and out.

Michael Amato is an Associate Editor for DobberHockey and a News Editor for theScore. You can follow him on Twitter at @amato_mike

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

May 29 - 20:05 DAL vs EDM

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
MARCO ROSSI MIN
JJ PETERKA BUF
ALEXANDER NIKISHIN CAR
ZACH HYMAN EDM
RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS EDM

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
ALEX LYON DET
JUUSE SAROS NSH
NIKITA QUAPP CAR
FREDERIK ANDERSEN CAR
STUART SKINNER EDM

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency BUF Players
25.9 TAGE THOMPSON JIRI KULICH ZACH BENSON
24.9 JACK QUINN JJ PETERKA RYAN MCLEOD
18.5 JASON ZUCKER ALEX TUCH PEYTON KREBS

DobberHockey Podcasts

Fantasy Hockey Life: Pittsburgh Penguins with Josh Yohe

Josh Yohe is here to report on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jesse and Victor interview Josh about returning pros Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Evgeni Malkin, Tommy Novak, Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, Erik Karlsson, Matt Grzelcyk, Kris Letang, Owen Pickering, Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag breaks down […]

Fantasy Hockey Life: Seattle Kraken with RJ Eskanos

RJ Eskanos of Emerald City Hockey is here to report on the Seattle Kraken. Jesse and Victor interview RJ about returning pros Jared McCann, Chandler Stephenson, Jaden Schwartz, Jordan Eberle, Kaapo Kakko, Shane Wright, Matty Beniers, Andre Burakovsky, Eeli Tolvanen, Jani Nyman, Vince Dunn, Brandon Montour, Ryker Evans, Joey Daccord, and Philipp Grubauer. In Cat’s […]

Keeping Karlsson: KK Leagues Report – 2025 Champs!

Derrick talks to the big winners of the various Keeping Karlsson leagues from this past season. He’s first joined by the new KKUPFL Ultimate Champion Ian and the reigning fast-track winner Alec. Then Derrick is joined by the year 1 KK Dynasty League champions Ian (different Ian), Saqib, and Brett, aka the “Good ol’ Ottawa Boys”.

Fantasy Hockey Life: Anaheim Ducks with Derek Lee

Derek Lee of the Hockey News is here to report on the Anaheim Ducks. Jesse and Victor interview him about returning pros Troy Terry, Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras, Frank Vatrano, Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Sam Colangelo, Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov, Radko Gudas, Jacob Trouba, Lukas Dostal, and John Gibson. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat […]

Fantasy Hockey Life: Fluto Shinzawa Boston Bruins Preview

Fluto Shinzawa of the New York Times joins the show to break down the Boston Bruins. Jesse and Victor ask him about David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt, Matthew Poitras, Fraser Minten, Charlie McAvoy, Mason Lohrei, Hampus Lindholm, Jeremy Swayman, and Joonas Korpisalo. Cat’s instincts covers prospect goalies Brandon Bussi and […]

FIND US ON FACEBOOK