z-Archives (other articles)

Every Wednesday this summer, I will bring you a sleeper to watch for the 2009-2010 season (and potentially beyond). Released in no particular order, I will refrain from picking sleepers that have already shown glimpses of breaking out in the past – the obvious candidates. Time to go beneath the surface for some sleepers that you may have not thought about…

I can’t even begin to explain how tough it was to rank the final 25 keeper league goalie prospects in my first-ever “Top-50” list. I could have easily tossed in another 20-25 legitimate prospects, but cuts had to be made. Not every goalie prospect in the world can be considered a legitimate keeper, but almost every goalie on this list could be ranked higher or lower, depending on your own personal preference.

The winner of HockeyBarn.com's Glenn Anderson Leadership Award is none other than Dobber!

Every Wednesday this summer, I will bring you a sleeper to watch for the 2009-2010 season (and potentially beyond). The players will be released in no particular order, and each article will contain lots of fantasy-relevant information. I will refrain from picking sleepers that have already shown glimpses of breaking out in the past – players like Anze Kopitar, Brent Burns, Wojtek Wolski, and so on. I will also avoid talking about obvious sleepers like TJ Oshie, Drew Doughty and Steve Stamkos. I’ll go a bit beneath the surface for some sleepers that you may have not thought about.

A few weeks ago I was asked to list my Top-10 Keeper League Goalie Prospects in the DobberForums. Since then, I’ve taken some more time to expand the list to include 50 total prospects. In this two-part series, we’ll take an in-depth look at the Top-30 prospects for fantasy keeper leagues, along with ten goalies I consider “off the grid” and ten more you shouldn’t touch with…well…how about a ten-foot pole?
 

Even with Game 7 looming, there is no shortage of news from around the rest of the NHL. Dany Heatley has asked the Senators for a trade, the Flyers have signed Ray Emery to be their starting goalie, the Canucks are close to signing a top Russian prospect, and the Bruins are trying to figure out how to keep their team together. Let me break it all down from a fantasy perspective.

Everything from the pronunciation of his name, to his contrasting yet motivational on and off-ice personality, to his unique butterfly on the ice, is quite deceiving about this special goalie from the Czech Republic. And so after posting my Top-10 keeper league goalie prospects just a few days ago…yeahh…I’m already sliding him up a spot or two.

The most sought after free agent this summer is far and away Jay Bouwmeester. He is the new-age UFA. Only 25 years old (he doesn't turn 26 until September), Bouwmeester is just starting to scratch his potential, and he already is one of the most dominant two-way defensemen in the league. Where will he end up next season?

Cristobal Huet seemingly took a giant step forward last summer when he signed a deal with the Blackhawks that is set to pay him 5.625 million each of the next three seasons. That led many of us to draft him higher than usual, and for good reason. He was a late-season stud in Washington butting heads for ice time against a feeble, somewhat banged up Russian. Expecting Huet to win 25 games and start close to 50 was completely realistic.