Eastern Edge

Panthers’ GM Dave Tallon has done nothing short of a massive overhaul to his roster, arguably bigger than the Philadelphia Flyers’. Countless names were shipped out and just as many new faces arrived. With an overwhelming amount of new talent available, there are quite a few question marks surrounding the players, their potential performance, the line combinations, and of course the overall competitiveness of the team. Here’s a quick look at some of the players in Florida this year.

It’s unlikely that Frans Nielsen will be drafted in any of your leagues unless it is an extremely deep league, but he is a guy that has raised a few eyebrows over his short career. Even in Long Island of all places, Nielsen has certainly shown promise. I don’t want you guys to go out and draft him right away, but I do want you to keep an eye on him. Chances are everyone else in your league isn’t paying attention to him, so if he starts to take off, you’ll be a step ahead.

According to Yahoo’s Player Ranker, most fantasy GM’s have Krejci ranked 26^th among centers. Although he will likely be facing a mild Stanley Cup-hangover, Krejci is entering his fifth full season in the NHL and is slated to line up as Boston’s top-line pivot with all the developmental room in the world to blossom.

I’m a week late, but below are my choices of players to avoid (if you can) on draft day. This is written after the DobberHockey Experts Draft, which was one of the more challenging drafts I’ve participated in, and some of the players who I would rather have not touched with a ten-foot pole…well, I had to take one or two. If you can avoid them, here’s who I think you should steer clear of and why.

(Part One)

(Part Two)

(Part Three)

Going stride for stride with my Western Conference counterpart, I am providing an Eastern Conference version of Ryan Ma’s Earmarked for Success. As Ryan has cautioned, please do not fret over the line combinations. We are merely separating the top-six players from the bottom-six on each team, which can be applied to potential fantasy success for the upcoming season. Top-six players obviously get the lion’s share of ice time, both at even strength and on the power play.

(Part One)

(Part Two)

Going stride for stride with my Western Conference counterpart, I am providing an Eastern Conference version of Ryan Ma’s Earmarked for Success. As Ryan has cautioned, please do not fret over the line combinations. We are merely separating the top-six players from the bottom-six on each team, which can be applied to potential fantasy success for the upcoming season. Top-six players obviously get the lion’s share of ice time, both at even strength and on the power play.