In the weekly piece “Eastern Edge”, TJ Branson breaks down the latest fantasy information from the standpoint of the Eastern Conference – the streaks, the slumps, the line combinations and much more.
In keeping with my Western counterparts theme this week, I’ll take a look at some Eastern Conference players that could be considered busts at this point in the season. I will also give you my slant on what to expect for the remainder of the season.
Mike Fisher is in the midst of his tenth NHL season. This year he has delivered some unexpected lofty offensive numbers (22-10-11-21). He sits tied with Mike Richards and is ahead of both Vincent Lecavalier and Pavel Datsyuk in the scoring race, three centres who would have been drafted much, much higher than Fisher in your hockey pools this season. In his last year of major junior hockey, Fisher recorded 106 points in 68 games for Sudbury of the Ontario Hockey League. He’s really found his offensive groove under Cory Clouston. It appears that he will obliterate his career high of 48 points, but beware; Fisher has a history of missing the odd game or two (dozen) due to injury.
The New Jersey Devils had their eight game win streak snapped Monday night in Philadelphia. Most everyone lowered expectations or avoided drafting Devils predominantly based on the team bringing back the notoriously defensive-minded Jacques Lemaire as Head Coach. Other than a guy named Brodeur and more recently Parise, New Jersey has not typically been a fantasy friendly team.
Carolina is winless in their last 13 games (0-10-3) and have only seven points in 17 games (2-12-3) on the season, good for last place in the entire NHL. They look nothing like the team that eliminated the third seed New Jersey Devils and one seed Boston Bruins in last year’s playoffs.
Not even one full game. That’s how long Ottawa training camp standout Peter Regin stayed on the second line. It’s a story replayed in every NHL city. You’ve got to love the patience of NHL coaches who need to win if they want to stay employed. They are never far away from being the General Managers scapegoat of convenience.
Not even ten games in and players with track records are being dropped in many leagues. I am not immune to the impatience of slow starts by some proven players, but I am very reluctant to drop a player who is an established performer. There may come a time to cut your losses, but that time isn’t now. It’s been said that the NHL season is not a sprint, but a marathon. Where you are in the standings right now is irrelevant as long as you are in first place at the END of the season. This week, we’ll go on a whirlwind tour of the Eastern Conference.
Ah the exhibition season, full of promise and exciting prospects. Will those players who wowed us in September peter out and wilt under the harsh glare of the regular season lights or will they blossom into full-blown fantasy hockey studs? Now that the silly season is behind us and the regular season is all set to begin, we are about to find out.
After a much needed short sabbatical from my Eastern Edge articles (thanks Dobber!), I’m back and can’t wait for the season to finally get going. I’ve been lucky enough to participate in four Yahoo drafts already, with three more to go!!
I’ve scoured the players list in Yahoo for guys that are not ranked where I expected them to be. If guys in your pool pay attention to the Yahoo rankings, you might be able to forecast some potential steals in your draft. Conversely, there are also guys that Yahoo has ranked way too high. I’ll give you those as well.
When the Atlanta Thrashers traded for Pavel Kubina in July, I was puzzled. Didn’t they already have three offensive-minded blueliners under contract in Tobias Enstrom, Ron Hainsey and highly regarded rookie Zach Bogosian?
Every year there are players who I end up ranking so low on my one year draft lists that I know almost for a certainty that they will not be on my team. It could be because there is so much hype on a player that someone will surely take them long before they enter my draft radar.
