Puneet Sharma pens The Journey every Saturday for DobberHockey. He also writes about Chicago Blackhawks prospects for DobberProspects, and he has contributed to the Fantasy Prospects Report.
Keep an eye out for these under the radar Colorado prospects
The NHL Draft kicks off in New Jersey this weekend. Every sports website is announcing its final prospect rankings and mock drafts. While Nathan MacKinnon and Seth Jones have flip-flopped all season, it looks like MacKinnon will be the number one overall selection by Colorado unless it trades the pick.
Briggins with some great draft prep advice for the poolies out there
The NHL Draft is just a little over a week away. The past few years, fantasy hockey wasn’t on my mind at this point. Sure, I’d be interested in seeing who went where on draft day and think things like “Grigorenko dropped in the real draft, maybe I can nab him late in my rookie draft”. Looking back on things, I shouldn’t have picked Matt Dumba as high as I did simply because he was a top 10 pick last season.
This season I’m taking a totally different approach to draft day. Here are a couple tips for fantasy hockey prep before the draft takes place.
Three overagers to keep an eye on at the NHL Draft...
Every year a lot of players end up not hearing their name called on draft day the first year they are eligible. Just because a player has been passed over one or more times doesn’t mean they will never end up drafted. This year there are a handful of players that could finally hear their names called and could be worth a late pick in fantasy drafts.
Edmonton has a few rookies in the AHL ready to break through
To start the American Hockey League season, the then on-going NHL labour dispute was probably the best thing to possibly happen to the Edmonton Oilers affiliate Oklahoma City Barons. Along with Jordan Eberle, several NHL caliber players found themselves in Barons uniforms rather than taking the ice at Rexall place to start the season. Eberle would play 34 games for the Barons before the start of the truncated 2012-2013 NHL season, contributing 51 points to the Baron’s fifth place Western Conference finish, the franchises third straight Calder Cup playoff berth since the franchise was re-activated for the 2010-2011 American League season.
Some young Lightning players to keep an eye on...
The Tampa Bay Lightning had a stellar outing from the club’s crop of rookies this season. Even when counting out the contributions of deadline-dealt Cory Conacher, Lightning rookies scored a combined 46 points, putting them in the top 10 in rookie scoring upon the completion of the truncated season.
Briggins with more on one of the best prospects in this year's draft class.
With the Memorial Cup wrapping up last weekend in Saskatoon, hockey fans had a chance to see a healthy abundance of NHL eligible draft prospects. Halifax Moosehead Nathan MacKinnon had two hat-tricks (including one in the final game) and even jumped ahead of Seth Jones in International Scouting Services number one spot. Seth Jones was a dominant force and scored a key goal for Portland in the final versus Halifax. Nic Petan was impressive for Portland scoring one goal and setting up 9 others. Bo Harvat looked great for London. The list goes on.
What about Sean Monahan?
Toronto has some good young talent down on the farm. Find out more about a few of them.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The Toronto Marlies season ended in a strikingly similar fashion as their parent club's. Just one week after the Maple Leafs suffered a heart breaking loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarter Final, blowing a 4-1 lead late in the third period, the baby buds took a 3-1 lead into the third period of game 6 of the American League’s Western Conference Semi Final against Detroit Red Wings affiliate the Grand Rapids Griffins. Like the Leafs, the Marlies surrendered three goals late in the third period, eventually losing the game.
Amidst the disappointment is a strong sense of hope for the future, though. The surprising success of the 2013 Maple Leafs can be attributed to a group of 2011-2012 Marlies alumni. Marlies call-ups Mike Kostka, Mark Fraser and Nazim Kadri among others, were instrumental in ending the NHL’s longest playoff drought. The strong performance off several Maple Leafs prospects in the AHL playoffs this season gives further hope that like this season, the Marlies will continue to breed talent capable of producing at the NHL level for years to come.
The best draft-eligible goaltender - what is his fantasy value?
When the 2013 NHL Draft kicks off at the Prudential Center in New Jersey this June, chances are the first goalie to hear his name called will be Zach Fucale of the Halifax Mooseheads.
NHL Central Scouting Services has Fucale ranked as the top North American goalie and many experts predicting he’ll be selected somewhere in the late first round.
Ottawa finds another diamond in the rough prospect.
The success of the Ottawa Senators this season has been nothing short of surprising. Injuries to Erik Karlsson, Jason Spezza and Craig Anderson, among others, had many pegging the Sens as a sinking ship, likely to miss the playoffs for the third time in five years. Injuries forced the Senators to dip into their prospect pool in the truncated season, which as it turns out, is quite deep.
Surprises in the form of prospects helped to carry the Senators to regular season and playoff success, upsetting the number two seed Montreal Canadians 4-1 in the opening round. The contributions of Swedish prospects Mika Zibanejad and Jakob Silfverberg helped carry the offensive load in the regular season, scoring a combined 39 points in 90 games. Come playoff time, yet another prospect has emerged in the form of 20-year-old center and Gatineau, Quebec native Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
