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.
Here's a rundown on which prospects have gotten out of the playoff scoring gate quickly.
As NCAA and Major Junior seasons wrap up, players with good seasons are usually rewarded with NHL entry level contracts of varying lengths. I'll update you on the recent signings - significant and otherwise in the Western Conference this week.
(click here for Eastern Conference)
As NCAA and Major Junior seasons wrap up, players with good seasons are usually rewarded with NHL entry level contracts of varying lengths. Over the next two weeks I'll update you on the recent signings - significant and otherwise. This week it's the Eastern Conference.
Here's a little twist on Dobber's fantasy prospects rankings.
Dobber's Rankings
1 Nikita Filatov CBJ
2 Claude Giroux PHI
3 Cody Hodgson VAN
4 Mikkel Boedker PHO
Stu's Slant
1 Claude Giroux PHI
2 Nikita Filatov CBJ
3 Mikkel Boedker PHO
4 Cody Hodgson VAN
The big movers on the Top 200 prospects list this month include an undrafted Newfoundlander, a western boy whose twin sister might be a better athlete, and a speedy Swede who is not much bigger than Zdeno Chara's stick.
The Calder trophy, like so many NHL awards will be awarded to the player with the best statistics and not necessarily to the best player.
With only 22 trades at the 2009 trade deadline, a mere seven prospects with fantasy value changed teams. Except for Matt Lashoff, none of the seven will have any fantasy significance in the immediate future. Of the other six, four should be on your fantasy radar.
In Canada we tend to forget about US College hockey and the deep strides it has made into NHL player development. There are more and more budding talents that the Canadian poolie isn’t exposed to, so here is a brief update on who to keep an eye on south of the border.
It's extremely difficult to predict how fantasy goalie prospects will pan out. The "goalies
are different" philosophy applies to fantasy hockey as much as it does to the locker room. Their development is incredibly unpredictable. Goalies can hit their peak early (Cam Ward at 22), late (Tim Thomas at 30) or not at all (Hannu Toivonen). Unfortunately in most fantasy pool formats, goalies are a crucial subcategory. The rest of your team can be great, but without a decent goalie or two, you simply won't win. If there is one position you should stockpile its good young goalies, because for every Carey Price there is a Dan Blackburn.
Let's kick off Stu's Slant with the basic fantasy hockey strategy - the title says it all...
