Hockey Rambling

I don’t suppose there is another place to start than with the monster news of Thursday that the New Jersey Devils would lose long-time president/general manager/coach Lou Lamoriello to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lamoriello signed on with the Leafs to be their new general manager, a position that had been vacant since the firing of [...]

Looking at how goal scoring has changed in the NHL recently, and what that means for fantasy. **** I was going to talk about the need for a youth movement in the NHL, on the heels of an excellent article from Travis Yost of TSN. I was beaten to the punch in yesterday’s Ramblings by [...]

The fantasy implications of expansion, Holtby’s elite status, a few breakout candidates and much, much more…   *   Laidlaw here checking in for a dump of thoughts mid-way through my summer hiatus. First I want to thank all the guys filling in for me. I’ve been checking in and you are all doing excellent [...]

    Looking at breakthroughs, busts and Artemi Panarin's AHL likelihood ...     ***     Crickets …   Dobber talked Craig Smith yesterday, and his signing was the biggest chatter of the day. There is some heartfelt news out of St. Louis with Troy Brouwer talking about his move to Missouri and how it has impacted his wife's pregnancy. Interestingly, [...]

My thoughts on a boatload of prospect signings, some good hockey reads;  and more... *** Update: Not so far apart after all. Smith and the Preds came to an agreement on a five-year deal with AAV of $4.25 million. An excellent deal that pushes Smith into many more first line opportunities. I think 55 points [...]

Advanced stats, Duncan Keith, and Seattle and NHL expansion We’ve officially reached the point in the summer where there’s not a lot of hockey news. So I’ll try not to ramble on, so to speak. There won’t be as much fantasy news and advice in today’s Ramblings – just a few topics covered more in-depth. [...]

    Metro Division offense, Rankings talk and more …     ***     One of the nice things about this gig is not jumping out of the fantasy hockey thought process or loop. Typically during the summers, I'm full-time baseball coverage with a dash of NFL.   As I've started editing and posting [...]

Looking as some numbers that will help or hurt the fantasy stock of guys like Chris Kunitz and T.J. Oshie. **** Anyone that has followed my writing for any length of time, even if it’s just the few months I have been with Dobber, knows that a lot of my methodology is using numbers. There [...]

Thoughts on Kesler, Oduya, Bournival, and why James Neal can rebound in fantasy next year.  **** There isn’t anywhere else to start today’s Ramblings than the contract that the Anaheim Ducks just gave Ryan Kesler. For those that may have missed, Kesler was signed to a six-year extension totalling $41.25-million, or an average annual value [...]

Controversial thoughts on O'Reilly, normal thoughts on Pysyk, Gelinas, Etem  and more... *** Some re-signings, and then I'll talk about what I think of the player in fantasy hockey. Because what else is there to discuss on July 15? Montreal signed winger Michael Bournival to a one-year, two-way contract worth $600,000 in the NHL. Although [...]