Hockey Rambling

Thoughts on Anderson and Lehner, Backstrom, Harding, and Kuemper, and Brodeur.

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Fantasy Guide and Draft List is updated as of today - Draft List has the columns filled in for BAB, PPP and plus/minus. Setoguchi added to the Guide with some Calgary players rearranged. BUY HERE

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The Craig Anderson extension is puzzling and bad news for Robin Lehner owners. With Anderson making more than $4 million annually and Lehner pulling in $2.2 million, the Sens are dishing out a fair chunk of change for their goalies. Well, it's not a crazy amount, but when you factor in one will be sitting on the bench every night, you have to wonder if they could better use that cash to upgrade their roster elsewhere.

Thoughts on Anderson and Lehner, Backstrom, Harding, and Kuemper, and Brodeur.

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Fantasy Guide and Draft List is updated as of today - Draft List has the columns filled in for BAB, PPP and plus/minus. Setoguchi added to the Guide with some Calgary players rearranged. BUY HERE

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The Craig Anderson extension is puzzling and bad news for Robin Lehner owners. With Anderson making more than $4 million annually and Lehner pulling in $2.2 million, the Sens are dishing out a fair chunk of change for their goalies. Well, it's not a crazy amount, but when you factor in one will be sitting on the bench every night, you have to wonder if they could better use that cash to upgrade their roster elsewhere.

Setoguchi is a dropsy; why Drew Shore should get a chance; no, Martin Erat will not bounce back; and more … *** Breaking - The Ottawa Senators have re-signed Craig Anderson, extending him for three more years. This comes as a surprise as not only did I figure he would want to test free agency, [...]

Ramblings on Devin Setoguchi, Aaron Ekblad and Jonathan Toews' wake surfboard.   *   We were in danger of living through the single slowest news day of the hockey year on Saturday, but that was before Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving heroically stepped up and signed Devin Setoguchi to a one-year, one-way, $750k contract.  [...]

Thoughts on Thornton, Iginla and the draft lottery   *   Keep an eye on defenseman John-Michael Liles as a bounce back candidate with the Carolina Hurricanes this year. He already showed signs off turning it around late last season when joining the Canes as he picked up nine points in 35 games and went [...]

Wondering aloud about the pre-season, shootouts and Alexander Steen

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The actual NHL season is still pretty far away (October eighth) but hey at least we’ll soon have pre-season games! That might be the ultimate sign of a desperate poolie, the day you ask your buddies to do a preseason draft.

More often than not the silly season ignored by fans. I tend to take a different approach. Sure, you can’t really get a gauge on individual skillsets. Because certain players are working on different aspects of their game, you can’t judge the box score results the way you normally would. For instance, maybe Iginla is working his way back from a wrist injury and is intentionally passing more than usual. It will pull down his shot and goal totals artificially.

Jumbo Joe - is he happy? New NHL Lottery Odds, Corsi vs. Fenwick and more … *** The latest update for the Fantasy Hockey Guide is ready for download. Buy it here. Find me another fantasy guide out there with Kevin Hayes in the New York lineup with a projection. I dare ya! I also [...]

Leafs make waves in the analytics world, MacArthur to get VIP treatment, Ho-Sang stirs it up, and more …

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Ottawa rearguard Mike Mottau has decided to retire.

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Loving it. The advanced stats movement continued yesterday in the NHL, with the Maple Leafs creating an "analytics department" that would presumably be reporting to new Assistant GM Kyle Dubas. This department features Darryl Metcalf who founded Extra Skater. The site has subsequently been taken off the internet and there has been nothing but radio silence from Metcalf. Now we know why. Also in the mix is blogger Cam Charron and Rob Pettapiece. As I already noted after the Dubas hiring, this will put the focus on the best possession players on the team in terms of ice time, situational ice time, and opportunity. Meaning the likes of Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly will see a boost (and Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren will see the press box/AHL).

Thoughts on Cammalleri, Johansen, and analytics

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Update: for some reason the keeper league article stopped working. I fixed it, it works now, same with the Veto article that it links to.

Breaking - the Sens have extended Clarke MacArthur for five years at just over $4.5 million AAV. I'll have more thoughts on this in tonight's ramblings

The Leafs have created an analytics department, hiring ExtraSkater.com creator Daryl Metcalf and blogger Cam Charron. Thoughts on that later tonight. - Dobber

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Mike Cammalleri joining the New Jersey Devils could help the team become more explosive offensively and how they utilize him could make for some interesting fantasy scenarios. Cammalleri would have been on pace for close to 35 goals if he played the entire season last year on a bad Calgary team and the Devils will have options where to use him.

McDavid vs. Eichel is hardly Taylor vs. Tyler; Seguin for Art Ross? and more …

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Here is an interesting one - the Chicago Blackhawks have signed Michael Leighton to a one-year deal. His window - which was quite promising at one point - has come and gone. It was destroyed by injuries that had the worst timing. Antti Raanta's job is safe.

I agree with Ryan Lambert's take on the Kevin Hayes situation here. I also think Hayes makes an excellent dark horse pick for this season. He should either sign with his brother in Florida... which is unlikely because Florida has a logjam of forwards and that's the reason he didn't sign with Chicago. Or he will sign with Calgary, where his two college linemates play (Johnny Gaudreau and Bill Arnold). Hayes is profiled extensively in the Fantasy Prospects Report.

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Alright! Back with some fresh ramblings after pinch-hitting for Drance yesterday with ramblings that I wrote Thursday because I was camping with the kids. Now I'm back for good, other than one-day trips here and there. Nothing more to interfere with the site. So the Fantasy Guide will get some attention again - I hope to do the projected final NHL standings, my annual Calder candidate list, and the NHL team "goals for" projections all this week.

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Just a quick thought on TSN's attempt to drum up a Taylor vs. Tyler type of interest in next year's draft with McDavid vs. Eichel - Stop. Just stop. McDavid is a generational player. He's a Crosby who comes around every 10 years or so. Eichel is a likely Eric Staal or Mike Modano type, or at best a Stamkos. Eichel may be No.1 in most drafts, but not this one and not close. For example, Eichel would have gone first this past summer against that crop. But let's build the hype of next year's draft properly - a generational player, and a potential superstar, will go one-two. That still sells, there is no need to make up a fake "hmmm, I wonder who will go first" bit of drama.

Dobber for TSN president!