Top 10 Camp Invites

Tom Collins

2014-09-22

IlyaBryzgalov

Top 10 NHL training camp invitees

It's hard for NHL teams to find a useful player out of a training camp invitee, and even harder for a fantasy owner.

That doesn't mean it's impossible. Mason Raymond turned a training camp invite into a 19-goal, 45-point bounce back season, and parlayed that into a $9.5 million three-year deal with the Flames this offseason.

 

5. David Steckel, Anaheim

Steckel, whose claim to fame is blindsiding Sidney Crosby at the Winter Classic three years ago, can slide in on the Ducks third or fourth line for one simple reason: faceoffs. While Steckel isn't scared to throw a hit or two, he main fantasy relevance is in the dot. Here are his faceoff numbers the last five seasons:

2013-14: Six games, 68 faceoffs taken, 44 won, 64.7 per cent

2012-13: 34 games, 321 faceoffs taken, 175 won, 54.5 per cent

2011-12: 76 games, 1,108 faceoffs taken, 643 won, 58 per cent

2010-11: 75 games, 820 faceoffs taken, 511 won, 62.3 per cent

2009-10: 79 games played, 1,076 faceoffs taken, 637 won, 59.2 per cent

 

By the way, did you know Anaheim was ranked 20th in the league last season in faceoffs at 49.2 per cent? And 26th the year before at 47.5 per cent? And 28th the year before that at 47.4 per cent? The team has never been good at faceoffs since coach Bruce Boudreau has been there. Granted, the Ducks had the rights to Steckel last season and didn't use him, but that could change with an open slot at centre with Saku Koivu retiring.

 

4. Francis Bouillon, Montreal

Bouillon actually has a good chance of making the Habs for a number of reasons: He played for Montreal last year and knows the team and its system, plus he scored a couple of big goals for the club. Most importantly, he can be a seventh defenceman and play sparingly. That would allow the Habs to send Jarred Tinordi to the minors and let Tinordi get a bunch of games and ice time there instead of being used once in a while with Montreal.

 

3. Daniel Carcillo, Pittsburgh

If you're drafting Carcillo, you're really only doing it to fill the penalty minutes (and hits if your league counts that), and even then, he's not as proficient in that category as he used to be. However, that may change if he signs on in Pittsburgh and ends up playing six games against the Flyers (not to mention games against the Bruins). His job will be to protect the superstars, and if that involves a fight or two, so be it.

 

2. Tomas Kaberle, New Jersey

Kaberle has one good thing going for him in New Jersey. Even though he's been out of the NHL for a while, he should still be better than almost every other Devil defender there is. Right now, the Devils have seven defencemen signed: Bryce Salvador, Andy Greene, Marek Zidlicky, Adam Larsson, Jon Merrill, Eric Gelinas and Peter Harrold. You tell me Kaberle couldn't step right into that lineup and take over the top power play unit and be the team's top offensive defenseman? Even during his lacklustre half-season in Montreal (his last real NHL season), Kaberle had 22 points in 43 games, a 42-point pace.

 

1. Ilya Bryzgalov, Minnesota

Bryz already has the inside track, as he was the Wild's top goalie for a while last season, and was key for a few owners winning their fantasy championships. This year, there's a good chance that happens again. With Josh Harding breaking his foot and Niklas Backstrom struggling more every season, there's going to be a two-horse race for the number one between Bryzgalov and Darcy Kuemper. And last season, Bryz had the better goals against average and win-loss percentage, plus more shutouts, between the two. 

 

 

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