15 Points to Consider – July
Shea Weber's future in Nashville, Erik Cole's fantasy impact in Montreal, a sleeper defenseman for 2011-12, and more.
Zach Parise’s Future in New Jersey
Last season, the New Jersey Devils shocked the hockey world when they opened the season with a 10-28-3 record. This was an organization that had won two Stanley Cups in the last 10 years and qualified for postseason contention each of the last 13 seasons. With the almighty Martin Brodeur in goal, the team seemed like a lock for at least one more playoff berth. But Brodeur struggled early on and the lack of team depth was gloriously magnified. While the team had just locked up superstar Ilya Kovalchuk to a contract Rick DiPietro can smile at, the Devils were really missing another key forward – Zach Parise.
July 08, 2011
Angus here - heading out the door for the weekend - just saw the Fehr to Winnipeg trade. Great move for Fehr - as I speculated yesterday, this gives him value and clears the logjam on RW in Washington. The Jets sent a 4th round pick to Washington. Fehr will likely play on [...]
July 09, 2011
I’m still hoping that Sean Kelly contacts me, as he won the Oakley’s sunglasses. Shades can be seen by clicking here. The Panthers have acquired Sergei Shirokov from Vancouver for Mike Duco. As you know, the Panthers' roster is already filled with modest contracts and Shirokov will not steal a job. However, if [...]
Jets Acquire Fehr from Capitals
Fantasy Impact: The Winnipeg Jets have acquired power forward Eric Fehr from the Washington Capitals for Danick Paquette and a fourth-round draft pick.
Drafting against the grain.
The absolute pinnacle of "drafting against the grain" is General Manager Doug Wilson of the San Jose Sharks. San Jose's strategy since the 2000 draft has been abundantly clear and abundantly strange. In the nine years between 2000 and 2008, San Jose drafted 12 goalies exclusively in the middle rounds or later. The earliest pick was Tyler Sexsmith in 2007 who was drafted early in the fourth round. To make matters even more strange, four of the 12 goalies were Germans playing in the Bundesliga. Thomas Greiss, a German, taken early in the fourth round in 2004, is the only goalie yet to pan out and it appears the Sharks have abandoned the practise and haven't taken a goaltender since 2008. Patterns like this are interesting and fun to follow, but other teams have patterns that have worked out better than San Jose's and it's worth examining what they were up to in the most recent drafts.
July 10, 2011
Sean Kelly wins the Oakley’s shades and now he needs to contact me in order to get them! Florida acquires prospect defenseman Keith Seabrook in a minor swap. The offensive rearguard had big WHL seasons, but has yet to translate that into the AHL. The Panthers acquired three players yesterday, I noted Shirokov [...]
Prospects Pulse, Part I
During the first five days of free agency, the goalie storyline centered around new opportunities for Mike Smith, Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov. But over the last five days, the storyline has focused on the shifting situations of many top-flight prospects, including some that poolies have been harvesting for months, maybe even years.
July 11, 2011
Goldie Says: To better evaluate Semyon Varlamov's fantasy value for this season, please read Paving Varlamov's Path. I go in-depth on the steps he and the Avs must take to eliminate his injury issues. Also, my info on Jordan Pearce in School of Block today is kinda a wash as Joey MacDonald agreed to a new two-year deal this morning. He was signed [...]
July 12, 2011
Tough and surprising news for Dustin Jeffrey owners - he signed a two-way deal for this season, with it becoming a one-way deal next year. The guy is NHL ready. He has proven that he belongs...but this opens the door for an AHL demotion. Meanwhile, Pascal Dupuis, who isn't fit to tie Jeffrey's skates, [...]