#…and there are a lot of new canucks fans so might as well bring it to your attention again if you already know)

[mico-evelyn2]

“If all they remember me for [is] ice hockey - I have failed”

Elias Pettersson, have I told you how much you mean to me?

Context below ⬇️

(This is a translation I found on instagram (the link) but there is a spelling mistake so please ignore that)

Link

[writingtoforgetreality]

Time To Trust - The Devil´s Daughter Chapter Five (Lucifer Morningstar x Daugther!Reader)

[Lucifer-Masterlist], [The Devil´s Daughter-Masterlist]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Summary: Arriving at the precinct made you more nervous than you would have liked to admit. Dan only meant well & you trusted him, right? So why were you so damn anxious? Maybe because you knew you had to give him some answers sooner rather than later & you were not ready to do that just yet.

Words: 1,402

Warnings: (thank you for sticking around even after months of radio silence), pretty much a filler to get back into writing (I do have a lot of stuff planned though, things will start happening soon), fear of not being enough, awful cliffhanger, language (the usual), mentions of anxiety

If you like my work & wanna support me: a coffee would be highly appreciated ❤

The ride gave you the chance to actually take in the beauty of the city. Yes, when you wandered around the other day you managed to see a few parts but now, sitting in a car, made everything way realer to you. Neither of you talked during the ride, enjoying the comfortable silence between the both of you. It kind of scared you. How could you trust a stranger after such a short time? Dan might not be a stranger anymore but it was not like you knew him well either. The radio was quietly emanating some tunes you did not know but soon, you found yourself humming with the beat. Dan took a look at you & smiled at your actions. You seemed way more comfortable & fearless looking out of the window. He just hoped he could help you find an actual place to stay. Not that he minded having you with him but he just assumed that you would get bored rather quickly. Besides, he knew there had to be more behind your façade. Something you clearly had not shown just yet. For a second, he debated bringing up the conversation you had last night, but decided against it. Maybe you would feel better at the L.A.P.D., with professionals around. Yes, he was a professional himself but right now he was not working. Just a few more minutes & he would find out.

As the car came to a stop, you noticed that you had zoned out for a bit. The sound of Dan’s car door shutting made you look at him. Before you could move to open your door, Dan beat you to it & helped you out. Not that you needed help but it still felt good to have someone who looked out for you. Like Michael when you were in heaven…No! Stop that! No more thinking about heaven & the angels. THIS was your new life, you had other things to worry about. For example, handling the questions you were sure you were about to get as soon as you walked into the precinct.

“You ready to do this?” Dan asked.

“Do what, exactly?” you uncomfortably chuckled. Your eyes met his briefly but before he could actually comment on the look you gave him, you quickly made your way to the entrance & tried to hide your anxiety with a witty remark.

“Climbing stairs to get to the door or opening the door to enter?” a sarcastic smirk was plastered on your face and Dan looked like he bought it. All he did was shaking his head, chuckling & following after you. Before you could push the door open, Dan’s hand was placed beside you & he opened it for you.

“Actually, this door is rather heavy, I got it. No need for you to exhaust yourself first thing in the morning.” you knew he was joking but you could not help but let your thoughts wander to a dark place again. That was one of your biggest insecurities. Feeling like you cannot accomplish simple tasks on your own. God had told you that you were too fragile. So most of the times you ended up feeling like you were not good enough. That no matter what you tried, nobody appreciated it because in the end, there was always someone who could do it better than you. Trying to push down your feelings, you shot a polite smile Dan’s way & entered without saying anything else. Dan stopped briefly, looked after you & wondered if he had said anything wrong. He expected another sarcastic comment from you, just like you had acted the entire morning with him. It did not come, though. He figured you were just nervous about what expected you inside. Yeah, that had to be it.

You felt another presence on your left & without looking up, you knew it was Dan. Slowing down a little bit, you let him lead you through the precinct. Surprisingly, there were not a lot of people at work. You blamed the time, even though it was not that early. Not that you cared much anyway. A door came into view & Dan approached it. You assumed that it would be where his coworkers asked you the so dreaded questions. What were you supposed to say? Should you make up a story? Should you make up a fake last name? A fake family? That way your possibilities of being left alone would be higher. But wait a minute…Did you even want to be left alone? It did not work out well for you last time & you kind of liked Dan. He was nice. On the other hand, though, you knew you could not stay with him. It would end up in you bothering the shit out of him & obviously, that was not your intention.

You fell behind a few steps because your thoughts consumed you once again. Before Dan could open the door, you jogged up to him & beat him to it.

“See? That door is much heavier & I’m doing just fine.” you turned around so your back was against the door, holding it open. Your arms crossed over your chest & you popped your hip out, signaling that you were mocking him & his previous actions. He laughed at you once more & walked past you into the rather cold looking room. Pushing yourself off the door, you took a look at the desk in the middle of the room. There was one single chair & …handcuffs? Wait, Dan would never hold you hostage, right? He was a cop, that was probably just one of the interrogation rooms. Or so you hoped. Maybe you were too naïve & you would face your death more sooner than later. STOP! Just stop thinking…

“No need to be scared, these are for the bad guys, not you.” Dan spoke up after you eyed the handcuffs a little too long & your face turned into one of pure concern.

“Kinky.” was your only answer, you even managed to keep a straight face.

“You’re something else, do you know that?” he was amused by your behavior but he liked you that way. It was like another girl was standing in front of him if he had to compare you to last night.

“Oh, I’ve heard that line a billion times, trust me.” you faked a smile. It was not like there were any happy memories connected to those words but Dan did not need to know that just yet. Or ever, for that matter.

“Hey, how about you take a seat & I’ll be right back, okay?” his words made you look up to him & you gave a simple nod as answer. After Dan took off, you decided against sitting down. Your anxiety was on edge & you could not even explain why. You were an angel, for fuck’s sake, why could you not chill? Pacing the room seemed like a good enough distraction, at least until Dan showed up again. Would he be alone or with his coworkers? That thought made you even more anxious. Yes, you were comfortable around Dan but the idea of another person asking you weird questions left you uneasy. Well, you could request to talk to Dan alone, right? There was nothing wrong with that. Besides, you were in an interrogation room, you were probably being observed right now, pacing like a crazy person. Ugh, just stop already…

The fact that someone could be watching you right now made you take a deep breath. Calming yourself would be convenient in your situation. You were fine, Dan would not have brought you here if he were not sure it would help you. After another deep breath, you finally sat down on the chair & began playing with the handcuffs so your hands were not shaking as much. Having something to play with helped distracting you & a distraction was very much needed.

You looked up as soon as you heard the door opening. The first person you saw was Dan but you could tell that there was another one right behind him. He moved aside a little & you found yourself staring at someone you would have never thought to meet so soon.

“Hello there, (Y/N), right?” the voice simply stated but you were too shocked to answer right away.

 ~to be continued~

Next Chapter

Published (03/15/2021) by Cathy

Tags: @fandomqueen2003, @natashaashleymarvelromanoff, @severewobblerlightdragon, @tenderlyunlikelyexpert, @zoseph, @suffering-canucks-fan, @dad-ee-drea, @xbarrjallenx, @marvelofwitch, @aceofspace95, @julessbrown, @thevelvetseries, @kotkaniemi-caufield-mom, @crumpets-are-better-with-jam, @strangewhovian-blog, @officialfictionalwreck (let me know if you wanna be tagged <3)

[axiomsofice]

NHL 2021 Prediction: North Division

1. Toronto: see previous leafs centric post. 

2. Vancouver: Canucks have strong pieces at every position, and Pettersson, Hughes, and Horvat are a serious top 3 players. Adding Schmidt really bolsters the D, Hamonic eases the loss of Tanev, while Holtby is not Markstrom at this point, a tandem with Demko seems good enough to keep the team going strong. I have questions about their F depth, but like last season a deadline deal could provide a big boost. Chatfield, Juolevi, and Rathbone could step up on the blueline as well.

3. Edmonton: The Oil have top tier talent, and probably their most complete forward group in decades. The emergence of Yamamoto really solidifies that before we consider how Turris, Kahun, and Puljujarvi fit in. Bear and Nurse are back as pair 1, while Barrie replaces an injured Klefbom. Really this group can improve beyond middle of the road if Bouchard and Jones can push into the top four. The real gamble lies in net, as Koskinen and Smith didn’t exactly impress last year. Goalies are pretty volatile, so maybe a younger player like Forsberg or Skinner could surprise. In all I would guess this will be a bigger obstacle for playoff success than regular season.

4. Montreal: Yes they had a strong bubble performance, no they otherwise wouldn’t have had a chance. Yes they improved this offseason, yes they are well rounded. I would say that having them 4th is a bold take if a huge group of people weren’t picking them as the best team in Canada. If Suzuki and Kotkaniemi continue their upward trajectory it gives them 3 really strong centres. I guess Josh Anderson could be a great add, but really I think Toffoli is the stronger and more cost effective option. The defence is deep and strong, Petry and Kulak are a great pair, Weber and whoever will be good, and Romanov brings a little flair to the additions, complimenting the beef of Edmunson and Chiarot who figure to pair with him. Obviously Price is Price and should get more rest with Allen in the fold.��

5. Calgary: I find the flames pretty similar to the Habs, in that they are deep and well rounded at each position group. Markstrom should be their best goalie since Kipper and it’s pretty surprising to have them missing based on this alone. Losing Brodie hurts, although Andersson emerging softens that. Tanev is not someone I’m a huge fan of, although between these two, Giordano, Hanafin and potential for Valimaki or Kylington to assert themselves the D should be strong again. Moving Lindholm to centre, like Montreal, gives them 3 strong options in the middle, joining Monahan and Backlund. Tkachuk and Gaudreau help solidify strong lines, while giving good opportunities to Simon, Bennett, Dube, and Leivo to fit in nicely. There’s not a lot to pick from between these teams, so maybe it’s just the lingering taste of a down year for Gaudreau and Monahan that has me picking them on the outside. 

6. Winnipeg: Stastny is back and fills an important role as 2 C that is much needed. The top 6 forwards are as good as anyones, and Copp and Lowry can definitely hold down a checking line. Hellebyuck had to win the Vezina last year to help mask their deficiencies on the blueline, and relying on him to do the same doesn’t provide room for error and will be costly. I do like some of their youth, like Samberg and Heinola, but relying on multiple of Niku, or Forbort, or Poolman, or even Demelo to big huge parts of your top 4 defencemen is not a recipe I’d trust. 

7. Ottawa: The worst team on paper, sure, but with lots of young talented maybes, a decent goalie situation, as well as a few proper players like Tkachuk and Chabot, and the chance that other teams might fall apart or be wrought with injuries and there’s a non-zero chance the Sens might not finish last. Stutzle could be impactful right away, Brannstrom might be ready to play top 4 minutes and a young centre like Norris or Logan Brown could really change the outlook of this group. They probably need a top C prospect to really solidify a strong future but that might be all that stands in their way (at least prospect wise). Plus new logo and Jerseys look great.

[impracticaldemon]

Fanfiction Duel: Canuck vs Canuck, The Gloves Come Off

With fanfic writers impracticaldemon (cheering! applause! glow sticks in a suitably attractive blue!); and @nalufever (okay, save the applause for her turn, alright? hehehe...)

Fandom:  Fairy Tail, starts with Nalu as primary ship Note:  Much of this will be tongue-in-cheek as we try to stick to our genres and tropes; so if you’re seeing some silly stuff, please remember that a lot of it is intended to parody the genre.

Rules:  Each writer must stick to their assigned genre and the setting. Chosen genres and setting can change by agreement only. Fans can send suggestions. Which writers may choose to ignore. Or not.  :)  Writer is to showcase their genre and writing skills (... skilz? ... agh, no). Story MUST continue in a linear fashion but logic is allowed to stretch like your favourite so-called workout pants.

Coffee Shop is the first setting, with Fluff (Imp) vs. Sensual Moments Unveiled Today (Nalufever)

Episode One ~ The inaugural episode! The Premiere!

By the way... The Inaugural Episode got away from me... I’m sorry Eav!!! (Each segment was supposed to be 300-500ish words.  Er.  I will do MUCH better next time ~ think of this as a double-length TV promo pilot episode!)

Lucy sighed as she made an effort to drink her rapidly cooling coffee.  She’d tried to doctor it with lots of milk and sugar, but it hadn’t helped as much as she’d hoped.  She wasn’t a fan of basic coffee, preferring the frothy, aromatic beverages sold by CelestialJewels, as did so many others.  Unfortunately, CJ’s wasn’t going to hire a newbie barrista like her, but this place might.  At least she’d still get to work in Magnolia, hometown of the entire CelestialJewels franchise.

“... Ms. Heartfilia?”  The voice was thin and sharp, and so was the woman behind it. 

“Y-yes?”  Lucy jumped to her feet, knocked the rickety table with her elbow, spilled her coffee, and dropped her purse.  Spilling the coffee was arguably a win, but the overall result was less than desirable.  Especially when a napkin from CJ’s fell out of the overloaded purse.  Unfortunately, the napkin didn’t soak up the milky coffee fast enough to blot out the hearts Lucy had drawn around the central CJ’s logo.

The interviewing manager -- or owner -- stepped back quickly to avoid the puddle, but she’d noticed the napkin and her lips were pursed in distaste.  Lucy felt her heart sink faster than under-frothed cream in a cappuccino.

"I need real help in here, not some dimwit blonde with two left feet!”

Lucy cowered back.  It didn’t matter that her mother had once -- briefly -- been a CJ’s barrista of some renown; in the here and now, this woman’s opinion was the only one that mattered and --

“Heya!”

The door opened with a bang, bell jangling furiously.  A striking young man with spiky, cotton-candy-coloured hair, dancing sage-green eyes, and the best smile that Lucy had ever seen stood framed in the doorway, haloed by the bright, mid-afternoon sun.  

Lucy’s heart stopped plummeting and started to beat wildly.  This was the man who had caused her to draw hearts on her CJ’s souvenir napkin.  He was one of the lead barristas for the CJ flagship store in Magnolia -- Lucy had seen him when she’d stopped by for a quick peek at her dream job.  He’d drawn her eye not only with of his classically handsome profile, but also with his crisp, competent movements. 

Suddenly realizing that she’d probably been staring, Lucy blushed and took a quick step backwards.  Inevitably, she managed to bump into somebody.

“Sorry!”  Lucy squeaked, careening off the emaciated guy behind her and then slipping on the coffee-soaked CJ’s napkin.  She felt both feet go out from under her and couldn’t repress a small scream.  The floor was cold and hard, and Lucy felt it rushing up to meet her.

Her plunge floor-ward ended abruptly as two strong, warm arms closed around her.  The young man from CJ’s had evidently moved faster than Lucy had imagined possible.  She stared up at him, trying to calm her breathing.  On the one hand, she’d never felt so safe in her life; on the other, she’d never been this close to a man before, since her father had been strict and she’d attended a select girls-only school before running away from home determined to make her own way in life.

“... Thank you...” she murmured shyly to her rescuer.

“Oh, uh, no problem!” The man set her on her feet a little awkwardly, a touch of red appearing in his cheeks.  He suddenly looked much more diffident than he had when he came in.  “Um, yeah, my name’s Natsu--Natsu Dragneel.  It’s a pleasure Miss?”

“Heart--um, I mean Smith.  Lucy.  Just call me Lucy, please.”  Lucy felt as though she were drowning in those beautiful, honest eyes of his, but she was trying very hard to leave her father and his fortune behind her.  The Heartfilia name was just too recognizable.

“Oh--sure thing then, Lucy.”

“If the two of you are quite done,” snapped the thin woman, “then maybe--Natsu, is it?--can tell me what brings a full-time, hot-shot barrista from CelestialJewels here to our humble establishment?”

Natsu seemed to shake himself, and his sunshine smile reappeared.  Lucy noticed that despite his cheerful manner, he had somehow managed to put himself between her and her prospective employer--and the rail-thin man Lucy had bumped into.

“Yeah, of course, Mrs. Kaze.  Hey Erigor--how’re things?”

Peeping from behind Natsu’s broad back, Lucy realized that Erigor was younger than she’d taken him for at first.  His dark eyes seemed to glare malevolently at Natsu, but he gave the shorter man a slight nod, although he didn’t respond aloud.

“Well, Natsu?”

“Oh yeah, it’s just about the rolls of change we loaned you guys last month.  We’re really running low today, so Gramps said I should see if you had some on hand.”

“We’re low today too,” Erigor answered brusquely, and Lucy realized that he must be an employee.

“I have a few spare rolls in my office,” Mrs. Kaze cut in.  “I’ll have Erigor bring them over to you as soon as I’m finished with Miss Smith’s interview and practical evaluation.”

Natsu glanced down at Lucy and seemed to reach a decision.  Lucy, for her part, had already decided that she didn’t want to work for, or with, Mrs. Kaze and Erigor.

“Actually, Mrs. K, Lucy applied with us this morning--about ten o’clock, wasn’t it?”

Lucy looked up at him, trying to quell a sudden rush of hope.  Did this mean he had noticed her when she stopped by CP earlier?  Had she actually made an impression? 

“Did she, now?”

“We need new staff,” snarled Erigor, his tone no longer polite.  “Lucy seems like just the right person for us!”  His eyes flicked over Lucy’s nicely rounded curves and pretty golden hair in a way that made her distinctly uncomfortable.

For some reason, Lucy found her fingers tangling themselves in the back of Natsu’s official CP-barrista vest.  She was surprised and a little self-conscious to realize how comforting it was.

“Oh, sorry to hear that, but that’s life, eh?”  Natsu smiled all around.  “Gramps okayed her app, so she may as well come with me now.  Don’t worry about the change, Mrs. K!  Gramps’ll send somebody over later.  Bye!”

Lucy found herself being hurried outside, mind whirling.  It was all a little overwhelming, and she found herself on the verge of tearing up.  She was torn between anxiety and incipient happiness.

“You mean... me work at, um, CelestialJewels?  Really?  Um, Mr. Dragneel--Natsu?”

“Huh?  Oh, sure.  At least, I expect it’ll be fine.  Just--Mrs. K isn’t a great boss, you know.  Erigor’s her son and just look at the poor guy!  He’d be blown away by a strong wind!”

Natsu had to stop, since Lucy seemed rooted to the ground.

“So... I get to work with you for CP?  That’s so incredible, you have no idea!”

“Sure, um, yeah!  It’s a great place to work, I mean--”  Natsu broke off, unable to tear his gaze from Lucy’s.  Her soft, pansy-brown eyes had the sweetest, most amazing glow in them.  He brushed her cheek with his fingers without noticing what he was doing.  Then they both blushed.

“We should get going.” “Let’s get going.”  The words rang out in concert.

Natsu took Lucy’s hand.  “It’s just to make sure you don’t get lost or something,” he told her, looking at the ground.

“Oh, sure--yeah, that’s, that’s fine...”

Hand-in-hand, they set off down the street towards CP.

Wow, thought Lucy.  He is just the nicest guy.  I hope I get to see him a bit more around the store.  That would be perfect!

[END - Part I]

@shell-senji  @eliz1369  @hakuyamazakisensei @hidetheremote @cherryb0mb79 @canadiangaap @sabinasanfanfic

[junker-town]

2017 NHL mock draft: The trade deadline shakes things up in our 2nd simulation

New needs and no consensus make this draft interesting.

It’s nice to have a NHL entry draft with no clear “best prospect.”

The 2017 NHL draft doesn’t have a Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, or Aaron Ekblad. It doesn’t even have a consensus best 30 players. The top of the draft is as arguable as the late first-round picks following it.

So no wonder our second mock NHL draft looks different from the first. This time, we didn’t use lottery simulators. We just went down the list, but kept the trade deadline movements in mind. Needs have changed!

1. Colorado Avalanche - Timothy Liljegren, D, Rogle (Sweden)

I’m starting to come around to Mile High Hockey’s argument that the Avalanche can’t afford to pass up the best defenseman in the draft. The consensus Best Three™ in the 2017 draft are Nolan Patrick, Nico Hischier, and Liljegren. Two centers and a defenseman. When Tyson Jost joins Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado next season, they’ll be set down the middle for years.

Might as well stock the defense with a prime puck-mover like Liljegren.

2. Arizona Coyotes - Nolan Patrick, C, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)

Photo by Mathieu Belanger/Getty Images

Coyotes fans would hate being left with Patrick or Hischier. Not that they’re not good, but the Coyotes need young defensemen as much as the Avalanche.

In this scenario, though, I tend to think GM John Chayka takes Nolan Patrick. Arizona is blessed with forward talent, but few of them have the skill and size Patrick brings.

3. Vegas Golden Knights - Nico Hischier, C, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

Best player available. Hischier is skilled, flashy and as good at setting up teammates as he is putting the biscuit in the basket. Vegas would be thrilled to take him.

4. New Jersey Devils - Casey Mittelstadt, C, Eden Prairie High School (Minnesota)

It sure seems like the Devils might stick with Pavel Zacha on the wing. In that case, expect them to go for a center here if Liljegren isn’t available (he won’t be).

Scouts rave about Mittelstadt’s compete level all over the ice, something that the Devils will no doubt covet. He’s also supremely gifted offensively, making him a talent the Devils can’t pass up. He’ll play for the University of Minnesota next season.

5. Vancouver Canucks - Gabriel Vilardi, C, Windsor (OHL)

Vilardi has all the tools to become a No. 1 center someday: size (6’3), skill (scouts love his effortlessness while making plays), and finishing ability (about to eclipse 30 goals with Windsor this year). By drafting Olli Juolevi and trading for Jonathan Dahlen, the Canucks have added high-end talent on the wings and blue line in the last year.

Taking Vilardi fifth overall would help round out their system.

6. Dallas Stars - Eeli Tolvanen, LW/RW, Sioux City (USHL)

If there’s one thing the Stars are guilty of in recent drafts, it’s not taking forwards with high-end skills. Size and hockey I.Q. are great, but you also need players with game-breaking abilities.

Tolvanen fits that mold. A pure scorer, the USHL star can score at will in so many ways: off the rush with his heavy shot, off a deke, with a slap-shot ... you name it. He’ll play with Boston College next season and could reach the NHL sooner than a lot of the players in this draft.

7. Detroit Red Wings - Cale Makar, D, Brooks (AJHL)

We still like the idea of Makar joining the Red Wings. The crafty right-handed defenseman is rising quickly up draft boards after a 24-goal, 75-point season with the Bandits. Detroit can start their rebuild with the draft’s best power play quarterback.

Makar will head to UMass-Amherst next season.

8. Buffalo Sabres - Owen Tippett, RW, Mississauga (OHL)

With Liljegren and Makar off the board and no defensemen worth reaching for at this spot, Buffalo is left in “best player available” mode.

That’s Tippett, the best scoring winger in the draft not named Eeli Tolvanen. A pure sniper, Tippett is fifth in the OHL with 44 goals this year. With Sam Reinhart, Alexander Nylander, Cliff Pu, and Tippett in the system, the Sabres’ wings will be the envy of the Eastern Conference.

9. Winnipeg Jets - Nick Suzuki, C, Owen Sound (OHL)

Photo by Dennis Pajot/Getty Images

Suzuki is a rare gem: an uber-talented penalty killer who can score in bunches. His defensive prowess was well-known before this season, but he erupted into one of the OHL’s best scoring threats with 45 goals and 96 points in 65 games. Winnipeg’s leaky penalty kill would love to have Suzuki join them.

10. Florida Panthers - Klim Kostin, W, Balashikha (KHL)

Two things are going against Kostin right now. First, a shoulder injury ended his season early. Second, he reminds people of Stars winger Valeri Nichushkin: a big, Russian winger with obvious skill but a tendency to pass instead of shoot. And since Nichushkin bolted for Russia last offseason, you’d imagine that might affect his draft status.

But Florida might go against the grain here and take him anyway. With Jaromir Jagr and Jussi Jokinen on the decline, the Panthers could use a bullishly skilled winger in their prospect pool, even if Kostin stays in the KHL to develop for a few years.

11. Philadelphia Flyers - Cody Glass, C/RW, Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Another late-bloomer like Makar who rocketed up draft rankings this year. Glass is a talented, all-around forward: capable of dishing the puck, finishing plays and responsible up and down the ice. Philadelphia could use him in a number of ways.

12. Carolina Hurricanes - Elias Pettersson, C, Timra IK (Sweden)

At this point of the draft, it’s hard to nail down which player teams would covet more. But Carolina’s so stacked defensively that we know they’ll aim for a forward in the first round.

Pettersson might be the pick. He’s a pure playmaker, with arguably the best vision in the draft. You could see him becoming a true power play threat for the Hurricanes down the road, making him worth a pick here even though he’ll have a longer development than most.

13. Los Angeles Kings - Michael Rasmussen, C, Tri-City (WHL)

Size and skill are a rare combo for centers these days, but Rasmussen fits that mold. His 6’5 frame makes him seem Kings-worthy already, and his poise around the net makes him a valuable offensive presence on the power play.

14. Tampa Bay Lightning - Juuso Valimaki, D, Tri-City (WHL)

Photo by Marissa Baecker/Getty Images

Valimaki is a well-rounded two-way defenseman with leadership qualities already apparent at such a young age. Valimaki’s 55 points lead all teenage WHL defensemen this year, indicating he could make a rapid ascent to the NHL.

15. New York Islanders - Callan Foote, D, Kelowna (WHL)

The Isles drafted five forwards in the first round over the last three drafts. All of them (Josh Ho-Sang, Anthony Beauvillier, Mathew Barzal, Michael Dal Colle, and Kieffer Bellows) are already close to NHL-ready.

So New York should spring for a defenseman this year. Foote, son of Adam Foote, will round out their defensive core nicely. At 6’3, Foote is imposing in his own end with a safe, but smart, game.

16. Toronto Maple Leafs - Nicolas Hague, D, Mississauga (OHL)

And so the run on defensemen begins!

With Nikita Zaitsev and Morgan Rielly in the fold, the Maple Leafs aren’t short of puck-movers on the blue line. They are missing a big body, though. Hague is huge, but mobile: a 6’6 defenseman who captains Mississauga’s power play and isn’t afraid to mix things up in his own end. He could be a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Or he could be a master of everything. Toronto will gladly take that risk.

17. St. Louis Blues - Ryan Poehling, C/LW, St. Cloud State (NCAA)

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

With a year of college hockey under his belt, Poehling could reach the NHL quicker than most of his draft peers. That makes him appealing to a lot of teams, particularly contenders.

So will his two-way ability. Poehling is blessed with the skills of a top center and the smarts of a third-line, shut-down winger. Sounds like a Blue, doesn’t he?

18. Nashville Predators - Martin Necas, C, HC Kometa Brno (Czech Republic)

David Poile will do cartwheels if Necas falls this far.

The only knock on the 5’11 center is that he holds onto the puck too long. But that pass-first mentality is born out of strong vision and speed to burn. The Predators lack a true, high-skill center behind Ryan Johansen. Necas can slot into that role.

19. Boston Bruins - Lias Andersson, C, HV71 (Sweden)

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Andersson’s draft stock fell after a quiet World Juniors. The 5’11 center drew attention with a 24-goal season as a 16-year old, but his offensive upside is now in question after a nine-goal season in the Swedish pro league.

His competitiveness isn’t, though. Players with energy, work ethic, and hockey I.Q. are valuable, and the Bruins would make a good fit while Andersson develops his game. And if he re-finds that scoring touch, all the better.

20. Edmonton Oilers - Miro Heiskanen, D, Helsinki HIFK (Finland)

The only knock on Heiskanen? He’s small. That didn’t stop Torey Krug from thriving. It didn’t stop the Stars from drafting Julius Honka. It won’t stop teams from drafting Makar. And it won’t keep the Oilers from jumping at Heiskanen if he falls this far.

Heiskanen disappointed at the World Juniors, but what Finland player didn’t? The Finnish defenseman makes up for his size with an active stick in his own end and can make plays offensively.

21. Calgary Flames - Kristian Vesalainen, LW, Frolunda (SHL)

Calgary should be pleased if Vesalainen is available here. It’s hard to figure why he’s falling in scouts’ eyes. He was such an important player in Finland’s gold medal run in the 2016 World Juniors. Vesalainen has struggled immensely this season, bouncing around Finnish junior and pro hockey with just six goals.

But the talent (skill and a good shot) is there.

22. Anaheim Ducks - Kailer Yamamoto, RW, Spokane (WHL)

The Ducks play a heavy style of hockey, so maybe this is just wishful thinking on our part. Yamamoto is 5’7 but oozes skill. Teams passed on Johnny Gaudreau and Alex DeBrincat because of their size. They all regret it. Anaheim would do well to take Yamamoto here.

23. Ottawa Senators - Maxime Comtois, LW, Victoriaville (QMJHL)

Comtois isn’t the most skilled winger in the draft. He doesn’t have the best shot. But he does have elite speed and a high-energy style that puts opponents back on their heels. He could end up as a top-line winger. He could end up as a bottom-six penalty killer. Whatever role he slides into, Comtois will play it well and make a noticeable impression.

24. Montreal Canadiens - Nikita Popugaev, W, Prince George (WHL)

Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images

Just look at the kinds of players Montreal targeted at the trade deadline. Big. Strong. Hard to play against.

Popugaev, a 6’5 winger, is all of those things with skill mixed in. He’s struggled since a trade to the Cougars, a more well-rounded team that spreads the offensive love around.

25. New York Rangers - Pierre-Olivier Joseph, D, Charlottetown (QMJHL)

Joseph is garnering first-round consideration because he’s developed confidence with the puck all over the ice. Once he trusted himself to become more involved offensively, his skill and smarts have impressed scouts. The defense-starved Rangers could take a flier on him here.

26. San Jose Sharks - Conor Timmins, D, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)

Another defenseman playing his way into first-round status. Timmins boasts one of the hardest shots in the draft and leads the OHL in even-strength points. San Jose’s younger forwards are coming along nicely this season, so the Sharks could shore up their blue line with a prospect like Timmins.

27. Arizona Coyotes (from Wild) - Urho Vaakanainen, D, JYP (Finland)

Vaakanainen has the tools to become a strong puck-moving defenseman. Right now, he feels like a “safe” player destined to at least become a quality top-six talent. Arizona might bet on the former.

28. Chicago Blackhawks - Shane Bowers, C, Waterloo (USHL)

Bowers seems like a Jonathan Toews clone: great two-way play with a great shot and great hockey senses. The only question is how high his ceiling is. That question didn’t exist with Toews, and it doesn’t exist with the other centers taken ahead of Bowers.

29. Columbus Blue Jackets - Lukas Elvenes, RW, Rogle (Sweden)

A smart, crafty winger, but one-dimensional right now. Columbus’ Stanley Cup window is just opening, so they have time to let a player like Elvenes work on developing his all-around game. The tools are there, though.

30. Pittsburgh Penguins - Matthew Strome, LW, Hamilton (OHL)

Here’s a risk: a player with the Strome family pedigree and a physical brand of play, but poor foot-speed keeping his ceiling low.

31. St. Louis Blues (from Capitals) - Kole Lind, RW, Kelowna (WHL)

If St. Louis goes all-around with their first pick, they can afford to go all-skill with Lind at 31. Lind might be one of the better goal-scorers in the first round as far as instinct goes. It’s just a matter of whether he can get stronger.

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Niederreiter Canes’ Debut, Trocheck Return, Demko Debut (Jan 19)

One day after being traded for Victor Rask, Nino Niederreiter made his Carolina Hurricanes’ debut. He was held without a point, took four shots on goal, and skated a total of 16:57 on a line with Justin Williams and Greg McKegg along with second-unit power play time. Obviously this is a fluid situation as Niederreiter adjusts to his new team, but this doesn’t seem like the kind of usage that would motivate me to add Niederreiter right away (24% owned in Yahoo leagues). For more on Thursday’s Hurricanes/Wild trade, see our Fantasy Impact article.

Rod Brind’Amour on the Canes’ listless 4-1 home loss to Ottawa:  

Rod Brind'Amour: “We were so bad, I almost dressed and got out there. I might have been as good as what we were throwing out there. We just didn’t want to play the way we were supposed to. I didn’t know what I was watching. That’s the first time all year I can say that."

— Michael Smith (@MSmithCanes) January 19, 2019

Could the latest hot goalie be Anders Nilsson? I’ll admit that I’ve had absolutely no interest since he was traded to Ottawa, but he’s now won four of his last five games while posting a 1.60 GAA and .951 SV% over that span. After a mainly forgettable stint with the Canucks, Nilsson has settled in as the Sens’ starter while Craig Anderson is sidelined.

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The Midseason Guide is available now! Get yours today if you haven’t already done so!

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One Panthers’ scoring center returned to the lineup perhaps earlier than expected, but another one could potentially miss some time. Vincent Trocheck recorded an assist while dishing seven hits in his first game since fracturing his ankle two months ago. (I sure didn’t have that recovery time when I fractured my ankle!) Trocheck played on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Nick Bjugstad, although he skated on the second-unit power play.

However, Aleksander Barkov received x-rays on his hand after the game. The injury occurred late in the third period, although he stayed in for the entire game. The Panthers are right back at it today (Saturday), so keep an eye on Barkov’s status. If Barkov is out, then Trocheck could very well move back to his spot on the first-unit power play.

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Thatcher Demko made his season debut and looked impressive, being named the game’s first star. He was the main reason the Canucks won 4-3 over Buffalo, as the Canucks were outshot 39-23. Here’s one of Demko’s 36 saves.  

Thatcher Demko denies Jeff Skinner with some lightning-quick reflexes. ⚡ pic.twitter.com/PIX3f7j7pR

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 19, 2019

With Jacob Markstrom playing perhaps the best hockey of his NHL career, and with the Canucks surprisingly in a playoff race (yes, they now hold the final wild card spot in the West), it’s unlikely that Demko is going to play a ton this season. It’s difficult for me even as a Canucks’ fan to project what the goaltending will be like next season, but I’d think that Demko should be able to get into at least 30 games. Even though it may take some time before he’s undoubtedly the Canucks’ starter, he’s still very much a blue-chip goalie prospect. The Canucks may have one of the league’s better goaltending tandems for the rest of the season.  

Evan Rodrigues scored again for the Sabres, giving him goals in three consecutive games. He couldn’t score at all when he was on the top line, but now he’s scoring while on a line with Jason Pominville and Vladimir Sobotka. Go figure.

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It couldn’t have gone any better for Barry Trotz in his return to Washington. Thomas Greiss stopped all 19 shots he faced in the Isles’ 2-0 win over the defending Stanley Cup champions. Greiss has struggled at times this season, but he’s allowed just one goal with a .983 SV% over his last two starts. Like Robin Lehner, he’s benefitted from the Barry Trotz/Mitch Korn influence.

Speaking of Lehner, there were plenty of comments about him on the Ramblings and Facebook yesterday. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s important to bring up the drug addiction and mental illness that he has overcome as key reasons for his breakout season. Along with the Vezina Trophy, Lehner should definitely be considered for the Masterton Trophy. If you have an Athletic subscription, take the time to read this October 26 piece on his addiction and bipolar diagnosis.

Someone commented that they weren’t sure what Lehner’s value would be next season with him only being signed to a one-year contract with the Islanders. That’s a very good point, because the Isles also own the rights to Ilya Sorokin, who is dominating the KHL (32 GP, 1.17 GAA, .942 SV%). According to Arthur Staple, Sorokin would be on a one-year, waiver-exempt deal if he decided to come over next season (which he is reportedly interested in), although it’s no sure thing when it comes to the KHL. There are also the Sergei Bobrovsky rumors, which you can read more about in the article. Either way, it’s not looking good if you’re holding out hope that Greiss will be the starter.

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Dylan Larkin had an outstanding game on Friday, scoring two goals on eight shots and logging 21:49 in icetime. Larkin now has six points over his last three games, and he is scoring at a near point-per-game pace (47 points in 49 games). He and Gustav Nyquist are carrying the Wings scoring-wise right now. I thought I might be saying that about Larkin coming into the season, but definitely not about Nyquist, who is now up to 42 points in 49 games. With the chemistry that Larkin and Nyquist have developed this season, I don’t think that Nyquist owners should get too excited about a trade at the deadline, particularly if it means Nyquist will be pushed down another team’s depth chart.

Sam Bennett scored two power-play goals and added an assist on Friday. The former high first-round pick has been playing in the Flames’ bottom six with a familiar name who has disappeared from the fantasy landscape recently. James Neal scored a goal and added an assist himself, giving him points in three of his past four games. If you’re still holding out hope for Neal (and I hope you aren’t), it seems as though a move out of Calgary would be in order. But at a $5.75 million per season cap hit through the 2022-23 season, that seems very unlikely. He is on the fast track to becoming what Loui Eriksson is to the Canucks or Milan Lucic is to the Oilers.

I know there probably aren’t a lot of TJ Brodie fans reading this. However, with a goal and two assists on Friday, Brodie now has nine points (3g-6a) in nine games this month. He’s been paired with the now point-per-game Mark Giordano (another player who has performed a lot better than I expected) for most of the season, so some of those points have to be rubbing off.

Giordano, by the way, has 13 points over his last 10 games. In spite of my lower projection for him, he still ended up on one of my teams. I have to give autopick credit for that one.

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Since the team-imposed suspension on Sergei Bobrovsky, Joonas Korpisalo has started four of the past games for the Blue Jackets. A three-game winning streak might have had something to do with it, but Korpisalo had that streak snapped on Friday against Montreal. Since the Jackets are right back at it on Saturday, expect Bobrovsky to be back between the pipes against the Wild. With Bob’s future likely not to be in Columbus after this season, this is a situation worth monitoring. I don’t see Bobrovsky being traded at the deadline, though. Not with the Jackets in a battle for first place in the Metro Division (which the Islanders now lead!)

Tomas Tatar had gone ten games without a goal, but he scored two on Friday night against the Blue Jackets. Joel Armia also scored twice for the Canadiens in their 4-1 win.

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In case you missed it, Ryan Johansen was suspended two games for his whack to the head of Mark Scheifele on Thursday. Here’s what happened:

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I’m linking the two Friday articles, which I’ll discuss for different reasons:

Frozen Pool Forensics is back with a new author. In his debut piece, Grant Campbell discusses the defense partner of Erik Karlsson. Although Brenden Dillon typically isn’t an appealing name for fantasy teams, he has been on a roll lately with six points (all assists) over his last seven games.

As he does every week, Adam Daly-Frey previews the upcoming schedule in Looking Ahead, which includes listing the 10 teams that do not play at all next week. It is literally an entire bye week for those 10 teams because bye weeks now happen either before or after All-Star Weekend. This is a new wrinkle in the schedule, which makes things particularly tricky for leagues that don’t combine the next two weeks into one “week.” My Yahoo head-to-head league has combined these two weeks, while my CBS head-to-head league has not. Be sure to check your league settings to find out whether these two weeks are combined or separated.  

The other 21 teams only play over the first three days of next week, with the last four days being set aside for the All-Star break. All the teams return to action the week after the All-Star Game, although the other 21 teams will be on their bye week and will thus take the first four days of the week off. For a full list of bye weeks, see the bye week schedule from NHL.com.

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For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-niederreiter-canes-debut-trocheck-return-demko-debut-jan-19/

[hsews]

Who are you most excited to see at the next level?

Chris Peters, hockey prospects analyst: I’m intrigued by Rasmus Dahlin — as everyone is — but there’s no doubt that defenseman Quinn Hughes has the highest potential for excitement. I’ve just not seen anyone who plays the game quite like him before. His size (listed at 5-foot-10, 170 pounds) may concern some, but he’s one of the most agile skaters I’ve seen at his age, and I think the best is yet to come. I’m not sure how quickly he gets to the league, but I know when he does get there, he’s going to be a can’t-miss player.

Here’s our one-stop shop for all 2018 NHL draft content and coverage.

Don’t blame us! Here are the top five on each award from PHWA members Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski, along with their explanations.

Can the Islanders keep John Tavares? What’s the deal with Corey Crawford? What will Vegas do with all of that cap space? We dig in.

2 Related

Greg Wyshynski, senior NHL writer: Andrei Svechnikov. I’ve seen him described as a mix of Alex Ovechkin and Nikita Kucherov. I’ve seen him described as a Jeff Carter-like player. In each description, the 18-year-old Russian winger has been lauded for his singular goal-scoring ability. The Carolina Hurricanes are expected to draft him at No. 2. They’ve had only one winger in team history break 200 career goals while with the team (Jeff Skinner); Svechnikov looks like he has the goods to join the list.

Emily Kaplan, national NHL reporter: I’ve heard great things about Filip Zadina. The label on him is that he’s the surest 40-goal scorer in the draft. There’s a chance Montreal snags him at No. 3 — that is, if GM Marc Bergevin’s “we are desperate for centers and defensemen” cries are a smoke screen. Chis slotted Zadina with the Coyotes at No. 5 in his latest mock draft and I’d love to see him pair with Clayton Keller on the Yotes’ top line for years to come.

Ben Arledge, Insider NHL editor: Oliver Wahlstrom is intriguing to me. The kid has a fantastic shot and a nose for the back of the net. He had 94 points, including 48 goals, in 62 games for the U.S. National Team Development Program this season alongside 2019 draft-eligible Jack Hughes (Quinn’s brother). Whoever grabs the 18-year-old is certainly getting an offensive game-breaker. In one likely scenario, we could see Wahlstrom off the board at No. 8 to the Chicago Blackhawks and playing with the likes of Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, Brandon Saad, Jonathan Toews and/or Nick Schmaltz in the not-so-distant future. Fun!

Which team is the biggest wild card on draft weekend?

Peters: The Montreal Canadiens are the team that really holds the key to how the first round will go. No one really knows for sure what they’re going to do at No. 3. They could trade the third overall pick, or they could pick any one of Zadina, Brady Tkachuk or Jesperi Kotkaniemi. They could really surprise people and take a defenseman. My guess is they take the coveted center Kotkaniemi, but no one has a great read on what Bergevin will do.

Wyshynski: I’d be surprised if the Ottawa Senators trade Erik Karlsson before making their perfunctory low-ball contract offer on July 1 — which will be summarily rejected — so they can tell fans, “Hey, we tried.” Since many believe Montreal is the wild card, I’ll go in a different direction and say the Pittsburgh Penguins. It’s obvious GM Jim Rutherford is to going to make a deal or two to reconfigure his team. Please recall that the 2014 draft was the place where he made his first significant move toward a championship reign with the James Neal-for-Patric Hornqvist swap. At a minimum, Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary are in play. But who will Rutherford target?

Kaplan: In terms of the actual drafts and where prospects are slotted? It all hinges on the Canadiens at No. 3. What Bergevin does dictates the rest of the first round. As for how we’ll remember the draft? I’d hone in on the Ottawa Senators. If Pierre Dorion orchestrates a deal for Karlsson, all bets are off for the rest of the weekend. More broadly, we’ll see a tangible trickle-down effect in free agency.

Arledge: Based on what our esteemed prospects insider is saying, the Canadiens seem like the logical team to slap with the wild-card label, as their move at No. 3 dictates the next few picks. But I’m also interested to see what the Arizona Coyotes cook up at No. 5. Does someone like Zadina, Kotkaniemi or Tkachuk fall to the Yotes? Does GM John Chayka trade out of the pick? Does Arizona spoil the fun for Detroit and take Quinn Hughes to start the run on top-tier defensemen? What if Hughes is taken by the Coyotes, and then after another year on the road to rebuild, they ended up with the No. 1 pick and took his brother Jack next June? Oh, the possibilities! I know one thing, though: Chayka can’t afford to miss on Friday.

Which big-name NHLer is most likely to be dealt in a draft-day trade?

The rumors have been swirling all spring that Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner could be on the move this offseason. Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire

Peters: I think Ryan O’Reilly, who was acquired by Buffalo on draft day in 2015, has a great chance of being a draft-day trade again. The Sabres are already going to make a significant impact on their rebuild of a rebuild by getting Rasmus Dahlin, and O’Reilly could potentially bring Buffalo some significant assets to continue those efforts.

Wyshynski: There’s way too much smoke surrounding Jeff Skinner to believe the Hurricanes star isn’t going to be traded, despite the fact that he has a no-move clause. Skinner is entering the final year of his contract before hitting unrestricted free agency. Carolina is actively shopping him, and there’s certainly interest from around the NHL.

Kaplan: Philipp Grubauer. Now that the coaching drama is (mostly) sorted out in Washington, it’s time to make decisions on the current roster. Grubauer, a restricted free agent who has showed flashes of being a dependable No. 1, has great value to any number of teams looking for a goaltender. The Capitals won’t want to pay up for Grubauer. They need to stash all the cap space they can for a potential John Carlson signing.

Arledge: It wouldn’t shock me to see Karlsson moved on Friday evening, but one name I’m watching is Kevin Hayes. He’s a restricted free agent with the New York Rangers, and there’s certainly a chance the 26-year-old forward is moved as part of a trade to move up in the draft or add a few more picks. Remember, in addition to that No. 9 pick, the Blueshirts have a pair of selections on the tail end of the first round, as well as a pair of second-rounders and a pair of picks in the third. Lots of options for the Rangers this weekend, and Hayes might find himself in the middle of it.

Which first-round pick of the past five years offered the best value?

Date: June 22-23 Host city: Dallas

Full coverage of the 2018 draft » Pick chart for all 31 teams » Mock Draft 3.0 Top 80 draft board » 1-20 | 21-40 | 41-60 | 61-80

Peters: David Pastrnak, selected 25th overall in 2014, is the clear-cut best value for me. He is already third in games played for his draft class and second in points, with just four fewer than No. 3 overall pick Leon Draisaitl. These last two years, Pastrnak has ascended to the top of the league scoring charts and helps give the Boston Bruins one of the deadliest lines in the NHL, skating with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.

Kaplan: Some absolute robbery that went down in the middle-to-late first round in 2015: Jake DeBrusk at No. 14, Mathew Barzal at No. 16, Kyle Connor at No. 17 and Brock Boeser at No. 23. As spectacular as Barzal was for the Islanders this year — the future looks bright should he and John Tavares form the one-two punch down the middle — I must pick Boeser based off how low he was slotted. As the Canucks embark on a total retooling, Boeser is one of the two, maybe three players they are crafting a roster around. Now that’s good value.

Wyshynski: I’ll diverge slightly from Emily in that Barzal at No. 16 would be my choice. Not only did the Bruins miss three straight chances to draft the Calder winner, but please recall the Islanders acquired that pick by trading Griffin Reinhart to the Edmonton Oilers, who also missed out on Barzal.

Arledge: Pastrnak at No. 25 back in 2014 is difficult to beat. He’s posted 0.8 points per game and provided the Bruins with a top-tier, first-line wing already at age 22. His teammate, Charlie McAvoy, is also looking like a steal at No. 14 in 2016. He’s a top-pair blueliner with some Norris Trophy nominations most likely in his future. Schmaltz, Boeser, Connor and Barzal also jump off the page to me as fantastic Day 1 selections.

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[axiomsofice]

Breakout Candidates: Pacific

Anaheim: a young team with many applicable potentialities, the most prominent of which are their last 3 first round picks. Zegras and Drysdale both played a handful of games in the NHL last season, and have clear paths to both prominent 5v5 roles and PP1 minutes. Personally, I would be tempted to exercise more caution with inserting the younger Drysdale in too soon, but Zegras is at a point where there is not really a reason to delay his arrival. Recent 3rd overall pick Mason McTavish plays a physical and pro style game, but as with every other pick in the 2021 entry draft, the pandemic year that it is, McTavish is best served with at least another year before having a serious shot at making the NHL. Beyond that the Ducks have a large amount of young players who should have more to give, as reflected by Anaheim’s recent results in draft lottery contention. Forwards such as Steel, Comtois, Lundestrom are complimentary pieces that will look much stronger as the team’s performance improves, so it would be hard for them to garner as much attention or credit if say, Comtois has a strong 20-goal season playing on Zegras’ wing. On defence there are similar complimentary options. I have been a fan of Mahura’s game but his time might be now or never to break into the league. Larsson is a bit younger but hopes of him being an impact defender lay farther into the future. In net the Ducks are set with the underappreciated Gibson, but prospect Dostal has been building his resume nicely. In general the Ducks, under GM Murray, have done a really good job at drafting and developing.

Calgary: a new coach represents a power vacuum, a chance for all players to drastically change their position on the depth chart. We saw the beginnings of that during their disappointing season in the North division, and this uncertainty is spilling into this offseason. Rumours surrounding Monahan, Gaudreau, and Tkachuk. Giordano gone already, but not much change has actually occurred. Perhaps the best chance of a breakout lies with defenders Kylington and Valimaki, who have both already played well for the Flames. Valimaki was probably a strong candidate for such a title 2 seasons ago, before tearing a knee ligament that sidelined him for quite some time. Especially with Giordano gone, and a decently strong defence group around them, these 2 might be the biggest x-factors for the Flames success this season. Up front there are some prospects looking to make the jump, first rounders Peltier and Zary both present skilled players who bring a certain tenacity that could endear them to coach Suter. Matthew Philips has some fans and provides some play making ability that could compliment this group nicely should he get the chance, personally I’d say this is less likely than some of the younger forwards I’ve highlighted here.

Edmonton: Holland did a lot this offseason, and I wasn’t a huge fan of a lot of his moves. That being said the Oilers are in a good spot, perhaps their best in several year heading into 21/22. A huge part of it is a potential youth movement dawning underneath the RNH-McDavid lottery crew. The first prospect to point to would be forward Dylan Holloway, who posted a really strong sophomore season at Wisconsin. Holloway is big and strong, plays centre or wing, gets to dirty areas, wins battles, is a great forechecker, and might even find his way into fitting very nicely alongside either McDavid or Drasaitl. He’s not exactly Zach Hyman, but adding those two to this forward group should work out really well. McLeod and Benson have done enough in the AHL to have every chance to make this roster as well. It’s not out of the question that we see Puljujarvi reach another level of play this year, whether it’s somewhere in this lineup, but honestly now that he’s bounced back and adjusted to the NHL (recouped value) it might not be with the Oilers. I do hope that he gets a shot at a big role, but as we’ve mentioned the forward group is getting crowded. On defence Bouchard is the point of intrigue, especially with the likes of Jones and Bear shipped out. I don’t think he’ll be as good as Dougie Hamilton, but it’s not unreasonable to hope he eclipses fellow offensive defenceman Tyson Barrie in the next 2-3 years. Holland’s track record of slow development from Detroit, as well as the acquisitions of Keith and Ceci tell us all we need to know about Broberg or Samorukov having a chance at cracking this years roster.

Los Angeles: poised to be one of the most exciting, or at least surprising, teams LA has a plethora of candidates for this breakout player discussion. Primarily is the eventuality of Quinton Byfield, who had a strong underage rookie AHL campaign. It’s not too much to think that he could lead this team in points this season, especially with fellow centres Kopitar and Danault taking on the heavy lifting defensively. Outside of that predicting what this lineup might look like is near impossible, and the reason the Kings are often atop any prospect ranking. Kupari, Thomas, Kaliyev, and Turcotte could each make a strong case for making the opening night roster, but based on how crowded the forward group is to start will most likely continue their work in the AHL. On defence there are at least 2 candidates for breakout player, depending on your definition. Mikey Anderson was one of the Kings’ best defenders last season, so the only breakout would be in recognition. Bjornfot played well for the 20-odd games he was in the lineup and will look to continue impressing. Clague is the oldest and has played the least NHL games of these 3 defenders, but with strong skating skill, a large frame, and some offensive abilities might catch a lot of people’s eyes. In a division where the 3 seed is anyone’s game, LA will be a young, fun team that many will be paying attention to and rooting for.

San Jose: The Sharks could really use some breakout players, as some new skill and energy would go a long way towards reinvigorating this franchise. It’s probably at least another year until some offensive options in Gushchin or Wiesblatt are pushing for a spot. There are some forwards like Chmelevski, Blichfeld, and Gregor who could be NHL regulars, but probably not enough to get national attention. The most critical spot will be in net, an area of great concern for the past few seasons. Aiden Hill and James Reimer isn’t exactly a world beating tandem, but could easily give the Sharks their best performance in years. They have Ben Gaudreau (many years away), but much closer are a pit of 23 year olds in Melnichuk and Sawchenko. Neither have played a large volume of games in a season to this point, but specifically Sawchenko has posted really promising results, leading the AHL Barracuda in save percentage the last 2 seasons, yet still splitting time in the ECHL.

Seattle: the Kraken don’t have years of development to fall back on here, but nonetheless found a way to acquire some options for breakouts thru the expansion draft. On defence the most likely is Cale Fleury, as Dunn probably shouldn’t qualify for such a distinction, even after a tough 2021. Up front lies perhaps the biggest x-factor for the team in Morgan Geekie. He’s scored at every level, including his limited amount of games in the NHL despite being used sparingly. That, and the Kraken’s scarcity of young players, centres, and goal scorers make a Geekie breakout a potentially franchise altering development. Alex True might also benefit from a change in scenery under similar criteria, although less likely.

Vancouver: outside of Demko, the biggest reason for a strong Canucks’ season is their top 9 forward group, among which depends on the strong play of a young trio. Dickinson is less of a breakout candidate and more so continuing his good play in a Canadian market, after a few years of playing a role with Dallas that saw him move throughout the lineup. Hoglander was quite good last season, but we should expect his growing influence on play and higher offensive numbers. Podkolzin is similarly well insulated and should have a chance to find a synergous role with good linemates. On defence we will see if Rafferty delivers on promising hype and if Chatfield can continue improving. Although he’s not as young or skilled as many in this conversation Tucker Poolman has an interesting possibility of fitting into this lineup partnered with Quinn Hughes. Personally I’ve liked his play, a good defender with smart enough support pass abilities, and it’s not out of the question he beats out Travis Hamonic for the high leverage opportunity.

Vegas: clearly in a different competitive level than the rest of their division, Vegas’ breakouts will mostly be concerning existing NHLers. Because of their centre group and his draft pedigree Nolan Patrick is a good place to start. He’s missed a lot of time due to injuries, so naturally staying healthy is a big part of it. He’s been effective so far, perhaps lacking in the dynamic qualities you’d expect from a potential 1st overall pick. The Knights have been famously effective at getting the most from their centres, and it’s not rare that a change in scenery can push a players play in a positive direction. Another highly drafted centre will have similar opportunities, as Peyton Krebs tries to make the roster. He has been practicing with Vegas as far back as the 2020 bubble, and posted really promising results in 24 WHL games and 5 AHL games before a 4 game preview in the NHL. Keegan Kolesar played really well last season, and with Tuch out to start the year he might have a good chance to run with an even greater role this season. On defence Hague and Whitecloud have already been performing at a high level, but the longer they stick around the more people will understand that. Brossoit will be in net more often than he was in Winnipeg, and I agree he has a good chance to deliver on those hopes as Vegas gave him a contract the going rate NHL backup, but there’s no reason to think he won’t continue improving and might be in line for a raise at the end of his current deal.

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DGB Grab Bag: The Ten Commandments of Replay Reviews and Challenges

Three stars of comedy

The third star: The Vancouver Whitecaps – They're the local MLS team, and they figured they could work a fun marketing tie-in with the city's NHL team.

Unfortunately, that team is the Canucks, and now that Brock Boeser is hurt they don't score anymore. That was kind of a problem, as the Whitecaps learned over the ensuing three hours.

Welp, indeed. Vancouver sports, everyone!

The second star: These two Wild fans – It's OK, they were distracted by the Canucks having scored a goal.

The first star: The Bruins/Hurricanes highlights – Carolina sportscaster Mark Armstrong is here to give you everything local hockey fans want to see, and literally nothing else.

Be It Resolved

Today, everyone hates instant replay challenges.

The offside reviews are tedious, nitpicky, and often appear to return the incorrect result. And right now, those are considered the good kind of review. The goaltender interference debacle is even worse. There's growing momentum to just get rid of them both, and leave replay review to the bare bone basics like whether a puck was over the goal line.

And that's all well and good. But that's today. Tomorrow, or the day after, or someday down the road, something's going to happen that will result in somebody calling for more replay reviews.

Maybe it will be a high-sticking call where the player was actually clipped by a teammate. Or maybe a puck-over-glass that was actually deflected. Or a too-many-men call where the sixth guy didn't actually hit the ice until his man had reached the bench. Or a crucial icing call where a team had maybe reached the red line.

Whatever it is, somebody out there will suggest we make those plays reviewable. After all, we have the technology. Why not get it right?

So today, I'd like to address those people. When the day comes that we get to meet them, feel free to cut-and-paste everything below and send it to them.

Hello, future hockey fans.

Boy, that sure was a controversial call. Those refs, am I right? You'd think there'd be a better way. Hey, why not use instant replay review? The coaches could decide when to challenge, we'd end up getting the calls right all the time, and then everyone would be happy. What could go wrong?

I'm going to stop you right there.

I come to you from the distant past of many years or months or days ago, and I bring a warning. We went through the same sort of controversy you're living right now with offside and goalie interference, and we, too, thought that replay would fix everything. It didn't. It made everything worse.

It will probably do the same for you, too. Not necessarily—there are cases where replay works fine. But over the last few years, us hockey fans of the distant past have learned a few hard lessons. You should learn them, too, before it's too late.

So be it resolved that we never again add more instant replay until we've acknowledged and accepted these important facts. Let's call them the ten commandments of replay reviews and challenges:

1. The missed call you're mad about probably happens so rarely that changing a bunch of rules is an overreaction.

2. If you give them a challenge, coaches will inevitably end up using it way more than you ever thought they would.

3. As soon as you make something subject to review in the name of "getting it right", fans will expect you to get it right every single time, and you won't.

4. If you think replay will only overturn calls that are obviously and indisputably incorrect instead of fixating on too-close-to-call nitpicking, prepare to be wrong.

5. Even if your replay system works and gets almost everything right, fans will still complain about every call that goes against their team anyway, because that's what fans do.

6. Don't tell yourself that the reviews will be quick. They're never quick.

7. The officials will hate them, and they'll make sure you know it.

8. It's never a good idea to train your fans to react to an exciting play by saying "Hold on, this might just get overturned".

9. You can avoid all these problems with one simple fix: Don't add more replay.

10. Seriously, just don't.

Thanks for reading, NHL fans of the future, and sorry about our haggard appearance. We know that we're a wretched, pathetic lot right now. But if we can be your cautionary example, then maybe all of this will have done some good.

Just don't ignore us. You know, the way we did to those fans from 1999.

Obscure former player of the week

So the Canucks haven't scored in three straight games, giving them a shot at setting the modern record. The key word there is "modern"—even though we're suffering through a two-decade Dead Puck Era, there was a time when goals in the NHL were even harder to come by. The low point came during the 1928-29 season, when the average game featured fewer than three goals. That season's Chicago Black Hawks managed just 33 goals in 34 games, and at one point went a ridiculous eight straight games without scoring at all.

So today, let's bestow obscure player honors on the man who finally broke that streak: Johnny Gottselig.

Gottselig grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, but he was born in Klosterdorf, a small village that was then part of the Russian Empire. This fact isn't recognized in some history books, since he spent some of his youth pretending to have been born in Canada to speed up border crossings, but he was one of the first Russian-born players in NHL history.

He made his debut with the Hawks as a left winger for that 1928-29 season and scored just five goals that first year, which doesn't sound like much but was good for third on the team. Perhaps the biggest came one minute into the team's Feb. 5, 1929 game in Detroit, when Gottselig's goal snapped that eight-game drought. Like many goals scored that season, it held up as the winner in a 1-0 final.

Gottselig went on to play 16 years with Chicago. He recorded a pair of 20-goal seasons, finished third in Hart Trophy voting in 1939, and won two Stanley Cups. The second of those came in 1938, when Gottselig was captain, and he'd later coach the team for four years, making him both the first European-born coach and Cup-winning captain in league history.

New entries for the hockey dictionary

Lower standings injury (noun) – Hockey fans are familiar with the league's insistence on never telling us which players have which injuries. Instead, we get the "upper body injury" and "lower body injury" designations. Those terms are largely useless and they annoy you, but you're an NHL fan and the league hates you so screw you.

But these days, there's a far more important type of injury gripping the league. You can see them popping up in places like Buffalo, Arizona, Vancouver, and Ottawa. Montreal has a ton, including to most of their best players. It's the dreaded last-season injury that shuts a player down for the rest of the season, as long as that player happens to be playing for a team that's well out of the playoff race.

Nobody knows why so many of these injuries happen at this time of year, and only to the bad teams. Clearly it can't be tanking, because we've been assured that doesn't exist. So chalk it up to bad luck, I guess. Every year, some poor team that's already headed toward securing the best odds for the draft lottery suddenly has all their players get hurt. It can be a terrible thing—some of the dozen or so Maple Leafs who all suffered the same fate back in 2016 still haven't recovered.

The phenomenon happens often enough that it needs a name. So forget about the standard LBI and UBI—we're introducing the LSI. A lower standings injury is anything that removes a key player from a terrible team's lineup just in time for a late push for lottery odds.

(Incidentally, you may be wondering if there's such a thing as an upper standings injury. There is, although those tend not to be as serious, and only ever impact teams that already have their playoff seed locked up. For reasons nobody can figure out, teams fighting for a wild-card spot somehow manage to remain completely healthy.)

Researchers are working to find a cure for lower standings injuries. We're trying to get a few strands of Oscar Klefbom's DNA to figure out why he's the only one who's ever been immune to the condition. In the meantime, please say a prayer for all the LSI victims who've already been identified, and the many more we'll be hearing about over the next few days and weeks.

Classic YouTube clip breakdown

It's St. Patrick's Day this weekend. Say those words to most people, and they'll start thinking about green beer and leprechauns. But say them to old-school hockey fans, and they'll start thinking about the St. Patrick's Day Massacre, the infamous 1991 brawl between the Blackhawks and Blues.

Well, "brawl" isn't quite accurate. No, the Massacre actually refers to several brawls that took place over the course of the game. The most memorable of those is the one you're probably thinking of when you hear somebody reference the Massacre: Scott Stevens and Dave Manson squaring off at center ice for one of the great one-on-one showdowns in hockey history. We gave that one the YouTube breakdown treatment a few years ago.

But that fight never happens if it's not for an incident earlier in the game that set the tone for the rest of the night. So today, let's go back the most famous moment in the history of the Blues/Blackhawks rivalry, and then go back just a little further to the earlier brawl that set the stage.

This is, as will soon become clear, the local Chicago broadcast of the game. Our play-by-play voice is Pat Foley, and fair warning, he's going to get just a little bit homer-y here. Ordinarily that's annoying, but we can't stay mad at the man who gave us the wee-knee clip, so he's forgiven.

So we're just under six minutes into the game, with Chicago leading 1-0. In theory, it's an important game, with just two weeks left in the season and these two teams battling for the Presidents' Trophy. But as we're about to find out, the Blues have come to town with another priority in mind: dishing out some payback to Jeremy Roenick.

This all goes back to a game between the two teams a few weeks earlier, one that had featured a hard hit by Roenick on Bob Bassen. That had led to legendary Blues GM Ron Caron calling out Roenick as a dirty player in an epic rant that included lines like "He doesn't pick on someone who could beat him up, he hits you from the blind side and takes off," and "Because he's young, talented and cute, he gets away with that." Ron Caron was the best.

Back to the March 17 game, and our clip picks up in the aftermath of another big Roenick hit, this one against Harold Snepsts. We join the action right after, and if you watch carefully you'll notice something unusual at the 0:03 mark—a Blues player hops off the bench and joins the scrum. That turns out to be important.

Roenick's timing isn't great on this one, as the Blues have several tough guys on the ice for this shift. That's right, teams used to dress multiple enforcers for each game and play them on the same line. Why yes, the NHL was an interesting league to watch in the early 90s, thanks for asking.

One of those tough guys, the fantastically named Glen Featherstone, goes after Roenick, but Keith Brown steps in to save his smaller teammate. Within seconds, Featherstone's jersey is over his head and Brown's helmet is covering his face and neither guy can see anything. Do they stop throwing haymakers? [Checks notes that just say "It's the Norris Division."] No they do not.

As that fight is getting broken up, the Blues start chasing after Roenick. First it's tough guy Darren Kimble, and then Kelly Chase shows up. Chase had been called up for this game, pretty much for this specific purpose. He's also the guy who left the bench at the beginning of the clip, temporarily giving the Blues an extra man in the fight and earning himself a ten-game suspension. He doesn't really get to Roenick, but in the commotion Kimble circles back and starts throwing sucker punches.

Fun fact: Every 80s and 90s brawl features at least one player you recognize but swear was too young to be in the league at the time. For this brawl, the role will be played by Rod Brind'Amour.

The Blackhawks bench nearly empties, which would have been the first bench-clearing brawl since 1987. There hasn't been a full-scale version since, although we've had a few near-misses at the end of periods. I don't know what it would take to cause another one after three decades, but I'm sure Brad Marchand is working on it.

We see Kimble leave the ice, which reminds us of two things: his hockey hair was amazing, and it was completely insane that visiting players had to walk up and down a flight of stairs with no hand railing at the old Chicago Stadium.

"And now Snepsts is going to try to get at Yawney!" Admit it, for a second when you heard that you thought the Blues were trying to fight this guy.

The officials try to clean up the remaining scrums while Foley breathlessly vows that the Hawks can't be intimidated and Snepsts makes crazy old-man eyes at everyone. Meanwhile, the Stadium organist hits us with some Phantom of the Opera. Good times all around.

The two teams mostly behaved themselves for the rest of the period before resuming hostilities in the second, which is when the second line brawl and the Manson/Stevens showdown happens. What can I tell you, both teams had Sutters on the coaching staff, so this was all pretty much inevitable.

And that's about it. The second half of our clip is just a replay of basically the entire brawl, because back then you had to kill some time while the officials sorted out all the penalties. And there were plenty in this game—278 PIM in all, including 13 ejections. The league also handed out 22 games worth of suspensions. We all agreed that this was a terrible thing, and the NHL would be a far better place if this sort of nonsense never happened again.

[Spends the next three hours watching Norris Division brawls on YouTube.]

Have a question, suggestion, old YouTube clip, or anything else you'd like to see included in this column? Email Sean at nhlgrabbag@gmail.com.

DGB Grab Bag: The Ten Commandments of Replay Reviews and Challenges published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[amtushinfosolutionspage]

DGB Grab Bag: Happy Birthday Gretzky, Mid-Season Awards, and a Crotch Goal

Three Stars of Comedy

The third star: The Crotch Goal – It’s a lot like the Butt Goal, only with less butt and more crotch.

The second star: Jimmy Eat World – Yes, the band. No, I didn’t expect them to ever show up in this section either. But that was before they started dunking on team Twitter accounts.

Seriously, is it too late to get these guys to perform at the All-Star Game instead of Kid Rock? They don’t even have to sing, they can just go through all the league’s social media accounts and rip them individually. Let’s make this happen.

The first star: Auston Matthews is one of us – Nobody knows what goaltender interference is anymore. That includes Matthews, who lost a goal on Monday to a phantom interference penalty after a lengthy review. But it was worth it, because it gave us this all-purpose reaction GIF we can now use for pretty much every decision the NHL makes.

He followed that up with a goal and another classic reaction. Strong GIF work out there, Auston. Remember kids, there is no “I” in meme.

Outrage of the Week

The issue: For the first time in decades, the PHWA has released a round of midseason awards, covering all the major trophies and a few made-up ones as well.

The outrage: The results are wrong and the writers are stupid and you feel strongly about this.

Is it justified: I don’t even know what the results are as I’m writing this, or whether they’ll have been released by the time you read this (they’re supposed to come out at some point this morning). I just know that somebody out there is angry about them. And that’s good. That’s part of the fun. If we didn’t debate the picks, the whole process would be awfully boring.

If we’re being honest, the midseason picks will probably be even easier to criticize than the final season-ending votes. We’re working with a smaller sample size, but since these aren’t official awards there will probably be less time spent on the research side of things. (Believe it or not, PHWA members are known for obsessing over the details on their year-end ballots.) Some of these won’t hold up well a week or two from now, let alone at the end of the year.

But again, that’s part of the fun. So in the interest of transparency, here’s the ballot I submitted. I look forward to helpful feedback about how I can do better in the future. [brick flies by head] Oh cool, there’s some already.

Hart Trophy

1. Nathan MacKinnon

2. Nikita Kucherov

3. John Tavares

4. Blake Wheeler

5. Alexander Ovechkin

MacKinnon’s recent hot streak nudges him ahead of Kucherov. I wanted to get Wheeler on to the ballot, as his career year has helped the Jets stay on track even without Mark Scheifele. But that means I don’t have room for Steven Stamkos or Patrice Bergeron, let alone any defensemen or goalies. Here’s hoping a few of these guys separate from the pack in the second half, because right now this is a real tough choice.

Norris Trophy

1. Drew Doughty

2. Victor Hedman

3. P.K. Subban

4. John Klingberg

5. Alex Pietrangelo

I give Doughty a slight edge here, but Hedman is the interesting choice. He’s hurt now, and will miss a few more weeks, so he’s almost definitely not going to win the real award. There are a few guys in that situation around the league. Do you take them off your midseason ballot? I didn’t, just like I wouldn’t eliminate an end-of-season candidate who was hurt on the final weekend.

Vezina Trophy

1. Andrei Vasilevskiy

2. Mike Smith

3. Connor Hellebuyck

4. Pekka Rinne

5. Corey Crawford

This feels like a relatively easy call at #1, followed by about a half-dozen guys who could range from second spot to off the ballot. You could make a case for John Gibson, Frederik Andersen, or Jonathan Quick too.

Calder Trophy

1. Mathew Barzal

2. Brock Boeser

3. Charlie McAvoy

4. Clayton Keller

5. Mikhail Sergachev

The top two guys are running a fantastic race so far. From there, I kept McAvoy on my ballot despite his health issues for the same reason as Hedman. I had Sergachev a bit higher earlier in the week, but the Lightning making him a healthy scratch spooked me a bit.

Lady Byng

1. Marc-Edouard Vlasic

2. Mark Stone

3. Ryan O’Reilly

4. Auston Matthews

5. William Karlsson

Good players dominate this award these days, and rightfully so—they’re the ones targeted for the most abuse, so they get extra credit for not getting sucked in. But players who are asked to shutdown stars have it even tougher, which is why my top three picks here are guys who excel in their own end. You could make a case for all three, but defensemen never win the Lady Byng and that annoys me, so Vlasic is the pick.

Selke

1. Patrice Bergeron

2. Sean Couturier

3. Anze Kopitar

4. Mikael Backlund

5. Aleksander Barkov

A midseason Selke is an especially weird concept, since the real trophy is basically a lifetime achievement award. That tips a close race to Bergeron, even as Couturier emerges as a new contender.

Jack Adams

1. Gerard Gallant

2. Bruce Cassidy

3. Jared Bednar

4. Jon Cooper

5. John Hynes

Gallant will win this easily, and probably the end-of-year award too. I worked in Cooper as a protest vote, since this award shouldn’t always go to somebody from a “surprise” team.

General Manager

1. George McPhee

2. Doug Armstrong

3. David Poile

4. Ray Shero

5. Joe Sakic

This award doesn’t make sense for a full season, so you can imagine how a half-season version feels. It’s another easy Vegas win, while Armstrong made the offseason’s best trade, and Poile is Poile. If you’d told me would be on my ballot I’d have laughed at you, but here we are.

Best defensive defenseman (i.e. The Langway)

1. Hampus Lindholm

2. Mattias Ekholm

3. Marc-Edouard Vlasic

4. Zach Werenski

5. Jason Demers

This Langway doesn’t exist in real life, of course, so the PHWA is having some fun here. It’s a tough one to pick—clearly we’re not looking for guys who rack up points, but how many is too many? Do you set a cutoff? If so, do you eliminate guys with too many points altogether, or penalize them a few spots on the ballot? The real Rod Langway won the Norris in the mid-80s with 30 points, which on an era-adjusted basis would be like -10 today, so he’s no help. I looked at a combination of ice-time, penalty killing, zone starts, and relative possession, but I suspect the results here will be all over the map.

Comeback player

1. Mike Smith

2. Claude Giroux

3. Phil Kessel

4. Marc-Andre Fluery

5. Kris Letang

We weren’t given specific guidance here, but we were told that it wasn’t meant to be a copy of the Masterton. So I went with Smith, a guy who seemed to have fallen off the map in Arizona but has been reborn in Calgary. And Giroux and Kessel are back in the Art Ross race after some down years.

And that’s that. Please keep in mind I submitted this ballot before last night’s games, so if any of my picks are wrong that’s the reason.

Obscure Former Player of the Week

You’ll probably see a lot of birthday wishes being shared today in honor of a certain hockey legend who we’ll get to in the YouTube section. But he’s not the only former player born on this date. There’s also a Hall-of-Famer (Frank Nighbor), a former first overall pick (Dale McCourt), a future head coach (Ivan Hlinka), and a guy who sounds like a deranged serial killer character from a 1980s family sitcom (Alf Skinner).

But for this week’s obscure player, let’s keep it simple and go with another birthday boy: Harold Druken. Druken was a second-round pick by the Canucks in 1997, the same round as, uh, nobody really. Man that was a terrible second round. Druken went back to juniors for two more productive seasons and spent time in the minors before making his NHL debut during the 1990-00 season. He had 16 points in 33 games, then followed that up with 15 goals and 30 points in 55 games in 2000-01; he also scored the overtime goal that clinched the Canucks’ first playoff appearance since 1996.

Unfortunately, that 2000-01 season wound end up representing the peak of his NHL career, as injuries and lack of opportunity prevented him from playing another full season. He was traded to the Hurricanes, then bounced between Carolina and Toronto via waivers and trade. By the time the 2004 lockout arrived, Druken’s NHL career was over.

Today, a YouTube search brings up that playoff-clinching goal, a few fan tributes, a memorial for a different Harold Druken that briefly made me think this one had died, and lots of videos of severely intoxicated dudes fighting and dancing that were posted by people who misspelled “Drunken.” Not a bad legacy if you ask me.

Also, I always read his name in the Street Fighter II voice, and now you will too.

Be It Resolved

We apparently got a sneak peek at the names being considered for the NHL’s upcoming Seattle expansion team this week, as several domain registrations appeared to reveal the list of candidates.

Some are good (Sockeyes, Firebirds, Sea Lions), some are not good (Evergreens, Renegades), and some are just ripping off old teams (Seals, Whales). Some are uninspired choices that you used to use in your made-up hockey leagues when you were a kid (Cougars, Eagles). And some sound good, but would get annoying almost immediately (yes, yes, “Release the Kraken,” that is indeed a fun line from a movie that came out in 1981).

But while we’re at it, am I the only one who thinks it’s weird that “Metropolitans” isn’t on the list? The Seattle Metropolitans were the first American team to ever win the Stanley Cup. It happened in 1917, months before the NHL was formed. That seems like a pretty cool bit of history that you might want to acknowledge.

As an added bonus, having a team named the Metropolitans would force the NHL to change the name of the Metropolitan Division, which we can all agree would be a good thing. And as the Senators have shown us, if you use the same name as an old and forgotten franchise from a century ago, you get to lay claim to the championships for some reason.

So be it resolved, the new Seattle team should be called the Seattle Metropolitans. The Metros for short. Who’s with me? MET-ROS! MET-ROS!

Nobody? Dammit, you kids today have no sense of history. Fine, Sea Lions it is.

Classic YouTube Clip Breakdown

Today is Wayne Gretzky’s birthday, as the greatest player in NHL history turns [checks notes] … 57? Dear god, that can’t be right, can it? We are all so old. I need to lie down. Wait, that was a bad idea, now I can’t get back up.

I know what will make me feel better. Let’s travel back – way, way back – to a time when Gretzky was just a fresh-faced teenager, as he does one of his first major appearances in front of the national media.

It’s 1977, and a 16-year-old Gretzky is sitting down with the CBC’s Peter Gzowski. He’s already a heavily hyped prospect at this point, and he’s just joined the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. I realize the quality isn’t super great here, but remember this is from a time before high-def cameras, crystal clear audio, and also, apparently, lights.

Gzowski’s first question is about Gretzky’s poise, which leads into his origin story. “When I was two years old I started skating, and I’d be out on in my backyard on the rink every day until one in the morning.” Wait, what? I don’t like to tell people who to raise their kids, but two-year-olds probably shouldn’t be outside after midnight. That seems extreme to me.

“I left home when I was thirteen.” Yeah, to escape the mandatory middle-of-the-night skating drills, I’m guessing.

Next comes a funny sequence about how Gretzky is still growing but has trouble gaining weight. He claims to be 160 pounds, and Gzowski just openly calls B.S. on him right then and there. Like he doesn’t even let him finish the sentence, he just goes right into basically saying “Nice try spaghetti arms, you’re not fooling anyone.” I thoroughly enjoyed Peter Gzowski.

And yes, this is of course the same Gzowski who we saw earlier this season sparring with Dick Beddoes in 1982 over how hairy Gretzky’s legs were. His skinny, hairless legs.

We get a few shots of Gretzky at practice. You can tell the clip is from early in the season, because he’s wearing #14. He’d asked for #9, a number he’d worn for years, but teammate Brian Gualazzi already had it and refused to give it up to a rookie. Legend has it that Greyhounds coach Muzz MacPherson convinced Gretzky to switch to #99 instead, and the rest was history.

Can we just take a minute to appreciate young Wayne’s collar game? As best I can tell based on this being filmed in candlelight, he appears to be wearing two separate butterfly collars with a mock turtleneck in between. It’s like the animal kingdom is waging war for this throat.

Next up we see Gretzky’s parents, Walter and Phyllis. Gzowski asks if they’re worried that their scrawny son will get hurt, and Walter explains that Wayne has an uncanny ability to avoid contact. Meanwhile, Phyllis stands silently and makes angry mom face at the idea of anyone touching her boy. Forget Dave Semenko, hockey moms are the ones you have to watch for.

We’re back to Wayne, who’s asked how much thinking he does on the ice. He explains that he tries to think ahead as much as possible, but it doesn’t always work. “The other night in Ottawa I was going to do something, I was thinking of it anyway, and then all of a sudden everything just went blank.” I’m pretty sure that’s the 2017-18 Senators’ team slogan, actually.

We get a blink-and-you-miss-it clip of an insane goalie going full Hasek on a poke check attempt, then it’s back to Walter. He’s asked if his son will be the next Bobby Orr, but stickhandles around the question to explain that it’s really Wayne’s schooling that matters. By the way, solid collar work by Walter here too. The well-decorated Adam’s apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

The education theme continues as Gretzky describes his plan to play two years of junior, finish high school, and then “Yes I’ll be going to university for sure.” Gzowski basically calls B.S. again, and this time Gretzky immediately abandons the idea. That’s strike two, Wayne, you lie to Peter Gzowski one more time and he’ll McCreary you.

We close with a sweet view of Gretzky walking down the streets of Sault Ste. Marie. The CBC somehow managed to edit out the “Staying Alive” soundtrack that must have followed Wayne around at all times back in those days. They do leave in the guy in the car in the background who seems to be flipping the bird out the window, though.

Gretzky describes the pressure of playing in a small town, then closes on an optimistic note by hoping he can have a good season. Epilogue: He did, putting up 182 points in 63 games. That one season was it for his junior career, as he was off to the WHA by 1978 and in the NHL a year after that. He’d go on to smash every offensive record in the book, despite the relentless march of time having a devastating effect on the quality of his wardrobe.

Have a question, suggestion, old YouTube clip, or anything else you’d like to see included in this column? Email Sean at nhlgrabbag@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @DownGoesBrown .

DGB Grab Bag: Happy Birthday Gretzky, Mid-Season Awards, and a Crotch Goal syndicated from https://australiahoverboards.wordpress.com

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Goalie Controversies in Calgary and Pittsburgh, The NHL’s Top Line Debate, and The Tale of Shotgun Jake (Nov 11)

Goalie Controversies in Calgary and Pittsburgh, The NHL’s Top Line Debate, and The Tale of Shotgun Jake

Lots of happenings with early games today, so that’s where we’ll start.

The Sabres scored two late third-period goals with the net empty to pull even with the Canucks, then won 4-3 in a shootout. For the Sabres, there were injury scares for both Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart in the first period, but both were able to return in the second period. Reinhart scored the game-tying goal and was able to assist on Jeff Skinner’s goal just 40 seconds earlier. He now has two points in each of back-to-back games.

Skinner now has 12 goals, which tied him for the league lead following this game. Skinner has scored all of these 12 goals over the last 13 games after being held without a point over his first four games. He is already half way toward his goal total from all of last season. As long as he’s lining up with Eichel, he appears to be a big winner in last summer’s offseason moves.

The Canucks also have some recent scoring runs worth mentioning, even if the majority of fantasy owners aren’t concerned.

With his goal on Saturday, Erik Gudbranson is on a five-game point streak and has scored goals in back-to-back games. He’s never been known for offense as long as he’s been in the NHL, but someone on the Canucks’ defense has had to pick up the slack offensively while Alex Edler is out of the lineup.

Loui Eriksson added another goal and assist on Saturday. Channeling the pre-Vancouver version of Eriksson (the one that earned a $6 million per season for six seasons), he now has four goals and seven points over his last four games. He couldn’t score after his first 14 games, but he appears to have found new life on Bo Horvat’s line. Take that for what it’s worth and roll the dice if you’re daring enough.

Jake Virtanen scored a goal while taking six shots on goal in 20 minutes of icetime while playing on the Canucks’ top line with Elias Pettersson. He’s now scored goals in back-to-back games and has scored seven goals already. But where he’s really grabbing the world’s attention is through the #ShotgunJake Twitter trend. In case you haven’t heard of it, Canucks’ fans will “shotgun” a beer whenever Virtanen scores. Fellow Rambler Cam Robinson provides a visual example here.  

My maiden voyage. #shotgunjake pic.twitter.com/aytxtucU8t

— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) November 10, 2018

You can read the background of Shotgun Jake straight from one of the Vancouver sports talk radio hosts who created the trend (from The Athletic). To summarize, it was created as a motivational tool for Canucks’ fans to have fun during what was expected to be a dull season and for Virtanen to reach 20 goals, a prediction that one of the hosts made (and was promptly laughed at).

Will Virtanen, who has been considered an underachiever after being selected as a high first-round pick right before William Nylander and Nikolaj Ehlers, show at least a minor breakout and hit 20? Well, he’s only got 13 to go and over three-quarters of the season left. And he’s scored more goals than Nylander and Ehlers combined this season (I know, I know, I cherry-picked that one). But because of the Brock Boeser groin injury, which is now being called week to week, Virtanen could be on the top line for at least a few more games.

By the way, Pettersson was held without a point on Saturday in spite of logging 24 minutes of icetime.

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Flyers’ goalies can provide fantasy value after all. Brian Elliott stopped all 33 shots he faced in the Flyers’ 4-0 win over Chicago. You might find this hard to believe, but Elliott has now earned wins in each of his last four games. After stumbling out of the gate and battling an injury recently, Elliott appears to be the man between the pipes for the Flyers going forward.

Claude Giroux might be one of your NHL Three Stars to be announced on Monday. After scoring a goal and adding two assists with a plus-4 on Saturday, Giroux is up to eight points (3g-5a) with a plus-8 this week. Let’s just say he’s making life difficult for me in one of my head-to-head matchups. Giroux has logged at least 21 minutes of icetime in each of his last four games, so he is thriving on the additional minutes.

Playing on Giroux’s line, Sean Couturier scored two goals and added an assist. He’s recorded points in five of his last six games and has six points (3g-3a) over his last three games.

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With John Klingberg expected to be sidelined for the next four weeks, Miro Heiskanen took over first-unit power-play duties for the Stars on Saturday. Although he was held without a point, Heiskanen logged a career-high 29 minutes. As Cam mentioned in yesterday’s Ramblings, Heiskanen is worth grabbing immediately if he’s still available in your league. 

Julius Honka, who is also worth paying attention to while Klingberg is out, recorded an assist in 17 minutes of icetime. His power-play time was limited to just 12 seconds, though. This stretch without Klingberg will be telling as to whether Honka has much of a future as a fantasy contributor. Otherwise, he might be headed down a similar career path as someone like Derrick Pouliot.

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The Oilers have sent both Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi to the AHL. They have a combined three points and have been healthy scratched numerous times, so this appears to be the best move as far as their long-term development goes. This should also cement Ty Rattie on the Connor McDavid line, as if there were any doubt.

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If David Pastrnak isn’t an elite fantasy option, then should he be considered one? Pastrnak recorded a hat trick with one assist on seven shots on goal in the Bruins’ 5-1 win over Toronto. With 15 goals in just 16 games, Pasta is now the NHL’s goal leader and three goals clear of a number of players tied for second. He is also the only player with three 4-point games this season.

A stellar game from Pastrnak also means that Patrice Bergeron (1g-2a) and Brad Marchand (2a) were also in on the action. Bergeron is now tied for the scoring lead with Mikko Rantanen, each with 24 points. Both Boston’s top line and Colorado’s top line currently has a combined 64 points in 16 games (4.0 Pts/GP). As far as the argument goes for who hockey’s top line is, it’s currently a dead heat.

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My counter to my opponent’s Giroux (to some degree) is my Matt Duchene. With a goal and two assists on Saturday, Duchene has seven points (2g-5a) over his last three games. He’s also scoring at over a point per game this season (19 points in 17 games). Duchene has only three power-play points all season, so imagine his overall production if he actually paid attention in power-play meetings. By the way, one of those three power-play points was earned on Saturday.  

Is Mathieu Joseph the next Yanni Gourde in Tampa Bay? I’m not going to attempt to predict that, given how under-the-radar Gourde was. But Joseph took a step in that direction on Saturday, scoring two goals and an assist in the Bolts’ loss. Joseph isn’t a top-6 forward and he’s not earning any power-play time at the moment. But he’s always an injury or two away from an increased role. Then you never know.

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Max Pacioretty was held without a point with a minus-2 in his return to Montreal, but it wasn’t due to lack of trying. Patches took nine shots on goal in 20 minutes of icetime, including five shots in the first period alone. There might be signs of life, as some of this poor production (two points in 13 games) is due to bad luck. But I completely understand if you couldn’t wait any longer and needed to move on.

With four goals in 17 games, it’s already apparent that William Karlsson won’t match last-season’s out-of-nowhere 43 goals. But with 14 points in 17 games, Karlsson is at least earning his keep on fantasy rosters. Karlsson scored a goal and added two assists on Saturday, but the goal was his first in seven games.

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With a goal on Saturday, Mike Hoffman’s point streak is now up to 11 games. This is currently the longest active point streak in the league. He has 12 points, including seven goals, over his point streak.

Not to be outdone by much, Evgenii Dadonov now has a 10-game point streak after recording an assist on Hoffman’s goal. Dadonov has 12 points, including six goals, over his point streak.   

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Penguins’ GM Jim Rutherford may be thinking about making some changes to his team’s roster after its recent five-game slide. One minor change that is already being made is with backup Casey DeSmith starting more often. DeSmith stopped all 39 shots he faced in the Pens’ 4-0 win over Arizona.

Matt Murray owners might know all too well that DeSmith has now started back-to-back games for the Pens. With the shutout, DeSmith might have earned himself a third consecutive start on Tuesday against New Jersey. In the same number of games, DeSmith’s GAA is a full two goals less than Murray’s. Murray owners need to find a way to handcuff DeSmith right now if he’s still available. At the moment, DeSmith is owned in just 16 percent of Yahoo leagues.

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Anthony Mantha can be maddeningly inconsistent, as you may have noticed with two 4-game stretches without a point already this season. Mantha took a step in the right direction on Saturday, though, scoring twice with a plus-2 on five shots on goal in 20 minutes of icetime. The potential is there, but it might be better to take a wait-and-see approach on Mantha in standard-sized leagues.

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Since I was at a WHL game on Saturday night, this is a great time for me to bring up Cam’s 2019 Draft Rankings over at Dobber Prospects. In fact, I was able to catch #6 on his list, Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants. Although he was held without a point in Saturday’s game, blueliner Byram is still one of the Giants’ scoring leaders with 14 points in 18 games. I was told that the Kings/Flames game on during that time was a dud, so maybe it’s a good thing that I missed that one to go watch some junior hockey

David Rittich didn’t break a huge sweat in earning his first career shutout, stopping all 21 shots he faced against a sagging Kings’ team. Rittich has now earned wins in his last three games, which has now forced Bill Peters to use Mike Smith and him as a timeshare over the last half-dozen games. With how much better Rittich (1.91 GAA, .935 SV%) has played over Smith (3.66 GAA, .872 SV%), he has at least earned that much. Rittich could certainly be owned in more Yahoo leagues than he is (just 17 percent at the moment).

If you want to pick Kings’ players that are slumping, there’s plenty to choose from. But the one regular who tops everyone is Dion Phaneuf, who does not even have a single point in 16 games this season. He’s averaging only 16 minutes of icetime, including just 11 minutes on Saturday. To boot, he’s also a team-low minus-12. He’s definitely droppable, even in leagues that count hits and blocked shots. Even though he still contributes in those categories, he has been too much of a liability in the other categories.

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Finally, today is Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the United States. Please take a moment to think about those who have served to protect the freedoms that we enjoy today.

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For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-goalie-controversies-in-calgary-and-pittsburgh-the-nhls-top-line-debate-and-the-tale-of-shotgun-jake-nov-11/

[thrashermaxey]

20 Fantasy Hockey Thoughts

Every Sunday, we'll share 20 Fantasy Thoughts from our writers at DobberHockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week's "Daily Ramblings".

Writers: Michael Clifford, Ian Gooding, Cam Robinson, and Dobber

  1. Micheal Ferland has been a wrecking ball in Carolina. For example, last Sunday, he scored, added eight hits, and even had four faceoff wins, to help out those leagues that count that. Boy was I wrong about this guy. I had him trending the opposite way in the Guide. I should have read it better – the Hurricanes wanted sandpaper, they have a hard-working coach. So, of course they would give Ferland top billing. I miffed this one, just a poor read. Seems so obvious now. (oct15)

  2. After years of being a source of many dominant fantasy hockey teams, the Red Wings don’t have much for fantasy owners to get excited about anymore. But one early sleeper from the Wings is rookie blueliner Dennis Cholowski, who leads the team in both power-play minutes and total minutes (21:48/GP). Cholowski scored a goal and added an assist while taking five shots on Saturday to give him five points in six games, including four power-play points. He could easily hit a rookie wall at some point, but he’s owned in just seven percent of Yahoo leagues. That’s surprisingly low ownership for a player earning first-unit power-play minutes, even if it is for a likely lottery-bound team. (oct20)

  3. In case you hadn’t noticed, Anders Nilsson just recently enjoyed a three-game run, all wins, where he posted a 1.67 GAA and .943 SV%. Yes, I was as surprised as you are. Do remember, though, that after last season, he backstopped Sweden to a World Hockey Championship.

A long-term question is whether Nilsson will unseat Jacob Markstrom as the de facto number one in Van City. I’d say that Nilsson would need more consistency than we’re used to with him before I would proclaim that he will be the guy two months from now. He could also easily force a timeshare with Markstrom, which might be the more likely scenario here. The Canucks are playing well right now, but their defense is the envy of no team. So, over an entire season, I still wouldn’t consider either Nilsson or Markstrom to be a must-own. (oct17)

  4. It’s finally happened, folks. Evgeni Kuznetsov is a superstar. We’ve been as patient as any sane human could ever hope for. Four years of KHL action that had Caps fans and fantasy junkies salivating at the prospect of him tearing it up in the Nation’s Capitol. It took nearly 100 games to push near the point-per-game mark, then a quick backslide and now, now it is here!

Sure, it’s only been six weeks, but all the magical ingredients are coming together. He’s 26-years-old and still in his statistical prime. He’s clicking on a heeeealthy 16.7 percent of his shots, all the while eating up the entirety of all-situations deployment next to the best finisher of all-time (Alex Ovechkin).

Speaking of time-on-ice, he’s getting a lot of it. Through seven games, he’s played 20:57. That’s more than three minutes above the mark he set last season – which represented a career-high at the time. His time-on-ice total places him firmly in the top 10 for forwards to begin the season. With over four minutes of that coming on the man-advantage, you can’t ask for better deployment. The scary thing is, he hasn’t even begun filling his apple basket by feeding Ovi for the patented one-timer. Of Kuzya’s six power-play points, four of them have been goals. That rate will dip, but the PPA’s should more than make up for it. He’s also shooting more than ever before, averaging 3.43 per game. His previous career-high was 2.35.

Last year, we had an unseasonable number of high-end scorers. Nine players cusped the 90-point threshold. Will anyone be surprised if Kuznetsov breaks that milestone this season? I don’t know about you, but I snuck a little preseason coin on him grabbing the Hart Trophy. At 82-1 odds I would’ve been stupid not to, right? Right? Right. (oct19)

  5. Jeff Skinner entered Saturday afternoon’s game against LA with just one goal in his first seven games as a Sabre, mainly playing on a line with rookie Casey Mittelstadt and veteran Kyle Okposo. But on Saturday, Skinner found himself on a line with Jack Eichel and Jason Pominville and produced exactly what the Sabres hoped he would when they acquired him from Carolina, scoring three goals in a 5-1 win. In fact, his entire line combined for nine points in this game. Eichel recorded three assists, while Pominville scored a goal and added two assists.

Eichel’s previous linemates, Sam Reinhart and Conor Sheary, found themselves centered by Vladimir Sobotka, which is obviously a significant downgrade from Eichel. Reinhart has yet to score a goal in eight games, while both Reinhart and Sheary have been held without points in their last three games. Obviously, lines are constantly in a state of flux, but as an owner of both Reinhart and Sheary in separate leagues, I’m not thrilled about the deployment at least in the short term. (oct20)

  6. Here's some more good news for Sabres' fans, they're not in the basement! It might not sound like much but for a team with such a storied history in the cellar, their 4-4 start must be considered a step forward. What's even more heartening is the play of their prospects in AHL Rochester. Victor Olofsson and his ridiculous release crossed over from the SHL this fall and has been terrorizing goaltenders in the AHL early and often. The 23-year-old led the SHL in goals last season and is leading the AHL in points (14) and sits tied for third in goals (5).

Fellow Swede and SHL import, Lawrence Pilut is second among AHL blueliners in points with 10 in six games. The most relieving start has to be from former eighth overall pick, Alex Nylander. The Sabres top pick from 2016 has struggled in two teenaged seasons in the American League. But, so far in 2018-19, he has produced eight points in eight games and looks ready to really knock the door down for a NHL gig. He hasn't been a passenger either. Of his eight total points, seven have been primary and five have come at even-strength. It's just him and Olli Juolevi who haven't cracked the NHL from the top 10 in 2016. The race is on to see who gets the call first. (oct19)

  7. Ryan Suter has seven points in eight games. He looks none the worse after that nasty ankle break last spring. He’s playing over 25 minutes a contest, which is likely a better place for the 33-year-old than 27-29 range he’s lived in in the past. He may not be flashy, but Suter is as consistent as they come. He's played at or above a 40-point pace in eight consecutive years and nine of his 13 career seasons. (oct19)

  8. Roope Hintz got a turn on the Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin line Friday. Hintz always been an interesting talent. He found good success in the Finnish Liiga but none more than his playoff run in 2016-17 with HIFK. He led the league in scoring that spring and that helped catapult him to a 20-goal rookie season in the American League last year. He's a young player to watch. The change-up was the result of an Alexander Radulov lower-body injury. Something to keep an eye on. (oct19)

  9. Elias Lindholm sure looks like he's found his forever home. The talented Swedish forward has toyed with fantasy owners for years. He had the lofty draft slot, the silky skills and the promise of more production to come. However, over the course of his five NHL seasons, he'd never broke the 50-point barrier. That mark is certainly in danger this season.

A goal and an assist in Calgary's 5-3 loss Nashville on Friday brings him up to five goals eight points in seven games. That's all well and good, but what I like to see is the insanely juicy deployment. Lindholm is locked onto to Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan at even-strength and on the top power-play unit. He's skating over 19 minutes a night with 4:41 coming on the man-advantage. You can't ask for much better than that. The shooting percent is ridiculous (35%) and due for a fistful of a market correction, but this a player who has always appeared to have 60-plus point upside and he's trending nicely towards that this season.

Things haven't been as rosy for the other major forward addition in Calgary. James Neal has just two points in seven contests.  With the Flames putting the Mikael Backlund-led  3M line back together, Neal is struggling to find much offense next to Sam Bennett and Mark Jankowski/Derek Ryan. The second unit power-play deployment isn't helping much either. To make matters worse, he has just 11 shots in seven games, five of which came in game two of the season. It's time to cut ties if you haven't already. (oct19)

  10. The Predators have placed Pekka Rinne on injured reserve, which makes Juuse Saros a must-add if he’s still available in your league (47 percent owned in Yahoo leagues at the time of this writing). Saros has played in four games this season, and all have resulted in wins.

If Saros is still unowned in your league, I can’t stress enough how you need to go add him now. Go directly to the waiver wire. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. And even when Rinne returns, you should try to find a way to retain Saros given the Preds’ status as one of the league’s top teams. Remember that Rinne is on the final year of his contract, so a phase-in could be in the works. Even if Saros is pushed to the bench when Rinne returns, owning a strong backup is in many ways better for your fantasy team than owning a weak starter. (oct20)

  11. How quickly things can change. In a recent Ramblings, I mentioned the solid play of Semyon Varlamov. Since then, coach Jared Bednar has decided to turn to Philipp Grubauer not once, but twice. Grubauer made Bednar’s decision look smart on Saturday, making 42 saves in a 3-1 win. This is shaping up to be an all-out competition in the Colorado net, with both goalies playing extremely well. Despite facing an average of 35 shots per game (one of the highest in the league), the Avalanche hold one of the league’s highest team save percentages. (oct20)

  12. Has Keith Kinkaid earned the starting job for good? Even though Cory Schneider has the larger paycheque with the longer term, this job could be Kinkaid’s to lose. Either way, Kinkaid is the perfect third goalie to own right now. (oct17)

  13. I mentioned that you should probably hold Kevin Shattenkirk in spite of his healthy scratch last week because of his 50-plus point upside on the blueline, but I’m not going to tell you to do the same with Brandon Saad. Unless you play in a very deep league, Saad is most likely replaceable given the number of available forward scoring options. Saad could very well become fantasy relevant again at some point, but it’s been a calendar year since he’s been able to produce at a 50-point pace. (oct17)

  14. If you own Pavel Buchnevich and are wondering whether to drop him, it appears that his scratch this past week isn’t due to a lack of scoring. Buchnevich has scored two goals and added an assist in his six games, which isn’t drop-worthy on its own. In fact, Buchnevich could rebound from this and become a more complete player who competes harder, assuming the coach’s message gets through. If you’re in a league where every game played matters and there’s an equal or better option, then make the move. Otherwise, I’d be fine with holding here.

On a side note, if you’re a Shattenkirk and/or Buchnevich owner, you’ll know by now that coach David Quinn doesn’t care about your fantasy team. I say that facetiously, though. Sarcasm doesn’t translate well over the internet sometimes. (oct17)

  15. When the Erik Karlsson trade was announced, the first thing that popped in my head was how this was going to affect the power play. For years, Brent Burns had been the focal point, ripping shots at will. That helped push him over 300 shots per season for three years. My assumption had been that Karlsson would be a facilitator on the PP with Burns retaining his shot-ripping role.

It hasn’t quite worked that way. And there is cause for concern here. Burns’s shot rate on the PP is his lowest in a decade, about 25 percent lower than last year, and he’s lost about three minutes per game at five-on-five (which I did not anticipate). The latter could lead to a loss of six or seven points alone. Unless that production is made up on the power play, this could be a very down year from what we had been expecting from him. (oct16)

  16. In an effort to maximize the odds that Jake Allen will pan out, the Blues put all their eggs into that basket. To give him confidence and remove any competition for his job. But now, we’re seeing the downside to that. Chad Johnson has been decent but is not going to bail this team out the way Carter Hutton did last year. It’s Allen or bust. Mike Yeo could be the first coach fired this year. (oct15)

  17. I have this ‘breakout’ vibe on Jakob Silfverberg, a la Josh Bailey (last year) or Brad Marchand (three years ago). That’s how good he’s been looking. That’s why it’s such a shame that he left last Sunday’s contest with an upper-body injury in the third. Back in August, I mused that Silfverberg was the perfect Bailey/Marchand situation template: Has more offensive talent than he’s shown, has solidified his production window in around that 50-point range, and it’s now at the point where we don’t expect more (just as it was with Marchand and Bailey). And then ‘whoa’, he gets 65 points out of the blue. So far Silf has seven points in six games so let’s hope he returns soon. (oct15)

  18. I talked about Silfverberg and the Bailey breakouts but Kyle Palmieri is also a suitable candidate. He’s 27 and we have very firm expectations for him and what he can do, as it’s been very stable and reliable in that range. He also plays with Taylor Hall, which can’t hurt. The big Devils’ line (Palmieri, Hall, Nico Hischier) is also the first PP unit. (oct15)

  19. It was a real shame seeing Elias Pettersson go down like that last week. As far as players go, and my early impressions at that point in the season, it’s Pettersson and Auston Matthews. Pettersson is an elite player and I had no idea just how elite until watching two of his games in the NHL. I feel like he’s gonna do what Mathew Barzal did last season, production-wise. It would be a shame if this injury has any long-term implications on his health (i.e. susceptibility to concussion). (oct15)

  20. Matthews has been on another planet. You don’t need me to tell you that. But it’s as if adding John Tavares on another line has freed things up for Matthews to the point where he’s just toying with the poor suckers that the opposition trots out there to try to stop him. I had always considered him a Patrick Kane-type of talent, but now I wonder if he’s a Sidney Crosby-type of generational talent. I don’t use that label very easily. (oct15)

Have a good week, folks!!

    from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/20-fantasy-hockey-thoughts/20-fantasy-hockey-thoughts-46/

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Assist-Heavy Domi and Bailey, Prospects Tournaments (Sept 9)

Assist-Heavy Domi and Bailey, Prospects Tournaments

If you haven’t ordered your copy of the Fantasy Guide, make sure you do so today! While we’re at it, I also highly recommend the Fantasy Hockey Geek Draft Kit for the fact that you can customize your rankings. I’m at the point where I’m using both every day, evaluating players for their relative worths in my various leagues. Use the two together and prepare to dominate!

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Prospects tournaments are in full swing right now, and several big-name prospects have been lighting it up.

Second overall pick Andrei Svechnikov assisted on two goals in the Hurricanes’ prospects 4-1 win over the Blues’ prospects. Both Svechnikov and last season’s first-round pick Martin Necas should be able to make the Hurricanes’ opening-night roster. According to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com, Necas has an opportunity to begin the season on one of the top two lines, while Svechnikov probably won’t start the season there. The reason given is that Necas is a year ahead of Svechnikov in his development.

One of these Canes’ prospects is 67 percent owned in Yahoo leagues, while the other is just 5 percent owned. Can you guess which is which? Something to think about as you’re drafting in the later rounds. I’m not saying that Necas will be the better player in 2018-19, just simply that there’s a better chance than you might think.

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A Vancouver/Winnipeg NHL matchup during the 2018-19 season will no doubt favor Winnipeg. But for the prospects? How about an 8-2 win for the Canucks’ prospects. Swedish duo Elias Pettersson and Jonathan Dahlen combined to score three goals and three assists. Here’s one of Pettersson’s goals:  

@_EPettersson #YoungStars pic.twitter.com/mHBJFkLPyn

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 8, 2018

Pettersson and Dahlen are familiar with each other from the Timra system in Sweden. I’ll expand on a question that I had on Twitter as to whether Dahlen will make the Canucks as Pettersson’s linemate. It probably won’t happen this season, considering that the Canucks already have enough forwards for six forward lines. Dahlen’s chances would have been much better had the Canucks not signed Jay Beagle AND Antoine Roussel AND Tim Schaller. But based on his chemistry with Pettersson, Dahlen has real potential to be a top-6 forward in Van City as early as 2019-20.

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Rasmus Dahlin scored two goals and added an assist in the Sabres’ prospects 6-4 win over the Devils’ prospects. I’m going to bet the under on 40 points for Dahlin simply because 18-year-old defensemen do not have a history of taking the league by storm. But I know that there will be some that will disagree with me.  

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Jordan Greenway has recorded points in both of his prospects games over the weekend. If you want size, he’s got plenty of it (6’6”, 226 lbs.). He’s a strong bet to make the Wild this season after entering the lineup late in the season. He played in all five of the Wild’s playoff games as well, scoring a goal and adding an assist. Keeper owners might require a bit of patience with him, though. Not only might he have a tough time cracking the top-6, power forwards also tend to take a while to blossom.

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There was considerable angst amongst Montreal fans (again) when Marc Bergevin traded Alex Galchenyuk for Max Domi. One reason that Habs fans might be down on Domi is the fact that he has now gone back-to-back seasons without reaching the 10-goal mark. Granted, he missed 23 games in one of those seasons. But he played a full 82 in 2017-18, so there shouldn’t have been any excuses.

If Domi is going to have that magical breakout fourth season right on time, he’s going to need to shoot the puck more. Domi has never taken more than 156 shots in a season. With just 150 taken last season, Domi was 197th in that category. Montreal had more than its share of deficiencies, but shot taking wasn’t necessarily one of them (10th with 32.8 SOG/GP). So it’s possible that Domi could bring a playmaking element that was missing for an offense than finished 29th overall in goals scored. That could help his assist totals more than his goals, though.

It’s possible that Domi and Jonathan Drouin could be exactly what each other needs. But unless Domi can’t find a way to take more shots, there won’t be a whole lot of room to grow. He was much more of a playmaker than goal scorer in junior, so we could be looking at another assist-heavy 50-point season.

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How much will John Tavares’ departure hurt Josh Bailey – a little, or a lot? You may recall that at the new year Bailey was tied for second in league scoring with 49 points in just 38 games. After that Bailey’s pace fell off considerably to just 21 points in 37 games. (Hopefully you were able to sell high at the midseason point.)

All in all, a total of 53 of Bailey’s 71 points were scored while Tavares was on the ice, including 28 of those on the power play with JT. The second-half downturn in production had nothing to do with less icetime with Tavares, as both Tavares and Anders Lee were both of Bailey’s most frequent linemates in each quarter. Tavares’ production was also down during the second half, from 50 points in his first 42 games to 33 points in his last 39 games.

Even after the slump, Bailey ended 33rd in league scoring. However, there were a couple of items that dropped his fantasy value further in multicategory leagues. One, his 18 goals was the lowest number among all players who scored at least 70 points. In fact, that goal total was a career high for the usually assist-heavy Bailey. As well, his minus-20 was also the lowest total (tied with Patrick Kane) among the same group of players. Now that Tavares is gone, there’s a chance that this number may not improve much, if at all.

Obviously Bailey owners will have to hold out hope that he lines up with new first-liner Mathew Barzal, even though Jordan Eberle had some success on that line last season. The Yahoo rankers probably aren’t optimistic, as Bailey is currently ranked 182. ESPN is perhaps a little more optimistic, placing him at 123. An optimistic projection for Bailey might be about 60 points, but it’s also important to remember that his value likely sags in multicategory leagues for the reasons mentioned above.

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From one Islander to another, if you haven’t heard, Josh Ho-Sang will be changing his jersey number from 66 to 26. I personally wasn’t bothered by it, considering that he doesn’t play for the Pittsburgh Penguins. But it sounds like old school Lou has already implemented his team rules, which include a disdain for high jersey numbers and facial hair, both of which seem to be more popular nowadays.

Is this the season that Ho-Sang finally sticks around full time? The Isles will need some young players to pick up the slack in scoring with JT gone, and Ho-Sang is one option. Over the past two seasons in which he has played roughly 20 games each, Ho-Sang has recorded 0.51 P/GP, which is seventh on the team. That’s a better pace than all of Brock Nelson, Ryan Pulock, Anthony Beauvillier, and Andrew Ladd over the same stretch.   

Ho-Sang might be the kind of player that Lamoriello doesn’t want any part of, but he’s still the kind of player that the Islanders need to give a long look. Hopefully he doesn’t do anything to hurt his cause.

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For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-assist-heavy-domi-and-bailey-prospects-tournaments-sept-9/

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Draft Analysis, Weekend Trades and Signings

Draft Analysis, Weekend Trades and Signings

First off, I just wanted to give a shoutout to Peter Harling, Cam Robinson, and the rest of the Dobber Prospects team for some amazing work at the draft (and for Cam for actually dropping a Ramblings to boot – these things don’t take five minutes to write, you know). It was awesome seeing the Dobber brand showing up on the Sportsnet ticker as each big name fell off the board.

As significant as the Dobber presence has been in Dallas, next year might be even better, with the 2019 draft coming to Vancouver! Will Quinn Hughes receive the honor of announcing his brother Jack as the first overall pick and his new teammate? Wait just a minute Canucks fans… you seem to have forgotten about the crummy luck that you have in the draft lottery every year.

By the way, I’m ecstatic about the Hughes pick. I can say that a puck-moving defenseman is something that the Canucks have been missing since, well, ever. I think the one takeaway from this draft – at least the first round – is the type of defensemen that were drafted. After years of teams drafting bigger and bigger, the smaller defensemen were all the rage as teams move toward a faster style that stresses the importance of moving the puck out of your zone and keeping up with the play. Here’s the height and weight of the first seven defensemen drafted in the first round:

Rasmus Dahlin (BUF): 6’ 2”, 181 lbs.

Quinn Hughes (VAN): 5’10”, 173 lbs.

Adam Boqvist (CHI): 5’11”, 165 lbs.

Evan Bouchard (EDM): 6’2”, 195 lbs.

Noah Dobson (NYI): 6’3”, 176 lbs.

Ty Smith (NJ): 5’11”, 176 lbs.

Ryan Merkley (SJ): 5’11”, 167 lbs.

Not one of these defensemen is over 200 pounds, and there are more that are under six feet tall than over. Of course, these are still kids who could continue to grow and should also fill out a bit more. But the trend of blueliners scoring more should continue, while fewer enormous-bodied stay-at-home defensemen will be able to survive in the NHL.

What made this draft fun is that after the first two picks, it didn’t seem to proceed according to plan. It’s easy to criticize Montreal and Arizona on their off-the-board picks, but the fact is that we’re putting faith in 18-year-old kids and perceptions will change. Let’s check back in ten years to find out how these picks really turned out. Maybe these Habs fans will become huge Kotkaniemi fans one day.  

Habs fans are not happy about their 3rd overall pick pic.twitter.com/EVIbIcXrg4

— Hockey Central (@HockeyCentraI) June 23, 2018

There’s certainly a lot to unpack from the past two days, so let’s get started.

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I’ll start with a question that was asked to me this weekend. Some keeper leagues have an entry draft in which draft-eligible players can be drafted by teams. So if you have the third pick (or are simply ranking draft-eligible players), who would you choose? Assume Rasmus Dahlin and Andrei Svechnikov will be picked first and second overall. This person was initially thinking Filip Zadina, but with Jesper Kotkaniemi being picked third overall by the Habs, he wasn’t so sure anymore. Should the third overall pick in fantasy drafts be Zadina, Kotkaniemi, or someone else?

Settings and team needs could determine who you pick, but just because a certain NHL general manager decides to go off the board to pick the player he wants doesn’t mean that you also have to. And there’s a reason that the Kotkaniemi pick was considered off the board. Zadina obviously fell down at least a couple teams’ draft boards, but picking a real-life team is different from picking a fantasy team. Zadina says he will “bring the goals” to Detroit, something that he did in the QMJHL (44 goals in just 57 games). If you like fantasy goals on your team, he’s the guy I’d look to add at number 3.

For you (and for my own benefit, since I participate in one of these leagues), I will produce a draft list during the summer of draft-eligible prospects. But I’ve started with those three. Who would you pick after that? Or would you include someone else in your top 3? Remember that if you don’t want to wait and/or require far more detailed prospects analysis, you’ll want to pick up your copy of the Fantasy Prospects Report.  

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Dobber himself provided the Fantasy Take on the Ilya Kovalchuk signing, which includes how top-6 forwards in LA might be impacted. I’d expect Kovalchuk to be a decently productive fantasy option next season, but at age 35 he’s already seen most of his peers his age drop off from their prime (or drop out of the league by now). As productive as Kovalchuk was in the KHL (over a point per game over his last two seasons), I can’t help but think that someone like now-34-year-old Rick Nash is a comparable at this point in his career. And Nash isn’t someone you should be reaching for in next season’s drafts. But don’t get me wrong, I’d still rate Kovalchuk over Nash.

Another point I’ll add: After the Kovalchuk signing, the Kings are left with just over $3 million in cap space. They don’t have much work left to do (possibly extend a qualifying offer to Tobias Rieder), but barring any other moves to clear cap space, they probably won’t have enough room to bring back Slava Voynov. And they may not be planning to bring him back.

From The Athletic (this article is free):

Sources indicated that the Kings trading Voynov’s rights is likely the most plausible scenario.

This article, written by Katie Strang, describes both what would need to happen in order for Voynov to be reinstated, as well as the details of the events that led to his contract being terminated by the Kings. Although the 28-year-old Voynov could provide a team with an all-important right-shot defenseman who can deliver some offense, I don’t imagine that his acquisition will go over well with a significant portion of any team’s fanbase.  

With Kovalchuk now off the board, John Carlson getting close to a deal in Washington, and John Tavares still considering re-signing on Long Island, could July 1 be kind of a “meh” day? Diehard hockey fans will no doubt tune in to the programming on TSN or Sportsnet (at least in Canada), but for the most part we’re not talking about franchise-altering players. Lots of over-30s who have had productive careers, though. You can check out the list over at Cap Friendly.

Speaking of Tavares, he is set to meet with five teams ahead of free agency. According to ESPN, those teams are expected to be San Jose, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Vegas, and Dallas. And according to David Pagnotta, the Islanders’ initial offer to Tavares is an eight-year deal worth $88 million.

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Dobber also gave you the Fantasy Take on the Calgary/Carolina blockbuster. Fantasy-wise, this trade has a major impact on the Flames’ top line, with the forwards swapping places on it.  

Bill Peters says Lindholm is penciled in on the top line w Gaudreau and Monahan already and will take draws on his strong side. Said he spoke to him but kept it short as Lindholm was attending Sweden’s World Cup game when the call came.

— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) June 23, 2018

As far as the trade goes, I’m going to concentrate on the forwards in the deal.

I really like this move for Elias Lindholm – more so than anyone else involved in the deal. The previous relationship with Peters should result in Lindholm receiving at least a long look with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. There was no real continuity when it came to Lindholm’s linemates last season, but both Gaudreau (1.05 Pts/G) and Monahan (0.86 Pts/G) scored at a higher pace than any Carolina forward. This is a significant upgrade for Lindholm. If Micheal Ferland can score 21 goals while (mostly) playing on that line, then the more talented Lindholm should score at least that many. Lindholm has never scored more than 17 goals in a season.

Conversely, the main reason I decided to take a flier on Ferland last season was his place on the Flames’ top line. Of his 41 points last season, 35 were even strength. And of those 35 even-strength points, only three were without either Gaudreau or Monahan. There could be more turnover with the Canes’ forward group, particularly if Jeff Skinner is traded. But for now Ferland is buried among a large pile of wingers, which means that he should probably only be targeted in leagues that count hits.

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One day after being traded to the Avalanche, Philipp Grubauer has signed a three-year contract worth $10 million total (Fantasy Take from Mike). I know one Semyon Varlamov owner that is livid right now, as he was counting on Varlamov again after bouncing back to fantasy respectability last season. Given that Varlamov has started 50+ games in four of the last five seasons even with an injury-prone reputation, I don’t think this turns out any worse than a 50/50 split for Varlamov. But it might be better to bet the under than he will play 50 games again in 2018-19.

This probably goes without saying, but the Grubauer trade all but assures that Jonathan Bernier will be headed to unrestricted free agency. The UFA goalie market is thin (you can check out that group at Cap Friendly), but Bernier should be considered a top-5 option in that group. That probably should net him a goalie timeshare situation of his own at best, with the more likely scenario of him being signed as a team’s backup.

As for the vacant Washington backup goalie job, recently signed goalie prospect Ilya Samsonov is expected to play a lot in the AHL next season. That would make Pheonix Copley the little-used backup behind Braden Holtby. The native of North Pole, Alaska (maybe he has met Santa Claus!) has played in just two NHL games – both with the Blues.  

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For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-draft-analysis-weekend-trades-and-signings/

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Thoughts on Playoffs, Coach Brind’Amour, Thornton (May 9)

Thoughts on Playoffs, Coach Brind’Amour, Thornton, and more…

We get a Game 7 in the second round, and it’s from the series that features the regular season’s top two teams.

So who do you like? As I’ve mentioned before, it depends on what kind of game it is. If Winnipeg can go on another three-goal rapid fire run, then I think they’ve got this one in the bag. The Predators simply don’t have the offensive explosiveness of the Jets. But if Nashville can slow it down to a tight-checking defensive chess match, then I am convinced they will get it done in front of the home fans.

My Game 7 prediction: I picked Nashville in 7, so I have to stay with that pick. In terms of the future, though, Winnipeg is set up very nicely and has shown in this series that they are good enough to be the dominant team in the Central next season and possibly beyond. They’ve got a top-6 forward unit that might be second to none, they’ve got Connor Hellebuyck about to hit his prime, and they didn’t get heavily involved in free agency while the rebuild was carried forward from Atlanta (more on free agency later).

Much has been made about Pekka Rinne’s struggles during the playoffs. But one positive about his playoff performance: he bounces back. Since last season he is 10-2 with a sub-1.50 GAA and plus-.950 SV% with two shutouts after being tagged with an L in the previous game.

Nashville is not the best option for high-end scoring in playoff pools. After all, only one Predator (Filip Forsberg) was in the top 10 in playoff scoring last season, even though they made it to the final. There were even two players who were knocked out the round before (Erik Karlsson, Ryan Getzlaf) who finished ahead of Forsberg in scoring. But if you’re in a deep playoff pool that goes 3-4 lines deep or allows substitutions, pick lots of Nashville players. Their scoring is more spread out than that of other teams.

Just when I mentioned Roman Josi was struggling, he records two helpers in Game 6. No such luck for Kyle Turris, who has come up small during the playoffs. He has yet to score a postseason goal and has been held without a point over his last four games.

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Well, the Capitals finally slayed their dragon… or exorcised their demon… or whatever you want to call it. The Capitals/Penguins rivalry reminds me a bit of the Canucks/Blackhawks rivalry from 2009 to 2011. The Blackhawks knocked the Canucks out in the second round in both 2009 and 2010, then the Canucks needed Game 7 overtime to finally vanquish the Blackhawks. As much of a sour taste that the Canucks were left with in that Stanley Cup Final against Boston, imagine, Canucks fans, if their season ended in that 2011 first-round series with Chicago.

Even if the Capitals are swept by Tampa Bay in the conference final, I think they have to be satisfied with their season just for finally getting past Pittsburgh. No more talk about whether Alex Ovechkin is traded, which is absurd if you consider his actual lifetime postseason stats. Barry Trotz gets to keep his job for at least one more season, which is also absurd if you consider how many games he’s coached. But if I’m a Capitals’ fan, I’d be a bit worried about a possible letdown after that series win. Plus Tampa has only lost twice during the postseason. I still like the Bolts as my Stanley Cup winner – even more so than before.

As for the Penguins, they still have to be in the mix for teams that can win the Stanley Cup in 2018-19. Two consecutive seasons of going the distance should have taken a toll on a team that has already had more than its share of injuries to star players. Just keep in mind that their entire first-unit power play (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, and Kris Letang) is now all over the age of 30. Time sure flies. Something to think about for your fantasy team as well.

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The most significant news story of the day involved the Hurricanes naming Rod Brind’Amour the new head coach and Don Waddell the new general manager. Mike Clifford covered the Fantasy Take on the Carolina moves earlier today.

I remember Brind’Amour bringing somewhat surprising fantasy value very late in his career, particularly as a faceoff specialist. As an assistant coach, Brind’Amour must have had at least some influence in the Hurricanes’ top-ranked faceoff percentage last season (54.1%). All of Jordan Staal, Derek Ryan, Elias Lindholm, Victor Rask, and Marcus Kruger all had a faceoff success rate of at least 54.5%. Staal was the most effective of the group with a 56.6% faceoff success rate and as a top-15 league option in faceoffs won (757). This strong faceoff success rate seemed to be a factor in the Canes’ strong advanced stats.

If new owner Tom Dundon wants to know why his team is not championship caliber, perhaps he should consider his team’s lack of a true number one scoring center. We know what we’re going to get out of Staal as a second or third-line option, but what about Lindholm or Rask? Will Martin Necas one day have what it takes to be a first-line center? Will Waddell have to make a blockbuster trade for a center, which would no doubt be pushed by the owner? As Mike said, it will be up to Brind’Amour to get the most out of Lindholm and Rask in particular. Next season will be telling in terms of what we should expect from them going forward.

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Now that the Sharks have been eliminated, we have found out exactly what caused Joe Thornton to miss the last 2+ months of the regular season. Even though Thornton’s production wasn’t bad when he was healthy (36 points in 47 games), he has to be considered a significant injury risk going forward after tearing ligaments in both knees.

Is it possible that Thornton slowed linemate Joe Pavelski while he was in the lineup?

Pavelski until January 23 (Thornton’s last game): 34 points in 47 games (0.72 PTS/GP)

Pavelski after January 23 (Thornton out for the season): 32 points in 35 games (0.91 PTS/GP)

This mattered for Pavelski owners because they drafted him expecting the post-Thornton points-per-game numbers. But prior to Thornton’s injury, Pavelski was on pace for 59 points.

As much as Thornton says he wants to be back with the Sharks and is willing to take a pay cut to be back, there’s always the possibility that he could be playing for a different team next season (some possibilities here). Or not at all if the knees don’t hold up. And as nice as it would be to see Thornton return for one more season in teal, him not returning might actually make sense for the Sharks.

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Some other injury news to keep in the ol’ memory bank: Cory Schneider is likely to miss training camp after having hip surgery. Recovery times aren’t set in stone, so Schneider’s five-month recovery time could change. But it’s also possible that we could see more of Keith Kinkaid to start the season.

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If you need any convincing why it’s not a good idea to spend like crazy on free agency, take a peek at the 2016 free agent signings. Here are your signings that were worth at least $18 million total and involved a player switching teams. Tell me if you think any of these players significantly improved their teams.  

Kyle Okposo

Troy Brouwer

David Backes

Milan Lucic

Frans Nielsen

Loui Eriksson

Andrew Ladd

Only one of these players (Backes) played for a playoff team, and he’s already one of the most searched buyouts on Cap Friendly. The best signing that offseason – by far – was Eric Staal signing with the Wild for three years at $10.5 million. Those are the kind of contracts that teams need to sign. 

I’ll agree with Dobber’s take on free agency except for one minor point: It’ll take just two years, not three, before fans will be searching for buyouts on many of these players.

What I’ve learned from this that I can apply to fantasy: If you play in an auction league, avoid bidding wars unless you have money to burn. It’s probably not the end of the world to have a bad contract or two on your team, but aim to have as many great value contracts as you possibly can.

In a salary cap league, the perfect time to bail on many of these players would have been right after they signed those contracts. Something to consider for the upcoming group of UFAs. Just because NHL teams sign them for big money doesn’t mean you have to.

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For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-thoughts-on-playoffs-coach-brindamour-thornton-may-9/

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Bruins Draw First Blood, Sabres Win Draft Lottery, Vegas No Longer Undefeated (April 29)

Bruins Draw First Blood, Sabres Win Draft Lottery, Vegas No Longer Undefeated

The shorter rest compared to the opponent wasn’t an issue for the Boston Bruins, whose top line struck again for multiple points each. From a Bruins’ perspective in Game 1, there was lots to unpack from the scoresheet. So far it’s been apparent that in order for the Bruins to win, their top line has to score. They did just that with a combined total of 11 points on Saturday.  

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak trio this postseason In wins (five games): 12 goals and 41 points. In losses (three games): Zero goals and zero points.

— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) April 28, 2018

David Pastrnak recorded another four assists, bringing his amazing playoff point total to 17 points in just eight games. He is now one point ahead of Jake Guentzel for the playoff scoring lead. He only turns 22 later this month and has just completed that fourth year that is the breakout for many. So there’s lots more to come.

Brad Marchand didn’t lick anyone in this game (I don't think). But as we’ve become accustomed to, he added his usual doses of offense and annoyingness in scoring a goal and adding three assists.  

Not to be outdone, Patrice Bergeron scored two goals and added an assist. Like Pastrnak and Marchand, Bergeron was also a plus-4 in this game. That’s back-to-back three-point games for the top-line center if you include Game 7 against Toronto.

Rick Nash scored two goals of his own, including a power-play goal. The Bruins amassed a grand total of eight seconds of power-play time in Game 1, yet were able to capitalize quickly on their only opportunity. Nash saw just under 13 minutes of icetime in this game, which is the second time that has happened during the playoffs. He'd been held without a goal in his previous five games. 

Jake DeBrusk continues to add to his brief playoff legend by adding another goal. He’s now on a mini-scoring run with four goals over his last three games and six goals overall in these playoffs. With this performance, he is certainly adding to his fantasy stock as a potential sleeper in next season’s fantasy drafts.

About the only thing that went wrong for the Bruins in this Game 1 road win was Tuukka Rask losing his skate blade on a Lightning goal. Unfortunate, but kind of funny. Rask was obviously irate, but there is no rule stating that the officials needed to stop the play (NHL PR).  

Tuukka Rask loses his skate blade, then throws it in anger pic.twitter.com/QGT0fTle64

— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) April 28, 2018

For the Lightning, Brayden Point had a Jake Gardiner-like plus-minus of minus-5 (sorry, Leafs fans, I realize that’s just one game). Ondrej Palat and Anton Stralman were a minus-4 each. Both Lightning goals came from defensemen (Mikhail Sergachev and Dan Girardi). The Bolts will need a better showing from their top line in Game 2; otherwise, their chances of winning the series could be in serious jeopardy heading up to Boston for Game 3.

Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed five goals on just 23 shots. The sixth Bruins’ goal was scored on an empty net, as Jon Cooper decided to roll the dice and pull Vasilevskiy with over six minutes to play.

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The Buffalo Sabres are the big winners of the draft lottery, giving them the opportunity to draft Rasmus Dahlin first overall. The Sabres had the best odds of any team (18.5%), thanks to their 31st overall finish that was five points worse than any other team. So even if your team “lost” the lottery draft (as mine did), this is simply the universe unfolding as it should. For more, see Dahlin’s profile at Dobber Prospects.

Buffalo arguably needs this player more than anyone, as they have been held together with a paper-thin defense in recent seasons. Dahlin’s presence would ease the burden on Rasmus Ristolainen, who the Sabres have leaned on heavily at over 25 minutes per game over the last three seasons. This overuse has put undue pressure on the 23-year-old defenseman, who is a career minus-102 over four and a half seasons, including a minus-25 last season. The Dahlin effect could result in a slight reduction in Ristolainen’s point totals and peripheral stats resulting from icetime, but make him a more effective defenseman overall.

I know it’s not a perfect comparison, but I tend to think of Victor Hedman’s development when I think of where Dahlin will be next season. Hedman did not crack 30 points until his fifth season, when he broke through for 55 points in 2013-14. Dahlin might be even better than Hedman, but don’t expect an inexperienced defenseman on a rebuilding team to take the fantasy world by storm next season. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t target him on your keeper league team, of course. Hedman did play in the NHL the year he was drafted, so I would expect the same from Dahlin. Just temper your expectations for 2018-19.

The other big winner of the draft lottery was the Carolina Hurricanes, which I discovered the moment my 9-year-old son said to me, “Dad, why do the Hurricanes have a star next to their logo?” while I had laser-like focus on the picks that were being announced. Most mock drafts will likely project the Canes as picking right wing Andrei Svechnikov. He would provide the Canes with a potential top-end scoring threat, something that they are limited in at the moment. For more, see Svechnikov’s profile at Dobber Prospects.

As for the rest of the picks, it should be fun to project where they will end up. Here are the overall draft lottery results, in case you don’t have them memorized by now:  

Final Draft Lottery Order: 1. Buffalo 2. Carolina 3. Montreal 4. Ottawa 5. Arizona 6. Detroit 7. Vancouver 8. Chicago 9. NYR 10. Edmonton 11. NYI 12. NYI 13. Dallas 14. Philadelphia 15. Florida#NHLDraftLottery

— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) April 29, 2018

Dobber’s own Cam Robinson joined TSN 1040 radio in Vancouver to share his thoughts on who the Canucks should pick seventh overall (direct link here). Expect the Canucks to target a defenseman, as that is the organization’s most pressing need. They should have plenty to choose from in that spot.    

I joined @HockeyAbbs and @JDylanBurke around the 17 minute mark to talk likely picks for the #Canucks at 7th overall and a few wildcard guys that could surprise. https://t.co/GKCcLH0pZf

— /Cam Robinson/ (@CrazyJoeDavola3) April 29, 2018

And of course, you can view Cam’s 2018 NHL Draft Rankings at Dobber Prospects.

As for the format, it didn’t bother me. I liked having the break in between to process things. I’m sure it improved ratings for the game as well.

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Believe it or not, there was actually a hockey game while we were waiting in suspense for the top three picks. Logan Couture scored at 5:13 of the second overtime to give the Sharks a 4-3 win over Vegas in Game 2. The victory ties the series at 1, while giving the Golden Knights their first-ever playoff loss. Here is the goal, which is a classic Couture snipe on a power play.

{youtube}MU32NM53wYE{/youtube}

The Knights thought they had won during the first overtime period on a Jonathan Marchessault goal, but the goal was waived after review for goaltender interference by Marchessault.

Couture’s overtime goal was his second of the game and fourth of the playoffs. The Sharks fired 47 shots over regulation and overtime, with Couture leading the way with seven shots.

Brent Burns also scored two goals and added an assist while taking six shots of his own. Burns had not scored a goal since Game 1 of the Anaheim series. He and Marc-Edouard Vlasic both logged over 36 minutes of icetime, while Justin Braun racked up 35 minutes. There’s a major icetime imbalance among Sharks defenders, as Paul Martin played just 10 minutes and Dylan DeMelo only 17 minutes. Vegas spreads its icetime much more evenly among its defensemen.

In a losing cause, William Karlsson scored two goals. He is well-known for his out-of-nowhere 40-goal season, but something that doesn’t get mentioned enough is Karlsson’s strong two-way play. He was definitely worth consideration for the Selke Trophy because of his penalty-killing ability. Perhaps that is why he couldn’t get off John Tortorella’s checking line in Columbus.

As impressive as the Golden Knights have been during the playoffs, the Sharks controlled the majority of the play with 47 shots compared to the Knights’ 29 shots. This was even without shots on goal warrior Evander Kane, who was serving his one-game suspension. Marc-Andre Fleury really kept Vegas in this game.

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Lastly, some injury news: Evgeni Malkin could return for Game 2 on Sunday (NHL.com). He may return for what is shaping up to be a fun day to watch hockey with the Penguins/Capitals followed by the Jets/Predators.

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For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-bruins-draw-first-blood-sabres-win-draft-lottery-vegas-no-longer-undefeated-april-29/