EAST MEETS WEST IN CHAMPIONSHIP SHOWDOWN, CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS UNDERWAY
BOSTON, MA—The WHL Championship series is afoot and four surviving teams in the consolation bracket continue to battle for draft position and a cool, crisp c-note. As ten owners can now attest, the world of head-to-head playoffs is riddled with pitfalls. Among them, blood-boiling cold spells, sudden injuries and illnesses, and inexplicable production from chumps on the other team. Most of the match-ups were competitive heading into this past weekend's consolation quarterfinals, but two teams in particular really stole the show: Ty Ladd's Canadiens de Montreal and Joe Dahms' Altoona Angry Beavers.
C'est Magnifique: Canadiens goalies played out of their minds last week, racking up a staggering 349 saves--easily tops among all playoff teams and nearly 200 more stops than any other consolation club. Breaking down those 349 snags, pad stacks and waffle board stops, Semyon Varlamov chipped in a respectable 105, while Finnish netminder Karri Ramo, widely considered an afterthought in a mid-season trade, contributed a league-high 133 saves last week. All in all, Canadiens goalies stopped over 93% of shots faced throughout the quarterfinals. Considering such a dominant performance in the crease, it's easy to overlook a noteworthy offensive performance from Tomas Tatar, who scored twice as many fantasy points as any of his fellow Canadien skaters last week, with the lone exception of deadline acquisition Craig Smith, who notched a respectable 9.2 fantasy points in four games. Montreal now takes on the West Palm Beach Rangers in the consolation semifinals.
Beaver Fever: After a tumultuous season regular season for Altoona, Dahmsie's Beavers have been a model of consistency in the month of March. Altoona posted between 122-129 points in each of the last four weeks, and their 154 shots on goal in the quarterfinals were second second only to a team that is now playing for the title. It might not sound surprising to point out that Jeff Skinner (15) and Brent Seabrook (11) played significant roles in reaching such a lofty total, but how about Ryan Garbutt and Dmitry Kulikov stepping up with a combined 25 shots last week? Before March began, the Beavers hadn't cracked 100 shots on goal in a week since mid December. And then--fully consumed by Beaver Fever, Altoona easily cleared 100 in all four weeks of March, including 140+ in each of the first three. However his season ends, Joe Dahms has the heart of a warrior.
Pirates Stun Yukon: Timely offensive outbursts from Jordan Eberle and Ryan McDonaugh helped first-year GM Bill Fyler and the Porter Pirates upset Lokomotiv Yukon by less than two points. Prior to this humbling defeat, Darryl Scharr had led his Yukon pack to 1st place finishes in 2012 and 2013. In other consolation action, Ryan Callahan and the Mount Vernon Blades were unable to keep their Round 1 mojo alive against Henrik Lundqvist and Bob Guarascio's West Palm Beach Rangers. With 10 teams now eliminated (and using Most Improved standing since January 1st as a tiebreaker for teams that were knocked out simultaneously), draft order is starting to take shape for Tayutic (5th), Lokomotiv (6th), Brooklyn (7th), Mount Vernon (8th), New Jersey (9th), Moscow (10th), Wolfsburg (11th), Beantown (12th), Saginaw (13th), and the Beernuts (14th). The top four and bottom four picks are still being determined on the ice, and of the four remaining consolation teams, only Altoona, Porter, and Montreal still possess their first rounders.
Battle for Bronze: Following their respective semifinal losses to California and Sparta, the Stuttgart Scorpions and Portland Pints are locking horns for third place. Continued heroics from Gustav Nyquist (11 goals in 9 games) and late-round splashes from depth skaters Matt Martin and Alexei Emelin weren't enough to help Stuttgart reach the summit of Mt. Kwijibo. Josh Deitell's crew, who upset heavily favored Sainaw in the quarterfinals, carried an impressive lead into last Thursday's games, but would eventually run out of rocks for his sling. Meanwhile, Colin Smith and the Portland Pints fought tooth and nail against Sparta Praha in the second consecutive playoff meeting between the two commissioners. Between games on last Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, Portland managed to recoup 17 points, but ultimately fell just short, also losing by 17 points sans H.I. advantage. The 3rd place goalie match-up pitting Kari Lehtonen and Sergei Bobrovsky against Jonathan Quick and Marc-Andre Fleury figures to be far more competitive than the goalie duel in the Final. Other key players to keep an eye on in this series include Nathan MacKinnon for Stuttgart, who will see increased ice time down the stretch in real life with Matt Duchene on the shelf, and Mikael Backlund for the Pints, who has more shots on goal over than past 15 days than all other Portland skaters not named Crosby.
And now for the Main Event! Stamkos vs. Price, Subban vs. Byfuglien, Landeskog and E-Kane vs. Hartnell and Ladd. All signs are pointing to these next two weeks being an absolutely brutal affair. Brutal, in the sense that potential exists for a prolonged Creed-Balboa slugfest, or, just as conceivable, one team could explode out of the gate and never relent. Oh yes, pucks will be snared, bones shattered, twine tickled (eww), maybe we'll see a streaker or two. Whatever happens, it should help tide you over under the Stanley Cup playoffs kick off.
Clear Edge in Cali Crease: The average WHL team has accrued roughly 365 points from goalies this season. California entered the Championship Final with 539, or 173 points above the league average. Sparta, meanwhile, woke up on Monday with just 267 points from its tenders, or, 98 points below league average. Conclusions will differ, but any unbiased conversation about the "best goalie in the world today" is going to involve California workhorse, Carey Price. His peripheral numbers don't sparkle as much as those belonging to Saginaw's Tuukka Rask, for example, but consider this: Price's real life team has scored nearly 40 fewer goals than Boston has for Rask, and Carey has just two less wins. The Kwijibos boast a truly elite goaltender--one that leads all WHL goalies in points over the last two weeks, plus another guy named Jaroslav Halak, as if Goliath needed lifts in his shoes. At the other end of the sheet, Cory Schnieder simultaneously remains the future of Spartan goaltending, yet stuck in the shadow of Hall of Fame shoe-in, Martin Brodeur. The reality is that Prague hasn't had a bonafide starting goalie for an entire season since Ryan Miller in 2011. Schneider and Craig Anderson have been solid at times this year, vanilla at others, and a fortuitous late-season boost from Thomas Griess likely won't be enough to keep up with the Joneses.
Meat and Potatoes: So, California has the definitive advantage in net, while the Spartans carry an edge on offense after pumping out a league-high 18 goals and 173 shots on goal in the quarterfinals. Still, this is the magical land of playoffs where randomness abounds and the margin between an outpouring of offense and a porous defense is razor thin. Like countless cup contenders before them, where these two powerhouse teams exhibit similar qualities is in the trenches. When it comes to throwing hits, blocking shots, winning face-offs and generating offense from the blue line, California and Sparta are cut from the same cloth. Praha technically has doled out more hits and blocks this year, but the difference thus far in the postseason has been marginal. Both teams throw their weight around and aren't afraid to make the sacrifice play, giving further reason to believe that this series will be an all-out war of attrition.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
CLOSER TO THE EDGE
DEITELL'S SCORPIONS EYE SECOND STRAIGHT UPSET, CONSOLATION BRACKET IN FULL SWING
BOSTON, MA--Mid way through the World Hockey League semifinals, the list of Championship hopefuls has been whittled down to the two New England-based Commissioners and the two GM's living in California. Josh Deitell's Stuttgart Scorpions are hanging tight as they seek a second consecutive upset, while Sparta's high powered offense looks to stay hot against the hungry and more balanced Portland Pints. Following their Round 1 victories in the consolation bracket, Mount Vernon and Brooklyn have advanced to play top-seeded West Palm and second-seeded Altoona, respectively, while the six most-improved teams in 2014 have entered the fray after a week 1 Bye.
Early Exit for Saginaw: Led by the hot hands of Gustav Nyquist and staunch goaltending from Jonathan Quick, the Stuttgart Scorpions piled up 62.4 points last weekend en route to a massive quarterfinal upset over the #2 ranked Saginaw Spirit. Josh Deitell's dark horse crew outscored the favored seed in goals and assists and kept it razor close in all other categories. The Spirit, meanwhile, struggled to find its legs despite being a regular season juggernaut. Perhaps most frustrating for Saginaw faithful was a pair of miscalculated goalie starts (or non-starts, rather) from veteran GM Tom Lusty, which led to a combined 17.6 points being left on the bench from stalwarts Roberto Luongo and Tuukka Rask. A truly disappointing and surprising fate for a team that owns half of the season's top ten daily points records.
Commissioners March On: No team's goalies made fewer saves in the quarterfinals than those between the pipes for Sparta Praha. Unfortunately for Beantown fans who were pining for some genuine ball busting, Nate Asdourian was unable to take advantage of the sparsely populated Spartan crease, registering a first round low-100 shots on net through the first week of postseason play. To put that into context, the top 8 playoff teams averaged 143 shots on goal in Round 1.
It didn't quite come down to the home ice advantage bonus, but Portland's quarterfinal series with the Boston Beernuts was incredibly tight. Colin Smith's Pints tied Wolfsburg for most goalie wins in the opening round and was dominant in the faceoff circle--a hallmark of the Pints franchise. Similar to the regular season, Joe Mastrangelo's Nuts were paced by Alex Ovechkin, Corey Perry and Steve Mason, but were ultimately done in by an uncharacteristically porous outing from Viktor Fasth. The Beernuts now turn their attention to locking up core pieces such as Boone Jenner and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Consolation Needed in Moscow:Timely offense from leading scorer Wayne Simmonds and a 14-point shutout from Evgeny Nabokov proved to be too much for injury-depleted CSKA Moscow, as Mike Zecca's Brooklyn Cylones emerged from its first round skirmish with a mere 0.8 point margin of victory. Erik Karlsson remained awesome and Mathieu Perreault stepped up for Nate Fournier's hard luck club, which was without starting goalie Ondrej Pavelec as well as Cam Fowler and Jonathan Huberdeau for the entire first round. In other consolation quarterfinal action, Chet Merola's Mount Vernon Blades came alive on the backs of newly-acquired Rick Nash and Derek Stepan and dispatched the significantly favored New Jersey Wall Flowers. Mario Zecca's Flowers outshot the Blades 124-101, but this one boiled down to goaltenders. 317 saves were made during the WTF-MVB series, second only to 352 saves between California and Wolfsburg.
Vipers Show Bite in Loss: Before our playoffs began, this series had all the makings of a first round slaughter, but the result was anything but. If you discount the home ice advantage bonuses, Mike Greeley's Vipers amassed more points during the quarterfinals (137.7) than any other playoff or consolation team, except, of course, the damn Kwijibos. What's a team to do when their PED-laden opposition racks up a whopping 165 points? No other team has cracked 160 puntos in a week this season, and the truly scary part is that wasn't even California's best outing. During the final week of our regular season, the Kwijibos pumped out a staggering 178 points, which unofficially has to be a league record. Short of Jonathan Bernier being healthy and weaving a few miracles, there really isn't much more that Wolfsburg could have done in this one. Deadline acquisitions Joe Thornton and Dustin Brown performed as advertised, and Vanek was Vanek, but in the end, admirable gave way to indomitable.
Semifinals Underway: There's certainly a lot to love about this west coast affair between top-ranked California and seventh-seeded Stuttgart. Carey Price and Jaro Halak vs. Jon Quick and Marc-Andre Fleury is a marquee goalie matchup at no mistake. On the skater front, Andrew Ladd continues to be the straw in the Kwijibo cocktail, followed closely by two red hot contributors that you might not expect given the bevy of talent on this Cup-favorite roster--Scott Hartnell and Radko Gudas.
For Stuttgart, Gustav Nyquist has been dynamite in the postseason with six goals in Round 1, and two thus far in the Semis. The former UMO Black Bear leads all skaters in fantasy points over the past seven days and, at this pace, will easily perform beyond the pay grade of his new two-year, $25 contract. After California's 181.84-point outburst last week and a seasons worth of good fortune, the sharp sting of karma may be in the cards. Meanwhile, in the Commissioner's brawl, Colin Smith's Portland Pints entered the semifinals with hearts ablaze and lingering memories of their quarterfinals loss to the Spartans in 2012. This matchup of perennial contenders is sure to entertain and figures to be a nail-biter to the bitter end.
Game on!
BOSTON, MA--Mid way through the World Hockey League semifinals, the list of Championship hopefuls has been whittled down to the two New England-based Commissioners and the two GM's living in California. Josh Deitell's Stuttgart Scorpions are hanging tight as they seek a second consecutive upset, while Sparta's high powered offense looks to stay hot against the hungry and more balanced Portland Pints. Following their Round 1 victories in the consolation bracket, Mount Vernon and Brooklyn have advanced to play top-seeded West Palm and second-seeded Altoona, respectively, while the six most-improved teams in 2014 have entered the fray after a week 1 Bye.
Early Exit for Saginaw: Led by the hot hands of Gustav Nyquist and staunch goaltending from Jonathan Quick, the Stuttgart Scorpions piled up 62.4 points last weekend en route to a massive quarterfinal upset over the #2 ranked Saginaw Spirit. Josh Deitell's dark horse crew outscored the favored seed in goals and assists and kept it razor close in all other categories. The Spirit, meanwhile, struggled to find its legs despite being a regular season juggernaut. Perhaps most frustrating for Saginaw faithful was a pair of miscalculated goalie starts (or non-starts, rather) from veteran GM Tom Lusty, which led to a combined 17.6 points being left on the bench from stalwarts Roberto Luongo and Tuukka Rask. A truly disappointing and surprising fate for a team that owns half of the season's top ten daily points records.
Commissioners March On: No team's goalies made fewer saves in the quarterfinals than those between the pipes for Sparta Praha. Unfortunately for Beantown fans who were pining for some genuine ball busting, Nate Asdourian was unable to take advantage of the sparsely populated Spartan crease, registering a first round low-100 shots on net through the first week of postseason play. To put that into context, the top 8 playoff teams averaged 143 shots on goal in Round 1.
It didn't quite come down to the home ice advantage bonus, but Portland's quarterfinal series with the Boston Beernuts was incredibly tight. Colin Smith's Pints tied Wolfsburg for most goalie wins in the opening round and was dominant in the faceoff circle--a hallmark of the Pints franchise. Similar to the regular season, Joe Mastrangelo's Nuts were paced by Alex Ovechkin, Corey Perry and Steve Mason, but were ultimately done in by an uncharacteristically porous outing from Viktor Fasth. The Beernuts now turn their attention to locking up core pieces such as Boone Jenner and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Consolation Needed in Moscow:Timely offense from leading scorer Wayne Simmonds and a 14-point shutout from Evgeny Nabokov proved to be too much for injury-depleted CSKA Moscow, as Mike Zecca's Brooklyn Cylones emerged from its first round skirmish with a mere 0.8 point margin of victory. Erik Karlsson remained awesome and Mathieu Perreault stepped up for Nate Fournier's hard luck club, which was without starting goalie Ondrej Pavelec as well as Cam Fowler and Jonathan Huberdeau for the entire first round. In other consolation quarterfinal action, Chet Merola's Mount Vernon Blades came alive on the backs of newly-acquired Rick Nash and Derek Stepan and dispatched the significantly favored New Jersey Wall Flowers. Mario Zecca's Flowers outshot the Blades 124-101, but this one boiled down to goaltenders. 317 saves were made during the WTF-MVB series, second only to 352 saves between California and Wolfsburg.
Vipers Show Bite in Loss: Before our playoffs began, this series had all the makings of a first round slaughter, but the result was anything but. If you discount the home ice advantage bonuses, Mike Greeley's Vipers amassed more points during the quarterfinals (137.7) than any other playoff or consolation team, except, of course, the damn Kwijibos. What's a team to do when their PED-laden opposition racks up a whopping 165 points? No other team has cracked 160 puntos in a week this season, and the truly scary part is that wasn't even California's best outing. During the final week of our regular season, the Kwijibos pumped out a staggering 178 points, which unofficially has to be a league record. Short of Jonathan Bernier being healthy and weaving a few miracles, there really isn't much more that Wolfsburg could have done in this one. Deadline acquisitions Joe Thornton and Dustin Brown performed as advertised, and Vanek was Vanek, but in the end, admirable gave way to indomitable.
Semifinals Underway: There's certainly a lot to love about this west coast affair between top-ranked California and seventh-seeded Stuttgart. Carey Price and Jaro Halak vs. Jon Quick and Marc-Andre Fleury is a marquee goalie matchup at no mistake. On the skater front, Andrew Ladd continues to be the straw in the Kwijibo cocktail, followed closely by two red hot contributors that you might not expect given the bevy of talent on this Cup-favorite roster--Scott Hartnell and Radko Gudas.
For Stuttgart, Gustav Nyquist has been dynamite in the postseason with six goals in Round 1, and two thus far in the Semis. The former UMO Black Bear leads all skaters in fantasy points over the past seven days and, at this pace, will easily perform beyond the pay grade of his new two-year, $25 contract. After California's 181.84-point outburst last week and a seasons worth of good fortune, the sharp sting of karma may be in the cards. Meanwhile, in the Commissioner's brawl, Colin Smith's Portland Pints entered the semifinals with hearts ablaze and lingering memories of their quarterfinals loss to the Spartans in 2012. This matchup of perennial contenders is sure to entertain and figures to be a nail-biter to the bitter end.
Game on!
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
YEAR OF THE KWIJIBO?
ANDREW LADD LEADS CUP-FAVORITE KWIJIBOS INTO WHL PLAYOFFS; DEADLINE SHUFFLE REVIEW
BOSTON, MA--At long last, World Hockey League playoffs have arrived! For just the second time in seven years, WHL managers will duke it out head-to-head style for cash prizes, draft positioning, and summertime bragging rights. Before delving into match-up previews, lets recap how the next month will go down. First, the money. The total pot is 900 bucks, with $300 going to the playoff champion, $200 to playoff runner-up, $200 to the total points winner, $100 to the 3rd place finisher, and $100 to the last team standing in the consolation bracket. That's right--the consol winner gets a nice, crisp c-note in addition to the first overall pick in September, so keep fighting till the bitter end, Kingslayer!
As for the playoffs themselves, all 18 teams will compete across two different brackets for the duration of the NHL regular season. The top eight seeds in the overall standings are fighting for their right to party with Lord Stanley, while the remaining ten clubs were seeded into the consolation bracket by percentage of improvement in 2014. Both ladders incorporate three rounds of play, and draft order for next year will be determined by playoff performance (consolation winner drafts first, Champion drafts last, runner-up second-to-last, etc., with M.I. standings settling all tiebreaker scenarios). Alright, if you need more foreplay, you know where the rule book is. On to the match-ups!
(1) California Kwijibos vs. (8) Wolfsburg Vipers
Weekly Average (season): 131.49 (CK) - 114.37 (WLF)
Last Week: 178.7 (CK) - 131.3 (WLF)
Talk about the rich getting richer. Not only have the Kwijibos loaded up on elite rental players for the stretch run, but Carey Price is back in action and Jaroslav Halak looks to have pried away the starting job in Washington just in time for the postseason. With so many high profile skaters to keep track of, it's easy to miss that Andrew Ladd quietly led all Kwijibo skaters in regular season fantasy points. Value McStudMuffin. While things couldn't look rosier on paper for the top seed, Mike Greeley's Wolfsburg Vipers open the playoffs with untimely injuries to their top goalie, Jonathan Bernier, and top skater, Chris Kunitz. Until those players are healthy enough to return, the upstart Vipers will rely heavily on David Krejci and Jimmy Howard, as well as newcomers Joe Thornton, Dustin Brown, and Mark Giordano. Gio in particular has been on fire over the last ten games--among skaters, only Jamie Benn has had more fantasy points over that span. This one has the potential to get ugly, but the bottom seed always has a puncher's chance.
(2) Saginaw Spirit vs. (7) Stuttgart Scorpions
Weekly Average (season): 127.74 (SS) - 114.54 (SCOR)
Last Week: 152.2 (SS) - 100.4 (SCOR)
Perhaps the scariest thing about Saginaw heading into the second season is that no one player has been driving the boat. To be sure, Tuukka Rask and Patrice Bergeron have been the rudder and sail of the U.S.S. Spirit all season long, but Tom Lusty's crew has been firing on all cylinders. Bergy, Backes, Kopitar, Steen, etc. are known quantities, but a real difference maker could be the relatively unheralded Anders Lee--scooped off of waivers on March 5th and has quietly tallied 14 fantasy points over the final five games of the WHL regular season. Meeting the Spirit head-on is Josh Deitell and the Stuttgart Scorpions, a.k.a. Jonathan Quick, Marc-Andre Fleury, and the children of the corn. Tyler Seguin ended our regular season with twice as many shots as any of his teammates--a team that includes fellow studs Nathan MacKinnon, Taylor Hall, Valeri Nichuskin, and Gustav Nyquist. The kids have nothing to lose against a juggernaut foe--a classic first round scenario.
(3) Sparta Praha vs. (6) Beantown Ball Busters
Weekly Average (season): 127.65 (SPTA) - 115.49 (BOS)
Last Week: 129.2 (SPTA) - 120 (BOS)
For two glorious seasons near the turn of the century, Nate Asdourian and I played goal for the same high school team. Years later, we find ourselves on opposite sides of the puck in the WHL quarterfinals. Everyone knows it's all about timing in fantasy playoffs, and without a clear workhouse goalie at the moment, Sparta will continue to count on Gabe Landeskog, Evander Kane, P.K. Subban, and Zach Parise to carry the mail. The "dark horse" for the Spartans will be Steven Stamkos, who is mere weeks returned from a broken right shin and looking like he won't be 100% until next season. Nathan Asdourian's Beantown Ball Busters, on the other hand, have to like their chances with the current league MVP, Ben Bishop, in net, and man beasts like Ryan Getzlaf and Milan Lucic rolling at a torrid pace. Two lower profile players to keep an eye on in this series: Tommy Wingels and Carl Soderberg. Wingels still isn't a household name despite averaging 2.0 points per night all season long (albeit with Saginaw until recently). Soderberg had a slower start in 2013, but has turned it on recently with a 2.0 average of his own over the last ten contests.
(4) Portland Pints vs. (5) Boston Beernuts
Weekly Average (season): 124.27 (PINT) - 119.60 (NUTS)
Last Week: 140 (PINT) - 126.9 (NUTS)
When his #1 goalie doesn't play at all the week before the playoffs, it might seem strange to claim that the stars are aligning for Colin Smith's Portland Pints. And yet, they totally are. Signs are pointing to an imminent return for Kari Lehtonen, Claude Giroux has averaged over 4(!) points per game over the last 15 days, and Sergei Bobrovsky has only allowed five goals in his last four starts. On top of that, Erik Johnson, Scottie Upshall and Mikael Granlund have been pulling their weight (and then some) for what seems like most of 2014. Also, Sidney Crosby. Things are looking promising in P-town, but Smith--a perennial contender still searching for his first championship, will no doubt remain tight-lipped and cautiously optimistic until the final buzzer sounds. Meanwhile, the Beernuts enter the Cup Crusade riding a massive surge from Steven Mason, Joe Pavelski, and half man-half Yeti, Brent Burns. Joe Mastrangelo's Nuts will have their hands full, but an optimist would say that the likes of Bobby Ryan, Phil Kessel, and Nathan Horton have been suspiciously quiet lately. Just sayin'.
Top pick up for grabs: While West Palm, Altoona, Porter, Tatutic, Montreal, and last year's champion Lokomotiv Yukon have earned a one week respite in the opening round of the consolation playoffs, the four remaining seeds have no time to rest. The 7th-ranked NJ Wall Flowers have a clear advantage over a struggling Mount Vernon Blades team that hasn't cleared 100 points in a week since mid January. It's no secret that manager Chet Merola has been fully committed to building for the futre, evidenced by selling off his major assets for uber-prospects Tomas Hertl and Vladimir Tarasenko, both of whom are injured as of this writing. While taking one on the chin may be a foregone conclusion, the bright spot for the Blades has been Merola's ability to sign promising players to attractive deals for next year and beyond.
Speaking of young players with bright futures, NJ's Sean Couturier looks to be finally coming out of his shell after many months of patience from owner Mario Zecca. Corey Crawford, Ben Scrivens, and James Reimer offer a range of options in net, and they will need to be the backbone of Zecca's team as they pursue the 1st overall pick. In the other consolation quarterfinal, #8 CSKA Moscow takes on the 9th-ranked Brooklyn Cyclones in a dust up between two of the WHL's Original Six. Moscow's James Neal might not be out for the season after all, which would lend a much-needed boost with starter Ondrej Pavelec nursing a LBI, and Erik Karlsson trying to carry the entire Red Army on his back. Mike Zecca's Cyclones have been dormant for much of the season, yet they continue to roll out an intriguing lineup with pieces like Ryan O'Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Kyle Turris, and of course, Antti Niemi, who is capable of stealing a consolation round on his own at any given time.
Deadline Shopping Spree: No doubt inspired by the abundance of trades leading up to the NHL trade deadline, the World Hockey League saw its fair share of bag-packing leading up to its own trade deadline last week. 10 teams got in on the action, shipping out 37 players across 11 deals, and like any good deadline, there was a solid mix of steals, puzzlers, and at least one rage-inducing bombshell.
Turns out that even the most formidable armies can always use more soldiers. As if acquiring Martin St. Louis, Dustin Byfuglien, and Blake Wheeler back in December wasn't enough, GM Paul Zeman worked some more magic by reeling in Johan Franzen, Jarome Iginla, Zdeno Chara, and Brendan Gallagher at the deadline. All due respect to Mika Zibanejad, Lars Eller and Zach Bogosian, but how Zeman has assembled this All-Star lineup without losing any draft picks is maddeningly impressive. Nate Asdourian's Beantown Ball Busters was another active participant in the shake up dance, parting with key pieces Jonathan Huberdeau, Alex Chiasson and Anze Kopitar in exchange for the enigmatic yet potential-laden Jacob Markstrom, as well as attractive keeper options such as Pavel Datsyuk and Tommy Wingels. We have a youth movement to report in the streets of Montreal. in addition to the previously mentioned Chiasson, Ty Ladd worked the phones like seasoned pro, landing prime keepers Mark Scheifele, Craig Smith, and Alex Galchenyuk.
As for specific trades, there were so many interesting ones, but one in particular that caught my eye was Wolfsburg dealing Nick Bjugstad and Tim Thomas to Moscow for Joe Thornton and Dustin Brown. I like this trade for many reasons--Mike Greeley sensed a need for a short-term boost heading into a quarterfinals matchup against the Cup Favorite, while Nate Fournier shrewdly acquired a younger version of Thornton in Bjugstad, and a veteran starter in Thomas to give his team some depth in a key position and possibly an edge in the consolation ranks if Lehtonen experiences any complications. Another high-value deal for both parties involved was Saginaw's acquisition of Marian Hossa, Jakob Silfverberg, and Justin Abdelkader from Mount Vernon for Derek Stepan and Rick Nash. Merola netted Nash and Stepan at very reasonable prices for next season, especially Nash, whom most would agree is due for a bounce-back in 2014-15. For Saginaw, Hossa provides obvious short-term value if he can stay healthy over the final month, but the real boon of this trade for the Spirit was freeing up cap space to sign Jordan Schwartz. Game on, good luck, and don't forget to tie down those jerseys.
BOSTON, MA--At long last, World Hockey League playoffs have arrived! For just the second time in seven years, WHL managers will duke it out head-to-head style for cash prizes, draft positioning, and summertime bragging rights. Before delving into match-up previews, lets recap how the next month will go down. First, the money. The total pot is 900 bucks, with $300 going to the playoff champion, $200 to playoff runner-up, $200 to the total points winner, $100 to the 3rd place finisher, and $100 to the last team standing in the consolation bracket. That's right--the consol winner gets a nice, crisp c-note in addition to the first overall pick in September, so keep fighting till the bitter end, Kingslayer!
As for the playoffs themselves, all 18 teams will compete across two different brackets for the duration of the NHL regular season. The top eight seeds in the overall standings are fighting for their right to party with Lord Stanley, while the remaining ten clubs were seeded into the consolation bracket by percentage of improvement in 2014. Both ladders incorporate three rounds of play, and draft order for next year will be determined by playoff performance (consolation winner drafts first, Champion drafts last, runner-up second-to-last, etc., with M.I. standings settling all tiebreaker scenarios). Alright, if you need more foreplay, you know where the rule book is. On to the match-ups!
(1) California Kwijibos vs. (8) Wolfsburg Vipers
Weekly Average (season): 131.49 (CK) - 114.37 (WLF)
Last Week: 178.7 (CK) - 131.3 (WLF)
Talk about the rich getting richer. Not only have the Kwijibos loaded up on elite rental players for the stretch run, but Carey Price is back in action and Jaroslav Halak looks to have pried away the starting job in Washington just in time for the postseason. With so many high profile skaters to keep track of, it's easy to miss that Andrew Ladd quietly led all Kwijibo skaters in regular season fantasy points. Value McStudMuffin. While things couldn't look rosier on paper for the top seed, Mike Greeley's Wolfsburg Vipers open the playoffs with untimely injuries to their top goalie, Jonathan Bernier, and top skater, Chris Kunitz. Until those players are healthy enough to return, the upstart Vipers will rely heavily on David Krejci and Jimmy Howard, as well as newcomers Joe Thornton, Dustin Brown, and Mark Giordano. Gio in particular has been on fire over the last ten games--among skaters, only Jamie Benn has had more fantasy points over that span. This one has the potential to get ugly, but the bottom seed always has a puncher's chance.
(2) Saginaw Spirit vs. (7) Stuttgart Scorpions
Weekly Average (season): 127.74 (SS) - 114.54 (SCOR)
Last Week: 152.2 (SS) - 100.4 (SCOR)
Perhaps the scariest thing about Saginaw heading into the second season is that no one player has been driving the boat. To be sure, Tuukka Rask and Patrice Bergeron have been the rudder and sail of the U.S.S. Spirit all season long, but Tom Lusty's crew has been firing on all cylinders. Bergy, Backes, Kopitar, Steen, etc. are known quantities, but a real difference maker could be the relatively unheralded Anders Lee--scooped off of waivers on March 5th and has quietly tallied 14 fantasy points over the final five games of the WHL regular season. Meeting the Spirit head-on is Josh Deitell and the Stuttgart Scorpions, a.k.a. Jonathan Quick, Marc-Andre Fleury, and the children of the corn. Tyler Seguin ended our regular season with twice as many shots as any of his teammates--a team that includes fellow studs Nathan MacKinnon, Taylor Hall, Valeri Nichuskin, and Gustav Nyquist. The kids have nothing to lose against a juggernaut foe--a classic first round scenario.
(3) Sparta Praha vs. (6) Beantown Ball Busters
Weekly Average (season): 127.65 (SPTA) - 115.49 (BOS)
Last Week: 129.2 (SPTA) - 120 (BOS)
For two glorious seasons near the turn of the century, Nate Asdourian and I played goal for the same high school team. Years later, we find ourselves on opposite sides of the puck in the WHL quarterfinals. Everyone knows it's all about timing in fantasy playoffs, and without a clear workhouse goalie at the moment, Sparta will continue to count on Gabe Landeskog, Evander Kane, P.K. Subban, and Zach Parise to carry the mail. The "dark horse" for the Spartans will be Steven Stamkos, who is mere weeks returned from a broken right shin and looking like he won't be 100% until next season. Nathan Asdourian's Beantown Ball Busters, on the other hand, have to like their chances with the current league MVP, Ben Bishop, in net, and man beasts like Ryan Getzlaf and Milan Lucic rolling at a torrid pace. Two lower profile players to keep an eye on in this series: Tommy Wingels and Carl Soderberg. Wingels still isn't a household name despite averaging 2.0 points per night all season long (albeit with Saginaw until recently). Soderberg had a slower start in 2013, but has turned it on recently with a 2.0 average of his own over the last ten contests.
(4) Portland Pints vs. (5) Boston Beernuts
Weekly Average (season): 124.27 (PINT) - 119.60 (NUTS)
Last Week: 140 (PINT) - 126.9 (NUTS)
When his #1 goalie doesn't play at all the week before the playoffs, it might seem strange to claim that the stars are aligning for Colin Smith's Portland Pints. And yet, they totally are. Signs are pointing to an imminent return for Kari Lehtonen, Claude Giroux has averaged over 4(!) points per game over the last 15 days, and Sergei Bobrovsky has only allowed five goals in his last four starts. On top of that, Erik Johnson, Scottie Upshall and Mikael Granlund have been pulling their weight (and then some) for what seems like most of 2014. Also, Sidney Crosby. Things are looking promising in P-town, but Smith--a perennial contender still searching for his first championship, will no doubt remain tight-lipped and cautiously optimistic until the final buzzer sounds. Meanwhile, the Beernuts enter the Cup Crusade riding a massive surge from Steven Mason, Joe Pavelski, and half man-half Yeti, Brent Burns. Joe Mastrangelo's Nuts will have their hands full, but an optimist would say that the likes of Bobby Ryan, Phil Kessel, and Nathan Horton have been suspiciously quiet lately. Just sayin'.
Top pick up for grabs: While West Palm, Altoona, Porter, Tatutic, Montreal, and last year's champion Lokomotiv Yukon have earned a one week respite in the opening round of the consolation playoffs, the four remaining seeds have no time to rest. The 7th-ranked NJ Wall Flowers have a clear advantage over a struggling Mount Vernon Blades team that hasn't cleared 100 points in a week since mid January. It's no secret that manager Chet Merola has been fully committed to building for the futre, evidenced by selling off his major assets for uber-prospects Tomas Hertl and Vladimir Tarasenko, both of whom are injured as of this writing. While taking one on the chin may be a foregone conclusion, the bright spot for the Blades has been Merola's ability to sign promising players to attractive deals for next year and beyond.
Speaking of young players with bright futures, NJ's Sean Couturier looks to be finally coming out of his shell after many months of patience from owner Mario Zecca. Corey Crawford, Ben Scrivens, and James Reimer offer a range of options in net, and they will need to be the backbone of Zecca's team as they pursue the 1st overall pick. In the other consolation quarterfinal, #8 CSKA Moscow takes on the 9th-ranked Brooklyn Cyclones in a dust up between two of the WHL's Original Six. Moscow's James Neal might not be out for the season after all, which would lend a much-needed boost with starter Ondrej Pavelec nursing a LBI, and Erik Karlsson trying to carry the entire Red Army on his back. Mike Zecca's Cyclones have been dormant for much of the season, yet they continue to roll out an intriguing lineup with pieces like Ryan O'Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Kyle Turris, and of course, Antti Niemi, who is capable of stealing a consolation round on his own at any given time.
Deadline Shopping Spree: No doubt inspired by the abundance of trades leading up to the NHL trade deadline, the World Hockey League saw its fair share of bag-packing leading up to its own trade deadline last week. 10 teams got in on the action, shipping out 37 players across 11 deals, and like any good deadline, there was a solid mix of steals, puzzlers, and at least one rage-inducing bombshell.
Turns out that even the most formidable armies can always use more soldiers. As if acquiring Martin St. Louis, Dustin Byfuglien, and Blake Wheeler back in December wasn't enough, GM Paul Zeman worked some more magic by reeling in Johan Franzen, Jarome Iginla, Zdeno Chara, and Brendan Gallagher at the deadline. All due respect to Mika Zibanejad, Lars Eller and Zach Bogosian, but how Zeman has assembled this All-Star lineup without losing any draft picks is maddeningly impressive. Nate Asdourian's Beantown Ball Busters was another active participant in the shake up dance, parting with key pieces Jonathan Huberdeau, Alex Chiasson and Anze Kopitar in exchange for the enigmatic yet potential-laden Jacob Markstrom, as well as attractive keeper options such as Pavel Datsyuk and Tommy Wingels. We have a youth movement to report in the streets of Montreal. in addition to the previously mentioned Chiasson, Ty Ladd worked the phones like seasoned pro, landing prime keepers Mark Scheifele, Craig Smith, and Alex Galchenyuk.
As for specific trades, there were so many interesting ones, but one in particular that caught my eye was Wolfsburg dealing Nick Bjugstad and Tim Thomas to Moscow for Joe Thornton and Dustin Brown. I like this trade for many reasons--Mike Greeley sensed a need for a short-term boost heading into a quarterfinals matchup against the Cup Favorite, while Nate Fournier shrewdly acquired a younger version of Thornton in Bjugstad, and a veteran starter in Thomas to give his team some depth in a key position and possibly an edge in the consolation ranks if Lehtonen experiences any complications. Another high-value deal for both parties involved was Saginaw's acquisition of Marian Hossa, Jakob Silfverberg, and Justin Abdelkader from Mount Vernon for Derek Stepan and Rick Nash. Merola netted Nash and Stepan at very reasonable prices for next season, especially Nash, whom most would agree is due for a bounce-back in 2014-15. For Saginaw, Hossa provides obvious short-term value if he can stay healthy over the final month, but the real boon of this trade for the Spirit was freeing up cap space to sign Jordan Schwartz. Game on, good luck, and don't forget to tie down those jerseys.
Monday, March 17, 2014
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
TRADE DEADLINE, FANTASY PLAYOFFS DRAWING NEAR, PRICE SOARING IN CALIFORNIA
BOSTON, MA—With Olympic hockey in the books and both the trade deadline and fantasy playoffs rapidly approaching, precious time is ticking away as WHL managers finalize their rosters for the stretch run. The deadline for in-season wheeling and dealing arrives at Noon (Eastern Time) on Wednesday, March 12th--a full week after the NHL trading deadline. Just five days later on Monday, March 17th, the puck will drop for fantasy quarterfinals and the opening round of consolation fisticuffs. The WHL postseason, which will be just the second tournament in the league's seven-year history, will encapsulate the final four weeks of NHL regular season games and 209 total games.
Broken down by NHL team, 8 teams will play 15 games (BOS, DET, MIN, OTT, PHI, PIT, STL, TBL), 13 teams will play 14 games (ANA, BUF, CAR, CBJ, CGY, CHI, COL, DAL, FLA, LAK, NJD, NSH, PHX), another 8 clubs will throw down 13 times (EDM, MTL, NYI, NYR, SJS, TOR, WPG, WSH), and VAN will see the least action during our playoffs, with 12 games.
Olympic Review: 122 WHL players represented their country in the XXII Winter Olympic Games. Tayutic Team Rasta and the Saginaw Spirit sent the most athletes at 13 apiece, however, looking at the top 100 point scorers and goalies with at least 1 game started-- les Canadiens de Montreal and Tayutic Team Rasta each contributed a league-high seven skaters along with one tender. From a total points perspective, Saginaw skaters edged Montreal with a whopping 25 points from six skaters (compared to Montreal's 24 points from seven)--including a pleasantly surprising 3 goals and 2 assists from Finnish youngling, Olli Maatta. Meanwhile, looking at average points per participant, it was a three-way draw between Portland, Moscow and the Boston Beernuts, all racking up 14 points from 3 skaters, or 4.7 points per shooter.
Beernuts winger Phil Kessel and Moscow defender Erik Karlsson were deservedly selected by the IIHF as best at their respective positions, along with a more ceremonious selection of Tayutic's Teemu Selanne as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. If one were inclined to select an Olympic MVP based purely on on-ice performance, that process would likely start and end with California Kwijibos guardian Carey Price. Even with the full brunt of Hockey Canada in front of him, Price maintained a microscopic 0.59 GAA and .972 save percentage through five starts en route to a gold medal finish. West Palm's Henrik Lundqivst also had himself a stellar tournament, logging the most starts (6) along with a kingly 1.50/.943 peripheral split and a silver medal. Stuttgart Scorpions rookie Valeri Nichushkin was the youngest Men's hockey player at the Olympics, edging Porter Pirates rookie Aleksander Barkov by six months. Best player name from Sochi? Why, that would be Austria's Thomas Hundertpfund.
Most Improved Race Update: Two months into 2014, Mike Greeley’s Wolfsburg Vipers find themselves in an interesting position--simultaneously atop the most improved standings and in the 8th and final playoff seed. Without a 2014 1st round pick to attempt to transform into the first overall selection come September, it seems as though Wolfsburg intends to take a run at the big money. Meanwhile, Bob Guarascio’s West Palm Beach Rangers, the current top two seeds--California and Sparta, and Rich Abbondante's Team Rasta round out the Top 5 most-improved clubs in the new year. At the other end of the spectrum, Chet Merola's Blades of Mount Vernon have understandably struggled to improve since Jan. 1 after unloading impact players Thomas Vanek, Matt Moulson and Jimmy Howard in late December, followed swiftly by Dustin Byfuglien, Marty St. Louis and Blake Wheeler on January 10th.
Youngbloods: By now everyone knows Stuttgart’s Nathan MacKinnon as the undisputed front-runner for the Calder trophy. The wunderkind is currently leading all rookie skaters in goals, assists, and has about 40 more shots on goal than the next guy in line. What's more, as much as Patrick Roy loves his golden child, Mack Attack is averaging roughly 16 minutes of ice time, which ranks just 6th among newbie forwards. The two rookie forwards leading in TOI/g, Tyler Johnson (WPB) and Ondrej Palat (TTR) are putting together impressive seasons in their own right—both play for Tampa Bay in real life and currently sit 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in total points among first year skaters. Nipping at their collective heels are Wolfsburg skaters Mark Scheifele and Torey Krug, and Mount Vernon’s Chris Kreider. Total points are the obvious measure, but if you look at which rookies are ripping the most shots on net--after MacKinnon, of course, Nick Bjugstad (WLF), Alex Chiasson (BOS), and Sean Monahan (MVB) begin to creep their way into the outer limits of the R.O.Y bubble.
Night Vision Googles: Introducing the latest release from Colin’s laboratory—the Guesstimator. Available in its own tab in the Keeper Cost Doc, this tool is designed to help managers estimate what a player will cost at the end of the season. While total accuracy cannot be guaranteed, it can be a handy supplement to your own intuition and research, especially if you find yourself torn over whether to sign a player in-season or during the summer.
RFA Auction: Starting one week following fantasy playoffs, the WHL will hold its first Restricted Free Agent auction. For our purposes, an RFA is any player that entered this season on a contract, but is not yet signed for next year (full list available in its own tab in the keeper cost doc). So, how exactly will this auction work and how long will it last? Answer(s)--it will run for a full week from Sunday, April 20th through Sunday, April 27th, during which all contract signing will be frozen. Owners will have the opportunity to submit a max of two RFA offer sheets, which will essentially be blind bids for a one-year contract (one of these bids may be conditional on NOT receiving the other player). The minimum opening bid will be the player's final keeper cost, and however much a bid exceeds the Y1 keeper cost may be used to extend an RFA deal to two or three years. For example, if a player would cost $18/22/25 and you bid $21, your multi-year options would be $21/24/27 (+$3 for each year). All successful bids will be binding and will be announced at the end of the week. Also, in true RFA fashion, original owners will have the chance to match the highest bid on any of their RFA's.
A final thought about auctions in general--you may recall a league survey last summer, in which owners voted heavily in favor of moving to a dynasty format. For the record, this has been my hope for many years, but it made sense to Colin and me to gradually move the league in that direction. Part of this transition--which may go into effect as soon as next season--will be shifting from a full draft to a smaller rookie draft and, you guessed it, an auction! So, while participation in the RFA auction will be optional, it would be a solid plan to at least check it out.
Game on and good hunting.
BOSTON, MA—With Olympic hockey in the books and both the trade deadline and fantasy playoffs rapidly approaching, precious time is ticking away as WHL managers finalize their rosters for the stretch run. The deadline for in-season wheeling and dealing arrives at Noon (Eastern Time) on Wednesday, March 12th--a full week after the NHL trading deadline. Just five days later on Monday, March 17th, the puck will drop for fantasy quarterfinals and the opening round of consolation fisticuffs. The WHL postseason, which will be just the second tournament in the league's seven-year history, will encapsulate the final four weeks of NHL regular season games and 209 total games.
Broken down by NHL team, 8 teams will play 15 games (BOS, DET, MIN, OTT, PHI, PIT, STL, TBL), 13 teams will play 14 games (ANA, BUF, CAR, CBJ, CGY, CHI, COL, DAL, FLA, LAK, NJD, NSH, PHX), another 8 clubs will throw down 13 times (EDM, MTL, NYI, NYR, SJS, TOR, WPG, WSH), and VAN will see the least action during our playoffs, with 12 games.
Olympic Review: 122 WHL players represented their country in the XXII Winter Olympic Games. Tayutic Team Rasta and the Saginaw Spirit sent the most athletes at 13 apiece, however, looking at the top 100 point scorers and goalies with at least 1 game started-- les Canadiens de Montreal and Tayutic Team Rasta each contributed a league-high seven skaters along with one tender. From a total points perspective, Saginaw skaters edged Montreal with a whopping 25 points from six skaters (compared to Montreal's 24 points from seven)--including a pleasantly surprising 3 goals and 2 assists from Finnish youngling, Olli Maatta. Meanwhile, looking at average points per participant, it was a three-way draw between Portland, Moscow and the Boston Beernuts, all racking up 14 points from 3 skaters, or 4.7 points per shooter.
Beernuts winger Phil Kessel and Moscow defender Erik Karlsson were deservedly selected by the IIHF as best at their respective positions, along with a more ceremonious selection of Tayutic's Teemu Selanne as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. If one were inclined to select an Olympic MVP based purely on on-ice performance, that process would likely start and end with California Kwijibos guardian Carey Price. Even with the full brunt of Hockey Canada in front of him, Price maintained a microscopic 0.59 GAA and .972 save percentage through five starts en route to a gold medal finish. West Palm's Henrik Lundqivst also had himself a stellar tournament, logging the most starts (6) along with a kingly 1.50/.943 peripheral split and a silver medal. Stuttgart Scorpions rookie Valeri Nichushkin was the youngest Men's hockey player at the Olympics, edging Porter Pirates rookie Aleksander Barkov by six months. Best player name from Sochi? Why, that would be Austria's Thomas Hundertpfund.
Most Improved Race Update: Two months into 2014, Mike Greeley’s Wolfsburg Vipers find themselves in an interesting position--simultaneously atop the most improved standings and in the 8th and final playoff seed. Without a 2014 1st round pick to attempt to transform into the first overall selection come September, it seems as though Wolfsburg intends to take a run at the big money. Meanwhile, Bob Guarascio’s West Palm Beach Rangers, the current top two seeds--California and Sparta, and Rich Abbondante's Team Rasta round out the Top 5 most-improved clubs in the new year. At the other end of the spectrum, Chet Merola's Blades of Mount Vernon have understandably struggled to improve since Jan. 1 after unloading impact players Thomas Vanek, Matt Moulson and Jimmy Howard in late December, followed swiftly by Dustin Byfuglien, Marty St. Louis and Blake Wheeler on January 10th.
Youngbloods: By now everyone knows Stuttgart’s Nathan MacKinnon as the undisputed front-runner for the Calder trophy. The wunderkind is currently leading all rookie skaters in goals, assists, and has about 40 more shots on goal than the next guy in line. What's more, as much as Patrick Roy loves his golden child, Mack Attack is averaging roughly 16 minutes of ice time, which ranks just 6th among newbie forwards. The two rookie forwards leading in TOI/g, Tyler Johnson (WPB) and Ondrej Palat (TTR) are putting together impressive seasons in their own right—both play for Tampa Bay in real life and currently sit 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in total points among first year skaters. Nipping at their collective heels are Wolfsburg skaters Mark Scheifele and Torey Krug, and Mount Vernon’s Chris Kreider. Total points are the obvious measure, but if you look at which rookies are ripping the most shots on net--after MacKinnon, of course, Nick Bjugstad (WLF), Alex Chiasson (BOS), and Sean Monahan (MVB) begin to creep their way into the outer limits of the R.O.Y bubble.
Night Vision Googles: Introducing the latest release from Colin’s laboratory—the Guesstimator. Available in its own tab in the Keeper Cost Doc, this tool is designed to help managers estimate what a player will cost at the end of the season. While total accuracy cannot be guaranteed, it can be a handy supplement to your own intuition and research, especially if you find yourself torn over whether to sign a player in-season or during the summer.
RFA Auction: Starting one week following fantasy playoffs, the WHL will hold its first Restricted Free Agent auction. For our purposes, an RFA is any player that entered this season on a contract, but is not yet signed for next year (full list available in its own tab in the keeper cost doc). So, how exactly will this auction work and how long will it last? Answer(s)--it will run for a full week from Sunday, April 20th through Sunday, April 27th, during which all contract signing will be frozen. Owners will have the opportunity to submit a max of two RFA offer sheets, which will essentially be blind bids for a one-year contract (one of these bids may be conditional on NOT receiving the other player). The minimum opening bid will be the player's final keeper cost, and however much a bid exceeds the Y1 keeper cost may be used to extend an RFA deal to two or three years. For example, if a player would cost $18/22/25 and you bid $21, your multi-year options would be $21/24/27 (+$3 for each year). All successful bids will be binding and will be announced at the end of the week. Also, in true RFA fashion, original owners will have the chance to match the highest bid on any of their RFA's.
A final thought about auctions in general--you may recall a league survey last summer, in which owners voted heavily in favor of moving to a dynasty format. For the record, this has been my hope for many years, but it made sense to Colin and me to gradually move the league in that direction. Part of this transition--which may go into effect as soon as next season--will be shifting from a full draft to a smaller rookie draft and, you guessed it, an auction! So, while participation in the RFA auction will be optional, it would be a solid plan to at least check it out.
Game on and good hunting.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
BEANTOWN ENJOYING TOP DOLLAR GOALTENDING AT BARGAIN PRICES, CONTRACT SEASON CLOSING IN
BOSTON, MA—As we inch closer to the halfway point in mid January, every team in the top half of the standings has someone nipping at its heels. Even top ranked Saignaw, after building a fairly comfortable lead in the early months, now has a big hairy Kwijibo breathing down its neck. Behind those leviathans, we've got the two Boston teams, Stuttgart, New Jersey, defending Champion Yukon and your fearless Commissioners slugging it out for playoff positioning. In the bottom half of the standings, there is still plenty of time for the likes of Montreal, Moscow, Wolfsburg, and others to make a push, but most GMs are playing their cards pretty close to the chest.
Contract season is nearly upon us! Skaters can be signed in-season once they reach 40 games played (GP) or 30 games started (GS) for goalies.
For those who might benefit from a quick refresher on how player costs work, the keeper cost document puts everything you need at your fingertips. If you aren't already, I highly recommend scouting players in the "Player Rater" tab. First, get familiar with the "Value Tables" tab and take note of how close a given player is to moving up or down in the ranking brackets (1, 2, 3, 4-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc.). For example, if Player A ranks 51st in the player rater and you don't expect him to slow down, it might make sense to lock him in before he moves up into the 41-50 bracket, thus commanding more money.
In some respects, our league is a microcosm of the stock market. We evaluate options and data, mining for the right moment to buy or sell. Do you expect this player to keep trending up? Does history show that he runs hot and cold? What barriers, if any, could impede the player from reaching his potential (i.e. does he play for the Islanders)? At the end of the day, most of our decisions as GM's come down to gut feelings. And half of becoming successful at this game is learning how to trust your intuition and experience when making educated guesses in a volatile marketplace.
Enough about future contracts, let's look at some current ones. If not for a shrewd signing by GM Nathan Asdourian over the offseason, Ben Bishop would currently cost $53. Instead, the towering goalie will earn $22 in 2014-15, representing a current savings of $31. Asdourian, a real-life goalie, is also saving $21 on Braden Holtby at press time. Goalies know goalies. Go figure.
Another goalie, Jonathan Bernier, is looking like an absolute steal for Mike Greeley's Wolfsburg Vipers. Bernier is locked in at $20 per season through 2015-16--currently $21 less than what his sticker price would be sans contract. On the skater front, Ryan Kesler (GOLD) and Erik Karlsson (CSKA) are both currently saving their respective GM's $16. Looking at the 43 players that are currently signed through next season, we are collectively saving $2.19 per contract. So, while contracts don't always pan out, we are doing an above average job of retaining players at attractive prices.
* In case you missed it, Ty Ladd's Canadiens de Montreal recently pulled off two trades within 72 hours. The first deal saw Ladd ship veterans Craig Anderson, Jay Bouwmeester and a 12th round draft pick to Sparta Praha for Karri Ramo, Mark Arcobello, and a 2nd round pick. In the second swap, Montreal acquired budding blueliner Ryan Murray and a 10th round pick from the California Kwijibos for Shane Doan and a 13th rounder.
* Remember last season when Mike Milbury criticized Alex Ovechkin for lacking a "full commitment" to hockey? Yeah, Ovie is averaging nearly a full fantasy point more per game than Sidney friggin Crosby. Amazing what a generational goal-scoring talent will do when you stop forcing him to play defense. He's also averaging just over five shots on goal per game, which might have something to do with the scoring.
* Different kind of awesome: Matt Martin (SCOR) is averaging just a shade under five hits per game, far and away the top mark in the league. Most impressive about that is the fact that Martin is doing this on just 12 minutes of ice time per night.
* Mike Smith (WPB) and Ryan Miller (GOLD) are killing it in the total save department, but rank 10th and 20th, respectively in total fantasy points. In completely unrelated news, Buffalo and Phoenix are both in the bottom five in terms of shots allowed per game.
* An observation after poking around on Behindthenet.ca -- when sorting players by average distance from the net when shooting the puck, you predictably get a bunch of goons and grinders on the first page, because these are typically the slower skaters who make their bacon by sniffing around in close. This makes sense, but one name stuck out in a sea of mediocrity: Jonathan Toews. Everyone knows that Toews is a special player, but it's kind of neat to learn that he tends to shoot the puck from a shorter distance than his elite counterparts. This site is worth a perusal if you're into advanced metrics or if you're curious about things like how a players' shooting % is impacted by shot selection.
On the less advanced and probably more fantasy relevant side of things -- consider checking out Dobber's Frozen Pool. It's a straightforward tool that lets you see team-by-team line combinations in every situation (PP, SH, ES, etc.) over a range of time frames. Given how shallow our free agent pool can be, it can't hurt to keep up on which rookies and lesser-known players are earning more PP time, or who is stepping up in the absence of an injury. Knowledge is power.
Game on, and have a very happy holidays!
Contract season is nearly upon us! Skaters can be signed in-season once they reach 40 games played (GP) or 30 games started (GS) for goalies.
For those who might benefit from a quick refresher on how player costs work, the keeper cost document puts everything you need at your fingertips. If you aren't already, I highly recommend scouting players in the "Player Rater" tab. First, get familiar with the "Value Tables" tab and take note of how close a given player is to moving up or down in the ranking brackets (1, 2, 3, 4-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc.). For example, if Player A ranks 51st in the player rater and you don't expect him to slow down, it might make sense to lock him in before he moves up into the 41-50 bracket, thus commanding more money.
In some respects, our league is a microcosm of the stock market. We evaluate options and data, mining for the right moment to buy or sell. Do you expect this player to keep trending up? Does history show that he runs hot and cold? What barriers, if any, could impede the player from reaching his potential (i.e. does he play for the Islanders)? At the end of the day, most of our decisions as GM's come down to gut feelings. And half of becoming successful at this game is learning how to trust your intuition and experience when making educated guesses in a volatile marketplace.
Enough about future contracts, let's look at some current ones. If not for a shrewd signing by GM Nathan Asdourian over the offseason, Ben Bishop would currently cost $53. Instead, the towering goalie will earn $22 in 2014-15, representing a current savings of $31. Asdourian, a real-life goalie, is also saving $21 on Braden Holtby at press time. Goalies know goalies. Go figure.
Another goalie, Jonathan Bernier, is looking like an absolute steal for Mike Greeley's Wolfsburg Vipers. Bernier is locked in at $20 per season through 2015-16--currently $21 less than what his sticker price would be sans contract. On the skater front, Ryan Kesler (GOLD) and Erik Karlsson (CSKA) are both currently saving their respective GM's $16. Looking at the 43 players that are currently signed through next season, we are collectively saving $2.19 per contract. So, while contracts don't always pan out, we are doing an above average job of retaining players at attractive prices.
* In case you missed it, Ty Ladd's Canadiens de Montreal recently pulled off two trades within 72 hours. The first deal saw Ladd ship veterans Craig Anderson, Jay Bouwmeester and a 12th round draft pick to Sparta Praha for Karri Ramo, Mark Arcobello, and a 2nd round pick. In the second swap, Montreal acquired budding blueliner Ryan Murray and a 10th round pick from the California Kwijibos for Shane Doan and a 13th rounder.
* Remember last season when Mike Milbury criticized Alex Ovechkin for lacking a "full commitment" to hockey? Yeah, Ovie is averaging nearly a full fantasy point more per game than Sidney friggin Crosby. Amazing what a generational goal-scoring talent will do when you stop forcing him to play defense. He's also averaging just over five shots on goal per game, which might have something to do with the scoring.
* Different kind of awesome: Matt Martin (SCOR) is averaging just a shade under five hits per game, far and away the top mark in the league. Most impressive about that is the fact that Martin is doing this on just 12 minutes of ice time per night.
* Mike Smith (WPB) and Ryan Miller (GOLD) are killing it in the total save department, but rank 10th and 20th, respectively in total fantasy points. In completely unrelated news, Buffalo and Phoenix are both in the bottom five in terms of shots allowed per game.
* An observation after poking around on Behindthenet.ca -- when sorting players by average distance from the net when shooting the puck, you predictably get a bunch of goons and grinders on the first page, because these are typically the slower skaters who make their bacon by sniffing around in close. This makes sense, but one name stuck out in a sea of mediocrity: Jonathan Toews. Everyone knows that Toews is a special player, but it's kind of neat to learn that he tends to shoot the puck from a shorter distance than his elite counterparts. This site is worth a perusal if you're into advanced metrics or if you're curious about things like how a players' shooting % is impacted by shot selection.
On the less advanced and probably more fantasy relevant side of things -- consider checking out Dobber's Frozen Pool. It's a straightforward tool that lets you see team-by-team line combinations in every situation (PP, SH, ES, etc.) over a range of time frames. Given how shallow our free agent pool can be, it can't hurt to keep up on which rookies and lesser-known players are earning more PP time, or who is stepping up in the absence of an injury. Knowledge is power.
Game on, and have a very happy holidays!
Saturday, December 14, 2013
SHY NO MORE
WALL FLOWERS ENTER THE FRAY, GOALIE GENESIS, QUARTER MARK REVIEW
BOSTON, MA—We are officially passed the quarter mark of the 2014 NHL season, which means we're about one third of the way through OUR regular season, and about 20 games away from in-season contract signings.
The standings are still super tight, which is having a big impact on the trade market. With only a small number of teams truly out of contention, it's difficult for GM's to know when they should go all-in with a big trade, pack it up and trade for futures, or--and I think most of us are in this boat right now--stand pat, ride out the storm and see what things look like in the new year.
Following a 55-point night, Mario Zecca's New Jersey Wallflowers have vaulted into the contender's circle. Very interesting and balanced team here. Justin Williams, JVR, Phaneuf, and a resurgent Dustin Penner are leading the way up front, combined with a formidable trio of Corey Crawford, James Reimer and Ben Scrivens in net. Not sure about Scrivens' long-term value, but he's cleaning up well in the absence of Jonathan Quick. 55 points is the highest daily total so far this season, and if it's not the best mark in league history, it's certainly up there.
In these notes I usually try to look for unusual or surprising trends, but there is no mystery to what is working well for Joe Mastrangelo's Boston Beernuts. Top five skaters? Ovechkin, Perry, Pavelski, Sharp, Kessel. Sprinkle in wunderkinds Nathan Mackinnon and Valeri Nichuskin, and you've got a nice recipe for both immediate and long-term success. Also, how about Steve Mason in goal? W-L record is misleading as the former Calder winner is letting in about 2 goals per game and stopping roughly 93% of shots fired his way. Great rebound for the kid that has been widely regarded as a one hit wonder.
Running out of synonyms for 'unstoppable', so Saginaw isn't going to get as much ink in this column as in previous editions. One interesting note- as of this writing, Tommy Wingels has more fantasy points than fellow Spirit forwards Patrice Bergeron, Joffrey Lupul and Brad Richards. Also, here's hoping that Pavel Datsyuk isn't seriously injured after recently sustaining an elbow to the head. Losing him long term, on top of Stamkos, would be a real shame for hockey fans everywhere.
Generally try not to mention glorious Sparta in these ramblings, but they have 179 more fantasy points from skaters than the league average (696). Next highest above-average number is 94 from Saginaw. W00T, and such.
As for total fantasy points earned by goalies, Josh Deitell's Stuttgart Scorpions and Nathan Asdourian's Beantown Ball Busters are right up there with the Spirit. For Stuttgart, Josh Harding and MA Fleury have been downright sensational, going a combined 24-6 through the first two months of regular season play. As for Beantown, the rich are getting richer. Braden Holtby has been steady all year, Ben Bishop could end up being one of the best keeper signings ever, Frederick Andersen has shown promise in a limited role, and now Asdourian has Cam Ward back from injury. Lost in it all is prospect Jack Campbell, who is still learning the ropes in the American Hockey League.
Scary moment for Altoona's Marty Brodeur over the weekend. After taking a puck off the back of the head, Brodeur lay motionless on the ice for a few minutes before shaking off the cobwebs and finishing the game. Personally, i thought Brodeur might get 30 starts max this season, but, health permitting, he's looking at far more than that. I guess if your HOF goalie (ancient or not) is playing halfway decent, you roll him until he says enough.
Speaking of goalies, as we so often do, I got to wondering where the best goalies of our time came from prior to emerging in the NHL. Well, let's wonder no more!
Tuukka Rask (26) - Honed his craft for three seasons with Ilves Tampere of Finland's SM-liiga before learning the North American pro game for two years in Providence of the AHL. Broke in full-time with Boston in 2009-10.
Josh Harding (29) - Four years with the Regina Pats and Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League before turning pro with Houston of the AHL in 2004. After 118 AHL starts and a few cups of coffee in the NHL, the original Minnesota Wild 2nd round pick established his role as a 1B tender in 2007-08.
Carey Price (26) - Another Western Hockey League standout, Price played a full four seasons with the Tri-City Americans before pulling a Patrick Roy and winning a Calder Cup in his first AHL season in 2007. Price has just 12 career regular season GS in the AHL and clearly had nothing to gain from a prolonged stay in the minors.
Ben Bishop (27) - It's taken some time for the former Hockey East standout to earn a starting gig in the NHL, but he appears to finally have one. After three stellar season with the University of Maine Black Bears, Bishop spent the next five years bouncing between Peoria and Binghampton of the AHL and short NHL stints with St. Louis and Ottawa.
Antti Niemi (30) - Like fellow countryman Tuukka Rask, Niemi logged three seasons in Finland's SM-liiga before turning pro in the AHL. Also like Rask, Niemi didn't need long in the AHL before prying his way onto hockey's biggest stage. After just one year in the A, injuries to Cristobal Huet and Corey Crawford thrust Niemi into a starting role with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010. Many questioned his talent due to how stacked the Hawks were that year, but none can argue with Niemi's results since hoisting the Stanley Cup.
So, among the top five goalies as of this writing, we've got two Finns, two Western Juniors and a former Black Bear. Extending into the top 10, there's another WHL-er (Holtby), a couple of QMJHL-ers (Fleury, Crawford), an OHL-er (Smith) and a Russian who came to the AHL after just one season in his native land (Varlamov). This super intensive analysis reveals two key findings. One, the WHL churns out better goalies (on average) than either of its Junior League counterparts, and two, one in five Finnish babies are born with tiny catching gloves.
BOSTON, MA—We are officially passed the quarter mark of the 2014 NHL season, which means we're about one third of the way through OUR regular season, and about 20 games away from in-season contract signings.
The standings are still super tight, which is having a big impact on the trade market. With only a small number of teams truly out of contention, it's difficult for GM's to know when they should go all-in with a big trade, pack it up and trade for futures, or--and I think most of us are in this boat right now--stand pat, ride out the storm and see what things look like in the new year.
Following a 55-point night, Mario Zecca's New Jersey Wallflowers have vaulted into the contender's circle. Very interesting and balanced team here. Justin Williams, JVR, Phaneuf, and a resurgent Dustin Penner are leading the way up front, combined with a formidable trio of Corey Crawford, James Reimer and Ben Scrivens in net. Not sure about Scrivens' long-term value, but he's cleaning up well in the absence of Jonathan Quick. 55 points is the highest daily total so far this season, and if it's not the best mark in league history, it's certainly up there.
In these notes I usually try to look for unusual or surprising trends, but there is no mystery to what is working well for Joe Mastrangelo's Boston Beernuts. Top five skaters? Ovechkin, Perry, Pavelski, Sharp, Kessel. Sprinkle in wunderkinds Nathan Mackinnon and Valeri Nichuskin, and you've got a nice recipe for both immediate and long-term success. Also, how about Steve Mason in goal? W-L record is misleading as the former Calder winner is letting in about 2 goals per game and stopping roughly 93% of shots fired his way. Great rebound for the kid that has been widely regarded as a one hit wonder.
Running out of synonyms for 'unstoppable', so Saginaw isn't going to get as much ink in this column as in previous editions. One interesting note- as of this writing, Tommy Wingels has more fantasy points than fellow Spirit forwards Patrice Bergeron, Joffrey Lupul and Brad Richards. Also, here's hoping that Pavel Datsyuk isn't seriously injured after recently sustaining an elbow to the head. Losing him long term, on top of Stamkos, would be a real shame for hockey fans everywhere.
Generally try not to mention glorious Sparta in these ramblings, but they have 179 more fantasy points from skaters than the league average (696). Next highest above-average number is 94 from Saginaw. W00T, and such.
As for total fantasy points earned by goalies, Josh Deitell's Stuttgart Scorpions and Nathan Asdourian's Beantown Ball Busters are right up there with the Spirit. For Stuttgart, Josh Harding and MA Fleury have been downright sensational, going a combined 24-6 through the first two months of regular season play. As for Beantown, the rich are getting richer. Braden Holtby has been steady all year, Ben Bishop could end up being one of the best keeper signings ever, Frederick Andersen has shown promise in a limited role, and now Asdourian has Cam Ward back from injury. Lost in it all is prospect Jack Campbell, who is still learning the ropes in the American Hockey League.
Scary moment for Altoona's Marty Brodeur over the weekend. After taking a puck off the back of the head, Brodeur lay motionless on the ice for a few minutes before shaking off the cobwebs and finishing the game. Personally, i thought Brodeur might get 30 starts max this season, but, health permitting, he's looking at far more than that. I guess if your HOF goalie (ancient or not) is playing halfway decent, you roll him until he says enough.
Speaking of goalies, as we so often do, I got to wondering where the best goalies of our time came from prior to emerging in the NHL. Well, let's wonder no more!
Tuukka Rask (26) - Honed his craft for three seasons with Ilves Tampere of Finland's SM-liiga before learning the North American pro game for two years in Providence of the AHL. Broke in full-time with Boston in 2009-10.
Josh Harding (29) - Four years with the Regina Pats and Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League before turning pro with Houston of the AHL in 2004. After 118 AHL starts and a few cups of coffee in the NHL, the original Minnesota Wild 2nd round pick established his role as a 1B tender in 2007-08.
Carey Price (26) - Another Western Hockey League standout, Price played a full four seasons with the Tri-City Americans before pulling a Patrick Roy and winning a Calder Cup in his first AHL season in 2007. Price has just 12 career regular season GS in the AHL and clearly had nothing to gain from a prolonged stay in the minors.
Ben Bishop (27) - It's taken some time for the former Hockey East standout to earn a starting gig in the NHL, but he appears to finally have one. After three stellar season with the University of Maine Black Bears, Bishop spent the next five years bouncing between Peoria and Binghampton of the AHL and short NHL stints with St. Louis and Ottawa.
Antti Niemi (30) - Like fellow countryman Tuukka Rask, Niemi logged three seasons in Finland's SM-liiga before turning pro in the AHL. Also like Rask, Niemi didn't need long in the AHL before prying his way onto hockey's biggest stage. After just one year in the A, injuries to Cristobal Huet and Corey Crawford thrust Niemi into a starting role with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010. Many questioned his talent due to how stacked the Hawks were that year, but none can argue with Niemi's results since hoisting the Stanley Cup.
So, among the top five goalies as of this writing, we've got two Finns, two Western Juniors and a former Black Bear. Extending into the top 10, there's another WHL-er (Holtby), a couple of QMJHL-ers (Fleury, Crawford), an OHL-er (Smith) and a Russian who came to the AHL after just one season in his native land (Varlamov). This super intensive analysis reveals two key findings. One, the WHL churns out better goalies (on average) than either of its Junior League counterparts, and two, one in five Finnish babies are born with tiny catching gloves.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Soaring Start
SPIRITS HIGH IN SAGINAW DESPITE TIGHT STANDINGS, YUKON PANNING FOR GOLD
BOSTON, MA—It's been an exciting start to the 2013-14 season with several teams charging out of the gate, and a few historically strong teams struggling to find their footing. As we all know, the fantasy hockey season is a marathon, but sometimes a team insists on sprinting. Case in point, the Saginaw Spirit. After capturing the crown in our inaugural 2008-09 ESPN campaign, Tom Lusty's crew churned out a string of decent yet underwhelming seasons. Now, riding the stalwart play of Tuukka Rask and the goalscoring prowess of Joffrey Lupul and Daniel Sedin, the reinvigorated Spirit have already posted TWO 50+ point nights.
Defending champion Lokomotiv Yukon, on the other hand, is making waves in a different way. Darryl Schnarr's typically robust squad has finished 2nd, 1st and 1st dating back to the 2010-2011 season, but now finds itself struggling to gain momentum. Not to take away from their individual performance, but you know things aren't 100% when Matt Niskanen and Jiri Hudler are the leading scorers on a team that boasts the likes of Malkin, Jamie Benn, Kesler, and Henrik Sedin. Goalies--generally the pillar of Yukon's success, are sputtering in the early going. Ryan Miller is doing work (ranked 2nd in saves despite an 0-4 record). It's Devan Dubnyk that is the real head-scratcher so far, posting negative points in all four of his starts along with a hideous 5.43/.829 peripheral stat line.
Again, it's a long season with plenty of time to turn things around. And if you look back through the annals of league history, you will be reminded that Lokomitv won it's first league championship not as a juggernaut, but as the #7 playoff seed.
ROOKS ON THE RISE: By now you've hopefully seen the four-goal effort from Tomas Hertl, which is a big part of why the rookie is leading all California Kwijibos skaters in fantasy points. Many had Sean Monahan pegged as one pup that might stay in the NHL beyond nine games mostly out of necessity, but the Mount Vernon greenhorn has at least a point in each of his first five games, including a four game goal-scoring streak. A feel good surprise from the kid that was largely overshadowed by MacKinnon, Drouin, Jones, Barkov, etc.
PATIENCE PAYING OFF: Pint-sized Nathan Gerbe is finally getting an honest chance to strut his stuff on the main stage. After averaging just 12:30 TOI/G last season, Gerbe is logging over 18 minutes a night for Portland and currently ranks among the Top 10 leaders in shots on goal. After plugging away as a grinder for most of the last four seasons, Justin Abdelkader is getting a golden chance to stick on a line with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. And after being on the Stuttgart Scorpion's trading block for the better part of the last two seasons,Jack Johnson has more fantasy points through the first two weeks than Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin. Not exactly a bankable trend, but surely a welcome change for GM Josh Deitell.
EARLY RETURNS: How about that Alex Killorn? Two goals and four assists through his first five games and is currently CSKA Moscow's top scoring left winger. What a solid start for arguably the most surprising pick of the draft (43rd overall, round 3). Also, how did more NHL teams not offer Brad Boyes a one year deal this past summer? The former 43-goal scorer has potted four goals through his first five games with Wolfsburg, tops among all Vipers skaters.
CANADIAN COMEBACK:My super early and completely unbiased nomination for bounce back of the year goes toSemyon Varlamov of le Canadiens de Montreal. After averaging a paltry 2.2 fantasy points per game last season, Varly is rocking a 4-0 record along with a 1.00/.970 split and a robust 8.4 points per game average. What a MONSTER. Also, Patrick Roy is the greatest coach in league history. See? Totally unbiased. Just sweet, pure, truth.
Great start to the year, guys! Keep fighting and don't forget to take the longview as we navigate through the coming months.
BOSTON, MA—It's been an exciting start to the 2013-14 season with several teams charging out of the gate, and a few historically strong teams struggling to find their footing. As we all know, the fantasy hockey season is a marathon, but sometimes a team insists on sprinting. Case in point, the Saginaw Spirit. After capturing the crown in our inaugural 2008-09 ESPN campaign, Tom Lusty's crew churned out a string of decent yet underwhelming seasons. Now, riding the stalwart play of Tuukka Rask and the goalscoring prowess of Joffrey Lupul and Daniel Sedin, the reinvigorated Spirit have already posted TWO 50+ point nights.
Defending champion Lokomotiv Yukon, on the other hand, is making waves in a different way. Darryl Schnarr's typically robust squad has finished 2nd, 1st and 1st dating back to the 2010-2011 season, but now finds itself struggling to gain momentum. Not to take away from their individual performance, but you know things aren't 100% when Matt Niskanen and Jiri Hudler are the leading scorers on a team that boasts the likes of Malkin, Jamie Benn, Kesler, and Henrik Sedin. Goalies--generally the pillar of Yukon's success, are sputtering in the early going. Ryan Miller is doing work (ranked 2nd in saves despite an 0-4 record). It's Devan Dubnyk that is the real head-scratcher so far, posting negative points in all four of his starts along with a hideous 5.43/.829 peripheral stat line.
Again, it's a long season with plenty of time to turn things around. And if you look back through the annals of league history, you will be reminded that Lokomitv won it's first league championship not as a juggernaut, but as the #7 playoff seed.
ROOKS ON THE RISE: By now you've hopefully seen the four-goal effort from Tomas Hertl, which is a big part of why the rookie is leading all California Kwijibos skaters in fantasy points. Many had Sean Monahan pegged as one pup that might stay in the NHL beyond nine games mostly out of necessity, but the Mount Vernon greenhorn has at least a point in each of his first five games, including a four game goal-scoring streak. A feel good surprise from the kid that was largely overshadowed by MacKinnon, Drouin, Jones, Barkov, etc.
PATIENCE PAYING OFF: Pint-sized Nathan Gerbe is finally getting an honest chance to strut his stuff on the main stage. After averaging just 12:30 TOI/G last season, Gerbe is logging over 18 minutes a night for Portland and currently ranks among the Top 10 leaders in shots on goal. After plugging away as a grinder for most of the last four seasons, Justin Abdelkader is getting a golden chance to stick on a line with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. And after being on the Stuttgart Scorpion's trading block for the better part of the last two seasons,Jack Johnson has more fantasy points through the first two weeks than Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin. Not exactly a bankable trend, but surely a welcome change for GM Josh Deitell.
EARLY RETURNS: How about that Alex Killorn? Two goals and four assists through his first five games and is currently CSKA Moscow's top scoring left winger. What a solid start for arguably the most surprising pick of the draft (43rd overall, round 3). Also, how did more NHL teams not offer Brad Boyes a one year deal this past summer? The former 43-goal scorer has potted four goals through his first five games with Wolfsburg, tops among all Vipers skaters.
CANADIAN COMEBACK:My super early and completely unbiased nomination for bounce back of the year goes toSemyon Varlamov of le Canadiens de Montreal. After averaging a paltry 2.2 fantasy points per game last season, Varly is rocking a 4-0 record along with a 1.00/.970 split and a robust 8.4 points per game average. What a MONSTER. Also, Patrick Roy is the greatest coach in league history. See? Totally unbiased. Just sweet, pure, truth.
Great start to the year, guys! Keep fighting and don't forget to take the longview as we navigate through the coming months.
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