Feature Articles

Youngsters Lighting It Up By James Meyerriecks

Quick! Who scored the first hat trick of the 2006-07 NHL season this weekend? I'll give you a hint. He's a young, speedy Russian winger that plays for the Washington Capitals. Yes, I know... Alexander Ovechkin is amazing, but it wasn't him. Is it possible Ovechkin has found another bigtime scorer to share the workload in Washington?

Alexander Semin would say he has. Semin beat Conn Smythe winner Cam Ward on three of his six shots as the Capitals buried the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 Saturday night, dropping the defending champs' record to 0-2-1. Semin also scored a goal in the Caps' first game of the year, a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers Thursday night, and has now notched four in just two games.

After posting 22 points (12 goals) in just 52 games as a rookie in 2003-04, the former twelfth overall pick elected to stay in Russia for an extra season after the lockout. Though he finished with just 19 points in 42 games for his Russian clubs last season, Semin has both the skills and the pedigree to improve drastically in his second NHL season. The 22-year-old will be asked to carry much more of the scoring load in Washington than he had to in Russia. He has the hands, the speed, and the creativity to do so. Semin will see lots of Power Play time for the Caps this season, and he's worth a look in leagues with any depth whatsoever.

On the opposite coast, the Los Angeles Kings were pleasantly surprised by the play of rookie Anze Kopitar this preseason, so much so that they elected to carry the 19-year-old Slovenian winger on the top line to begin the year. Kopitar, the eleventh overall pick in the 2005 draft, is playing in just his first season in North America and was a bit of a longshot to make the team entering camp. However, after scoring five points in just four preseason games, he earned his spot, and doesn't seem to be looking back.

Kopitar scored twice in the Kings' season-opening loss to the Anaheim Ducks, and followed it up with a fantastic three assist performance as the Kings defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-1 in the home opener. Having a chance to center star Russian winger Alexander Frolov should only help him develop more quickly. Combined with fellow rookie Patrick O'Sullivan, Kopitar will give the Kings a terrific young nucleus to build around.

Up the California coastline a bit, rookie defenseman Matt Carle buried his second goal in just two games, netting the game-winner in the first period of Saturday's 2-0 win over the New York Islanders. Carle, who finished last season with six points in just twelve NHL games after winning the Hobey Baker award as college hockey's top player, is a player who demands immediate attention in any fantasy league. The 6'0, 182 pound blue-liner dominated the college ranks in each of his three seasons, finishing with 123 points in 112 games and two national titles at the University of Denver.

He brings good speed, great vision, a heck of a slapper, and a winning attitude to one of the league's best young teams. Furthermore, the fact that the Sharks moved their two best puck-moving defensemen in the past year (Brad Stuart and Tom Preissing) to make room for him means that he should have a chance to be a dominant force on the Power Play right away. Quarterbacking Joe Thornton, Jonathan Cheechoo, and Mark Bell with the man advantage should add up to a monster year.

Second-year winger Jason Pominville of the Sabres looks ready to take a more active role this season. Pominville, who scored the first goal of the NHL season in the Sabres' 3-2 Opening Night win in Carolina, has now scored in each of the Sabres' first three games, including the game-winner in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. The gritty, speedy winger is no stranger to sticking a dagger in the Sens, and ended their playoff series with a shorthanded goal in overtime of Game Five last season.

Though he doesn't have elite size, Pominville does play with tremendous heart, and should be a factor on both the Power Play and the Penalty Kill this season. As a rookie last season, he finished with 30 points (18 goals) in just 57 games, and he's been rewarded with an opportunity to play on the Sabres' top line with captain Daniel Briere and veteran winger Jochen Hecht. Nobody on the Sabres has proven that they're going to be dominant in the point-scoring department, but Pominville joins a group of seven other forwards worthy of serious consideration in any league.

Second-year center Ryan Craig doesn't have nearly the pedigree of anyone listed above (all first or second round picks, while Craig was an eighth round selection back in 2002), but he is establishing a nice little track record of success. Craig, who posted 28 points in just 48 games as a rookie last season, has come out of the gates flying, netting three goals in his first two games. Despite not having elite finishing skills, the 24-year-old has already earned himself a lot of Power Play time on a Lightning team that's stacked up front, and rumor has it that he may soon find himself playing alongside Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis on the first line a little more often.

Craig's biggest assets are his heart and his size. At 6'2, 220, he has ideal size for a power forward, and brings much more than just simple scoring prowess to the table. He's rarely outworked by anyone on the ice, and wins just about any battle for the puck. Though he doesn't rack up the PIMS by any stretch of the imagination (6 in 48 games last season), he has the size to intimidate and protect his linemates if necessary. Finally, speaking of those 6 PIMS in 48 games last year, he has great hockey sense, and knows when to agitate without having to take a trip to the box. A shift to the top line is an extreme possibility, as he could help to free up more space and protect Tampa's two top scorers.... he'd probably vulture quite a few points playing with them as well.

Second-year San Jose winger Steve Bernier has yet to score a goal, but he's still making a big impact. Through two games, the emerging power forward has four assists, three of which have come on the Power Play. Bernier, 21, has fantastic size (6'2, 233) and a couple of terrific linemates that should help him succeed immediately. That's not to say that he looks like he'll need that much help from outside sources. As a rookie, Bernier buried 14 goals and added 13 more assists in just 39 games last year.

Bernier, taken with the sixteenth overall pick in the 2003 draft, routinely lit it up in four years of junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, scoring 151 goals and finishing with a total of 313 points in 271 career games for Moncton. He didn't skip a beat in his first pro season with Cleveland in the AHL, and had 20 goals and 23 assists in 49 games before getting the call to San Jose. He loves to work in front of the net, has improving vision, and owns a fantastic shot. In short, don't worry about the fact that he hasn't scored a goal of his own yet... it's coming soon.

Goaltending/Other Notes

- After a disappointing 2005-06, Evgeni Nabokov looked stellar in his first start of the year Saturday. Nabokov turned away all 26 shots he faced as the Sharks beat the New York Islanders 2-0.

- Kari Lehtonen is off to a fast start for the Thrashers after recording a 6-0 shutout of the Florida Panthers Saturday night. Lehtonen moved to 1-0-1 on the year, though he had looked strong in Atlanta's season-opening 3-2 shootout loss to the Lightning as well.

- A night after Tim Thomas was lit up by the Florida Panthers, Hannu Toivonen stopped 29 of 31 shots in a 3-2 win in Tampa Bay. Continue to expect a healthy split between the two, but Toivonen should eventually win the starting job outright.

- Dominik Hasek had to stop just thirteen shots in Saturday's 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has yet to suffer his annual groin injury.

- The Kings goaltending situation got a little fuzzier Saturday when Mathieu Garon stopped 35 of 36 shots in his first start of the year. Los Angeles just inked Dan Cloutier to an extension, seemingly implying that he'll be the starter, but the incumbent Garon looked terrific in a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.

- Blues' defenseman Barrett Jackman sprained his MCL in that same game, and is expected to miss 2-4 weeks with the injury. He will not require surgery, but St. Louis now finds themselves short three (arguably their top three) defensemen, as Christian Backman and Jay McKee are already out of the lineup. If you own Jackman, you have him for his PIMS. He's a consistent enough source to hold until you can place him on your league's IR.

For the time being, this is a temporary preview of something we may be running on the front page at FIC three or four days a week throughout the NHL season. If you want your daily hockey fix now, I'll also be running this as an off-site blog for the time being. The following is just a taste of what you can find at Neutral Zone Trap! If you would like to see NZT on the front-page at FIC all year, please vote here!

James Meyerriecks has been actively involved at FIC since its inception in 2001, and has been writing The Hook throughout the MLB season since 2002. This season, he'll be tackling a weekly hockey column, The Blue Line, as well as a semi-weekly blog called Neutral Zone Trap. He's also represented FIC in a handful of Experts Leagues over the past three seasons and is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.

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