|
Team
|
Wins
|
Losses
|
OTL
|
Points
|
GF
|
GA
|
Last 10
|
|
New Jersey
|
8
|
5
|
1
|
17
|
35
|
40
|
5-4-1
|
|
NY
Rangers
|
8
|
6
|
1
|
17
|
54
|
54
|
6-3-1
|
|
Pittsburgh
|
7
|
4
|
2
|
16
|
44
|
37
|
5-3-2
|
|
NY
Islanders
|
6
|
6
|
2
|
14
|
38
|
45
|
5-3-2
|
|
Philadelphia
|
3
|
10
|
1
|
7
|
29
|
57
|
2-8-0
|
New Jersey
Devils
Hot: Zach Parise (3
G, 3 A During Five Game Point Streak), Travis Zajac (2 G, 3 A in Last Four), Martin Brodeur (4-1-0,
1.57 GAA, .943 Sv. %, 2 SHO in Last Five)
Cold: Brian Gionta (Scoreless in Last
Five), Patrik Elias (Scoreless in Last Four), Colin White (0 Points, 6 PIM, -8
in Last Ten)
Injuries: Scott Gomez (D2D – Groin),
David Hale (Indefinitely – Eye Surgery)
Youth has been served lately for the Devils, as the only two
skaters that seem to be consistently putting up any points are a second year
center (Zach Parise) and a rookie (Travis Zajac). Both are
former first-rounders who figure
largely in New Jersey’s
future. Don’t be too surprised to see
either of them (particularly the slightly
more seasoned Parise) hold value as some depth on a
fantasy roster all season. Parise should develop into a legitimate number two fantasy
center down the line, while Zajac’s fantasy future is
a little less clear.
The Devils have to be counting their blessings that the kids
are producing, because the veterans sure haven’t been lately. Scotty Gomez continues to battle a nagging
groin injury, which seems to be taking its toll on the team’s other top scorers as well. Neither Brian Gionta nor Patrik Elias have found their way onto the scoresheet in the past four
games, and it’s a miracle that the Devils have won four of their last five when
you consider that…. or is it?
Though he actually did blow up in one of the past five
games, he’s been absolutely magnificent in the other four. He posted consecutive high pressure shutouts
against the Panthers and Blue Jackets on October 26th and 28th,
winning 1-0 and 2-0 in tight defensive games.
Though he struggled against the red hot Islanders in his first November
start, he’s certainly settled down in his past two starts, limiting Montreal
to just one goal in a 2-1 win and beating the defending champs in a 3-2
shootout Tuesday. We’d heard all this
nonsense that the days of the 2-1 games were gone in the new NHL, but Brodeur
allowed just three goals in his last four wins, and won only one of those
starts by more than one goal. He’s still
absolutely money, and early season returns are saying that Brodeur, known for
his strong second-halves, has been the best goalie in the league.
If you have Colin White, it’s for his PIMS and his +/-, and
right now he’s not providing either.
Typically, you can’t expect more than a fifteen or twenty point season
out of White, so seeing him go scoreless for ten games is almost commonplace
(even though you’d think he’d luck into one point with all the ice-time he
logs). In fact, the Devils blue-line
unit as a whole has been disappointing, with the possible exception of Brian
Rafalski. Rafalski and Paul Martin are
the only defensemen in New Jersey
worth considering in fantasy hockey aside from the occasional PIM spot
start. Raf has been OK, though he’s nothing more than a 55
point machine who will provide you with plenty of PPP and stay as far away from
that penalty box as possible. Martin is
a more complete player, but his holdout (well… the Devils cap problems trying
to re-sign him) set him back to start the year.
He’s had a point in just three games all season, but two of them came in
his last two starts.
Next Five: vs. Chicago, vs. Florida, at NY Rangers, vs. Ottawa, at Toronto
Looking for a cure for your skaters from the Devils? You might be about to find it. Chicago
(27th), Florida (21st),
the Rangers (26th), and Toronto
(22nd) all rank in the bottom ten in the league in Goals Against Per Game so far this season. More important than the opposition, however,
is when Scott Gomez returns (and that he returns at full strength) from his
groin injury. He finally showed last
season that he’s a capable finisher, but he’s always been one of the top ten
playmaking centers in the league. If
he’s at 100%, look for Gionta and Elias to pick up the pace. If not, at least they’re playing a soft
schedule. Regardless of the opposition
(save possibly Buffalo,
who I wouldn’t start Patrick Roy against!), Brodeur is in your fantasy lineup
every time he plays.
New York
Rangers
Hot: Martin Straka (3 G, 1 A in Last Three),
Brendan Shanahan (6 G, 6 A in Last Ten), Michael Nylander (1 G, 5 A During Five Game Point Streak), Peter Prucha (4 Goals in
Last Six)
Cold: Marek Malik (0 Points, +0, 6 PIMS in
Last Five), Henrik Lundqvist (3-2-0,
3.54 GAA, .887 Sv. % in Last Five… Dropped into Platoon with Kevin Weekes),
Marcel Hossa (0 Points, -7 in Thirteen Games this season)
Injuries: Jed Ortmeyer
(Indefinitely - Pulmonary Embolism)
You
certainly have to take the negatives with the positives, and that’s been the
case in New York so far this
fall. To say that the goaltending of
sophomore Henrik Lundqvist has been mediocre might be a little too kind. He’s been absolutely awful this season, and
Kevin Weekes (whose job Lundqvist stole with a hot start last year) has been
fantastic in his past few starts. All of
this has led to what appears to be a platoon situation (though Weekes actually
made three consecutive starts prior to Lundqvist’s
4-3 shootout win Wednesday night) in what figured to be one of the more stable
goaltending situations in the league.
The positives? They’re predominantly Czech, as Straka,
Nylander, and Jaromir Jagr are all scoring over a point a game. To complement the three veteran Czechs, one of last year’s rookie surprises, Peter Prucha,
has picked up the pace of late, and is finding his way to the net with much
more frequency. To throw off the Czech
balance, Canadian Brendan Shanahan continues to dominate, and he’s played well
with both Jagr and the Nylander-Straka
combo. In short, this team has dealt
with an absolute sieve in net, but they’ve been able to overcome that problem
because of a remarkable offense.
Apart from Lundqvist, there haven’t been that many disappointments on the
Rangers. For some reason, Marek Malik
was being drafted a lot higher (at all?) than he should have been in many
fantasy drafts this season, and those who went after him were probably looking
for something more than three points and sixteen PIMS out of him through
fourteen games. He’s a stay-at-home
defenseman, and no… that goal he scored to end the longest shootout in the
league last year doesn’t mean that he’s suddenly going to transmogrify into a
star on the offensive end of the ice.
Though Hossa has proven to us that he’s not worthy of being named in the
same breath as his brother Marian in the past few seasons, you’d certainly like
to think that he could have found the scoresheet by now. He has fantastic offensive skills, but just can’t
seem to fit in at the NHL level.
Next Five: at Atlanta, at Washington, vs. New Jersey, at Carolina, at Pittsburgh
On the positive side, the offense should continue (for the
most part) to shine. Carolina
and Washington are each in the
bottom ten in terms of goals allowed, while the Thrashers Kari Lehtonen has
allowed four goals in each of his last four starts. As always, the Devils will be a tough
opponent for the skaters, but the Rangers did put four on the board the first
time they faced the Devils. Though I’ve
been a big supporter of Marc-Andre Fleury breaking out since before the season
began, he’s still largely unproven.
On the flipside, expect the goaltending to get worse (if
that’s possible). The Thrashers (2nd),
Pens (8th), and Caps (10th) are all in the top ten in
goals for per game this season, and the Hurricanes have been known to light the
lamp a bit themselves. If you’re sitting
on Lundqvist as one of your starting options, consider keeping him on the bench
for now and getting your number three in for some games when they have
favorable matchups.
Pittsburgh
Penguins
Hot: Nils Ekman (Hat Trick Wednesday),
Sidney Crosby (4 G, 11 A in Last Eight)
Cold: Colby Armstrong (0 G, 2 A, 4 PIM in
Last Ten)
Injuries: Mark Eaton (D2D – Upper Body),
Ryan Malone (2-3 Weeks – Broken Forearm), Ronald Petrovicky
(Indefinitely – Hip Surgery)
Though the Penguins have lost three in a row (two in
overtime), they’re still looking like a team that’s clearly more competitive than they were last season. While most would say that the difference has
been Evgeni Malkin (and a little more maturity from the other youngsters up
front), they’d be completely missing the boat on just how much better
Marc-Andre Fleury has been in his second season as the number one netminder.
Fleury, who has had final season marks of 3.64 (in 21 games)
and 3.25 (in 50 games) in his first couple of seasons, is clearly taking a huge
step forward in the early stages of 2006-07.
In fact, Fleury has allowed more than three goals just twice in twelve
starts this season, with the second coming in Wednesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to
the Lightning. Unfortunately, it doesn’t
seem that the defense in front of him has gotten that much better. While he may be facing slightly less quality
scoring chances, he’s still facing 32+ shots per game (not down much from 33
last season).
Still, he’s taken his game to the next level so far, and has bumped his
save percentage from .896 (last season) to .917 to start the ’06-’07
campaign. A former number one overall
pick, he’s always had the athletic ability, but he suddenly seems to be gaining
the confidence and brains to go with it.
Every good start he has should only help to further fuel that
confidence.
The scoring punch up front is fantastic, particularly on the
top line (which has seen Evgeni Malkin skating with it more and more
often). Crosby and Malkin playing
together has been eerily reminiscent of a decade ago
when Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr shared a line for the Pens. They both have unbelievable hands,
creativity, and vision, and neither is a slouch in the speed department
either. It was great to see Crosby
help get offseason acquisition Nils Ekman going with a natural hat trick in the
second period Wednesday night, though the Pens couldn’t put anything else on
the board in a 4-3 loss.
Armstrong, who was an absolute stud in the second half
playing alongside Crosby last season, has been a huge
disappointment to this point. He’s yet
to find the net, and has just four assists on the year. To make matters worse, he’s not even spending
a lot of time in the penalty box, though his +5 rating has probably kept at
least a few impatient owners from dropping him.
He still has a nice future as a power forward, but he’s definitely a
step down from Malkin, which is why he’s losing some time on Crosby’s
unit. It should be interesting to see
what the lines look like when Ryan Malone returns.
Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar continue to provide fantasy
owners with nice starts, and should continue to all season. Rookie Jordan Staal has cooled down a bit
after a red hot start that forced the Pens to keep him up rather than send him
back down to his junior team, but he’s going to be just fine. Michel Ouellet has continued to find his way
onto the scoresheet, making him a nice depth pickup in mid-sized leagues.
Next Five: vs. Ottawa, at Carolina, vs. Philadelphia, at Buffalo, vs. NY Rangers
If you’re looking for a stretch where Fleury can try and
prove himself, this might be it. The
Sens and ‘Canes finished first and third in scoring last season, and still have
offenses that can give goaltenders major headaches. The Sabres are leading the league in goals by
nearly a goal per game, and the Rangers are fifth in the league this season. As a Fleury owner, I can assure you that
he’ll be on my bench for at least the last two, and probably more.
Crosby and Malkin stay in your lineup no matter the
opposition, but bear in mind that the Sens and Sabres are both top ten
defensive clubs so far this season. On
the positive side, that’s balanced with three starts against teams that are
near the bottom of the league in the same department. Carolina
(25th), Philadelphia (29th),
and the Rangers (26th) have all struggled to keep the puck out of
their net this season.
New York
Islanders
Hot: Alexei Yashin (2 G, 4 A in Last Five),
Jason Blake (4 G, 3 A in Last Five), Alexei Zhitnik (2 G, 1 A in Last Three)
Cold: Trent Hunter (1 G, 1 A, -2 in Last
Ten)
Injuries: Joel Bouchard (Indefinitely –
Hamstring)
The first line for the Islanders continues to click, with
Alexei Yashin and Jason Blake leading the way.
Yashin is extremely creative with the puck, while Blake’s a good,
veteran finisher who can take advantage of the space that Yashin creates for
him. If they could find a way to get a
little more production out of the second line, featuring Mike York and sniper
Miroslav Satan, the Isles could make a serious run at the playoffs.
Alas, it’s still unlikely with the depth in the East this
year. The Islanders have gotten better
than expected production out of unexpected sources (Chris Simon, Alexei
Zhitnik, and Mike Sillinger to name a few), and it’s doubtful that they’ll be
able to keep up their torrid pace.
Though the guys who are actually making any hay in the fantasy community
are all veterans, the real strength of this team lies in its younger players
who have had little to no impact thus far this season. Only after guys like Chris Campoli, Jeff Tambellini, Bruno Gervais, and Petteri Nokelainen start gaining
some experience are we going to see the Islanders start to push towards the
next level.
That’s not to say they shouldn’t be expected to win a fair
share of games in front of Rick DiPietro and Mike Dunham. The makings of a couple of strong offensive
lines are certainly there, and the goaltending on the back end really isn’t
that bad. They even have a couple of
nice stalwarts on the blue line, with Zhitnik and Brendan Witt leading the
charge, and a very good puck-moving
defenseman in Tom Poti.
Next Five: at Philadelphia, at Dallas, at Tampa Bay, at Florida, at Toronto
There are no bones about it.
This is going to be a tough stretch for both the goaltenders and the
skaters. The Isles are staring a
grueling five-game road trip in the face that will have them face a couple of
really strong offenses as well as the top defense in the league. At least they start out with Philadelphia,
who they’ll have a good shot at.
However, a trip to Dallas
could well break their spirit for the rest of the trip, and this team is
already sliding a bit after losing their last two by a combined score of
9-2. The Sunshine
State isn’t exactly the easiest
place to go anymore either.
Philadelphia
Flyers
Hot: Mike Knuble (Three Game Point Streak)
Cold: Peter Forsberg (Scoreless in Last
Three), Joni Pitkanen (-5 During Three Game Scoreless
Streak), Sami Kapanen (Six Game Scoreless Streak)
Injuries: Jeff Carter (6 Weeks –
Fractured Tibia), Randy Robitaille (D2D - Sprained
Left Knee), Boyd Kane (Indefinite – High Ankle Sprain), Mike Knuble (1-2 Weeks
– Broken Finger)
There are still very few signs of life for a team that
typically challenges for the division title, even after dismissing GM Bobby
Clarke and Coach Ken Hitchcock. Simply
put, they’re still a team that’s largely built on NHL dinosaurs, with bigger,
slower, older players. Even Peter
Forsberg and Simon Gagne aren’t off to very good starts,
which doesn’t bode well for a team that lacks a lot of scoring depth
behind the first line.
On the positive side, Mike Knuble was starting to heat up a
bit in his last few games. To
counterbalance his mini hot streak, however, he broke his finger and shouldn’t
be back until the middle of November.
They’ll desperately need him when he comes back if they’re to try and
salvage anything out of the season. The
Flyers currently have just seven players with five points or more, and nobody
who has more than ten (Gagne). Losing
Carter, one of the few young players that give the franchise hope for the
future, for the next six weeks is devastating as well.
The blue-line corps has looked more green
than anything else. Pitkanen showed a
lot of promise last season, and he does
have eight assists in fourteen games this year.
However, his -10 rating is absolutely the opposite of what fantasy
owners are looking for, and his Power Play production is being hindered by the
lack of firepower up front. Freddy Meyer
was someone that a lot of people were considering prior to the season as a
second puck-moving defenseman for the Flyers, but hasn’t done squat to this
point. The two key stay-at-home defensemen
for Philadelphia seem to do one
thing well… watch other guys skate circles around them. Derian Hatcher,
once known as one of the more intimidating defensemen in the league, is
currently sporting a -17 rating.
Of course, all of this (lack of firepower,
pitiful one-on-one defending) leads to a horrible situation for the
goaltenders. Antero Niittymaki
continues to hold his own as the number one in Philadelphia,
though that’s far from a good thing.
Honestly, considering the quality of the chances that the Flyers have
had to face this season, his .890 Save Percentage isn’t that bad. As for Robert Esche, despite his shutout of Chicago
to close out October, he’s still been god-awful. He was pulled after allowing four goals in
the first his last time out, and has allowed 5.31 goals per sixty minutes.
Next Five: vs. NY
Islanders, vs. Buffalo, at Pittsburgh, at Anaheim, at Los Angeles
If ever there were a recipe for disaster, it would have to
look something like the second game in their upcoming stretch. Buffalo
smacked them around 9-1 in upstate New York
a few weeks ago, and even if the Sabres have cooled off a little bit, they’re
still a safe bet to smoke the slowest team in the league again. The Islanders had been playing well, but have been dominated in their past two
games. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the
Flyers put up four goals for the first time since October 10 in this one…
though I’m not sure that guarantees a win. Honestly, the only games that you can look at
as potential wins for your Flyer goaltenders (if you’re that unlucky) are the
bookends. The Isles are very beatable
and the Kings aren’t that great. Buffalo
and Anaheim look like cup
contenders, and Pittsburgh already
has 4-0 and 8-2 wins over the Flyers under their belt this season.
Bench (or drop) the goalies if there’s at least a reliable
backup on the waiver wire. Sit the
skaters unless their names are Gagne, Forsberg, or Pitkanen. Avoid the Flyers like the plague until they
show any indication that they’re capable of turning this around.
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