Nabokov is going to the Red Wings

What the heck was Garth Snow thinking? Did he actually believe that a Goalie trying to come back to the NHL would want to play for a last place team?
Nabokov wants a contract and he needs to play for a contender to show what he can do.
If he can still do it.
The Islanders only have two options.

1. suspend him until he comes to play
Not a good move unless you are looking for a disgruntled employee. Nabby still has his name and past to back him up. He really does not need to play to get a contract next season. Or does he? The Islanders can appeal to the NHL and get them to toll his contract till next season. This will surely make him happy playing a full season for $520,000 with the team he does not want to go to. 
2. Place him back on waivers. In this case he will go to Detroit.

Snow is looking to save face here. He picked him up thinking he could trade him back to Detroit. Garth this is not Fantasy hockey there are rules man. Admit your mistake and put the guy back on waiversSo it looks like the ball is really in Snow’s court. The season is lost there in NY anyway so why not tank it and get Sean Couturier and add to your list of growing Kids.
Nabby does not fit there. He is too old to play with those kids.
Now what does all this crap mean for Nabokov and where he will end up?
Here is what is going to happen
Snow will put him back on Waivers.
Detroit will once again try to pick him up.
No other team will try to get him. The Isles were the only team other than the redwings to try. Although if I were in Chicago contending for a spot in the playoffs, I would try to block that move. But we all know their cap situation and money issues.
He will be in Detroit in less than a week to practice with the team.
Let us hope he only tanked his season in the KHL to get out of that contract
Which Nabby do we get back?
The KHL one or the San Jose one?

Nabby is back

Yes the rush is on to pick up Nabakov. But do you really want him?
be careful here guys a few things to point out.
1. He is coming from the KHL not exactly the big leagues
2. He had a .888 SV% by comparision Brian Elliot, Steve Mason, and Marty Turco all have better numbers
3. You will need a roster spot. do you want to drop someone for a possible back up goalie in Detroit?
4. He may get claimed by the Islanders
5. How long has he been out of action and not playing against top talent? he may hurt your stats not help.

One good point to note is he is only 35. Which is not really over the hill for a Goalie so in keeper leagues he may beneifit you next season with a little NHL action.
We will call this preseason for him. If you grab him stash him on your bench or trade him away real fast for a younger guy.
I would use my waiver priority to grab him and turn him over fast for a top forward or D man depending on my needs. He could make your team a contender if you are wasting away in the middle of the pack if you can make a good trade.
I would gamble that he will not make a difference this season and trade him away.

Northeast Division Players to watch

Ok so here are my picks for sleepers and underrated players for the Northeast division

Boston Bruins
It has got to be Brad Marchand, his energy and skating ability coupled with the mega amount of time on the penalty kill, makes him a fun guy to watch. Look for him to show up more on the score sheet as he moves up in the depth chart.
Dennis Seidenberg is often overlooked in most leagues. Grab him especially if your league uses BS.

Montreal Canadians
The big surprise for me on this team until he got hurt recently was Max Pacioretty. 7 pts in 17 games 23 PIM and 38 hits he is a guy to watch for keeper leagues. Only 22 years old and trending up. Plays with a lot of confidence.
Tom Plekanec does not get enough respect as a top center. He makes my list of top 25 centers in the fantasy game today. 70 pts last season and over 200 SOG. Well on his way to get very close to those totals again this season

Buffalo Sabres
The guy to get on this team if you have room on your IR spots is Drew Stafford. The guy can score but he frustrates you because he can not stay on the ice. 15 Goals in 30 games. If he could remain health he should be a 35-40 goal scorer.

Ottawa Senators
Often forgotten is Nick Foligno. 17 pts so far this season he is 23 years old and is in his 4^th NHL season. Who knew? An average player with a lot of potential. He plays on the power play but its tough to stomach his plus/minus. Currently –12.

Toronto Maple Leafs
One of the few bright spots on this team is Mikail Grabovski. 35 Pts this season so far and 11 PPP. By far the best producer on this team. My only question is can he keep up the pace. His best season was only 48 Pts. It would be nice to see him get 60+ for Toronto fans.
I will work on the Southwest division next hopefully I can get to the time to do get these out a bit faster.

Biggest surprises and sleepers of the 2011 season

I will Start with the Atlantic division
We all know the big guns on every team. The Malkins, Crosbys, Oveckins, Parise, But do we know some often left behind players that have a big fantasy impact. Those guys that don’t seem to get drafted but always seem to show up on the score sheet. Well here are a few from each division one day at a time

New Jersey Devils
This was tough this year but I chose Andy Greene defenseman. He usually has 20 or so assists but blocks a lot of shots. Also David Clarkson people were high on him in keeper leagues but he is having a tough season. Good all round player average stats in all categories. He should get better

New York Rangers
A lot of choices on this team but often over looked is Ryan Callahan RW. If you’re in a league where a lot of stats count this guy should be high on your draft next season. Big hit guy. Very good SOG and has been a scoring machine before he got hurt this season
Also look for Brandon Prust and Brandon Dubinsky.

New York Islanders
It’s got to be Josh Bailey. This kid had the midas touch in the beginning of the season hard to believe he only has 12 Pts in 30 games. He always seems to be on the score sheet. Look for him to have a big year next season the kid is just 21.

Philadelphia Flyers
I think everyone has heard of Sergei Bobrovsky by know so he is not much of a surprise. But man did he jump on the Fantasy seen. Another young Goalie. 17 wins this season, .917 SV% and a 2.53 GAA. I will take that in any league. Lets hope he has a good sophomore season.

Pittsburgh Penguins
To me the biggest surprise this season was Matt Cooke. 19 points halfway through the season and oh yeah don’t forget the PIM and hits. He seems to be living up to that 2 million-dollar salary.

Next post I will look at the Northeast division
　

Dump the dogs

Its time to dump the guys on your team that are not producing. How many of you held on to Cam Barker after he had that good season with the Blackhawks. Or Kyle Quincy who always seem to do enough to get a spot on your roster only to get hurt again. Don't hold guys because they had a good season and could do it again. How about the old guy that was once good and has a reputation, like Mike Modano. Who still has him on their roster?
  Don't waste a spot on guys that can not produce anymore. Check your free agent list and make a move. Why would you keep a guy that scores 15 goals a season now when you can find a 20-25 goal scorer in free agency. Most leagues will have them there.
Dump the dead wood before its to late. The season end is getting closer and if you are not near a playoff spot chaces are you will never be

It will be an interesting off season for the Caps

It may be now or never for the Washington Caps. This off season you might see some of your favorite capitals players in new uniforms. They currently still have 1.2 mil to spend but who are they going to target. Here is a list of Fantasy names that you might know
Alexander Semin- He is Making 6 mil a year now. With his Pal Kovy setting the bar way to high, I doubt that he signs for any less than 9 mil per season. That’s to bad he looked good in red. Some team will kill it self to get him and cripple that franchise too.
His numbers may end up going up He will most likely play on a top line with better players. So grab him now.
Mike Knuble- Currently making 2.8 Mil but he is 38 a bit to old to think about keeping him. Look for him to resign for 1 or years with the caps. I don’t think he will want to leave the OV line. He may take less just to stay there rather than go to another team an disappear. But hey it is about the money after all. Sell him now while he is still hot.
Brooks Laich- Brooksy is making a little over 2 mil a year. He is still on pace to reach around 50 pts this season. He’s only 27? Really? He might be a guy to grab and keep. With Semin leaving they will have money to resign him
Semyon Varlamov- A RFA this season. This guy kills me. Great potential but does not seem to want it enough. He is often injured but Washington seems intent on playing him whenever possible. Look for him to resign but I prefer his back up. Trade him

How good would Parise look in a capitals uniform? He looked pretty good in Red Whit and Blue. I believe #9 is still available.

Use Total Points

Using Total Fantasy points can help you judge a good player from a mediocre player.
Total Fantasy points is all the points in your league from every catagory added up. Its that simple.
If you use G,A,+/-, PIM,Hits,BS then add all the points for each player in those catagories.
lets use Dan Boyle and Matt Carkner as an example using 2010 stats

Boyle       G-11  A-35  +/-5  PIM-48   Hits-39  BS-105     Total 243
Carkner   G-2    A-8  +/- 0   PIM-165 Hits-109 BS-108    Total 392

In this particular league Carkner is the better choice he will get you 149 more FP than Boyle
Know your league everyone is different. create spread sheets with league stats to make your own ranking systems. if your league does not include PIM or Hits Or BS then that choice is obvious
always know the league you are in

Tomas Vokoun the most under rated goalie in the NHL

It’s no surprise to most people that Vokoun is a free agent at the end of the season. So what do you do if you are Florida?
Do you ride him to the end of the season and hope you make the playoffs then lose him to free agency? Or do you trade him for a few more young guys and some more picks.
Florida has 2 very good young goalies in their system the best of them is Jacob Markstrom, the top goalie prospect in the NHL. He has not been overly impressive in the AHL but he is still considered the best out there.
Well it looks to me like Vokoun will be gone by Feb 28^th but to whom. What teams do we know are having Goaltending problems, still in the playoff hunt and can afford to resign him (currently 5.7 mil .7 mil more than soon to be 2-time vezina trophy winner Tim Thomas)
Tampa Bay currently 2^nd place in the eastern conference
Colorado currently 5^th in the western conference and 16 mil under the cap
San Jose could use him but has only 1.7 mil in cap space but I am sure they could entice Florida with couture.
So why would a team want Vokoun since the year 2000 2.52 GAA and a SV% of .917 on not so good teams. He is averaging a SV% of .925 since 2009. Compare his numbers to the vezina trophy winner last year to give some idea of how good he is
Miller GAA 2.22 SV% .929
Vokoun GAA 2.55 SV% .925
Imagine what he could do with a good team in front of him.
Trade for him now before your friends find out. Keeper for next season.

Devils Players no longer relevent in Fantasy hockey

So we all grabbed some NJ Devils players in the draft right? How could we miss. Great names big fantasy numbers. Guys like Parise, Kovy, Zajac, Langenbrunner, Brodeur. Should be a slam dunk right?
Wrong!
What has happened to the Devils in a year is tough to figure out. Or is it.
Last year they were best in the league with 191 goals against
This year mid way through they already have 128
Is Kovy the reason for the collapse of the mighty Devils?
I think to some degree yes.
Last season Kovy played on a line with Elias and Zubrus. Which was pretty effective. Not much of a checking line but they did play that high flying european style hockey. When you contrast that to the number one line of Parise, Zajac and Langenbrunner, a hard hitting power forward beat you up in front of the net style of hockey, You have a difficult team to defend against. You also had a decent set of defenseman in front of Brodeur blocking shots.
This season went bad when Kovy got his big fat contract, because he thinks he is as good as OV and Semin, and the team had to play iron man hockey because the contract crippled the team. They did not have the money to dress enough players to run 4 lines.
So down goes Parise. I feel this was a result of to much play time. Now the lines have to shuffle. The Kovy line now becomes the scoring line LOL, and Zajac no longer has A big hard hitting wing to feed at the net.
The defense can’t block a shot and Broduer the ageless one shows us all its time to let go.
So like me we are all left with Devils players that can not get out of their own way. At least they have a shot at the number one pick in the draft.
Trade them all keep Parise he will not be a devil next season.

The value of the hard hitting forwards seem to be getting better

  Lets look at a few guys who in my opinion are must haves on any fantasy team. In some cases depending on the league take 2 of them.

Ryan Callahan- Most people up until this season , have seen him as more of a bully than a hockey player.
But he has more fantasy points over the past 2 seasons than any other RW in the NHL. Mostly in part due to his high hit numbers. In case you have not noticed he also has 74 points over the same 2 seasons
he also has 23 points in 32 games this season while still keeping his hit total and SOG up.

Cal Clutterbuck- another hard hitting RW who has lead the league in hits over the past 2 seasons. He also takes quite a few shots and if you put the puck on net it is bound to go in once in a while. 12 goals in 39 games is respectable.

Theo Peckham- (I know he is not a forward but I love this kids game) Watch this kids star rise as the years go on. This is his 1st full year in the NHL and amoung Defenseman currently he is 9th in hits, Third in PIM and is in the top 50 in BS. Pick him up and store him in your keeper league if you have the room.

The Wizard's list of top keeper goalies for next year

Here is my list of Top ten keeper goalies for next season and why

1. Roberto Luongo struggling a bit this year but on a powerhouse team
2. Jaroslav Halak proved he was good last season and doing it again on a young blues team
3. Carey Price better now that the job is all his. Canadians always put a good team on the ice
4. Hendrick Lundquist Proven numbers year after year you know exactly what you are getting with him.
5. Ondrej Pavalec showed promise last year and having an excellent season on a very good team with a new head coach. He will do well under Ramsey
6. Tukka Rask even though Thomas is the man right now, make no mistake about it. Its Tukka time in Boston he is the man going forward. Though I favor the soon to be 2 time vezina winner Thomas in this spot. Boston is a defensive team so it’s safe to pick a goalie from there.
7. Ilja Bryzgalov Even though attendance is not there in Phoenix Ilja always seems to be there. Consistent numbers year after year
8. Ryan Miller. Having a tough season but how can you not include last years vezina trophy winner in a keeper top ten.
9. Marc-Andre Fleury
10. Jimmy Howard. Great young goalie on a great team. Had an excellent rookie year but struggling in the sophomore slump. Should pull it back next season. Detroit is always at the top

honorable mention
Corey Crawford seems to be the man in Chicago to early to tell but could make the list by the end of the year
Tim Thomas or Tukka Rask interchange either one here for #6 on the list though boston seems to think otherwise

Here are a few tips to help get you up in the rankings

So you’re stuck in the middle of the pack on your fantasy team. What can I do you say. I like these guys they are good players but each week I get beat or I only win by a few points. I have to make a trade.
Well here are a few things you can do.

• Check your standings in all the categories. Chances are you are down the bottom in a few. That’s where I would start.
• Look for free agents that specialize in those categories Goals are gonna be tough to find in free agency so don’t even try.
• Sort the players according to the stats you are looking for. And drop a few marginal ones
• Unless your league is using stats like BS, Hits, Defensive points like most leagues, then there is not much use for a Defenseman on your bench. So start dropping there.
• Average 30 point wingers are probably gonna get you more points than a defenseman other than the elite few. Focus on +/-, assists, PIM, SHG, PPP etc.
• Another way to look for the hot guys is to sort your player search by rank. On Yahoo use the rank tab to sort not the O-rank. On ESPN use the PR15 tab. These will give you the best players available that are doing well at this season and the last 15 days in ESPN’s case.

Good luck I hope this helps. It has helped me in the past and present so I am passing it on.

Is it time to trade Tim Thomas?

 Well I have heard this talk from a lot of people lately. On message Boards the talk is this is last good season should I get out while I can. Around Boston the talk is all about Tukka Rask and Thomas’s Salary. Why are the Bruins hanging on to such an old goalie at that kind of money?

Well maybe its time to put an end to the talk.

Thomas is 36 is that old. Brodeur is 38. A lot of people are talking about grabbing Roloston from Free Agency for their fantasy team he’s 41!

Dominik Hasek played till he was 43. Lets compare some numbers

	Age	32	33	34	43
Hasek	GAA	2.27	2.09	1.87	2.14
	SV%	0.93	0.932	0.937	0.902
		*	*	*
	Age	33	34	35	36
Thomas	GAA	2.44	2.1	2.56	1.8
	SV%	0.921	0.933	0.915	0.945
			*

*Won Vezina Trophy

Thomas and Hasek both have the same style and same build so its easy to compare.
My opinion is would you have traded Hasek at 36 or Brodeur at 36 in vezina trophy form? No way! Don’t kid yourself. This guy has the goods and has had them for 3 years now. If not for the injury last season we would be talking 3peat on the vezina this season. Trade him if you must but not for a bag of pucks. Thomas is the real deal.

Evander Kane Should be on your target list of players to get

Lets take a look at some stats to make up your minds
all stats are when these players were 20 Years old
                G      A       PIM           SOG
Crosby-   24     48      39                173
Perry-      13     12      50                98
Thornton- 16     25      69               128
Getzlaf-    14    25       22               116

Kane-       12    12       62              124  this season
on pace-   26    31       68               215  and he is 19 Years old!!!

I would say he is in pretty good company. If you have a keeper league consider grabbing him. This kid is a great All round player on a very good young up and coming team. check out the video below WOW!

Get your Penguins here!

Jorden Staal returns to an already Potant Lineup. With him back This is the team to beat folks.
If you have not picked up any penguins players for your team then start sifting through the rubble for a few left overs.
Staal after being injured all season may be available lucky you. One of the best two way players in the game and the kid is only 22 Wow! 49 points last year a plus 19 throw in 57 PIM and 121 hits and you have an incredible young all round talent. can you say Corey Perry?
And don't look now but Matt Cooke of all people looks like a steal at this point 18 points plus 11  62 PIM and 11 Hits.
Really its tough to find a penguin that I don't like in fantasy Hockey