Trade those Prospect picks

How many of you have drafted teams on a message board for so called dynasty leagues, then a year later the league is all but disappeared.
Long term leagues are difficult to keep going for a few reasons
1. Its boring. most leagues do nothing but have an entry draft for a few weeks in june or july. Other than that no one does anything
2. Life happens. People grow move on, get bored, find different interests etc.
3. No one wants to run a bottom of the league team with no movement of players and lose for 6 years.

With this in mind if your league offers you the option of trading your draft picks, GET RID OF THEM.
better to have a productive player today than a maybe in 3 years if the league is still there.
Chances are your league does not allow you time for these guys to develop. they need a minimum of a full NHL season before they really produce. There are a few exceptions of course.
I favor trading these picks sometimes you can get a main draft pick in the first 10 rounds.
it will give you a decent player. Think about it for a minute thats a player in the top 100 for a kid that will more than likely play another year or 2 in JR hockey and a few more in the AHL.

how about Evander Kane, Jorden Staal, P.K. Subban, Jeff Skinner, Logan Couture for a pick or 2. Any of these guys could be available in the 8th, 9th, 10 rounds in a 12 team league.
And chances are they will produce a lot more than that kid from europe that no one has ever heard from.
You will thank me in a year or 2.

On the Fence

OK so its draft time again.
I have posted this before but I can't stress this enough

KNOW YOUR LEAGUE

Checked the stat catagories and ajust your draft accordingly
First round is usually a no brainer
Crosby, OV, Perry, Ryan, Malkin, Sedin twins, etc.. no particular order
if your league has 4 or more Goalie stats stock up on those goalies in round 2 and in some cases round 3 as well.
After that you really have to know a bit more to take control of the draft.
Does the league have things like Faceoffs won? draft some extra centers guys like Eric Staal, Toews, Stastny, Bergeron
Does it have hits and penalty minutes might be better off drafting wingers next instead Backes, Callahan, Hartnall, Clowe, Lucic, Downie
If your league is defenseman friendly with Blocked Shots and Defensive points then maybe some guys like Weber,, Green, Seabrook, Chara, Byfuglien, Subban
Know your Stat catagories and draft accordingly Don't always look for the goal scorer when a guy that gets 10 less goals but gets you 200 Hits and 100 PIM will get you farther in your league

Example league stats G,A,+/- PIM, Hits PPP
following guys are available
Backes 62 pts
Briere 68 pts
Ribeiro 71 pts
Sharp 71 pts
who do you take?
Answer: Backes he will get a few less pts but will get you over 100 more hits and more PIM than any of the other 3
So know thw league you are in and look for the guys that best suit it
Have fun Schooling the Competion

What is Nabokov doing in NY

Ok sowe all know the story. Nabokov leaves the KHL to try to get on the Redwings. The Islanders put in a claim for god knows why. Nabby choses to sit out the season and the Lsle get knothing.
 So whats next? The Isles still have the rights to Nabby for 1 more season.He does not want to be there but has no choice. The Isles will still go no where this season so why toil with the crafty netminder?
here is my take on what will transpire this season.
Nabby will go to camp and be a good soldier and make the team
Snow will deal him to Detroit (or at least he should or he's a fool) for a decent young talent. like Abdelkader, Justin, Helm, Darren , Kindl, Jakub  or Gustav Nyquist.
I do not see a reason for the Islanders to keep him and all the right reasons to trade him to Detroit where he wants to be anyway.
Howard is a good young goalie but very inconsistant. this was the reason they were looking for Nabby in the first place to backup Howard and give them a push in the playoffs.
I will be watching this one unfold

Rinne/ Lundquist a carbon copy?

I have been watching these 2 guys for the last few years and have been comparing numbers. I have come to the conclusion that they are more or less twins. take a look at the number below and tell me which goalie you would rather have. we will compare the last 3 year thats a good sample size

Rinne
2008-09 GAA 2.38 SV% .917 Wins 29 Saves 1316 Shutouts 7 Goalie rating 113
Lundquist
2008-09 GAA 2.43 SV% .916 Wins 38 Saves 1839 Shutouts 3 Goalie Rating 113.1
Dead even here
Rinne
2009-10 GAA 2.53 SV% .911 Wins 32 Saves 1404 Shutouts 7 Goalie rating 104.06

Lundquist

2009-10 GAA 2.38 SV% .921 Wins 35 Saves 1942 Shutouts 4 Goalie Rating 124.1

Edge Lundquist

Rinne

2010-11 GAA 2.12 SV% .930 Wins 33 Saves 1771 Shutouts 6 Goalie rating 140

Lundquist

2010-11 GAA 2.28 SV% .923 Wins 36 Saves 1813 Shutouts 11 Goalie Rating 124.2

this one could go either way depending on the league stats

Rinne 6.05 ft 207lbs

Lunquist 6.01 ft 198lbs

Obviously this does depend on the stat catagories in your league. but from the looks of things you can't really go wrong with either one.

same build, same style, Rinne is a year yonger than Lundquist

Lundquist works a bit harder due to the lack of  D on his team

If your keeping a goalie it looks like a toss up

Who's more valuable Parise or Kovalchuk

The Devils are in a tough position as I expected.
They signed Kovy to a huge long term deal and seemed to have offended their franchise player Parise in the process. $6.666 mil for Kovy $6 mil for Parise i will compare the two. Who would you build your franchise around?
we will throw last seasons stats out both player did not have a good year
2010
Goals
Kovy -41
Parise- 38
Assists
Kovy - 44
Parise - 44
PPP
Kovy - 27
Parise - 26
All seems pretty even lets look further
Hits
Kovy - 30
Parise - 108
Blocked Shots
Kovy - 20
Parise - 34
SOG
Kovy - 290
Parise - 347
Plus/Minus
Kovy - 10
Parise - 24
Seems to me the devils have chosen the wrong guy for the job. If I were to build a team Parise would be getting the nod over Kovy. The numbers do not lie. The proof also lies with the lack of production on the devils last season with the absence of Parise. Yes the coach and his style played a big roll in it as well as the lack of players due to the cap problems because of Kovy in the first place.
What do your eyes tell you keep a watch on this one Parise could be the big prize this off season

It would be great to see Vokoun play else where

I appoligize for not writing in a while but my last few posts really sucked. I was looking for readers instead of focusing on the content. So here I go again
My favorite topic is probably goaltending as you may have already figured out. The one guy i thought for sure that was going to be traded was Vokoun. He is such a waste on that team. The future of Florida is very much a youth Movement and it was evident with all the recent trades they made. Markstrom is the hot name there so why not trade Vokoun for some youth? I am floored by this non movement he is not going to want to resign there with the young guy breathing down his back.
It will be interesting to see where he ends up this summer. Lets hope for a contender so we can see what this guy can do. he is in the top 10 in GAA and is just behind Bryzgalov in GAA on a crap team.
Who is the glue in Florida?
I am looking to grab him in the off season even if he ends up on the Islanders

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?