#most immediately this is about steven stamkos

[strawberryblondebutch]

I’m an asshole Philly sports fan in a lot of ways but I don’t get the trend of booing a player because they took a better deal in free agency than what your team was offering them

It’s different if they pull a Mark Friedman/Scott Rolen and publicly shit on the team they left once they’re out of there but if they say “yeah this team gave me the most money” or “I wanted to work closer to my family” … those are valid reasons people change jobs?

[sergeifyodorov]

Your post of all the first overalls to girl interrupted actively makes me feel crazy. Do you have a ranking of the most compelling first overalls?

cody's list of most compelling (active) (to me) first overalls

21. aaron ekblad (2014.) i don't care for the florida panthers

20. alexis lafreniere (2020). his strongest narrative juices are a) the bust thing (he was a covid baby, it takes time) and b) maybe him also going to rimouski like sid, if you really wanted to pull it out like that. but the two of them have little otherwise connection, so not really

19. owen power (2021) this is a list ranked by compellingness and not cutieness or who i would want to provide most with feminizing hrt against their will

18. nico hischier (2017) even some of the least compelling 1oas are still quite interesting IMHO -- nico is the highest ever drafted swiss player + a very young captain on a basement team + a CHL import. all of which *are* juicy. he just lacks... i don't know, a little extra je ne sais quoi

17. macklin celebrini (2024) invoking the power of "He Literally Just Got Here" for this one. the daddy issues are a powerful offset though

16. ryan nugent-hopkins (2011). the power of the longest-tenured member of a team is quite something. earns points for not being an upper middle class rich boy either

15. nathan mackinnon (2013). controversial to put him so low i know but in my genuine and honest opinion he's way more interesting as a Character than a Part Of The Narrative. crucial divide here. i'm about to talk about slaf's personality making him interesting narratively but they do want their good canadian boys to shut up and take it and nate doesn't rebel against that. all he wants to do is win (accomplished) and fuck sidcros (negligible)

14. juraj slafkofsky (2022) just barely edges out the nuge by virtue of a) the whole First Slovak thing (see nico) and b) his new and upcoming beef with the slovak federation??? what's all that about because THAT'S juice. THAT'S spark. slaf's great because not only are his little circumstances compelling but he's also got such a Personality to him. his little rockstar attitude. his little braces. I will show him where is Slovakia. yessss girl

13. rasmus dahlin (2018). im a dahlin attention payer so he's probably higher than he "should" be but CAPTAIN OF THE BUFFALO SABRES I AM SO SORRY.

12. erik johnson (2006) hugely fascinated by his fall from grace via golf cart, which is not a route most people take. and then of course he was a crucial emotional crux of the avs up until their 2022 run and in my belief a much more important part of their fall from grace post-run than whatever landeskog is doing. and of course any flyer is relevant by nature

11. jack hughes (2019) you cannot deny the hughes are interesting narratively because they are important. he's not as interesting or as important as quinn though so obviously not as high on the list as he might have otherwise been

10. taylor hall (2010) actually super interesting because he has, throughout his entire career, been on one (1) good team (the 2022-23 boston bruins). he has a hart trophy!!! you guys know he has a fucking hart trophy right???? while they were drafting davo et al, he was an oiler. while they were drafting nico, he was a devil, while they were drafting owen, he was a sabre, and when they drafted connor bedard he was a blackhawk. always the bridesmaid, never the bride

9. steven stamkos (2008). there's always something to be said for waiting a long time to get what you want. and then once that goal's been accomplished, they throw you out.

8. connor bedard (2023) Let's Get Generational With It

7. john tavares (2009) brief let's un-get generational with it to talk about mr magic amulet breaking TWO entire playoff round curses as captain, twice. about him choosing toronto. about Him

6. auston matthews (2016) what if you were a vain shy arizona boy who wanted nothing more than to be a star and then they gave it to you and then you immediately had to learn that it's not nearly as good as you thought it was going to be. and you were actually kind of gay the whole time (im biased. this is cody sergeifyodorov's immense toronto bias. be normal)

5. patrick kane (2007)

4. marc-andre fleury (2003) the whole saga of him in pittsburgh AND the whole saga of him in vegas AND the whole saga of him in minnesota (and the brief intermission when he was in chicago) are all massive narrative moments of their own, but to have all of them? to be a goaltender that lucky and that loved for that long? it's not done. it will never be done again.

3. connor mcdavid (2015) I Love It When The Ginger Man Suffers

2. alexander ovechkin (2004) you know i could write essays on ovi. i could write dissertations. people have already done so -- i would not be the first and will not be the last if i join their ranks. i could take about the goals and the record chase. i could talk about the way he's been juxtaposed against the guy who you really should have known going in was going to be number one for his whole career. i could talk about the hunt for 2018, and the long, long time they said he was useless, no matter the record. but i will say after me. after me, i give it to you, baby.

sidney crosby (2005). obviously

[thundersstruck]

The Game Changer: pt.3

A/N: idk how far I’m gonna take this but it’s fun.. the song “Games” by Demi Lovato kinda inspired part of it, “high heels” by JoJo also but then life gets better don’t worry (it took me forever to write this because I had practice and then I was super distracted by Spider-Man: Homecoming)

Prologue part 1 part 2

Requested: yes and no one of the tags in a reblog asked for part 3 so..you ask and you shall receive

Warnings: angst, swearing the usual and some steamy making out but not smut because I’m bad at writing that, fluff and lots of it, poorly proofread and bad plot but what’s new?

Word count: 2082

Gif credit: @jakedotchin

Enjoy!!

A few months later (like January so I guess it's 2018 now)

(Y/N)'s POV

I spent endless road trips with the team, watching and trying to get my point across to Brayden but like most men he was still clueless. It was fine that he was clueless, it gave me more time to figure out myself but now I was over it.

So here we are, a day away from the start of the All-Star weekend, which Tampa was hosting, in the living room of my brother and his wife's house.

"Sandra he's literally leaving me on unread all the time." I say throwing my head back onto their couch "are you doing it back?" She asks "no why would I do that? I just text him till he answers." I sigh "maybe try I don't know, playing the same game." She suggests and an idea pops in my head. "Sandra and I'm assuming (Y/N) as well because her car is in the driveway, I'm home" I hear Steven yell "dude I live here with you." I say as he appears in the room "not the point. Speaking of is he still being a little shit?" He says "yes but revenge is a dish best served in front of the leagues all stars." I say plotting my revenge "revenge is what now?" He asks "he's leaving her on unopened constantly." Sandra says filling him in "Yeah I know I see the messages pop up on his phone. The picture of you two in front of the arena is still his background by the way." He informs me "mhm yes I see good to know. When do other players start getting here?" I inquire as I get up and join Steven in the kitchen. "Umm today why?" He asks "no particular reason" I respond "no you have a particular reason and I'm worried now." He says placing his hands on the kitchen island as I sit on the counter across from him. "Again revenge is a dish best served in front of the leagues all stars. Harmless fun Steven my dear brother, just to get him to see that I'm done playing games and he needs to make a move." I state "hm I see. So who are you gonna use in this little game?" He asks "who'd piss him off the most?" I ask "you could go Eichel or Matthews. Or you could really play dirty and go for Seguin." He says "okay Seguin it is, guess I gotta include him in on my plan." I say hopping off the counter and unlocking my phone to message Tyler Seguin.

Me: Seguin the penguin I need a favor and since you drunkenly hit on me and gave me your number the last time Dallas and Tampa played you owe me one

Seguin: alright Stamkos 2.0 what do you need?

Me: revenge

Me: okay not so much revenge but to get a certain someone to stop playing games

Seguin: Point?

Me: yup

Seguin: I'm all in pretty girl, what's the plan?

Me: you're at the hotel right?

Seguin: yes I am, I believe pointer is here too.

Me: He is, you're gonna take me out tonight, with all of you I know all the teams are drinking together tonight and we're gonna flaunt the fuck out of me.

Seguin: so I'm just a pawn in the game? I don't actually get a piece myself

Me: yes, thought I made that clear. Besides I've got eyes from every fucking team in the league on me and my brother is gonna be there.

Seguin: fine, see you at 8? Wear something pretty and by that I mean slutty

Me: hey!

Seguin: I know how to play your game, do it.

Me: fine, see you at 8

I lock my phone and decide to shower and plan out the best revenge look I could.

*later that night*

I pull up to the hotel to see Tyler waiting outside. I roll down my window and yell "get in Seguin we're going drinking". He runs over to my car and gets in. "Nice car." He says as I pull away "thanks I've had it since I lived in Canada, Blue's a beauty when it's summer here." I say focusing on the road ahead but see him smirk in the corner of my eye. "Blue?" He asks "yes, that's her name. Partly after the color of her and partly after the raptor from Jurassic World, which is one of my favorite movies." I state simply. "The more you know." He says "yeah well this plan better work" I say as my phone goes off "already is sweetheart Brayden just sent you a text." He says "what does it say?" I ask keeping my eyes on the road because I'm a safe and responsible driver "it says 'why did you just pick up Seguin from the hotel?' Oh look another '(Y/N) I swear if you sleep with him. You can do so much better baby.' Wow that's hurtful and you let him call you baby?" Tyler says "hey now you know the plan and yes I do it’s part of the game." I say pulling into a parking space at the bar. "Now he's just begging you to answer." Tyler says "leave him on unopened like he has to me for a week." I say taking my phone from Tyler and turn off my car. "Listen, whatever happens in there, you will not take advantage of me or let anyone else other than Brayden make out with me. My brother or one of the other bolts are the only people aloud to take me anywhere outside of this bar if I get drunk. Got it?" I say as I get out "yes mom." He says as he follows me.

I walk into the bar and immediately all eyes are on me. I hear a few chirps and whistles and then Steven shut them up. "(Y/N) you're looking, wow." I hear Sidney say "thank you but shhhh you're cute but not my goal here." I say walking toward my brother and Brayden, Tyler trailing behind. "Hey boys." I say "mind if we join you?" I ask knowing that they won't say no. "Not at all." Steven says as PK comes over. "Hello superior Stamkos I see you're still showing your brother up and looking better then him as usual." He says "you know it PK, you know it." I giggle and see Brayden roll his eyes. "(Y/N) can I speak with you alone and outside?" Brayden asks "fine." I say as he takes my hand and drags me outside.

"What the hell are you doing?" He yells "What am I doing? What are you doing? Playing me like you play hockey. I'm not a doll that you can just throw around buddy." I spit back "what do you mean play?" He asks "oh don't be dumb Bray. You leave me on unopened all the time and don't even bother to make a move on me. I am head over heels for you and yet you ignore all the signs that I've laid out for you. You have seen me at every little weak moment since I got hurt why wouldn't I be head over heels for you?" I yell. He doesn't say anything he just steps forward and cups my face. "Are you gonna say something?" I whisper looking into his eyes "shut the fuck up and just let me kiss you." He whispers as he places his lips on mine. His lips are soft and he tastes faintly of peppermint gum. I pull away and he looks confused, "why'd you pull away?" He asks "gotta breath somehow buddy." I say before leaning back in. This time, after a short amount of time, his tongue slides across my bottom lip asking for entrance which I grant. Our tongues battle for dominance as he pushes me against the hood of my car, hands roaming up and down each other’s necks and bodies. His lips leave mine and start trailing down my neck, finding my sweet spot. I let out a soft moan and he starts to lightly suck and nip at the skin. "Brayden" I say but it comes out as a half moan and he pulls away "what? Do you not like it? I mean I'll stop but I've been wanting to make out with you since like my rookie season so..." He asks but then rambles. "No you dork, because honestly me too but my brother will kill you." I say with small giggle. "No I won't just please use protection or I will kill you I'm too young to be an uncle and you're both to young to be parents." Steven yells as he walks past us. "What do you say we continue this at my place.." Brayden suggests "already ahead of you get in." I say rummaging through my purse looking for my keys.

*the next day*

I sit on the bench of the arena as the guys practice, well more like mess around. The boys just take shots and chirp at each other most of the time.

"So pointer did you get some last night because you're awfully smiley this fine morning" Auston asks him "shut it Matthews." Brayden says looking over at me blushing madly "yes he did, I heard my sister and wife talking about it on the phone this morning in detail disgustingly, since it was with my sister." Steven says and my eyes go wide and I turn a deep shade of red "HEY!" I yell "YOUR FAULT FOR CALLING MY WIFE!" He yells back "DID YOU WANT ME TO CALL YOU?" I yell at him causing the room to laugh "no please for the love of god no." He pleads.

The practice goes on until they all clear the ice, except Brayden. He comes over and grabs a pair of skates that I've had sitting under the bench for awhile now. He laces them onto my feet and helps me up. "Whatcha doing bray?" I ask him. "Well I know you've been cleared to skate so why not actually come on the ice." He says pulling me to the door "I swear.." I start "don't worry princess I've got ya." He says dragging me along the ice. We skate a little bit, well more like he just pulls me along. Our hands are interlaced as he pulls me to center ice.

"You know I truly am in love with you." He starts "I've been in love with you since I met you at that hospital 3 years ago. I know it's kinda a stretch though to say I love you but I at least can ask you this. Will you be my girlfriend?" He asks and I wrap my arms around his neck "Oui Brayden Oui, Sí, yes. In every language there is, yes." I say pressing our foreheads together. What we don't know is that Steven and a few of the other guys are taking pictures because this is a moment that should've happened awhile ago. "I love you Brayden. I know we literally started dating like five seconds ago but I love you with all my heart. You've been there for everything with my knee and seen me at my worst and my best. You know me probably better than anyone, besides Steven, and already treat me like a princess and I can't thank you enough." I say getting teary eyed. "Well you aren't a princess you're a queen and you deserve someone to treat you like one. I guess that person's me. You're my best friend and who doesn't want to be in love with their best friend? I love you too (Y/N) regardless of who likes us being together or not, I'm in love with you and I don't care who knows it. I'll be here for the rest of your days, I'll be here for the rehab and getting use to skating again, everything because that's what you do for someone you love." He says as tears fall down my face. He holds my face in his hands and looks at me like he’s holding the world in his hands and slowly wipes the tears away from my face. “God I’m so in love with you” I whisper before pushing my lips against his not wanting this moment to end.

[sassy-tuukka-time-tantrum-40]

The fact that Bettman literally used the “Players could get hurt” as a reason to not go to the Olympics is weak as hell man.

I mean a good deal of players who played in the World Cup of Hockey ended up getting hurt throughout the regular season which definitely affected how their teams preformed for example: -Ales Hemsky (sustained a hip injury during the World Cup that required surgery, was out until March) -Patrice Bergeron (suffered a sports hernia during the World Cup which required off season surgery) -Tuukka Rask (Sustained a groin injury in the first regular season game, missed three games had surgery during the off season) -Johnathan Quick (sustained a groin injury during the first regular season game, was out until March) -Cory Schneider (sustained a lower-body injury later in the season) -Steven Stamkos (knee injury in November,was out the rest of the season) -Jack Eichel (sustained a high ankle sprain the day before the season started missed a few months)

And those are just the ones I can name off the top of my head. Sure most of those happened during the season but I’m pretty sure fatigue from the world Cup of hockey then a grueling 82 game season directly following it played some part. I mean sure the Olympics are in South Korea this year but the World Cup of Hockey had some teams traveling from Country to Country to play exhibition games before the season even started, then they flew to where the tournament was being held for more pre-tournament games, then the tournament, then they immediately went straight into the pre-season. Canada and Europe played 9 games during the World Cup of Hockey, while the four teams that made the medal round in the 2014 Winter Olympics played just 6 games (3 preliminary round games, then the quarter, semi-final and final games).

If anything the World Cup of Hockey has a more grueling schedule than the Olympics. For an example Team Finland played a game in Helsinki, Finland on September 8th, then they played a game in Gothenburg, Sweden on the 10th, then they played a game in Washington DC on the 13th before playing their first tournament game in Toronto, Ontario Canada on the 18th.  That’s 4 games in 4 different countries and 7,808.4 kilometers (4,851.9 miles) traveled in 10 days. Sure Pyeongchang is about 11,000 kilometers (7,000 miles) away from the East Coast but the players aren’t playing in a different country nearly every other day for 10 days in the Olympics.  So I guess in short Bettman is a complete dingus who hates fun. 

[aureyix-blog]

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[thrashermaxey]

Lining Up: March 22 – April 3

  All fantasy owners need help in the short term AND the long term. The Looking Ahead feature typically identifies one player to plug into lineups in the short term, a second to invest in for the long term, a third to bench for the coming week and a fourth who will struggle to meet expectations for some time, but with the season just about done it’ll look more for players to pick up through the end of the season and deeper keepers into next year.

  Most stats updated through Wednesday, March 20th

  The Immediate Fixes (Grab these guys and use them for the next several days)

Brett Connolly, W, Washington Capitals (Available in 87 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – Joining the 20-goal club two games ago to bring his season totals to 20G-22A on the year, Connolly is a diamond in the rough these days and could be a very strong add for players still in the hunt.

He’s shown more of a trigger this season, hitting a career-high in SOG with 123 in 74 games so far, and he’s playing more than he ever has before with third-line minutes and time on the second power play unit. Normally, a third-line player wouldn’t jump off the page that much due to a low time on ice, but the Caps’ trio of Connolly, Lars Eller and Carl Hagelin have been unstoppable since Hagelin joined up: at 5v5, they have a 62% CorsiFor, are taking 42SF/60 and 15HDCF/60 (90-minute sample).

  David Perron, W, St. Louis Blues (Available in 67 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – After a hot season that got derailed by injury twice – mostly by his latest concussion – Perron is back and has slipped right back into his point-scoring ways with 3G-2A in the three games he’s played since coming back. After the first game where he played 14:58, Perron’s been thrown right back into the same role of second-line winger/second unit power play guy and has hit 19 minutes in back-to-back games; this is closer to where Perron was when he first got hurt back in January, in the 18+ minute range.

On the season, the cagey veteran is having a very solid year from a per-game perspective, as he’s picked up 20G-20A in only 48 games, but the concern as always is his concussion history along with all the other nicks & bumps that he’s seemingly prone to. He’s on a personal 16-game point streak (not including Thursday night’s game) and is a strong add through the rest of the season as there’s no concern about using draft capital on an injury-prone player, it’s a free add of a good point producer.

  The Building Blocks (Buy now, sit back and keep them)

Christian Wolanin, D, Ottawa Senators (Available in 100 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – With the Sens’ defense corps in shambles from an offensive perspective – next year will return Thomas Chabot, maybe Cody Ceci, and possibly see Erik Brannstrom up – Wolanin has a ton of upside as a deep pick-up.

Since Guy Boucher was fired on March 1st, Wolanin has picked up 1G-3A in eight games, with 14 shots on goal and 13 blocked shots. He’s been swapping between the first and second power play units (although that’s one and the same on a dismal Sens team) and has played 19+ minutes in six of those eight games, including back-to-back games of 24+ minutes. It’s clear he’s earned the trust of interim coach Marc Crawford, and his value as a late keeper/dynasty stash going into next year is strong especially if Crawford sticks around.

Going forward through the rest of the season, Chabot’s broken toe will keep him out of action and Cody Ceci has missed parts of the past two games which means Wolanin should continue to see strong minutes through to the end. Even if he’s not added as a keeper, he’s a fine bench body for worst case scenario injuries.

  Dylan Strome, C, Chicago Blackhawks (Available in 71 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – Just under a point per game (44 in 48) with Chicago, Strome being available in 29 percent of leagues is unfathomable; he’s playing 17:09/game (two minutes more than his career average) and is on a sheltered scoring line with Alex DeBrincat (who is 88% owned!) and Brendan Perlini, as well as the top power play unit.

At 5v5 since the day Strome was traded to the Blackhawks, Strome sits 23rd in Points/60 (min. 300 minutes) which is ahead of luminaries such as Mark Stone, Steven Stamkos and Alex Ovechkin – and even more appealing is his 62% IPP, which is the lowest percentage of anyone in the top-75. That points to fantasy gold, so if you’re in the 71% of Yahoo! leagues where Strome is currently un-owned, he should be grabbed immediately.

  Love ‘Em (These squads are sure to pay dividends in the coming days)

Chicago – The Blackhawks have the most possible games over the next two weeks (seven) and are somehow still fighting for their playoff lives for a wild-card spot, which means their games won’t be mailed in (until at least near the back half of the period); they’ll play a home-and-home against Colorado, road games against Arizona, San Jose and L.A., and wrap up the stretch with home games against the Jets and Blues. Their opponents aren’t an easy out, but Chicago can score with the best of them so slot them in.

Buffalo – A lost season doesn’t mean they can’t still have fantasy production to close it out, and with seven games between the 22nd and April 3rd, the Sabres are a good bet for more production. Being in the East means some weak competition defensively, and that should bear fruit as the Sabres will face Montreal, New Jersey, Ottawa and the Islanders on the road, and Detroit, Columbus and Nashville at home – only three playoff teams in the bunch.

Carolina – The last team with the full seven games available in this period is the Hurricanes, who continue to be dominant offensively in terms of shots taken but have been up & down in terms of scoring. That being said, they have three very well-balanced lines these days and like Buffalo get to face some of the weaker defensive teams in Washington (twice), Philadelphia and Toronto; beyond those games, Carolina will also face Minnesota, Montreal and Pittsburgh to round out the period.

  Leave ‘Em (These squads will leave fantasy owners sorely disappointed in the short term)

Nashville – The Preds only have seven games left in total and only five left between March 22nd and April 3rd, a very light schedule to close out the season. They’ve struggled to get scoring outside of their stud d-men and their top line, and four of their five games coming on the road won’t help – they play the Jets, Wild, Penguins and Sabres away, and the Jackets at home.

Pittsburgh – Much like the Predators, Pittsburgh has a light finish to their season although they have games against the Rangers and Red Wings to look forward to. Unfortunately, they also have games against Dallas (in Dallas), and Nashville and Carolina at home – not the most conducive schedule for fantasy scoring.

Detroit – They’ve got six games in the period but that includes a road/home back-to-back (against Buffalo and New Jersey) and well, it’s the Red Wings – they’ve hit four goals in a game only three times since February 1st. They play at Vegas, San Jose and Buffalo, and have home games against New Jersey, Boston and Pittsburgh.

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/nhl-line-combinations/lining-up-march-22-april-3/

[wheelhousehockey-blog1]

Everything You Need To Know About Andrei Svechnikov

NHLPROSPECTREPORTS

https://nhlprospectreport.ca

I love the IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), more than any other tournament in the world. Which is why it was a shame Svechnikov got buried in Russia's lineup due to his age. 

Despite not getting a huge role he still managed a point per game pace playing on the 4th line. Playing on the 4th line isn't a knock on Svechnikov though as the Russian coaches tend to lean on older players in the WJC.  

The Canes' have a pretty fantastic young core of defenders; I would argue that they are the best in the entire league. 

The Carolina Hurricanes are a team that could easily surprise you in 2018-2019. They have a solid core group of young players in Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, Haydn Fleury, Jacob Slavin and the newly acquired Dougie Hamilton. 

What they lacked, before this most recent draft, was a scoring winger to take the pressure off Aho and Teravainen. 

Furthermore, goaltending is an issue for the Canes. Entering the season with Scott Darling backed up by Petr Mrazek is not exactly a winning combo, but I digress. 

The Carolina Hurricanes have a few blue chip prospects in center Martin Necas, and power forward Julien Gauthier and stud defenceman Jake Bean. All three guys could easily make the team out of camp, however I expect both Bean and Gauthier to start with Carolina's AHL club the Charlotte Checkers. 

Let's talk about Andrei Svechnikov. If the name sounds familiar it's because Andrei is the younger brother of Evgeny Svechnikov, who was drafted by Detroit in 2015. 

Andrei stands at 6 foot 2 and over 190 pounds of pure Russian power forward. Drafted 1st overall by the Barrie Colts in the CHL Import Draft, there was no doubt of his talent by any scout, and he lived up to the hype. After coming over from the USHL Svechnikov was impressive right out of the gate notching 14 points in his first 10 games for the Colts. Despite battling injuries he ended the season with an unbelievable 40 goals and 72 points in 44 games. 

Svechnikov is a stat mans dream, his 5v5 goals-per-game average of 0.68 is outrageous, showing that he's not "just a powerplay guy". He has superior puck control and an excellent release on his shot; and because of his massive frame, he can play in the NHL next season and make an impact.  

Svechnikov will become one of league’s dominant forwards. He's dominated in every league he's been in, and the underlying statistics show an elite forward who is going to put up a lot of points in the NHL. 

Andrei plays a style that is entertaining to watch, he hits people and scores goals, does that sound like any other Russian forward you've ever heard of? Starts with an O.... ends with 'vechkin??  Before you get your pitchforks out, I don't think that's a fair comparison. 

What you can expect is someone who's ready to score 25-30 goals and be effective at both 5v5 and on the powerplay immediately. He also helps fill another need on an undersized group of forwards with his physicality, however a lot of scouts were concerned with his discipline. Andrei is also not the most graceful skater and his passing and defensive game isn’t fantastic, but who cares? When you have a guy who can score goals at this clip, comparable to Steven Stamkos in his draft year, you shouldn't care. 

The Hurricanes are pretty lucky that their draft ball moved from 11th all the way down to 2nd. Anytime you draft that early you have a real good chance at getting a franchise player and the Cane's did just that. 

What's exciting for Canes' fans is they get an elite forward they can instantly plug into their lineup. One who should play alongside Sebastian Aho and put up impressive numbers this season and contend for the Calder trophy. 

Don't sleep on this kid; he's the real deal.

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Waiver wire: Time is running out to improve your Fantasy Hockey team

Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ fantasy arrow is pointing up. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

By Neil Parker, RotoWire Hockey Writer Special to Yahoo Sports

Only three weeks remain in the regular season, so leaving no stone unturned is all the more important at this stage of the game.

It’s an interesting time of year because a number of teams have their postseason seeding all but locked up, and ensuring their key players are healthy for the playoffs trumps all.

This currently appears to be particularly relevant for workhorse goaltenders, as Braden Holtby, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ben Bishop (knee) and Frederik Andersen (upper body) are all either playing poorly or nursing injuries. Add Carey Price (concussion), Matt Murray (concussion), Corey Crawford (concussion), Brian Elliott (lower body) and Carter Hutton (neck) to the injured list, and there is a lot of uncertainty at the position.

Those chasing in the goaltending categories should be aggressive and try to pinpoint favorable matchups two or three days in advance to stay ahead of the competition. Additionally, owners who handcuffed their top goalies well in advance deserve a hat tip.

Here’s the schedule for the next scoring period, March 19-25:

Four games: Coyotes, Bruins, Sabres, Blue Jackets, Oilers, Panthers, Kings, Canadiens, Predators, Penguins, Canucks

All other teams play three games.

Remember to keep an eye on who is cut in your leagues because potential upgrades come in all forms. Also, note the players previously covered in this space listed below this week’s recommendations.

(Yahoo ownership rates as of March 15.)

FORWARD

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM (27 percent): With three goals and two assists through six games since returning from a rib injury, Nugent-Hopkins’ fantasy arrow is pointing up. His current assignment alongside Connor McDavid skyrockets him to top billing, and he should be added in all settings. Nugent-Hopkins might not last on McDavid’s flank through the end of the year, but if the duo sticks, there’s tremendous offensive upside.

J.T. Miller, TB (51 percent): Following Tuesday’s hat trick, Miller now has five goals and four assists through seven games with the Bolts. He’s also found himself skating alongside Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov in all situations, which is an ideal setup, as the duo has connected for an elite 5.91 goals per 60 minutes this season. Miller has fit in seamlessly so far, too.

Nick Bjugstad, FLA (38 percent): Still skating with Aleksander Barkov and Evgenii Dadonov atop the Florida depth chart, Bjugstad continues to score regularly. The Minnesota native has collected 18 points — six goals — through 19 games dating back to Feb. 1, and he’s also helped in the peripheral categories with 63 shots, 23 PIM, 22 hits and a plus-8 rating during that stretch.

Derek Stepan, ARI (30 percent): While his fantasy ceiling is low, Stepan has provided serviceable numbers for a long stretch. The veteran has collected 20 points, 68 shots and a plus-6 rating through 28 games since the calendar flipped to 2018, and he’s also locked in as the top offensive center for the Coyotes.

Charlie Coyle, MIN (12 percent): Things are beginning to turn around for Coyle, as he’s collected nine points through his past 12 contests, including two goals and two assists during an active three-game point streak. His 34 shots during that stretch are another encouraging sign. The 26-year-old forward could be a solid contributor over the final weeks with positive regression ahead of his 2.12 points per 60 minutes after posting a 2.45 mark last season.

Mikkel Boedker, SAN (4 percent): The Dane has scored his way into a top-six role with six goals and seven assists through his past 14 games. Boedker has also seen his ice time climb to 15:13 per contest (1:53 on the power play) through his latest seven outings, and he’s found the scoresheet in five of those games. While he’s probably still best viewed as a low-floor, low-ceiling asset, Boedker is currently providing serviceable numbers for most settings.

DEFENSE

Sami Vatanen, NJD (44 percent): While his ownership percentages continue to creep up, Vatanen remains available in far too many leagues. The 26-year-old Finn has collected two goals, 13 assists and 38 shots through his past 16 contests, and he’s also solidified his role as the power-play quarterback on the No. 1 unit. Vatanen also tilts the scales in the hit and blocked shot columns.

Oscar Klefbom, EDM (38 percent): There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Swede’s health, and it’s likely he’s been playing hurt for a prolonged stretch. Still, he’s sandwiched a two-game absence with a three-game point streak consisting of two goals, two assists, 12 shots and six blocked shots. There’s obvious risk, but Klefbom also offers a level of upside most waiver-wire options don’t.

Erik Gustafsson, CHI (4 percent): With five points through his latest two games, Gustafsson is worth a look. He was promoted to the No. 1 power-play unit against Boston on Sunday, and with Chicago searching for answers, the 26-year-old defenseman could be given a long look in a meaningful role before his one-way contract kicks in next season.

Dylan DeMelo, SAN (1 percent): Piling up seven assists through six games has DeMelo on the fantasy radar, and especially considering his respectable offensive track record at the lower levels. However, he’s recorded just four shots while logging only 14:56 of ice time with limited power-play looks during the six-game stretch, so DeMelo is likely still best left to deep formats.

[Batter up: Join a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for free today]

GOALIE

Philipp Grubauer, WAS (41 percent): Braden Holtby has only won one of his past eight starts and owns a disastrous .854 save percentage and 4.82 GAA during the skid. As a result, Grubauer has been receiving more starts, and he’s allowed two goals or fewer in each of his past 10 outings (seven starts) for a 6-1-0 record, .951 save percentage and 1.40 GAA. Holtby might resume No. 1 duties at some point, but until then, Grubauer is a must-own netminder in all settings.

Kari Lehtonen, DAL (25 percent): Ben Bishop (lower body) is still out and without a firm return timeline, so Lehtonen projects to continue receiving the bulk of starts for the Stars. The Finn has struggled with a 1-3-2 record, .904 save percentage and 2.81 GAA with Bishop out, but Lehtonen should still be viewed as a serviceable matchup-based option. Dallas will right the ship in front of him sooner than later.

Curtis McElhinney, TOR (17 percent): A speculative grab after Frederik Andersen left Wednesday’s win with an upper-body injury, McElhinney projects to handle the majority of work until the Dane is fully healthy. McElhinney has recorded an 8-4-1 record, .929 save percentage and 2.27 GAA with two shutouts in backup duty, so there’s potential for him to hold down the fort for the immediate future.

Alexandar Georgiev, NYR (4 percent): With nothing to lose, the Rangers could continue to give Georgiev an opportunity to prove himself at the highest level. The 22-year-old Russian has won three consecutive starts and owns a .929 save percentage and 2.75 GAA through six appearances. It’s a small sample size, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Georgiev continued to help in the save-percentage column with the Rangers yielding the second most shots per game (38.0) since the All-Star break.

Peter Budaj, TAM (3 percent): There are goalie concerns in Tampa Bay with No. 1 Andre Vasilevskiy sporting an .874 save percentage through his past four outings and also speaking out about feeling fatigued. Budaj was activated off injured reserve Tuesday after missing approximately two months with a leg injury, so he’ll probably be rusty. Still, the veteran should at least be a decent source of wins starting behind the best team in the Eastern Conference.

Players to consider from past columns: Matt Duchene, Kevin Fiala, Kyle Connor, Sam Reinhart, Tom Wilson, Zach Parise, Travis Konecny, Alexander Wennberg, Riley Nash, Timo Meier, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Anthony Mantha, Kevin Hayes, Zach Parise, Jeff Petry, Dion Phaneuf, Brandon Montour, Nikita Zadorov, Alexander Edler, Mike Reilly, Casey DeSmith, Juuse Saros, Tristan Jarry, Antti Niemi, Charlie Lindgren.

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DGB Grab Bag: Happy Birthday Gretzky, Mid-Season Awards, and a Crotch Goal

Three Stars of Comedy

The third star: The Crotch Goal – It’s a lot like the Butt Goal, only with less butt and more crotch.

The second star: Jimmy Eat World – Yes, the band. No, I didn’t expect them to ever show up in this section either. But that was before they started dunking on team Twitter accounts.

Seriously, is it too late to get these guys to perform at the All-Star Game instead of Kid Rock? They don’t even have to sing, they can just go through all the league’s social media accounts and rip them individually. Let’s make this happen.

The first star: Auston Matthews is one of us – Nobody knows what goaltender interference is anymore. That includes Matthews, who lost a goal on Monday to a phantom interference penalty after a lengthy review. But it was worth it, because it gave us this all-purpose reaction GIF we can now use for pretty much every decision the NHL makes.

He followed that up with a goal and another classic reaction. Strong GIF work out there, Auston. Remember kids, there is no “I” in meme.

Outrage of the Week

The issue: For the first time in decades, the PHWA has released a round of midseason awards, covering all the major trophies and a few made-up ones as well.

The outrage: The results are wrong and the writers are stupid and you feel strongly about this.

Is it justified: I don’t even know what the results are as I’m writing this, or whether they’ll have been released by the time you read this (they’re supposed to come out at some point this morning). I just know that somebody out there is angry about them. And that’s good. That’s part of the fun. If we didn’t debate the picks, the whole process would be awfully boring.

If we’re being honest, the midseason picks will probably be even easier to criticize than the final season-ending votes. We’re working with a smaller sample size, but since these aren’t official awards there will probably be less time spent on the research side of things. (Believe it or not, PHWA members are known for obsessing over the details on their year-end ballots.) Some of these won’t hold up well a week or two from now, let alone at the end of the year.

But again, that’s part of the fun. So in the interest of transparency, here’s the ballot I submitted. I look forward to helpful feedback about how I can do better in the future. [brick flies by head] Oh cool, there’s some already.

Hart Trophy

1. Nathan MacKinnon

2. Nikita Kucherov

3. John Tavares

4. Blake Wheeler

5. Alexander Ovechkin

MacKinnon’s recent hot streak nudges him ahead of Kucherov. I wanted to get Wheeler on to the ballot, as his career year has helped the Jets stay on track even without Mark Scheifele. But that means I don’t have room for Steven Stamkos or Patrice Bergeron, let alone any defensemen or goalies. Here’s hoping a few of these guys separate from the pack in the second half, because right now this is a real tough choice.

Norris Trophy

1. Drew Doughty

2. Victor Hedman

3. P.K. Subban

4. John Klingberg

5. Alex Pietrangelo

I give Doughty a slight edge here, but Hedman is the interesting choice. He’s hurt now, and will miss a few more weeks, so he’s almost definitely not going to win the real award. There are a few guys in that situation around the league. Do you take them off your midseason ballot? I didn’t, just like I wouldn’t eliminate an end-of-season candidate who was hurt on the final weekend.

Vezina Trophy

1. Andrei Vasilevskiy

2. Mike Smith

3. Connor Hellebuyck

4. Pekka Rinne

5. Corey Crawford

This feels like a relatively easy call at #1, followed by about a half-dozen guys who could range from second spot to off the ballot. You could make a case for John Gibson, Frederik Andersen, or Jonathan Quick too.

Calder Trophy

1. Mathew Barzal

2. Brock Boeser

3. Charlie McAvoy

4. Clayton Keller

5. Mikhail Sergachev

The top two guys are running a fantastic race so far. From there, I kept McAvoy on my ballot despite his health issues for the same reason as Hedman. I had Sergachev a bit higher earlier in the week, but the Lightning making him a healthy scratch spooked me a bit.

Lady Byng

1. Marc-Edouard Vlasic

2. Mark Stone

3. Ryan O’Reilly

4. Auston Matthews

5. William Karlsson

Good players dominate this award these days, and rightfully so—they’re the ones targeted for the most abuse, so they get extra credit for not getting sucked in. But players who are asked to shutdown stars have it even tougher, which is why my top three picks here are guys who excel in their own end. You could make a case for all three, but defensemen never win the Lady Byng and that annoys me, so Vlasic is the pick.

Selke

1. Patrice Bergeron

2. Sean Couturier

3. Anze Kopitar

4. Mikael Backlund

5. Aleksander Barkov

A midseason Selke is an especially weird concept, since the real trophy is basically a lifetime achievement award. That tips a close race to Bergeron, even as Couturier emerges as a new contender.

Jack Adams

1. Gerard Gallant

2. Bruce Cassidy

3. Jared Bednar

4. Jon Cooper

5. John Hynes

Gallant will win this easily, and probably the end-of-year award too. I worked in Cooper as a protest vote, since this award shouldn’t always go to somebody from a “surprise” team.

General Manager

1. George McPhee

2. Doug Armstrong

3. David Poile

4. Ray Shero

5. Joe Sakic

This award doesn’t make sense for a full season, so you can imagine how a half-season version feels. It’s another easy Vegas win, while Armstrong made the offseason’s best trade, and Poile is Poile. If you’d told me would be on my ballot I’d have laughed at you, but here we are.

Best defensive defenseman (i.e. The Langway)

1. Hampus Lindholm

2. Mattias Ekholm

3. Marc-Edouard Vlasic

4. Zach Werenski

5. Jason Demers

This Langway doesn’t exist in real life, of course, so the PHWA is having some fun here. It’s a tough one to pick—clearly we’re not looking for guys who rack up points, but how many is too many? Do you set a cutoff? If so, do you eliminate guys with too many points altogether, or penalize them a few spots on the ballot? The real Rod Langway won the Norris in the mid-80s with 30 points, which on an era-adjusted basis would be like -10 today, so he’s no help. I looked at a combination of ice-time, penalty killing, zone starts, and relative possession, but I suspect the results here will be all over the map.

Comeback player

1. Mike Smith

2. Claude Giroux

3. Phil Kessel

4. Marc-Andre Fluery

5. Kris Letang

We weren’t given specific guidance here, but we were told that it wasn’t meant to be a copy of the Masterton. So I went with Smith, a guy who seemed to have fallen off the map in Arizona but has been reborn in Calgary. And Giroux and Kessel are back in the Art Ross race after some down years.

And that’s that. Please keep in mind I submitted this ballot before last night’s games, so if any of my picks are wrong that’s the reason.

Obscure Former Player of the Week

You’ll probably see a lot of birthday wishes being shared today in honor of a certain hockey legend who we’ll get to in the YouTube section. But he’s not the only former player born on this date. There’s also a Hall-of-Famer (Frank Nighbor), a former first overall pick (Dale McCourt), a future head coach (Ivan Hlinka), and a guy who sounds like a deranged serial killer character from a 1980s family sitcom (Alf Skinner).

But for this week’s obscure player, let’s keep it simple and go with another birthday boy: Harold Druken. Druken was a second-round pick by the Canucks in 1997, the same round as, uh, nobody really. Man that was a terrible second round. Druken went back to juniors for two more productive seasons and spent time in the minors before making his NHL debut during the 1990-00 season. He had 16 points in 33 games, then followed that up with 15 goals and 30 points in 55 games in 2000-01; he also scored the overtime goal that clinched the Canucks’ first playoff appearance since 1996.

Unfortunately, that 2000-01 season wound end up representing the peak of his NHL career, as injuries and lack of opportunity prevented him from playing another full season. He was traded to the Hurricanes, then bounced between Carolina and Toronto via waivers and trade. By the time the 2004 lockout arrived, Druken’s NHL career was over.

Today, a YouTube search brings up that playoff-clinching goal, a few fan tributes, a memorial for a different Harold Druken that briefly made me think this one had died, and lots of videos of severely intoxicated dudes fighting and dancing that were posted by people who misspelled “Drunken.” Not a bad legacy if you ask me.

Also, I always read his name in the Street Fighter II voice, and now you will too.

Be It Resolved

We apparently got a sneak peek at the names being considered for the NHL’s upcoming Seattle expansion team this week, as several domain registrations appeared to reveal the list of candidates.

Some are good (Sockeyes, Firebirds, Sea Lions), some are not good (Evergreens, Renegades), and some are just ripping off old teams (Seals, Whales). Some are uninspired choices that you used to use in your made-up hockey leagues when you were a kid (Cougars, Eagles). And some sound good, but would get annoying almost immediately (yes, yes, “Release the Kraken,” that is indeed a fun line from a movie that came out in 1981).

But while we’re at it, am I the only one who thinks it’s weird that “Metropolitans” isn’t on the list? The Seattle Metropolitans were the first American team to ever win the Stanley Cup. It happened in 1917, months before the NHL was formed. That seems like a pretty cool bit of history that you might want to acknowledge.

As an added bonus, having a team named the Metropolitans would force the NHL to change the name of the Metropolitan Division, which we can all agree would be a good thing. And as the Senators have shown us, if you use the same name as an old and forgotten franchise from a century ago, you get to lay claim to the championships for some reason.

So be it resolved, the new Seattle team should be called the Seattle Metropolitans. The Metros for short. Who’s with me? MET-ROS! MET-ROS!

Nobody? Dammit, you kids today have no sense of history. Fine, Sea Lions it is.

Classic YouTube Clip Breakdown

Today is Wayne Gretzky’s birthday, as the greatest player in NHL history turns [checks notes] … 57? Dear god, that can’t be right, can it? We are all so old. I need to lie down. Wait, that was a bad idea, now I can’t get back up.

I know what will make me feel better. Let’s travel back – way, way back – to a time when Gretzky was just a fresh-faced teenager, as he does one of his first major appearances in front of the national media.

It’s 1977, and a 16-year-old Gretzky is sitting down with the CBC’s Peter Gzowski. He’s already a heavily hyped prospect at this point, and he’s just joined the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. I realize the quality isn’t super great here, but remember this is from a time before high-def cameras, crystal clear audio, and also, apparently, lights.

Gzowski’s first question is about Gretzky’s poise, which leads into his origin story. “When I was two years old I started skating, and I’d be out on in my backyard on the rink every day until one in the morning.” Wait, what? I don’t like to tell people who to raise their kids, but two-year-olds probably shouldn’t be outside after midnight. That seems extreme to me.

“I left home when I was thirteen.” Yeah, to escape the mandatory middle-of-the-night skating drills, I’m guessing.

Next comes a funny sequence about how Gretzky is still growing but has trouble gaining weight. He claims to be 160 pounds, and Gzowski just openly calls B.S. on him right then and there. Like he doesn’t even let him finish the sentence, he just goes right into basically saying “Nice try spaghetti arms, you’re not fooling anyone.” I thoroughly enjoyed Peter Gzowski.

And yes, this is of course the same Gzowski who we saw earlier this season sparring with Dick Beddoes in 1982 over how hairy Gretzky’s legs were. His skinny, hairless legs.

We get a few shots of Gretzky at practice. You can tell the clip is from early in the season, because he’s wearing #14. He’d asked for #9, a number he’d worn for years, but teammate Brian Gualazzi already had it and refused to give it up to a rookie. Legend has it that Greyhounds coach Muzz MacPherson convinced Gretzky to switch to #99 instead, and the rest was history.

Can we just take a minute to appreciate young Wayne’s collar game? As best I can tell based on this being filmed in candlelight, he appears to be wearing two separate butterfly collars with a mock turtleneck in between. It’s like the animal kingdom is waging war for this throat.

Next up we see Gretzky’s parents, Walter and Phyllis. Gzowski asks if they’re worried that their scrawny son will get hurt, and Walter explains that Wayne has an uncanny ability to avoid contact. Meanwhile, Phyllis stands silently and makes angry mom face at the idea of anyone touching her boy. Forget Dave Semenko, hockey moms are the ones you have to watch for.

We’re back to Wayne, who’s asked how much thinking he does on the ice. He explains that he tries to think ahead as much as possible, but it doesn’t always work. “The other night in Ottawa I was going to do something, I was thinking of it anyway, and then all of a sudden everything just went blank.” I’m pretty sure that’s the 2017-18 Senators’ team slogan, actually.

We get a blink-and-you-miss-it clip of an insane goalie going full Hasek on a poke check attempt, then it’s back to Walter. He’s asked if his son will be the next Bobby Orr, but stickhandles around the question to explain that it’s really Wayne’s schooling that matters. By the way, solid collar work by Walter here too. The well-decorated Adam’s apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

The education theme continues as Gretzky describes his plan to play two years of junior, finish high school, and then “Yes I’ll be going to university for sure.” Gzowski basically calls B.S. again, and this time Gretzky immediately abandons the idea. That’s strike two, Wayne, you lie to Peter Gzowski one more time and he’ll McCreary you.

We close with a sweet view of Gretzky walking down the streets of Sault Ste. Marie. The CBC somehow managed to edit out the “Staying Alive” soundtrack that must have followed Wayne around at all times back in those days. They do leave in the guy in the car in the background who seems to be flipping the bird out the window, though.

Gretzky describes the pressure of playing in a small town, then closes on an optimistic note by hoping he can have a good season. Epilogue: He did, putting up 182 points in 63 games. That one season was it for his junior career, as he was off to the WHA by 1978 and in the NHL a year after that. He’d go on to smash every offensive record in the book, despite the relentless march of time having a devastating effect on the quality of his wardrobe.

Have a question, suggestion, old YouTube clip, or anything else you’d like to see included in this column? Email Sean at nhlgrabbag@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @DownGoesBrown .

DGB Grab Bag: Happy Birthday Gretzky, Mid-Season Awards, and a Crotch Goal syndicated from https://australiahoverboards.wordpress.com

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DGB Grab Bag: Trolling Goalies, All-Star Voting, and Gretzky's Circus Pants

Three Stars of Comedy

The third star: Referee Ian Walsh – I appreciate his commitment to still finishing the job when things go bad. If my wifi goes out for six seconds I go back to bed for the rest of the day.

The second star: David Pastrnak is helping – Specifically, he's helping warm up Anton Khudobin, who could not possibly be less interested.

Oh hey, speaking of annoying a goaltender...

The first star: Carter Hart vs. Matteo Ritz – Hart is Canada's starting goalie at this year's World Juniors. "Matteo Ritz," which is clearly a made-up name, is the Swiss backup. Like many players these days, Hart has a superstition about being the last off the ice, but his comes with a twist: Instead of applying only to warmup, he wants to be last off for intermission too. Yes, during games. So the Swiss decided to send Ritz out to mess with him.

Careful readers will note that Hart used the same trick that P.K. Subban pulled off in last week's column, which I think we would all agree can only mean on thing: Carter Hart reads the Grab Bag. What's up Carter!

Needless to say, this is all very dumb. But Canadians are having some fun with it.

Trivial Annoyance of the Week

The NHL announced the results of fan voting for the All-Star Game captains this week. The fans elected Connor McDavid, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Ovechkin and P.K. Subban. Those are solid choices—good players, with a non-zero element of personality mixed in. Nice work, fans.

But there was something missing in the announcement. See if you can spot it.

Yes, they gave us the results of the fan vote…without actually telling us what the vote was. Once again, the league didn't bother sharing the numbers each guy got. That's no surprise, since they didn't release totals throughout the voting process either.

That's not a huge deal—it's just an all-star game, it's not like we're not voting in a head of state here. But it's weird. The All-Star vote is supposed to be a fun thing, and part of the fun is knowing what the races look like.

Which of the four players got the most votes, making him the leading vote-getter across the entire league? Great question, but we don't know. Lightning stars Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos were 1-2 in the Atlantic balloting, but was it a close race, with Kucherov nipping at his teammate's heels the whole way only to fall just short? No idea. Did Sidney Crosby give Ovechkin a run for his money in the Metro? Look, stop asking questions and just buy some neon yellow all-star jerseys.

The NFL doesn't do this. When Le'Veon Bell beats out Tom Brady for the top spot, they want you to know about it. MLB makes a point of marketing how close their races are. The NBA makes everything available in exhausting detail.

But not the NHL. When it comes to marketing all-stars, apparently they know better.

This fits in nicely with the league's habit of withholding information from fans whenever it can. We've been over this plenty of times before. Whether it's a conditional trade or a contract signing or the result of a replay review, the NHL wants you to know as little as possible. It's basically league policy at this point.

But when it comes to that other stuff, you can at least come up with a reason why the league might want to keep fans in the dark. Not a good reason, mind you, but something. Not here. I'm honestly stumped. Why wouldn't you want fans to get into the races?

We can only imagine what's going on behind the scenes. Maybe the races weren't close at all. Maybe fans somewhere were stuffing ballot boxes and the races were ridiculous. Maybe this is the league trying to hand out some sort of punitive payback for the whole John Scott fiasco. Maybe the vote totals are embarrassingly low across the board when compared to other sports.

Or maybe this is just yet another example of a league that doesn't really like its own fans very much, and can't help but take any opportunity it can find to passive-aggressively annoy them. If so, it's far from the most glaring or consequential example we've seen, and no doubt we'll all forget about it quickly enough. It's just odd. Even when the call is an easy one and everyone else is showing them the right answer, the NHL really can't help itself. They'll find a way to mess it up somehow.

Obscure Former Player of the Week

Earlier this week I wrote a piece that made a passing reference to Wayne Van Dorp, which made me think man, I need to write an obscure player piece on Wayne Van Dorp. So this week's obscure player is Wayne Van Dorp.

In addition to having a fantastic name, Wayne Van Dorp was a tough guy who took an unusual route to the NHL. Despite managing a decent 22 goals on top of 242 penalty minutes as a junior in 1980-81, he wasn't drafted. So he headed to Holland of all places, spending parts of four years playing pro in the Netherlands while also making appearances in North American minor leagues. That led to a free agent deal with the Buffalo Sabres in 1986, and a trade to Edmonton at the 1987 deadline paved his way to an NHL debut as a 25-year-old. He played a few games for the Oilers, earning a Cup ring in the process, before being dealt to the Penguins in the Paul Coffey trade.

After a few games in Pittsburgh it was back to Buffalo in another trade, but for the second time, he never suited up for the Sabres. Instead it was off to Chicago, where as a 1980s enforcer he put in his mandated service time in the Norris Division. He had his best season as a Blackhawk, playing 61 games and scoring seven goals in 1989-90 while racking up 303 PIM and squaring off with division stalwarts like Bob Probert, Joey Kocur, and Shane Churla. He went to Quebec in the 1990 waiver draft, where he suffered an injury that ultimately ended his NHL career. He'd head to Italy for a season before retiring in 1993.

Van Dorp's Wikipedia page is two paragraphs long, and for some reason one of them is solely about how he "has appeared in hockey blooper tapes fighting Serge Roberge" while in the AHL. I just like how they specify that it was hockey blooper tapes, plural.

I'm assuming the fight in question is this one, which is…fine. It's a good scrap. I'm not sure it's half a-guy's-entire-Wikipedia-page good, but maybe that's why I'm not an editor.

The NHL Actually Got Something Right

OK, we complained about the NHL finding a way to screw up the all-star voting. So let's flip the script and look at the other vote results that were released this week.

As part of the never-ending celebration of the league's 100th anniversary, we had yet another fan vote, this one for history's best uniforms. When the vote was first announced, it was hard not to roll your eyes and assume this was going to turn into another Original Six lovefest, with the rest of the list dominated by current designs because modern fans have no attention span. Instead, we got this:

That's… that's a damn good list. The whole top 25 is here.

We get an Original Six team at No. 1, but that's fine because the Blackhawks uniform is a worthy winner. But then the list veers off into some long-gone classics, like the Whalers, Nordiques, and North Stars. We get appearances by the old school Jets and Flames, and the Gretzky-era Kings. The Golden Knights even show up. All the Original Six teams are in there too, but they don't dominate.

It's not perfect. The Mighty Ducks are a little too high—sorry, 90s kids—and the lack of the old green and red Devils uniforms is inexcusable. But overall, this is a good ranking. For something that seems to have been destined to give people something to get upset and argue over, I can't really find anything to howl about here.

There's also a message here for modern-day uniform designers: Calm down, stop obsessively messing with the piping on the sleeves, and just give us a solid color combination with a logo a kid can draw on his or her pencil case. This isn't complicated, guys. When the Seattle Soundgardens show up in a few years and immediately win the Presidents' Trophy because teams line up to give them 30-goal scorers, they don't need to do it while wearing fourteen shades of puce and a logo designed by M.C. Escher. Simple works.

But yeah, good job NHL fans. And good job NHL for setting this up in a way that clearly got people thinking in the right direction. I'm assuming this is the last of the centennial votes, and if so, the league went out with a job well done.

(Now if only they told us how many votes each uniform got…)

Classic YouTube Clip Breakdown

Last weekend was New Year's Eve, which means it was quite possibly the anniversary of both the sport's greatest game and the NHL's great moment. The former, of course, is the classic 1975 exhibition showdown between the Canadiens and the Soviet Red Army that's often called the best game ever played.

The latter, as recently voted by NHL fans, is this week's clip.

It's December 31, 1988 and the Penguins are hosting the Devils for a New Year's Eve tilt at the old Igloo. Lemieux is about to do something that nobody has ever done before: Score five goals in five different ways.

Those five ways are, of course, by: Deflecting the puck off a defenseman, King Kong Bundy splashing a goalie, body-checking a referee, executing an NHL 94 one-timer, and by breaking a linesman's brain.

Wait, I'm being told the five ways are actually even strength, powerplay, short-handed, penalty shot and empty net. It's never been done before this game. Also never done before this game: Anyone thinking that "five goals five ways" was a thing.

I'm going to be completely honest with you: There are several better clips of this game available on YouTube, including the league's high-quality version and a fan-made version that's longer and more detailed. This one isn't as good, and doesn't even include all the goals. Why am I using it? Three words: Wayne Gretzky's pants. Stick with me, I've never steered you wrong before.

So we're actually watching something called Great Hockey Moments With Wayne Gretzky, as brought to you by Upper Deck. "You don't just watch the game, you play it!" Um, what? I'm trying to relax on my couch here, Upper Deck, how about you calm down on yelling at me for being lazy?

And there are Wayne Gretzky's pants. Was I wrong? I was not wrong.

Literally everyone dressed like this in the mid-90s, by the way. I'm not throwing stones here.

Gretzky intros the clip, and then we're on to the highlights. They're weirdly out of order here, starting with the hat-trick goal and then moving to the second. That one's my favorite, because it features Mario going one-on-one against a defender. That always resulted in somebody getting humiliated, but this time there's an added bonus: the defender is actually a forward, Aaron Broten. Lemieux used to regularly humiliate Ray Bourque, so you can imagine how this goes for Broten. But at least he tries and doesn't just immediately fall down and start crying, which I think should have resulted in him being awarded the Masterton.

Also, Lemieux ends the play by "accidentally" crushing the goalie. That happened a lot with Mario. At least nobody got kicked in the crotch, Jon Casey mutters bitterly.

They never do show the first goal, which makes sense given it was actually an own goal by the Devils. Instead we skip right to the penalty shot, followed by the empty netter. That one's funny because it came right as time expired, and you can see the linesman get flustered and try to half-heartedly wave off the goal before the referee skates over and tells him to stay in his damn lane.

As mentioned, this was recently voted the greatest moment in NHL history. We, um, all agree that this is not actually a "moment," right? OK, cool, just checking that words still had meaning.

Fun fact: In addition to the five goals, Lemieux added three assists to make this one of only sixteen eight-point games in NHL history. Even more impressive, it was the most ever by a player who had points on every goal scored by his team. That's a record that has to this day have never been matched because I'm pretty sure we all agree that the whole Sam Gagner thing was a glitch in the simulation and never actually happened.

And that wraps it up for five goals five ways. Join us next week when Gretzky one-ups Lemieux by becoming the first player to ever stuff five hockey helmets down the front of his pants.

Have a question, suggestion, old YouTube clip, or anything else you'd like to see included in this column? Email Sean at nhlgrabbag@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @DownGoesBrown.

DGB Grab Bag: Trolling Goalies, All-Star Voting, and Gretzky's Circus Pants published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

[usatrendingsports]

Thanksgiving within the NHL: One factor the highest 10 groups ought to be grateful for

Because the NHL season approaches the vacations, loads of groups have begun to separate themselves from the pack — for higher or worse.

And all the groups who discover themselves on the highest of league standings have issues for which to be grateful. This is one factor every of the highest 10 contenders ought to most be thankful for as December attracts close to:

Tampa Bay Lightning

It needs to be Steven Stamkos. Nikita Kucherov is the man that has made this crew soar to the highest of the league, however Stamkos has not solely returned from a frightening 2016-17 absence however advanced into the NHL’s steadiest setup man.

St. Louis Blues

The commerce for Brayden Schenn needs to be the final word gratitude immediate. Vladimir Tarasenko is lighting it up, as is Jaden Schwartz, however we already knew they’d play huge roles for the Blues. Schenn, in the meantime, has been a Godsend from Philadelphia.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Let’s simply persist with the apparent and say Auston Matthews. It is simple to take his scoring prowess without any consideration after a monster begin in 2016-17, however he is the explanation their defensive deficiencies may not hold them from Cup competition.

Winnipeg Jets

It is both Connor Hellebuyck or Steve Mason (for opening the door to Hellebuyck). Hellebuyck is coming off a tough outing towards Nashville, however he has bounced again earlier than. His net-minding has been the x-factor for a sleeper of a postseason contender.

New Jersey Devils

Be pleased about Ray Shero, the overall supervisor who put religion on this crew’s wellspring of youth. Shero, after all, would not get credit score with out Nico Hischier, Taylor Corridor, Miles Wooden and Will Butcher shining, however he is the overseer of long-term promise.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Artemi Panarin had a killer objective not too long ago, however with Columbus reportedly eyeing middle assist, John Tortorella and Co. needs to be most grateful they’ve such a rock on the different finish of the ice in Sergei Bobrovsky. He is nonetheless among the best.

Nashville Predators

Thank the Colorado Avalanche. When the Avs lastly coughed up Matt Duchene, they set into movement Nashville’s acquisition of Kyle Turris, which in flip fortified an already loaded depth chart. The Preds are getting scarier.

Los Angeles Kings

Let’s heap some reward on Jonathan Fast, who rapidly made L.A. followers neglect about 2016-17 with a flaming begin to the brand new season. With Ben Bishop out of city and Fast again to full pace in web, the Kings have caught the NHL abruptly.

Vegas Golden Knights

Tons of issues to be grateful for on the Strip, however No. 1 needs to be the fortitude of the goalies. There isn’t any means Vegas ought to’ve misplaced Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban and Oscar Dansk and even come near beginning in addition to it did.

Pittsburgh Penguins

There’s truly much more to be grateful for in Pittsburgh than there may be in Vegas, as a result of in any regular circumstance, a minus-16 objective differential wouldn’t spell success. Be most grateful for Matt Murray, who has pushed ahead with no sturdy No. 2 and a protection in transition.

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Puck Daddy Bag of Mail: Will Carey Price's contract be worse than Rick DiPietro's?

Carey Price’s contract could spell trouble for the Canadiens. (Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)

Things are, I think, starting to get back to normal. The standings are (mostly) beginning to look more like most reasonable people would have expected going into the year.

There are some outliers, of course, with Vegas and New Jersey still at or near the top of their divisions, the Ducks way down deep in the Pacific, and most of the Central being a slightly off mishmash of teams. But still, this is progress because Detroit isn’t a playoff team anymore. That seems right and rational, doesn’t it?

Sure, Connor McDavid still isn’t close to being near the top of the league in scoring, and neither is Sidney Crosby. But a top-three of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Johnny Gaudreau isn’t totally out of left field.

Just goes to show, doesn’t it, that as time goes on, the things that happen in this sport end up going how most people thought they were going to. Not so bad.

And yet! People still have plenty of questions about the world of hockey, and mostly goalies this week, it seems. Who can blame them? Let’s dig right in:

Samuel asks via email: “What’s a trade the Rangers could make to make them better, or if that trade doesn’t exist where’s the best place to trade Lundqvist to so he gets a last shot at a Cup?”

There’s no single trade the Rangers, a team with $2.5 million in cap space, can do to make themselves better without giving away something they will need elsewhere on the roster. That is, unless they’re just getting rid of draft picks, but that’s not going to happen. This is a self-stated rebuild on the fly, so the thing you gotta do is stay the course and let things happen how they happen.

That’s not a heartening answer for a team that seems to be flailing around in mediocrity and can’t really get things going, but that’s the answer.

And yeah, that means Henrik Lundqvist won’t win a Cup with the Rangers. Which means he probably won’t get one at all this season. There’s just no way any team with even an outside shot at the Cup can take on an $8.5 million AAV mid-season. Especially not one that has three more years on it after this one. Especially not one for a 35-year-old who’ll be 36 in March. Especially not one for a 35-year-old who has as many miles on him as Lundqvist. Especially not one for a 35-year-old with that many miles on him who’s been horrible not only this year, but last year as well.

I was gonna go through and look at teams that are otherwise good but need a goalie, and those teams simply don’t exist. If he gets hot again around the trade deadline, maybe someone like Nashville (which we’ll get to later) makes a one-for-one swap if they feel like they desperately need to upgrade from Pekka Rinne, but I can’t see where Lundqvist is that guy, especially at this incredibly high price point.

Martin asks: “Will Carey Price’s upcoming contract be worse than Rick DiPietro’s?”

And that’s a similar issue for Carey Price, right? The Rangers signed Lundqvist when he was over 30 to this huge-money deal that left everyone with a brain saying, “Well, they better get value out of those first few years.” And they did, right? He was .922 in 2014-15 and .920 (facing the most shots in the league) in 2015-16. But that’s the first two years of an eight-year deal, so this has the potential to get very ugly.

Price will be one year younger than Lundqvist was when Lundqvist started his now-bad contract. He’ll also be more injured (probably) and more expensive. Price’s numbers this year are, of course, horrible versus Lundqvist’s just being “bad.”

With that having been said, the thing I’ve been saying for some time now when it comes to situations like this is, “What were they gonna do? Not sign him?” Lundqvist, Price, and most of the other guys who sign long-term deals after their 28th birthdays are guys GMs aren’t just going to let walk. That’s as much about job preservation as it is keeping the team competitive. Seems like Marc Bergevin gambled big time and potentially already lost, depending upon what’s wrong with Price and how long-term-serious it is, but he’d have been fired if Price was allowed to hit UFA status anyway, so what the hell, right?

The thing I think people forget about the Rick DiPietro deal is the biggest difference here as well. DiPietro is only six months older than Lundqvist and signed his deal before his 25th birthday. Was it too long? Yes. Was it for too much money? Not really, because the cap hit is only $4.5 million (though that was the equivalent of $7.3 million in today’s cap dollars at the time). Did he have any sort of major injury history at that point? Nope, he played 60-plus games all three seasons immediately after the 2004-05 lockout. Was he an above-average goalie in the NHL? Probably; the year he signed that deal, he finished eighth in Vezina voting.

Again, the term was insane, but the injury problems that basically ended his career before his 27th birthday were unforeseeable. And look, if you’re 25 and someone offers you $4.5 million a year until you’re 40, you gotta take that money. I think DiPietro is unfairly maligned — staying healthy is valuable for a professional athlete, but it’s not really your fault if you can’t — and that contract is mostly (insanely) bad in hindsight.

With Price, well, the injury history is there. The problem with hockey players being older than 30 is much better-understood now than it was even a decade ago. And the money is out of control at a time when the cap number without an artificial inflation is effectively flat every summer.

This could end up being a very bad contract mainly because unlike Lundqvist, it might not even have those first two really good years.

Hoy asks: “Tell me why Nashville is such a good team and convince me that they can win the Cup even with an average Pekka Rinne.”

Well look that’s not a question, but I’ll tell you what you want to know anyway. In the future, please actually ask me questions only.

The thing is, you know why Nashville is such a good team. Probably the best blue line in the league, lots of homegrown offensive talent, a better second-line center imported from Ottawa than they had this time last year, and they’re doing fairly well despite the fact that Ryan Johansen is off to a slow start and Ryan Ellis is out until January. And they theoretically have a bit of room against the cap to add even more at the deadline.

Right now, the good news is Rinne is playing out of his mind (.926) and this was a team that got to the Cup Final last year without Johansen (injured) and Rinne (not great). They upgraded a few key positions, both internally and externally, and at a time when they were supposed to be treading water before making a push once Ellis comes back, they’re playing quite well.

Could the possession numbers be better? Sure, but they’re a little above 50 percent without a good No. 3 defenseman and Nick Bonino as their No. 2 center for the bulk of their games so far.

Your point about Rinne is well-taken, but they almost won the Cup last year with him, so…

James asks: “Can Sean Couturier actually finish top 30 in scoring this year?”

Well, 18 games into the season, Couturier has almost half the points needed to match his career high (though to be fair he had 39 in 63 a few years ago, so that’s closer to a 51-point pace). But he’s also shooting 17.5 percent right now and you know that’s not going to last.

Let’s be nice and say he gets to 60ish points this year. That puts him right on the borderline of top-30, so it’s possible that if he keeps this up, he’ll get there. But he’s probably not going to keep this up. So you know the answer to that question.

Dave asks: “How can the Big Ten schools which do not have hockey, get it, and is more NCAA hockey a way to grow the game in the US?”

As with all “How does [insert college here] start a Division 1 program?” questions, the answer is, “Get a rich guy or two to cut a check.” You’re not gonna crowd-fund $60 million or whatever number you feel like you need to get together, and schools aren’t gonna go into pocket to start not just a men’s team, but probably a women’s team as well, because of Title IX.

It ain’t cheap, but that’s the price you gotta pay. Well, not you. Unless you’re a rich guy who has $100 million to throw around. At which point, give me some of that money.

As for whether it grows the game to have more college hockey teams, it most certainly does, as does having an NHL team in a lot of non-traditional hockey markets. When people get exposed to the sport in real life, they like it a lot more than when they only see it on TV.

Nick asks: “What’s up with the Capitals? Everyone knew they’d be worse this season but not ‘near the bottom of the league in most possession stats’ bad.”

I’m just spitballing with this, but when they don’t have Matt Niskanen, they don’t have a good blue line. I think that’s really what it boils down to. Niskanen only has six games played this season and only just came back. Say what you want about Karl Alzner, but he was a hell of a lot better than the guys they tried to replace him with. Christian Djoos, Taylor Chorney, Aaron Ness and Madison Bowey all have at least eight games played this season, and they’re of varying quality, but c’mon.

I think they get better now that Niskanen is back, but how much better, I’m not really sure. I didn’t rate them that highly in the division going into the season, y’know?

Jake asks: “What goalie should the Golden Knights be targeting?”

Henrik Lundqvist or Carey Price. One of those guys has to be available!

—

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

[junker-town]

NHL’s best players under age 25 for 2017: Auston Matthews brings the hype to Toronto at No. 2

The 2016 Calder Trophy winner is second in our rankings of the NHL’s best young players.

Note: This is SB Nation NHL’s top 25 players under age 25 series! We’ll be covering each player from No. 25 to No. 1 over the next few weeks leading up to training camp time. See the complete list and information on how the rankings were compiled.

April 30, 2016 is a day that’ll go down in Toronto Maple Leafs history. It’s the day that the team won the draft lottery, and as a result, the opportunity to draft young center Auston Matthews. The franchise cornerstone Toronto had sought for years, he comes in at No. 2 on our Top 25 Under 25 rankings.

Matthews entered the 2016 NHL draft with as much hype as any player this side of Connor McDavid, and he’s lived up to it so far. After jockeying with Patrik Laine for the right to be the No. 1 pick, the two young stars went head-to-head in the Calder Trophy race for rookie of the year.

With 40 goals in 82 games, Matthews won the award in a landslide. He received 164 of 167 first-place votes to easily outpace Laine, Zach Werenski, Matt Murray, and teammate Mitch Marner (who all appeared previously on the Top 25 Under 25 rankings).

But more than the big numbers in the box score, Matthews fueled an immediate turnaround of the Maple Leafs into a playoff team. They finished fifth in the league in goals per game, and pushed the top-seeded Capitals to six games in the first round of the postseason.

Now the Maple Leafs are on the cusp of a bright future led by Matthews, Marner, and William Nylander, who form arguably the most exciting young core in hockey. And Matthews is the centerpiece — a top-line center who generates shots like crazy and will give you 35-plus goals each year.

Past accomplishments

Matthews became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft after a dominant amateur career bookended by a season in Switzerland. He put up numbers everywhere he went, even once he went overseas to play against older competition.

As a member of the ZSC Lions of the top Swiss league in 2015-16, an 18-year-old Matthews finished second in the league in points per game and second in league MVP voting. The player who finished ahead of Matthews in both categories was Pierre-Marc Bouchard, a 33-year-old journeyman with 593 games of NHL experience from 2002-13.

Moving to the NHL last season, Matthews continued his success with four goals in his first game. It was a stunning performance that served as a welcome notice to the rest of the league: Auston Matthews has arrived, and he’s about to score a buttload of goals against you.

There was a lot of debate during the season between Matthews and Laine for the Calder, but there was little doubt about who would win once the Leafs clinched a playoff spot. Laine could keep up with Matthews’ individual numbers, but not impact on team success.

Only 11 players in NHL history have scored 40-plus goals in a season at age 19 or younger. Eight of them played in the high-flying 1980s. The other three are Owen Nolan (1991-92), Rick Nash (2003-04), and Steven Stamkos (2009-10).

So Matthews is part of some select company, just one season into what should be a special NHL career.

Future impact

Matthews is set to be the Leafs’ No. 1 center next season, and for the foreseeable future. He only has two years left on his entry-level contract before he gets a monster long-term extension, but it’s fair to assume Toronto will get that deal done one way or another.

The biggest question for Matthews going forward is whether he can become more than a great scorer. Leafs coach Mike Babcock eased him in last season with some fairly easy assignments, which worked well because Nazem Kadri stepped up to play some fantastic hockey in a tougher role.

At this point, we know that Matthews is going to rack up points at 5-on-5 and be an absolute beast on the power play. What’s less clear is whether he can become an effective possession-driving force, faceoff guy, or penalty killer, considering he was none of those things last season.

But Matthews also hasn’t turned 20 years old yet, and he’s already got a set of skills that few players in the NHL can match. There’s reason to believe he can continue evolving to become a more complete center. And hey, even if he can’t, he’ll still be pretty great given his offensive talent.

Is this ranking too high or too low?

It’s definitely not too low for Matthews given the player slotted at No. 1 is a lock. This is essentially as high as you could conceivably put him unless you somehow prefer Matthews to a certain player from Edmonton. If anything, there’s an argument to be made that Matthews is too high given his lack of all-around game and the competition from peers like Jack Eichel and Nikita Kucherov.

But Matthews’ upside is immense, and he’ll be competing for Hart Trophies every year if he reaches it. Even if you prefer a couple other young stars over him, he’s firmly in the upper echelon.

Highest rank: No. 2 Lowest rank: No. 6

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Islander Goalie Tandem, Red Hot Blues (Feb 15)

I know Dobber has mentioned this before, but I’ve observed this as well. I’m hearing a ton of complaints about goaltending right now. “My goaltending sucks… no, really, mine is worse than anyone’s… I drafted (any of Sergei Bobrovsky, Jonathan Quick, Braden Holtby, the list goes on…) thinking my goaltending was secure, yet it has been a complete disaster.” Yep, join the club. Scoring is way up. Look at the number of point-per-game scorers this season. That’s going to come at the expense of goaltending.

It is still possible to be in love with your goaltending, or at least not want to break up with one or more of your goalies that you had high expectations for. Or to put it another way, you may be lucky enough to own a goalie that seems to care about you (hey, it was Valentine’s Day yesterday). Frederik Andersen and Andrei Vasilevskiy are two that come to mind that at least haven’t sucked. Two more that fantasy owners can be happy with are a pair that were complete afterthoughts to start the season. I’m talking about the Islanders’ tandem of Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss.

I’ve mentioned the amazing season of Lehner numerous times already, but let’s turn our attention to Greiss now. The new system of Barry Trotz and Mitch Korn has also worked wonders on Greiss, who posted a 31-save shutout of the Blue Jackets on Thursday. With the shutout, Greiss has now won five of his last six starts while allowing just three goals over that stretch. That’s three shutouts over his last five games.

Greiss’ recent play has forced a timeshare between him and Robin Lehner over the last half-dozen games. Although we tend to try to avoid timeshares in fantasy hockey, this arrangement is the exception to the rule. For goalies playing at least 20 games, Greiss (.930 SV%, 2.20 GAA) and Lehner (.929 SV%, 2.08 GAA) are 1-2 in both save percentage and goals-against average. Greiss’ numbers from last season (3.82 GAA, .892 SV%) to this season are like night and day, and he was with the very same team! One great fantasy goalie start is better than two mediocre ones.

To bring it back to my original point, the work that Trotz and Korn have done on Long Island is nothing short of miraculous, especially if you consider how much scoring has increased this season. Now leading the Metropolitan Division by three points, the Tavares-less Islanders have to be considered the surprise team of the NHL.

Not that he’ll ever replace JT, but with two goals on Thursday, Casey Cizikas now has three goals in his past two games.

*

Andreas Athanasiou scored two goals in the first period on Thursday, including one on a penalty shot. He now has his first 20-goal season with more goals to come. He hasn’t been blessed with Detroit’s top forwards as linemates (Dylan Larkin immediately comes to mind), but he’s using his speed to make the most of what he has been given. If his production is a surprise to you, keep in mind that this is his fourth season. With his skill, I can’t help but think there’s more to come.

*

Ho-hum, just another four-point game for Nikita Kucherov, including three points in the first period. As well, Steven Stamkos scored twice and added an assist. Jon Cooper has now separated Kucherov and Stamkos, with the lines looking like this:

#1           22%        GOURDE,YANNI – KUCHEROV,NIKITA – POINT,BRAYDEN

#2           21.5%    CIRELLI,ANTHONY – KILLORN,ALEX – MILLER,J.T.

#3           21.1%    ERNE,ADAM – JOSEPH,MATHIEU – PAQUETTE,CEDRIC

#4           16.7%    JOHNSON,TYLER – PALAT,ONDREJ – STAMKOS,STEVEN

Obviously the lines to be on are with Kucherov and Stamkos, in particular the line with Kucherov and Brayden Point. Yanni Gourde, who has cooled off (14 points in last 38 games) after a hot start (20 points in first 20 games), is the main benefactor here, although he failed to get on the scoresheet at all in spite of six Tampa goals.

*

Same old, same old for Patrick Kane. His point streak is now at 16 games with his three points on Thursday. Now second in league scoring to Kucherov, Kane should be in the Hart Trophy discussion.    

Patrick Kane has 59 points in his last 31 games.

Just 156-point pace. No big deal.

— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) February 15, 2019

*

Since Jake Allen started his first game in nearly a month last Sunday, Craig Berube has turned back to Jordan Binnington for the last two games. Even though the extended mental health break might be doing wonders for the beleaguered Allen, Berube is wisely running with the hot hand here. As the interim coach attempting to turn it into a full-time job, he has to be less committed to the goalie with the contract than a coach with job security (relatively speaking) would.

Binnington is helping with that job security for his coach, stopping all 21 shots he faced in a 4-0 win over Arizona. Binnington has now won seven games in a row, while the Blues as a team have won eight in a row. Berube and Binnington have not only rescued the Blues’ season, but they are now lifting the Blues above the pile of struggling teams that are still within shouting distance of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

With two goals on Thursday, Vladimir Tarasenko is now riding a 10-game point streak and has eight points (5g-3a) over his last three games. Over that stretch (since January 19) only the aforementioned Kane (2.22) and Brad Marchand (1.89) have a higher points-per-game total than Tank (1.70). His season has turned around completely just as the Blues’ season has, which is why it's wise not to write off a stud when all hope seems lost (Patrik Laine owners, are you paying attention?) I was hoping that Berube would try Tarasenko with Ryan O’Reilly, which has turned out to be beneficial for Tarasenko, O’Reilly, and Brayden Schenn.  

So, the past eight games since Berube put #stlblues line of Schenn-O'Reilly-Tarasenko together: 33 points

Schenn: 1g-9a=10 points

O'Reilly: 3g-5a=8 points

Tarasenko: 8g-7a=15 points

Tarasenko's 10-game point streak: nine goals, eight assists = 17 points … man is on fire.

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) February 15, 2019

With an assist on Thursday, rookie Robert Thomas now has a four-game point streak with five points (all assists). Worth keeping an eye on.

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With two goals on Thursday, Auston Matthews now has 100 over his career in just 187 games. For active players, only Patrik Laine has scored his first 100 goals in fewer games (179).

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Adam’s going to mention Troy Stecher in his Looking Ahead article this week, so I won’t try to steal (much of) his thunder. But I will mention that Stecher logged 31:55 on Thursday in a game that went the distance time-wise. With both Alex Edler and Chris Tanev out of the lineup, Stecher and Ben Hutton (28:37 on Thursday) played a ton, with Stecher also logging first-unit power-play minutes. I’ve always believed that the undersized Stecher is one of the Canucks’ better defensemen, and he’s going to have an opportunity to make some contributions. It’s also worth mentioning that he has three points in his last five games, so I will concur he’s worth taking a flier on.

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With the Sharks’ lone goal on Thursday, Kevin Labanc now has goals in three consecutive games and five goals over that span. Prior to that he had scored just six goals all season. David Pastrnak owners won’t be able to replace him with someone with equal ability on the waiver wire, but Labanc is one right winger who you could consider as at least a stopgap option.

T.J. Oshie scored two goals and added an assist in the Capitals’ 5-1 win over San Jose. After a slow second quarter (just two points in 12 games), Oshie has rebounded nicely with 17 points in his last 16 games. Oshie is on pace for 59 points, which is right around his career average, although his point total will probably be lower because he has missed 11 games.

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Did I miss anything worth mentioning? Probably, because there were 11 games on the schedule on Thursday. If you think so, leave a note and I might make room for it tomorrow.

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For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-islander-goalie-tandem-red-hot-blues-feb-15/

[thrashermaxey]

Looking Ahead: January 25 – February 6

  All fantasy owners need help in the short term AND the long term. The Looking Ahead feature identifies one player to plug into lineups in the short term, a second to invest in for the long term, a third to bench for the coming week, and a fourth who will struggle to meet expectations for some time. All players discussed are selected based on their upcoming schedule.

Stats updated through Wednesday, January 23rd

The Immediate Fix (Grab this guy and use him for the next several days)

Bryan Little, C, Winnipeg Jets (Available in 84 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – With the schedule being so unappealing, there isn’t much in the way of quick fill-ins this week, but Little should be available and the ability to put up a couple points in a pinch until reinforcements come off their byes.

Little is ostensibly the Jets’ second-line centre between Jack Roslovic and Patrik Laine, but the Jets have been rolling out their bottom three lines fairly equally recently. While that may seem like it would hurt Little’s production, it allows Little, Laine and Roslovic to face lesser competition – which helps explain Little’s three goals and two assists in his last five games.

Little plays both on the penalty kill and the second power play so he’ll still see ~16 minutes per night, and at only 16% on Yahoo! he’s a no-cost fill-in.

  The Building Block (Buy now, sit back and enjoy the production)

Frank Vatrano, W, Florida Panthers (Available in 77 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – Did you pick up Vatrano when I suggested it back in late October? If not, don’t fear, he’s still available in the bulk of leagues, and he has even more upside now than in the early days of the season.

Since getting the call to play alongside Aleksander Barkov on the first line, Vatrano has been piling up the points: five goals and four assists in the seven games with Barkov. In leagues that track shots on goal, Vatrano is immensely valuable: in those seven games, he fired 27 shots on net (3.85/game, a full shot more than his season average); Vatrano has always been a volume shooter, and he’s currently sixth in the league in shots per 60 at 5v5 (min. 300 minutes).

Vatrano is seeing just over 14 minutes a night with second unit power play minutes, but he did crest 16 and 18 minutes in two of his past three games. His trend arrow is pointing all the way up, and it’s nice to see him flourishing in a top-line role; he’s not much of a name, so he can probably be picked up for a song in leagues where he is owned.

    The Odd Man Out (His short-term value is cause for concern)

Ryan Getzlaf, C, Anaheim Ducks (Owned in 76 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – Since Christmas, Getzlaf has managed to score one goal and three assists – that’s over 13 games, playing his regular 18+ minutes per night.

Getzlaf is getting a point on 75% of goals scored when he’s on the ice, which would most likely mean there’s no positive regression coming as that’s close to what he put up last year (71%) when he put up 11G-50A in 56 games on 9.4% shooting. This season, he’s at 10G-23A in 45 games while shooting 9.5%. The fact that he’s picking up so many points on goals he’s on the ice for – 75% is 41st of 301 qualified forwards – speaks more to a quality of teammate than anything else; with the shots and goal totals so similar as last year, it’s the lack of assists that are killing Getzlaf.

The injury to Rickard Rakell definitely hurt Getzlaf’s production earlier in the season, but the Ducks have been decimated recently: Ryan Kesler, Jakob Silfverberg and now Ondrej Kase are all hurt for the foreseeable future (or possibly through the rest of the season) which means Getzlaf owners are counting on Devin Shore, Nick Ritchie, Adam Henrique and Rickard Rakell to score consistently.

All that being said, Getzlaf still has an obvious value and shouldn’t be straight dumped, but fantasy owners should be extremely concerned for the future.

  The Anchors (They’ll do nothing but disappoint even over the long haul)

J.T. Miller, W, Tampa Bay Lightning (Owned in 34 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – His ownership percentage is probably boosted by owners that drafted him and have since given up on their fantasy teams – it’s about that time in the season – but J.T. Miller at even 34% on Yahoo is egregiously high.

As the Lightning have solidified their lines, Miller has found himself on the outside looking in: Yanni Gourde and Ondrej Palat get the “top” line duties with Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov play with Brayden Point, and Miller can’t even find himself a third-line role some nights. With Tyler Johnson getting injured before the All-Star break, it was Alex Killorn that moved up alongside Point and Kucherov, which speaks to what little value Miller has.

He does play on the second power play unit and has managed 7G-20A on 62 shots this year, but only eight of those 27 points have come since December 1st. He’ll have some value in leagues that track hits, but he can otherwise be dropped or shopped as a throw-in.

  Love ‘Em (These squads are sure to pay dividends in the coming days)

Philadelphia – Coming out of the break, the Flyers play five games up to Feb. 6th, with three of those games offering lots of fantasy potential: after playing Winnipeg at home on Jan 28th, the Flyers go on the road against Rangers and Bruins, before finishing the period with home games against Edmonton and Vancouver. Playing the defensively-porous Rangers, Oilers and Canucks should be a boon – especially with the Flyers scoring four goals per game in their past five games.

Pittsburgh – Pennsylvania’s other team also gets to play five games in this period, although they have tougher games coming against the Lightning, Maple Leafs and Hurricanes. The Penguins do get to play both Ottawa and New Jersey, and Pittsburgh sits sixth in Goals For this season; suffice it to say, expect some solid fantasy production through the end of the month.

Winnipeg – The Jets come out of the All-Star break on the road, playing the Flyers and Bruins before going home to see Columbus, Anaheim and San Jose. The two Western Conference teams have been poor defensively in different ways – the Ducks allowing the most shots against, while the Sharks have sub-.900 goaltending at 5v5 – and the Flyers have been one of the worst defensive teams as well, so the Jets should fill some nets.

  Leave ‘Em (These squads will leave fantasy owners sorely disappointed in the short term)

The All-Star break continues through this weekend, and the teams on bye coming out of the break won’t play until February 1st. Those teams are: Anaheim, Arizona, Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, NY Islanders, Ottawa, San Jose, St. Louis, Toronto, Vancouver, Vegas and Washington – two-thirds of the league won’t see the ice for another six days.

Because of that, it’s another light “Leave ‘Em” section this week; players on those teams won’t be any help until next week’s article so avoid them.

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/nhl-line-combinations/looking-ahead-january-25-february-6/

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: New Injuries to Key Players, Thoughts on Zibanejad, Patrick, Marchessault (Jan 20)

The Avalanche scored a pile of goals (seven, to be exact) on the combination of Jonathan Quick and Jack Campbell (mainly Quick). Mikko Rantanen scored two of the six goals in the second period, but he left Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury. The word is that Rantanen is expected to be back for Monday’s game and the decision to pull him was mainly precautionary.  

Mikko Rantanen was held out for precautionary reasons. He is set to play Monday vs. Nashville. #Avs #GoAvsGo

— Ryan S. Clark (@ryan_s_clark) January 19, 2019

The news isn’t so good for Erik Johnson, who also left Saturday’s game and expected to be out indefinitely.

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Another Erik was a surprise late scratch on Saturday, even though he hadn’t practiced in about a week. Erik Karlsson did not suit up for Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay with what could be an injury to his left side. The Sharks have two more games (Monday and Tuesday) before the All-Star Game, so keep an eye on Karlsson’s status, although the injury is not believed to be serious. Karlsson is on the Pacific Division roster for the All-Star Game, which will be held in San Jose.  

Erik Karlsson, not in the SJ lineup tonight, is nursing an injury…not believed to be serious

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 20, 2019

Karlsson has also reportedly begun contract talks with the Sharks.

With two goals and an assist on Saturday, Steven Stamkos is on a six-game point streak. He also has 14 points (4g-10a) in nine games since the new year.

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Yet more injury news, unfortunately: Tuukka Rask had to be helped off the ice after a collision near the end of the first period with Filip Chytil immediately after the Ranger scored. This didn’t look good for Rask, who the Bruins have confirmed has a concussion. The Bruins will immediately start their bye week/All-Star break after this game, so it’s possible that Rask won’t miss any games because the Bruins play their next game in ten days.  

Tuukka Rask leaves the game after collision with Chytil #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/OUIZar8nmc

— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) January 20, 2019

Mika Zibanejad has been piling on the points lately. He’s on a five-game point streak, which includes five goals and seven points and a plus-4 over his last three games. This includes the two goals he scored on Saturday. If your league still counts game-winning goals (a stat I want no part of in my leagues), then Zibanejad has scored those in three consecutive games. If he stays healthy, he’s on pace for a 75-point season, which has to be considered a breakout for a player who has never scored more than 51 points in a season. The Rangers have him signed for three more years after this one, so he seems like a safe bet to stay put at the deadline. That will mean continued top-line minutes.  

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The Midseason Guide is available now! Get yours today!

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Part of the Ducks’ shakeup this week involved the recalls of prospects Max Jones and Troy Terry. It just so happened that Terry scored both his first NHL goal and added his first NHL assist on Saturday afternoon. The punchless Ducks (30th in the NHL with 2.35 GF/GP) could use Terry’s offense, as he now appears to be NHL ready (37 points in 32 AHL games). Terry lined up with Jones and recently reacquired Derek Grant (who scored the goal that Terry assisted on), giving the Ducks what is truly a brand new line. That might be what the Ducks have needed, as they have now won two games in a row after losing 12 in a row before that.

As is often the case with young goalies, Mackenzie Blackwood has started to struggle. Over his last three games he has a 3.76 GAA and .845 SV%. Keith Kinkaid probably isn’t going to run with the starting goaltending job, so expect Blackwood to continue to be given opportunities to find the form he displayed just after the holiday break.

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Jordan Binnington has literally come out of nowhere to be one of January’s hottest goalies. With a 28-save win against the Senators, Binnington now has wins in four of his last five games. He has now at least forced a timeshare with the struggling Jake Allen, although there is definitely a case where he should be the outright starter in the short term while the Blues try to climb back into the playoff race. Ville Husso was assumed to be the goalie-in-waiting for this team, but Binnington has posted better AHL numbers this season. He is deserving of this opportunity and making the most of it.

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Never mind a sophomore slump, Nolan Patrick was in a deep freeze. The 2017 second overall pick had gone 24 games – a span of two months – without even scoring a goal. Then Patrick smashed the ice block with a two-goal, two-assist effort on Monday, which he had followed up with another two goals on Saturday. Here is his talent on display on one of his goals:  

Nolan Patrick is filthy pic.twitter.com/U7weaImfNp

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) January 20, 2019

There are two things to remember with Patrick:

He was a strong second-half performer last season (21 points in 33 games post-All Star vs. 9 points in 40 games pre-All Star). If you believe in those splits, he’s a great second-half sleeper. I’ve already told people that who have asked me for a potential second-half sleeper.

He is only 20 years old and is only in his second NHL season, so keeper leagues should not be thinking about bailing. Sure, the fifth overall pick in that draft (Elias Pettersson) appears to be further along, but if GMs could do that draft over again they’d no doubt have the gifted Pettersson as the first overall pick. That’s not to take anything away from Patrick, and if you believe in the magical fourth season he’s still two years away.

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The Wild didn’t go “wild” in the scoring department on Saturday, but they scored enough to defeat the Blue Jackets by a score of 2-1. One particular line of interest featured two new members of the Wild: Pontus Aberg and Victor Rask, the latter who was playing in his first game with the Wild. Both Aberg and Rask assisted on the game-winning goal scored by new linemate Zach Parise, who has now reached 20 goals. This line combination could be positive for Aberg and Rask while giving the Wild three solid scoring lines. Aberg is already on his fourth NHL team in three seasons, while Rask was a huge disappointment this season (6 points in 26 games in Carolina), so both players clearly have something to prove here.

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With a goal and an assist on Saturday, Johnny Gaudreau is riding an 11-game point streak in which he has 23 points (10g-13a). Johnny Hockey is now second in NHL scoring with 74 points (29g-45a) and at this point should be generating some Hart Trophy attention and a key reason that the Flames are at the top of the Western Conference. At least Brian Burke prefers Gaudreau over Connor McDavid for the Hart.

Another key reason for the Flames’ success: Mark Giordano, who scored another goal and assist. He’s on his own point streak at seven games with 12 points over that span. And yes, there’s serious Norris Trophy discussion, as there should be.

Milan Lucic, who had two goals in the entire calendar year of 2018, already has four goals in 2019 (over his last six games). Interested? Lucic entered the game with 165 hits, good for third in the entire NHL. So if he’s actually managed to find his scoring touch again, he could be of some value in leagues that count hits. He’s going to have to shoot the puck more – as in a lot more. Lucic entered this game with exactly one shot per game (47 shots in 47 games).

There was lots of discussion about Jesse Puljujarvi’s icetime during the Hockey Night broadcast tonight. The 2016 fourth overall pick ended up playing a strong game, recording two assists in just 10:43 of icetime. If the Oilers do in fact trade him, it seems clear given their trade history that they won’t recoup full value from him being a fourth overall pick. They’re desperate to make the playoffs, but trading away a 20-year-old power forward (who normally take even longer to develop) seems like an impulsive decision.

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I’ll admit I’d been a bit underwhelmed with Jonathan Marchessault’s production entering this game (31 points in 49 games), especially since I’d used a draft pick just outside the top 50 for his services. If you felt the same way, you’ll be relieved to see Marchessault score a hat trick against the Penguins on Saturday. Marchessault entered this game with just one point in his previous seven games, so you could argue that he was due. His 182 shots places him in the top 10 in that category, although even after his hat trick his 17 goals still doesn’t even place him in the top 50 in that category. Expect a stronger second half from him.

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For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-new-injuries-to-key-players-thoughts-on-zibanejad-patrick-marchessault/