Ice Report

Western Conference Fantasy Preview

Teams are listed according to where I predict them to finish in the division:

Northwest division

The Calgary Flames possess the most fantasy talent in this division.  The top line pairing of Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen will produce big dividends in their first full season playing together.  Free agent acquisition Jay Bouwmeester provides excellent offensive statistics for a d-man, and should help counterpart Dion Phaneuf rebound this season.  Miikka Kiprusoff remains an elite goalie, especially playing in front of what arguably is the best defensive core in the NHL.

I love what the Vancouver Canucks did this off-season.  Henrik and Daniel Sedin are back in the fold, the defensive core is solidified with Alex Edler and Kevin Bieska improving, and the team added power play specialists Mathieu Schneider and Christian Ehrhoff.  The team clearly belongs to Roberto Luongo (the only goalie captain in the NHL), who is probably the safest goalie pick you can find.  While Mats Sundin decides yet again on continuing his NHL career, look out for Alexander Burrows as a rugged left winger who will feed off nicely from the Sedin twins.  Rookie watch: Cody Hodgson.  Future stud, and worth a flyer if he makes the team.

Capping off Western Canada, the Edmonton Oilers offer an intriguing batch of players worth taking a flyer on in your leagues.  The strength is on the blueline, as Sheldon Souray’s cannon of a slap shot will rack up the goals and power play points needed.  Ales Hemsky fell off the map a little in 2009, but has elite talent and bounce back potential.  Speedster Andrew Cogliano, center Shawn Horcoff, and forward Dustin Penner all have decent potential and are good depth players to own.  Two players that may come into their own this season are Sam Gagner and rookie Jordan Eberle.  Blackhawk castaway Nikolai Khabibulin gives the Oilers stability in goal and is a solid no. 2 for your squad.

 The Marian Gaborik era is over, but the Minnesota Wild have some promising players in their system.  Goaltender Niklas Backstrom is top 5 material.  Free agent acquisition Martin Havlat is a legitimate sniper, only issue here is his medical history.  Number 1 center and newly anointed captain Mikko Koivu is a real sleeper at the center position because of the amount of quality centers throughout the NHL.  He’s the real deal.  The only players worth looking at on the backend are defenseman Marek Zidlicky and Brent Burns, who showed flashes of brilliance for Team Canada at the IIHF tournament in 2008 but didn’t produce much last season.

The Colorado Avalanche, last year’s worst team in the Western Conference, are in an all-out rebuilding mode.  Long-time captain Joe Sakic has retired; into the fold comes heralded rookie center Matt Duschene.  It is yet to be seen if he’ll make the team right away, but he’s a keeper down the road.  Injuries held back center Paul Stastny (son of hall of famer Peter Stastny), but when healthy he’s a legitimate no.1 center.  A real sleeper going into this season.  Forwards Milan Hejduk, Wojtek Wolski, and Marek Svatos, offer some scoring punch but expect their plus/minus to reflect playing for a lousy team.  Craig Anderson in goal is intruiging.  The wins may not be there, but he performed well last year in Florida and should put up decent numbers as the starter.  He’s a number 2 goalie at best for your team.

 Central division

Hockeytown USA, a.k.a. the Detroit Red Wings, produce elite talent at every position.  Year in and year out their players are some of the safest ones to rely on.  Centers Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, are one of a kind.  Top 10 players without a doubt.  Nicklas Lidstrom will challenge for the Norris Trophy (best defenseman), yet again – 10 finalist appearances and 6 awards in the past 11 seasons.  Forward Johan Franzen and defenseman Brian Rafalski represent a deep crop of talent that benefits from the Red Wing effect (lots of points, good +/-, solid all around stats).  Chris Osgood may be old, but the reliable vet should rack up the wins playing for this team, and represents a solid option in goal with no real backup pushing him as was the case in previous years.

The Chicago Blackhawks are a product of their astute drafting.  Forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews represent a nucleus of young talent that will lead the Hawks into the future, while producing for your fantasy teams in the present.  With the likes of Patrick Sharp (coming off injuries), Kris Versteeg (Calder Trophy candidate – best rookie), and Dustin Byfuglien, these are other great options this team offers.  The defense corps is strong too, with Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Cam Barker, and Brian Campbell as all viable options for no.2 or 3 defenseman.  In goal, if Cristobal Huet can regain his form from his playing days in Montreal, he could be a nice sleeper on a good team.  Also don’t forget Marian Hossa, who’s only expected to return early December from offseason surgery.  When healthy, he could produce big on the top line.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will be a fun team to watch this year.  Led by ultimate power forward Rick Nash, he’s in line for another monster goal scoring year.  No. 1 center Derrick Brassard is a nice keeper pick who played great last year until suffering a season ending injury.  The Jackets gave him a vote of confidence by re-signing him to a 4 year extension, and fantasy owners need to do the same.  Forwards Kristan Huselius and R.J. Umberger offer some fantasy upside, but not much.  Watch out however for forward Nikita Filatov.  He could burst into the scene this year as a real speedy goal scorer on this emerging team.  Steve Mason in goal is very assuring, although keep your expectations in check – 10 shutouts once again is unlikely.

Unless you’re living in St. Louis, you probably don’t hear much about the St. Louis Blues, however that could change this year.  David Backes is a monster.  The forward scored 30 goals last season and racked up 165 PIM.  Expect much of the same.  Add Brad Boyes (another 30 goal scorer), Andy McDonald, David Perron, Paul Kariya, Keith Tkachuk, and T.J. Oshie, and you’ve got some mix of forwards who may deliver some nice stats.  Interesting storylines to follow: the development of #1 pick Erik Johnson (coming off season ending surgery) on the blueline, and the goaltending battle between Chris Mason and Ty Conklin – who performed nicely for the Red Wings last year.  The winner will have some value.

The Nashville Predators will be entertaining, but will struggle to produce fantasy stars.  Aside from budding superstar Shea Weber on the blueline, the roster is weak.  Pekka Rinne in goal has some value, but will be pushed by backup Dan Ellis.  If healthy, Jason Arnott can provide some punch at center and J-P Dumont on the wing.

  Pacific division 

          The San Jose Sharks should be golden this year on the fantasy front.  Expect to see Joe Thornton setting up Dany Heatley quite a bit this season.  Both forwards should produce near the century point-mark.  Devin Setoguchi and Ryan Clowe are both emerging wingers who will score a lot of goals and be the beneficiaries of playing with either Thornton or Joe Pavelski (another good young player).  Whether Patrick Marleau (former captain) remains on the team in the near future is to be seen, but regardless he’s good for 30 goals.  Dan Boyle and Rob Blake are some of the best point producing defenseman, while Evgeni Nabokov will be a top 3 goalie.

            Orange County is the now THE place to play hockey, as the Anaheim Ducks offer some great fantasy options.  Top liners Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Bobby Ryan do it all, and will produce in every category.  Look out for a Finnish reunion as Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne will attempt to rekindle some of the magic they produced on the Olympic stage.  Both are in the twilights of their careers but still have some gas left in the tank.  On defense, Scott Niedermayer remains a very good no.1 option, with perhaps the likes of Ryan Whitney sneaking into the scene.  As for the goaltending situation, looks like Jonas Hiller gets the nod as he performed phenomenally in the playoffs.  Former starter J.S. Giguere has made it known he doesn’t want to back up anyone, so his trade value will shoot up if he re-claims the job or gets traded.

The Dallas Stars should be back on the fantasy radar.  They could possibly have the most sleepers on their team as they have lot of bounce back candidates (from slumps and injuries).  Brenden Morrow was a top 15 forward going into last year, but his season was cut short due to injury.  If healthy he’ll re-claim his rightful place as an all-around producer.  Loui Eriksson came out of nowhere to score 36 goals, and another 30+ campaign isn’t out of reach.  Defenseman Stephane Robidas is very underrated and a great power play quarterback.  Center Mike Ribeiro will continue to rack up the assists, and look out for Brad Richards who can put up the stats similar to his days in Tampa.  This is the year Marty Turco needs bounce back in goal and give the Stars some stellar play.  I believe he will.

The Los Angeles Kings might have the best farm system in hockey.  Whether it translates into NHL fantasy success remains to be seen.  With that being said, the top line of Anze Kopitar, newly acquired Ryan Smyth from Colorado, and Justin Williams will be very good.  Kopitar is the anchor of this team and a very good point producer.  Alexander Frolov is an excellent goal scorer and worth a look, as is Dustin Brown who is surely on the rise.  The defense and goaltending situations look promising for the future, but nothing stands out for this season.  Prospect watch: defenseman Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson. 

Hockey might be moving out of the desert and into Hamilton Canada, but for the time being, the Phoenix Coyotes are here to stay.  They won’t be very good, but some players do stand out on this team.  Winger Shane Doan is a grinder who produces no matter who he plays with, and is very reliable pick.  Ed Jovanovski on the blueline will rack up the penalty minutes and powerplay points, while at least Ilya Bryzgalov in goal is a decent option with no major competition.  The development of youngsters Peter Mueller, Martin Hanzel, Mikkel Boedker, and Kyle Turris (recently demoted to the minors) will determine if the Coyotes will be legitimate fantasy players this year.