Ramblings – July 27 2015

Dobber

2015-07-27

NikitaKucherov

Nikita Kucherov – USA Today Sports Images

Re-launching DobberHockey; thoughts on Kucherov vs Tarasenko, Dubnyk vs Lundqvist;  and more…

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Big day today. Huge day, actually. You know what – I underrate the impact of what this day is to DobberHockey and what we’ve built over the last 10 years. We’re re-launching. Everything.

Yes, there could be delays that push this to Tuesday (I find this happens a lot). But the expectation is that re-launching happens today. Say goodbye to this look. And say goodbye to the blank.dobbersports.com domain – I’m breaking up the sites again. So DobberFootball, DobberProspects, DobberBaseball and yes, DobberHockey are all back to their own domains. Too many problems with them combined. You will see a brand new, modernized look. Faster loading. Better flow. And what I hope will be more reliable uptime (last September, the busiest month here, was a disaster with the site getting overwhelmed with traffic).

The sites will be launched and will be about 90 percent complete. With the rest of the tweaks happening in the live environment. Wish me luck.

The shop will be re-launched as well. I think the new one is nicer. The old one had issues dealing with Mac users.

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As part of the launch, I welcome in two new affiliate partners – Rob Vollman’s Hockey Abstract featuring his Player Usage Charts is partnering up, as well as the new cap tracking site Cap Friendly. With those advanced stats, and salary information – the Dobber Sports Network will have all you need for fantasy hockey. And I’m still committed to, with the help of Eric Daoust, upgrading the NHL player profiles and line combos in Frozen Pool. So much more we can (and will) do with those.

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Also part of the launch – a new forum logo! You can also see the new network banner there, the one that will be on the new sites. Take a look. The forum deserves its own brand.

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All this is part of DobberHockey’s 10 anniversary extravaganza. In just over three months, DobberHockey will turn 10…

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So I’m working on the Fantasy Guide and get done Tampa Bay and I realize – I’ve just projected Nikita Kucherov to have more points than Vladimir Tarasenko. Did I lose my mind? Well, no. I looked over both of them carefully. At the numbers I plugged in. And I’m satisfied. Tarasenko’s points-per-game is slightly higher, but I’d be a fool to project anything above 75 games (I actually have him for 73). Three seasons, three injuries with time missed. Kucherov has been healthy these last three seasons, playing a pile of games in the NHL, AHL, QMJHL, WJC and playoffs – and he doesn’t miss games. He drives possession just as well as Tarasenko, too. And while Tarasenko’s upside is a little higher, I think I’d prefer to own the healthy player. Until that changes, give me Kucherov.

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Another controversial viewpoint I have came up in the comments section of my Goalie Rankings. I would rather own Devan Dubnyk than Henrik Lundqvist. That’s not to say I’d trade Lundqvist straight up for him. Hell no. But I’d make sure I got the deal done. Maybe I get Dubnyk and a first rounder back for my Lundqvist. Or maybe I get a couple of sleeper players, such as Matt Dumba and Craig Smith along with Dubnyk for him. But I make the deal happen. Lundqvist was injured each of the last two seasons, though he still managed 63 games in 2013-14. And at 33 I don’t think he’s a Top 5 goalie anymore, or even a Top 8. But Dubnyk is. And before you start thinking ‘it’s only half a season of sample size’, think about his contract. Six years, $26 million. The Wild are locked in with him. As we saw last season, he has more upside than Lundqvist. That’s the upside. So what’s the downside? What’s the risk?

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So what’s the toughest goalie situation to call: Allen and Elliott, Jones and Stalock or Niemi and Lehtonen? Answer at the bottom.

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In all the re-launch excitement, I almost forgot to mention – DobberFootball has released cheat sheets. These are put together by the best in the business – a national champion who drops tens of thousands of dollars to enter major leagues in Vegas, rubs elbows with celebrities like Meat Loaf (he’s fond of telling me that one) and comes of it AHEAD. And we are giving away 100 freebies (I think there are still a couple of dozen left, and if not – I will give them the go ahead to still give away a couple of dozen more). Simply follow @DobberFootball on Twitter and re-tweet their announcement. Then they’ll give you the coupon code. Enjoy your win!

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Minor signings for you:

The Flames signed Paul Byron to a one-year deal worth $900k. Byron looks great from a fancy stats standpoint as a defensive specialist, driving possession despite more defensive zone starts. That’s the role he’s settled into and he’s carving himself a nice little niche.

Alex Chiasson was awarded a one-year deal at $1.2 million from the arbitrator. He was asking for over $2 million and the team was looking for $1 million. He knew he didn’t have a case. He was leapfrogged on the depth chart by both Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman and from February onward his ice time was down from averaging over 15 minutes per game to averaging just over 12 minutes per game. And he saw just nine minutes per game in the postseason.

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Quick thoughts on the Lou Lamoriello hire – I’d rather they didn’t. But I can be optimistic. I think the Leafs have great Assistant GMs in Hunter and Dubas, and if Lou can mentor them for two years and slowly back away in his third year (at 75 years old), then that’s fine. He can help them with how to talk to this person and that person in the NHL head office, and team offices. He can guide them in some of the other subtleties. But keep him away from trade and contract negotiations. I’m with Gooding here – the guy is too loyal to current players, and overspends on injury-prone free agents and trade acquisitions.

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The answer to today’s skill-testing question is: all three situations are equally tough. Barring an injury, not one of those goalies will play more than 50 games this season. And not one of those goalies will play fewer than 40 games this season. Thanks for playing!

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