Ramblings: Fleury vs. Murray; tidbits from around the league (Aug 29)

Dobber

2016-08-29

 

Rambling Fleury vs. Murray, Domi vs. Reinhart, and plenty of tidbits from around the NHL …

***

Back from camping at Algonquin Park, the last of my three little mini-vacations. That’s all I get for 2016, but I’m eyeballing the spring of 2017 for a real vacation. Anyway, I took the wife and kids to Algonquin for the first time, just for a couple of days as kind of a test. They really enjoyed it so I’ll add a couple of days next year. Next week the kids go back to school and I’ll be back in my fantasy-hockey zone, gearing up for another great season.

*

Anaheim signed their top draft pick from the summer, Max Jones, to a three-year ELC. In the Fantasy Prospects Report we had compared him to a Dustin Brown-type. Great for multi-category leagues and potentially a 55-point player. But as you’ve seen over and over again with Anaheim – he won’t be in the NHL as a teenager or 20-year-old. So zero points for the next three seasons.

*

Here’s a very in-depth update on how Marc Savard is doing (i.e. life after hockey). As we all know, his concussion issues have been quite severe. But he’s coping and is doing well to continue living his life the best he can.

*

Here is an interesting piece over at TSN in which Donald Fehr gives his take on what is likely needed in order to avoid a lockout next time (hint: there will be a lockout).

*

Add Robin Lehner’s name to the growing list of players who are pulling out of the World Cup. Jhonas Enroth replaces him. I update all of these changes in my Fantasy Guide, so you’ll find each team’s list of players participating. Generally speaking, I think being in this tournament helps a player hit the ground running when the NHL season starts. They hit the ground running. But for players in their mid-30s or late-30s I think tournament participation will act as a drag on their production.

*

I really like this scouting report on Oliver Bjorkstrand by beatwriter Aaron Portzline. Well worth the read and definitely a must-own prospect in keeper leagues. Our own scouting report on him can be found here.

*

Did we have the Bouwmeester-over-Subban-to-replace-Keith discussion here yet? I’ve been away. At this point, I’m just numb to the decisions made by Team Canada. They’ll win, or if they don’t win it won’t be because of one player decision but likely just luck mixed with facing a hot team. So life’s too short to dwell on it. Bouwmeester shoots left and Keith shoots left. If Team Canada wants to over-emphasize such things, good for them.

But Mark Giordano shoots left. I’ll just leave that right here.

*

No, I’m sorry. I can’t. Giordano or Bouwmeester? I didn’t have the opportunity to ask 30 general managers which player they would rather have on their team at the same salary. But if I did, here is what the result would be: 30 out 30 GM’s would prefer Giordano. So color me confused…

*

Those of you who had Alex Ovechkin in their getting-married pool cashed in big on the weekend. The big guy married his girlfriend Nastya Shubskaya.

📢 advertisement:

*

Will Jake Virtanen start the season in the AHL? Canucks Army explores the answer to that question here. For what it’s worth, I have him as a midseason call-up in the Fantasy Guide, good for half a season of NHL games.

*

Follow me on Twitter. Besides having a link to articles that get posted (three per day, usually), I jump in with some interesting trends I pick up while writing an article (or the Guide). But I’ll also try to answer your questions (if I’m around, I’ll get to all of them, if I’m out – then I’ll probably miss most of them. Not my fault!). I had a couple of good questions yesterday on there and I thought I’d explore them here. So here goes…

Marc-Andre Fleury vs. Matt Murray – Murray is obviously the long-term answer here. And Fleury is a possible trade target in-season and almost certainly by next summer (or they’ll lose him to expansion). But for this year, unless and until things change, Fleury will get at least 50 starts and Murray will see something in the mid-30s for games.

Max Domi vs. Sam Reinhart – Domi for me. I think he’s a better player with higher upside and he’s the go-to guy for the Coyotes. Reinhart is a quality prospect, but is going to be the third or fourth player on the Sabres when it comes to putting up points. I like Domi for both the short and the long term.

*

It’s funny that shortly after I question why the Rangers would sign Jimmy Vesey (well…’question’ is a strong word for signing a free talent, but you know what I mean) when they are quite deep on the wing…they go and sign Brandon Pirri. Well, I guess I just know nothing. Throw logic out the window, folks, because NHL teams so rarely make sense. Put the Rangers down for signing Alex Tanguay, Tomas Fleischmann and Jiri Tlusty. Because they don’t need those players at all, which seems to mean that they’ll sign them. The Ducks don’t need any defensemen so I guess that means they’ll sign Kris Russell and Kyle Quincey. There’s a logjam in net for the Jets, so I guess that’s where Joni Ortio and Karri Ramo will sign…

At this point it looks as though the Rangers intend to bury Tanner Glass (and most of his contract) in the minors, as well as keep Nicklas Jensen and Josh Jooris in the minors as depth re-calls. It also means that Nate Gerbe, Michael Grabner and Pavel Buchnevich will battle it out for two spots. On one hand, it’s easy to say that Buchnevich will be the odd man out. And actually, it really does look as though he is. But I believe he’s coming to North America with some expectations. That if he’s not guaranteed an NHL spot, that he’ll at least get several long looks with the big club. And it’s also worth noting that Grabner is a player who tends to get scratched by his teams (mainly the Islanders) and that Gerbe is making the NHL minimum (i.e. easy to bury).

Regardless, Pirri strikes me as pretty useless on the third or fourth line. If he’s not scoring goals, then just have him in the stands selling popcorn. And if the Rangers weren’t planning on using him, then they would have signed him to a two-way deal or a cheap contract like Gerbe’s. But $1.1 million tells me they’ll give him some time in the top six. Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan, Mika Zibanejad are the four guarantees in that top six. Chris Kreider and J.T. Miller should be the other two. They are the next best two. Could Vesey, Pirri and Kevin Hayes simply form a third scoring line?

*

If you’re interested in DobberHockey swag, I changed back to my former suppliers. I just found them to be cheaper. You can check out some of the shirts here. There are some funny ones, mostly trash talk because that’s what I do best…

*

The Devils are excited to see more of this from Taylor Hall:

 

 

11 Comments

  1. paul 2016-08-29 at 03:05

    Thanks for the update and the links. I am not convinced that JT Miller is a lock for top 6 minutes mostly because of the sandpaper 3rd line style he brings to the game.

  2. Marc-Olivier Fortier 2016-08-29 at 07:49

    Still scratching my head over Vesey’s decision; NY seems like the worst choice in terms of playing opportunity, ice time and high-end talent for him to play with. Been trying to offload him in my keeper for a week but the price just keeps dropping. Will hang on to him for now I guess and pray for 35+ pts this season.

    Glad you enjoyed Algonquin Park! Spent many great summers at Camp Ahmek on Canoe Lake!

    • Striker 2016-08-29 at 11:51

      I have him in 2 of my 3 keeper leagues on my prospect list but won’t have to activate him until he plays his 45th regular season game.

      I agree with you. Worst possible choice of the 8 teams on his list & had he just signed with Nashville a solid up & coming team he would have burned off a year of his ELC already & with him Nashville may have squeezed by StL to the conference final.

      How many players are you allowed to protect in your keeper leagues? We have 20 team leagues, 24 man rosters, dress 14 each week, 3 C, RW, LW, 4D & a G, protect 12 in 2; 2C; RW, LW, D, 1G & 3 wild cards, in the other 9 same format 2, 2, 2, 2 & 1, no wild cards. I manage 8 but only participate in 3, 2 ideally as I took on a team when an owner dropped out & we haven’t found a replacement as yet. Big money league’s, 5K to play annually.

      • Marc-Olivier Fortier 2016-08-29 at 13:04

        16 team, 18 man active roster + up to 15 prospects (have to graduate them after 41 games or lose to FA, 20 games for Goalie prospects).

        Not sure I’m ready to play in $5K/year league (would want to quit my job and devote all free time to analyzing hockey stats). But am interested in joining another league if you guys are looking for someone.

        • Striker 2016-08-29 at 13:33

          Cool.

          I have considered starting a pool not a fantasy league as far more time consuming to administer & deal with issue’s & politics, online for people like us. Offering it out to people I debate with online constantly at several sites. An opportunity to put your money where your mouth is so to speak.

          These leagues have very serious GM’s & most are working professionals; doctors, lawyers, engineers, stock brokers, etc. but certainly not all. Some have numerous owners to cover the costs but these are freaks & this isn’t a pool or fantasy league specificly but a serious hobby for all of us. These are people that spend 2 to 3 hours a day in season many more & stay current even in the off season for the most part. All have spun off an original league we started in Vancouver decades ago when we were kids some of us still in University.

          Take care & good luck. Here’s hoping we both get a nice read on Vesey before confronted with having to decide his future on our rosters.

          • Marc-Olivier Fortier 2016-08-29 at 14:59

            Thx!

            Issue for me right now is more time than money; have 2 young kids (2 & 4 years old) that take up most (all) my free time (although I once managed to send someone a trade proposal on yahoo with one hand at 4 am while bottle feeding baby with the other!) If I’m participating in a $5K/year buy-in fee pool then I’m playing to win and would want to spend much more time doing my homework (at least 2 hours/day like you say). I enjoy doing the research even in the off season (work in finance….picking players is a lot like picking stocks :)

            Let me get back to you in a couple of years when things calm down. In the meantime, if you’re running something more mid-range ($200ish buy-in is all I have time for these days) and are looking for owners let me know!

            Cheers

          • Striker 2016-08-30 at 12:46

            I was thinking just like a free online draft pool with a few basic waivers each season. Say like 3 potential swap outs.

            I transferred this very skill to doing just that in the stock market. The deduction reasoning skills work to both hockey & stocks well.

  3. JF Bessette 2016-08-29 at 12:00

    Good move by the Rangers on Pirri. Comes February-March, if the Rangers are out of playoffs race, they will trade him for a high value pick.

  4. Alex 2016-08-29 at 14:46

    Jooris will be #4C to start the season since all of the other options (Gerbe, Grabner, Pirri, Fast) are primarily wingers. Lindberg will probably take over Jooris’ spot or, if Pirri experiment does not work out, will play on the wing on line #3.

    I can totally see Pirri-Hayes-Vesey line to start the season. Pirri has a deadly shot and Hayes could set him up nicely. The problem would be on the defensive side – none of these guys play much defense. Grabner is signed to a nice 2 year deal as well so it seems he might get Pirri spot.

    I am a little tired of this constant Ranger bashing. Even though they don’t have elite talent, the team has scored the 5th most goals in the last 3 seasons. Nash scored 42 just the season before last. There is plenty of talent for Vesey or someone else to shine. A trade will absolutely be made to clear the logjam at forward. This depth allows for that to happen.

    Sorry. end of rant.

    • Marc-Olivier Fortier 2016-08-29 at 15:09

      Yes, they have great scoring depth which is good for the team overal. The issue is from a fantasy perspective only, not many attractive great players.

      • Alex 2016-08-29 at 15:36

        You are absolutely right about the fantasy perspective but Nash’s 42 goal season showed that it is possible. Also I never expected Vesey to be more than a 60pt player at best. And for that to happen there is plenty of talent on the Rangers.

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Mar 18 - 20:03 CGY vs WSH
Mar 18 - 22:03 SEA vs BUF

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
DANIIL MIROMANOV CGY
ALEXANDER NYLANDER CBJ
EVGENY KUZNETSOV CAR
ANTHONY DUCLAIR T.B
WYATT JOHNSTON DAL

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
DEVIN COOLEY S.J
JAKE ALLEN N.J
LOGAN THOMPSON VGK
DUSTIN WOLF CGY
CHARLIE LINDGREN WSH

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency VAN Players
23.5 J.T. MILLER ILYA MIKHEYEV BROCK BOESER
14.0 PIUS SUTER ELIAS PETTERSSON NILS HOGLANDER
9.9 VASILY PODKOLZIN ELIAS LINDHOLM CONOR GARLAND

DobberHockey Podcasts

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: