Eastern Conference Playoff Dark Horses Part: 2009
By Darryl Dobbs
Here are some fellows from the Eastern Conference worth a look-see in your upcoming playoff pool draft.
Boston Bruins
The Obvious: Marc Savard, David Krejci, Phil Kessel, Tim Thomas, Dennis Wideman, Zdeno Chara, Michael Ryder.
Not So Obvious: Krejci has just 13 points in his last 26 games…After just two points in his first six games as a Bruin, Recchi has six in his last four…
Dark Horses: Chuck Kobasew has eight points in his last 10 games. When healthy, he has shown to be quite productive this season; Milan Lucic has all the tools to be that playoff warrior that becomes a legend. If the B’s play 15 postseason games, Lucic could get 10 or 12 points.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Obvious: Ray Whitney, Eric Staal, Tuomo Ruutu, Rod Brind’Amour, Cam Ward, Sergei Samsonov.
Not So Obvious: Samsonov has 44 points in the last 58 games, which is a 62-point pace…Brind’Amour found his magic anti-aging juice around the trade deadline day. He has 16 points in his last 12 games…
Dark Horses: Matt Cullen had 26 points in 25 games prior to his lower body injury. He’ll be fine for the playoffs and could be back in that form; Joe Corvo has 10 points in his last 11 games. His surge coincides with the rest of the team finding their offensive mojo. So which came first, the chicken or the egg? Well – if both are producing, then feel free to draft the egg; Erik Cole is a dark horse only in the sense that he has 37 points this season. Don’t overrate him, however. Even on the Hurricanes, he is not the point-per-game player he looked to be before all his injuries. In 15 games he’ll get you 10 points and no more.
Florida Panthers
The Obvious: Stephen Weiss, David Booth, Cory Stillman, Nathan Horton, Jay Bouwmeester and Tomas Vokoun.
Not So Obvious: Weiss has 38 points in the last 43 contests…Booth had streaks of 16 in 11 and 11 in six. That means that in the other 49 games he had just 24 points. That screams “streaky”. So he’ll either be hot in the playoffs or he’ll be a huge bust – be careful…After 65 points in 45 games last year in junior, Michal Frolik had just six points in nine playoff contests – and was a minus-4.
Dark Horses: Goaltender Craig Anderson has started and won two games in a row. If the Panthers get into the playoffs on his back then he’ll backstop them once they get there, as well; Gregory Campbell will probably be used to shut down the opposition’s big guns, but he is a great candidate to be this year’s Sami Pahlsson-type and post eight points in 15 games.
Montreal Canadiens
The Obvious: Andrei Markov, Alexei Kovalev, Saku Koivu, Andrei Kostitsyn, Alex Tanguay.
Not So Obvious: Since the minor Kostitsyn controversy that was all over the Montreal papers, Sergei played his way back to the American League (and is pointless since his recall) and Andrei has stumbled with just two points in 14 games. Steer clear of both…You can kid yourself into believing that Jaroslav Halak is a better goaltender than Carey Price, or that he has earned the top job. Doesn’t matter, regardless of the level of truth of those statements. The Habs will be riding Price every second they can…Robert Lang’s return will hurt Tomas Plekanec, who put up horrible numbers while Lang was in the lineup but strong numbers when Lang was hurt, so watch for that.
Dark Horses: Lang may not return until the second round, or perhaps he’ll catch some first round games. Regardless, he led the team in scoring before he suffered the injury to his Achilles tendon; Since joining the Habs for his second stint, Mathieu Schneider has 13 points in 18 contests.
New Jersey Devils
The Obvious: Zach Parise, Patrik Elias, Jamie Langenbrunner, Travis Zajac, Brian Gionta and Martin Brodeur.
Not So Obvious: Brendan Shanahan has just eight points in his last 22 games. Regardless of his track record, stay away…This is a two-line team, so barring an injury to one of their top six, you won’t see points from the likes of Shanny, John Madden, Bobby Holik or Brian Rolston.
Dark Horse: Defenseman Paul Martin has 14 points in his last 17 games and is the man the Devil’s turn to run the power play.
NY Rangers
The Obvious: Nikolai Zherdev, Nik Antropov, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Michal Rozsival, Henrik Lundqvist.
Not So Obvious: Drury has 10 points in 12 games since Antropov joined the squad…Markus Naslund has just four points in those same 12 games. Another big name who you should steer clear of…Rozsival had just one point in 11 games prior to his lower body injury…
Dark Horses: Ryan Callahan is on fire and he plays with the hustle and spark needed in the postseason. He has 10 points in his last 11 games; Sean Avery is playing very well in his return to New York. He has nine points in 12 games.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Obvious: Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, Daniel Briere, Kimmo Timonen.
Not So Obvious: Five times this year Joffrey Lupul has gone through stretches of at least three games without a point…Mike Knuble has just eight points in his last 17 games.
Dark Horses: Martin Biron has started 10 of the last 11 games and won seven of them. He heats up every season at the right time; Claude Giroux will be a prolific producer in the NHL and he is seeing plenty of ice time right now. It’s very feasible that he puts up numbers at least as good as what Hartnell can do.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Obvious: Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin, Petr Sykora, Marc-Andre Fleury, Sergei Gonchar. Oh, and some guys named Sid and Evgeni.
Not So Obvious: Miroslav Satan has seven points in six AHL games. The salary cap will keep him out of the league during the regular season. It won’t be a factor for the postseason…Since the trade deadline, Sykora has one point in eight games. That’s the impact of adding Kunitz and Guerin.
Dark Horses: Kris Letang has eight points in 11 games. Clearing Ryan Whitney off the roster is really helping his numbers; Jordan Staal frequently plays 20 minutes a game and is out there during crunch time.
Washington Capitals
The Obvious: Anyone named Alex. Also Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, Brooks Laich, Viktor Kozlov Jose Theodore.
Not So Obvious: Tomas Fleischmann and Eric Fehr have shown that they can produce, but both are immersed in a horrible slump and not worth taking unless a key injury strikes the roster…Michael Nylander is not the same player anymore. Just stay away…Laich has nine points in his last 10 games. He was hot down the stretch last year as well, and he carried that into the postseason.
Dark Horses: Sergei Fedorov still produces in spurts and occasionally the coach throws him on a line with Alexander Ovechkin. If you like the Caps to go deep, he’d be a decent pick in the final round; Fleischmann has just one point in 17 games during his horrible slump. To look at it in a more positive light – he had 31 points in 50 games before that, so the potential is there.
Undervalued NHL Teams?
By Darryl Dobbs
Jarret Stoll has to earn the trust of poolies again. But those in leagues that track multiple categories are slowly getting back on board.
The Los Angeles Kings’ forward had a career high of 68 points in 2005-06 while with Edmonton. At the time, he was just 23 years old. To tally so many points at such a young age was quite an accomplishment and poolies pegged him as a future 80-point forward.
But then disaster struck. Stoll missed a big chunk of the following season with a concussion and although he returned to play 81 games in 2007-08, he managed just 37 points. In fantasy circles, owners see only the bottom line. The bottom line in this case was a season with 39 points followed by a season with 37.
Now a member of the Los Angeles Kings, Stoll has been a decent fantasy asset in all the categories. He’s a good bet to finish with 50 points, 75 penalty minutes, eight power-play goals and 160 shots. He could do even better than that, however, if you take a look at his last four games.
The Kings are 3-1-0 in their last four and Stoll has seen his ice time increase by about two minutes per contest. The result has been six points, 12 penalty minutes, 13 shots and a plus-5 rating in that span. He has been lining up with Dustin Brown, which isn’t a bad gig given Brown’s leadership and consistency. Kyle Calder is on the other wing.
I don’t think we’ve seen the real Stoll since 2006 and we are starting to now. This guy is a 65-point player with 70 or 75-point upside. More importantly, however, is the fact that he is one of just a handful of players in the NHL who will give you large numbers in a variety of statistics. Assuming his concussion problems are behind him, and there is no reason to believe any different, look for him to flirt with 60 points come April and then get back to that 65-plus range next year…
Meanwhile…
What is going on with Dominic Moore? The hardworking, hustling Leaf pivot has 18 points in his last 19 games. His ice time has jumped from the 15-16 minute range to 17-18 minutes per game. He even managed six shots one contest. Toronto, desperate for offense, is finding it in strange places. If Jason Blake, a similar hustling player, can top 60 points in a season (with the Isles in 2006-07), then Moore should – at the very least – be taken seriously…
I like what the Red Wings are doing with Ville Leino. Rather than thrust him in spotlight of NHL duty on the fourth line, they stick him in the minors. Rather than keep him in the minors, they bring him up and stick him on a line with Marian Hossa and Pavel Datsyuk in his first game Saturday. The Wings waited for the opportune time to bring him up and when they did they did it right. The Pittsburgh Penguins could learn from this. Despite recalling Janne Pesonen, another European star, on several occasions, the Pens have yet to play him on the wing with one of the big guys (you know who I’m talking about). At any rate, the Red Wings have given Leino a taste. Since they are likely going to lose two of Mikael Samuelsson, Johan Franzen and Hossa in the summer, look for Leino to make a big splash next campaign…
Free Video Pick: Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
The slumping Buffalo Sabres take on the Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday night. The Sabres have dropped three straight and five of their past six, while the Penguins have won three of their past four, and have beaten Buffalo in all three meetings this season.
