Quarterpole Article 2 - Forward Surprises

As we head into the quarterpole there are ten forwards who stand out in our mind as bona fide surprises. We'll ID them here and let you know whether we think they're going to keep it up or whether you should be looking to take advantage of their lofty status and trade them while you have a chance.

Jarome Iginla - CGY - The Flames are struggling, but Jarome isn't. There are many who would see this as a perfect opportunity to trade him and maximize your profit. We don't think you should. Iggy is the perfect Keenan player. As long as Iron Mike keeps his job (never a guarantee) Jarome will be in the top 10 in scoring. Don't trade!

Rod Brind'Amour - CAR - It's not that we don't think he's an excellent overall player, but it's just that he's 38 years old and it may be in your best interests to try and pick up a couple of younger underachievers. We'd say trade him while you can!

Cory Stillman - CAR - He's not as old as Brind'Amour but we'd definitely put him in the overachieving category. And if your league splits up the forward positions he could be even more valuable because he is a LW'er. We say put him on the market and see what you can get.

Vaclav Prospal - TB - Like Stillman, he qualifies at LW in many leagues and we just can't see him keeping up this pace. And he's a guy ripe for a trade. The Lightning have been rumoured to have him on the market...so why not you?

Mike Richards - PHI - Early in his career many thought that Jeff Carter would be the scorer and he'd be the all-round player. Well, it seems that he's taken a page out of Rod Brind'Amour's book. We're going to give him a cautious hold. Unless you get an offer you can't refuse don't move him. He's getting the chance to play and he's taking advantage.

Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews - CHI - Because these two super rookies play together we decided to write about them as one. We think that both will likely slow as the season hit's the dog days of January, but don't trade them. They're the future of the Hawks and they could be a building block for your team. We were very surprised when Chicago kept up Kane, but as of now it seems like the right decision.

Tomas Holmstrom - DET - To many this isn't a surprise. He's a beast in front of the net on the powerplay and as long as he stays with Zetterberg and Datsyuk he's going to continue on this torrid pace. We'd hang onto him for now...but be prepared to pull the trigger if it looks like he'll be replaced on the top line.

Nik Antropov - TOR - He started incredibly hot and has slowed. If you can find another sucker...er, owner...to take him off your hands, we suggest doing it quickly. The Leafs are in turmoil and the fewer of them you have the better right now.

Mike Ribeiro - DAL - We knew he was talented, but we didn't think he'd prove himself to be the top centre in Dallas until after Mike Modano retired. He is more than capable of keeping up this pace...keep him for a while.

Markus Naslund - VAN - The guy is on fire with 6 goals in his past 4 games. He's looking like a guy playing for a contract. As long as he stays with the Sedin twins you'd be crazy to trade him. This is a case of squeezing every last point out of him, even if it means you lose trade value if he quickly slips.

Look for defencemen and goalies in our third quarterpole article

Who's Next?

...as we slide into the dog days of summer, Baroids Bonds is about to sully the most impressive single achievement record in professional sports, the hockey poolie has to be wondering "what's going on with my team?" as training camps are now a mere 5 weeks away. Here's the latest off the rumor wire...Edmonton - now that GM Kevin Lowe has p-o'ed his good buddy GM Brian Burke, [but really, should Burke be that peeved that Lowe over-spent for Penner? Was he supposed to take a bigger risk in poolies' eyes and sign Bertuzzi to the same $ but only over 2 years? Is it Lowe's fault that few, if any, free agents want to come to Alberta's capital?], rumor has the Oilers and Thrashers talking about a potential move of Ilya Kovulchuk to Edmonton in return for draft picks and 3 players - Cogliano, O'Marra and Matt Greene. This is a similar rumor to that coming out of San Jose, where the Sharks management is worried that they may not be able to sign Patrick Marleau in 2008 and as a result, are looking to see what they could get for the soon to be UFA. In Atlanta, an ownership squabble has forced the Thrashers to trim payroll to $40M. GM Don Waddell has got to move either Kovulchuk or Hossa, whom the team would rather try and sign as he is the more complete player, but Hossa is going to be a UFA in 2008 as well....in Montreal, after signing Patrice Brisebois to a one-year deal, the Habs are rumored to be in the market to sign Danny Markov, and unite the Markov brothers. Detroit is still trying to bring the burly d-man back as well. Wherever he signs, don't expect a lot of offensive production. The Brisebois signing begins anew the love-hate relationship between Hab-fans and Brisebois. Brisebois does provide them with some veteran presence as well as a 2nd unit PP QB....Peter Forsberg remains unsigned, and most teams are rumored to be interested in seeing how he heals up in the next few weeks before beginning serious talks. Rumor has the Canucks trying to land Forsberg with an incentive laden contract to let him play with close friend Markus Naslund. However, the smart money is that Forsberg wants to play in Colorado one last time - assuming he's ready to go by training camp....Mike Peca has been advertising his desire to return to Buffalo and pilot the team where he saw the greatest success in his career. The Sabres are said not to be interested, particularly given that Peca is looking for $4M for a one year deal. If he comes down to the $2M per season level, the Sabres, Habs, Canucks and Coyotes are rumored to be "kicking the tires"....Anson Carter remains unsigned, and might remain that way right into the start of training camp. Carter had a brutal season last year, and any thoughts of him singing for more than $1M per season are ludicrous. He needs the precise situation to succeed - he had it in Vancouver two seasons ago but got greedy and now may be on the outside looking in for quite some time....

The D-man Factor

With Sheldon Souray off the block, the last of the big-time blueliner UFAs is officially off the market. So what now for teams looking to bolster their rearguard ranks?

Rumour has it that a few teams (very few) are willing to move d-men in exchange for either younger/cheaper talent, similarly priced talent in different positions or less talented players going into their free agent years (meaning cap flexibility next season).

We'll take a quick look at the buyers and sellers and the fantasy implications:

Vancouver: With Bieksa locked up, the signing of Aaron Miller and the chance of either Alex Edler or Luc Bourdon filling a full-time roster spot, Mattias Ohlund is rumoured to be on the move in exchange for a top end forward. Most people are talking Patrik Elias, but assuming the Canucks are taking offers from everywhere, there are a number of other options. Many are talking about Patrick Marleau going to the east, but a swap of Ohlund for Marleau would certainly help the Sharks ease the sting of losing Scott Hannan. The only thing for Vancouver would be to secure Marleau with a long term deal. There has also been talk of Milan Hejduk being on the move...and while an inter-division trade is not the norm, the opportunity for both teams to address needs may result in the setting aside of traditional rivalries. Either way, the Canucks can offer probably the most enticing d-man out there - great at both ends of the ice, affordable and signed through the 2008-2009 season. Any one of Elias, Marleau, or Hejduk would do wonders for the Canucks sometime aenemic offence, but don't expect any of them to produce much beyond their career norms if a trade does go down.

Phoenix: There has been talk of Ed Jovanovski being on the the block in the desert. And while this would make sense, his contract could make a deal less likely than one involving Ohlund. At $6.5 million per year most contenders would need to do some juggling and given that the Coyotes would not want to be saddled with long term contracts, this could prove to be a difficult proposition for teams like the Rangers, who allegedly head the list of interested parties. Now if the Panthers were to step up (they seemed to be interested a couple of weeks back) and offer a package that included Alex Auld, Stephen Weiss and/or Anthony Stewart, they could get something done. And it would be a deal that would make sense for all parties. Wherever Jovo goes look for the numbers to pop...

Anaheim: Let's imagine for a moment that Scott Niedermayer calls up Brian Burke tomorrow and says "I'm coming back next season." Of course Burke's first reaction will be joy at the prospect of having his leader return. But then he will have to face the daunting reality of 3 massive contracts at the back end with an unfilled forward spot that was once occupied by Teemu Selanne. At that point he'll likely need to look at moving Francois Beauchemin. And, like Ohlund teams will be lining up to take a shot. The team that loses the Ohlund sweepstakes will likely step up with an offer. As well, it's possible that Florida could look at a swap...wouldn't Auld and Stewart make sense (especially if Burke is looking to trade Bryzgalov)? Beauchemin as a PP quarterback on another team could have a career year, while any newly acquired forward would probably be paired up with Andy McDonald.

Next time we'll take a look at some eastern teams who could be looking to move d-men including Philly (Denis Gauthier), Toronto (Pavel Kubina), and the Rangers (Paul Mara).

Canucks Build From the Rear

With the signing of Aaron Miller and the re-signing of Kevin Bieksa, 'Nucks GM Dave Nonis served notice that the era of defensive hockey in Vancouver is firmly entrenched. The Canucks are now in the enviable position of boasting a solid 6 man starting d-corps, with the prospect of rookie Luc Bourdon and possibly UFA Brent Sopel platooning in the seventh spot (assuming Bourdon doesn't end up in Manitoba for the season). Notwithstanding the rumours that either Ohlund or Salo are on the trading block, what Nonis has done - relatively cheaply - is to ensure that his team has the best opportunity possible of wininng close games. And while the offensively challenged Canucks may not light the lamp at the other end too often, they can rest assured that they shouldn't have any trouble keeping the puck out of their own net. The fantasy impact is clear -Loungo is even more valuable now than ever. If this group stays together, look for his GAA to drop even lower, and his number of shutouts to increase. The only stat that might hurt is his Sv% as he may see less rubber! Team plus/minus should also benefit, though obviously, scoring a few more goals will help on this front too.

York signs on in the Desert

Phoenix - Mike York's signing with Phoenix is a low-risk, high reward deal for both sides. York still has 50+ point skills in him, he just needs lots of icetime to make it happen and he'll get plenty in Phoenix. He's worth a late round flyer in drafts but nothing more....in Vancouver, the Canucks re-upped with Kevin Bieksa, and rewarded his under-rated play last year with a 3 year contract extension. Now I am a big Bieksa fan, but I think this might be a bit early for him. Granted he's a bit older, having gotten to the NHL via US college, but Bieksa's had just one full-season in the NHL. Yes, other UFAs are signing for big coin, but Bieksa needs to maintain his consistency in order for the Canucks to justify the signing. Someone will take him about 3 rounds higher than he should go - just ensure that it's not you. Also, the Canucks singed Aaron Miller. This is fantasy news in that it likely means that Vancouver will move either Sami Salo or Matthias Ohlund, or both. Rumor has the Canucks still shopping for a top 6 scoring forward and dangling both those guys is sure to get some attention. Watch for Brent Sopel to also sign with the Canucks, particularly if one or both Salo or Ohlund gets dealt....in Pittsburgh, Sydney Crosby re-upped with the Penguins and signed a contract extension. He's the best player in the league, likely to get even better, and that's awesome news for Crosby owners and scary news for those of us who don't have the guy.

The Art of Finding Depth

The Vancouver Canucks showed the flip side of the UFA frenzy over the past few days. The Canucks are locking up depth players at phenomenally good prices (Isbister at $525k, Ritchie at $600k, Sanford at $600k, Jeff Cowan $700k). As it stands now they have 18 guys under contract and have only committed about $44 million. What this means is that even if GM Dave Nonis keeps his promise to maintain a $2 million reserve, they will have about $4 million for the final three spots. If you pencil in one of Ryan Shannon or Trevor Linden and a depth d-man at about $600k a piece, that leaves $2.8 million for a very decent top six forward, allowing them to sign a player in the financial neighbourhood of the contract Dainius Zubrus signed with New Jersey...which would not at all be a bad thing at all. There are rumblings about Alexei Yashin, but our bet would be they'll want a very skilled playmaker who can feed Naslund the puck. Don't be surprised if they make a run at Jason Allison. If that's the case then you could probably pencil in a 15-20 point increase for Nazzy next year.