Keeper League Madness

So it's the dog days of summer. How can you possibly be thinking about your hockey pool? Well, if you're in a keeper league this could be the best time of year to set yourself up for a successful run.

Many poolies were probably already burning up the phone and email lines in advance of the July 1 UFA signing period starting, as they were trying to secure some players that were going to be on the move. In some cases (like if you traded for Scott Gomez) you could be doing quite well. And if you secured the services of Michael Nylander (soon to be Alex Ovechkin's set-up man) you're probably very pleased with yourself.

All that being said, if you haven't made any moves yet, all is not lost. There are two things that you can do. First, if one of your players recently signed you can take advantage of the hype and try and move him for someone who could be a little more productive who is flying under the radar. For example, Todd Bertuzzi signing with Anaheim could increase interest in the mercurial power forward...take advantage of that and see if you can get a guy like Patrik Elias (selling your potential suitor on the fact that Elias lost his center in Scott Gomez). You will almost certainly have to sweeten the pot, but the point is that Bertuzzi has more value now than he did a month ago.

The second thing you can do is speculate on the second tier free agents. Some of these folks could really make an impact depending on the circumstance and they could be had at bargain basement prices. Here are the top 5 UFAs who could be had cheap:

• Alexei Yashin - depending on where he goes, he could be a steal. His buyout from the Islanders could leave a sour taste in some mouths. Take advantage of this.
• Brendan Shanahan - the signing of Drury with the Rangers could muddy the waters when it comes to where he'll play next season. Use this as your negotiating tactic.
• Sheldon Souray - the fact that teams have bypassed Souray and picked up Timonen, Rafalski, Schneider and Poti could worry some owners. No matter where he signs he'll be on the top PP unit, remember that and go get him.
• Teemu Selanne - call us crazy, but you could do worse than speculating on Teemu. You could probably get him for a song and what happens if he does come back?
• Peter Forsberg - this is a stickier situation, because there's some chance that he may never come back. But there is even a worse case scenario...he comes back in December or January. Still if you can pick him up cheap, he could be a deep sleeper.

Flames Heating Up

Despite the fact that they went out and hired Mike Keenan the Flames have been making some noise and the developments are promising. Jarome Iginla and Robyn Regher recently extended their contracts with the team and that is great news. Add them to recent additions of Corey Sarich, Adrian Aucoin and Owen Nolan and things are definitely looking up. Expect Aucoin to log some serious minutes this season as he's dedicated himself this off-season to a serious fitness program. Nolan provides a nice steadying veteran presence and Sarich is definitely under-rated. A little more pop up front would be welcome for poolies, but the Flames look to be poised to make some noise...in Montreal, the Habs seemed to have bid adieu to Sheldon Souray. His booming shot from the point on the PP will be missed, but his -20 plus/minus will not. GM Gainey extended a pricey offer to Roman Hamrlik to replace Souray and Hamrlik will fit in nicely; he'll have less points but his +/- will be better than Souray's. Also, Bryan Smolinski has signed on with the Habs and he might be worth a late round fantasy pick. He's better than the departed Radek Bonk and his skill in the face-off circle will be welcomed...in Edmonton, they're still licking their wounds from the Nylander debacle, GM Kevin Lowe has set his sights on Eric Lindros as his next free-agent signing. He hasn't played more than 47 games in one season in any of the past 4 years, but when healthy Lindros still has the skills that allow him to contribute. The tipping point for Lindros to the Oil is the Edmonton's desire to use the Big E down the middle...Atlanta re-upped Slava Kozlov to a 3 year deal and this is good news for Kozlov owners. The Thrashers play an up-tempo style of play and Kozlov thrives in the type of system that doesn't focus on defensive hockey. Look for another strong season from Kozlov again this coming year...

More UFA signings

Anaheim appears to be ready to take a flyer with the signing of Todd Bertuzzi. There is going to be someone that is going to hope that Bertuzzi can resume his 30+ goal clip, but my advice is to leave him for surer things in your draft. He's clearly not the same player he once was, and it shows. Glimpses of greatness is all you will see with big Bert, but frustration will quickly follow...in LA, the Kings continue to make moves and add Brad Stuart for the next year. Stuart has peaked and/or plateaued in terms of development, and will never become the bonafide #1 defenceman that pundits thought he might when he was drafted. He's not terrible, but someone is going to overpay for his services, even though he'll probably play at least 2nd unit PP. He'll be solid, just not amazing for the Kings...the Leafs signed recent acquisition Vesa Toskala to a two year deal worth $4M per season, and are now seeking to move Andrew Raycroft. The problem is to who? Toskala is marginally better than Raycroft in my eyes, but now GM Ferguson is going to get about 50 cents on the dollar by moving Raycroft in a goalie-glut market. Raycroft owners can't be happy. Jason Blake's signing is better news for the Leafs as the speedster is under-rated in the NHL, and takes tons of shots. He'll be a top-6 forward for the Leafs, but under the pressure of performing in Hogtown, likely won't score 40+. More on the Habs signings to come...

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.

More UFA singings and a trade

The LA Kings have done a nice job of upgrading their team with the addition of some tier II UFAs: Ladislav Nagy, Michal Handzus, Tom Preissing and Kyle Calder. Nagy has seen his stock slide alot, and much depends on how healthy he is. If he is close to 100%, he might be the signing of the off-season. He can contribute at both ends of the ice and likely will be an 80 point guy, again if he is healthy. Handzus brings more veteran two-way playing ability. After rehabbing a nasty leg injury last year, Handzus comes in to a team that is perfectly situated for him to assist. Not a #1 center, but the Kings will definitely want him to be the #2 guy and with that put up some solid number. Calder adds some much needed grit and abrasiveness to the roster. He's also got 30 goal potential, he just comes by his points very honestly - not naturally. Preissing gives the Kings an under-rated puck moving defenceman to compliment the Kings other top 3. He should play a bigger role than what he did in Ottawa...in Edmonton, the remaking of this team continues but at what cost. Last year Joffrey Lupul was a big disappointment. And with no Pronger on the back-end, expectations for the Edmonton native were high - and he missed. A change of scenery along with uber-grit rear-guard Jason Smith is just what the doctor ordered for the Flyers. They are giving up Joni Pitkanen, who by all measures regressed last year, and spare part Geoff Sanderson. The Flyers did very well in this deal. Smith is more mobile than most analysts think and he'll draw lots of shut-down minutes versus Crosby, Ovechkin and Jagr. Lupul's lack of confidence should be addressed as the Flyers place him on the 2nd line and tell him to "let 'er go". Pitkanen is a very good offensive defenceman, but the Oilers now have no one that can score; which won't help Pitkanen in the long run. Expect more changes in Edmonton.

Big Bucks vs. The Right Fit

It's very possible that in the flurry of $$$ flying around that many teams forgot about chemistry and instead focused on the big fish of the day. Look at the following comparison between two teams:

New York Rangers - They had Michael Nylander and Brendan Shanahan. They signed Chris Drury and Scott Gomez. In many respects Gomez and Nylander are a wash, but the contract to Gomez averages out at about $2 million per year more than Nylander. When you also take into account the incredible chemstry between Jagr and Nylander, it's a bit of a head-scratcher. The Drury situation is equally as puzzling. Yes, he has proven himself to be a great leader, but he has never had more than 70 points in a season. It all comes down to how much you pay for leadership and at this stage I'd probably have leaned towards re-upping Shanny at $2 or $3 million and letting someone else plunk down over $7 million per season for the former Sabres co-captain. Sorry Ranger fans but this signing harkens back to another "big signing" by your squad in the 90s. Anyone remember Bobby Holik? One thing to remember...it is possible that the Rangers could still re-sign Shanahan. And if they do, it will just re-emphasize the fact that they overpaid for Drury. From a fantasy perspective, Gomez should do well, but don't expect anything more than Nylander-like numbers. As for Drury...who knows? It seems unlikely that a move to the Big Apple with more pressure will all of a sudden push him over the 70 point mark.

Washington Capitals - On the flipside there are teams that needed free agency to fill gaping holes. This is exactly what the Caps did over the weekend. After witnessing what Michael Nylander did on the first line in New York, how could they not sign him at a veritable bargain basement price of less than $5 million per year in order to give Alex Ovechkin the bona fide center that he needs. Fantasy-wise, I don't see his numbers dipping. And if they truly connect, he could push 90 points. As for Ovechkin, the sky is the limit. Assuming he stays healthy he could challenge for the Art Ross trophy. The money they didn't spend going after Drury, Briere or Gomez meant they could also sign Viktor Kozlov to increase their overall depth at forward. A brilliant move. This could also do wonders for Alex Semin who will have a quality forward to play with giving the Caps a decent 2nd line. Toss in the signing of Tom Poti and the Caps addressed three major needs for less than $12 million per season. A great deal.

Two teams, two different philosophies.

UFA Flurry

Wow...one day and there are a ton of signings, so let's get to them. Briere to Philly - from a Fantasy perspective this is awesome. Briere is a PP machine and 5 on 5 he's pretty deadly as well. With the young guys the Flyers have amassed there, this team stands to be a marked improvement over last years'.... Scott Gomez and Chris Drury to the Rangers are two very good signings for the Rangers as well. Both Gomez and Drury are very responsible defensively, which should be a marked improvement for the Rangers down the middle. Gomez is even a better play-maker than Nylander, so expect Jagr to really enjoy the soft passes. Drury's signing likely means that Brendan Shanahan will will have to take less to stay - but I think he does to get a chance to play with either of those two guys at center. Still no defence help, which is a concern....With Drury and Gomez in New York, reports had Michael Nylander originally signing with the Oilers. But that appears to be premature as he has now confirmed signing with the Washington Capitals. Poolies can only dream about the results from a Ovechkin-Nylander combo. If they can come close to the Jagr-Nylander combo that would be most impressive. An opportunity to play with Ales Hemsky is tantalizing, but the Oilers still need a sniper to play with those two guys and right now, there's not one on the team....Ryan Smyth to the Avalanche is a solid signing for the Avs. Captain Canada will get the chance to play with either Joe Sakic of super-sophomore Paul Stastny, which will mean a solid return to 30+ goals for Smyth....Mathieu Schneider's signing in Anaheim is further evidence that the Ducks expect that Scott Niedermayer will announce his retirement before the beginning of next season. As is, the Ducks may have one of the best top 4 defence corp ever assembled with Pronger, Schneider, Beauchemein and potentially Niedermayer. Schneider won't replace Niedermayer if he does retire, but he's a nice substitute nonetheless....with Schneider in Anaheim, the Red Wings wasted little time in landing Deerborn, MI native Brian Rafalski for a long-term deal. Rafalski gives the Red Wings an excellent tandem of Lidstrom and Rafalski to man the PP points. Poolies should see a rise in his point totals from playing with the offensively challnged Devils....the Blues signed Keith Tkachuk, just prior to UFA opening, and then landed Paul Kariya. Kariya's becoming less of an offensive impact, but perhaps this move to the Blues and the chance to play potentially with Doug Weight may rekindle more offense. Kariya was deadly on the PP last year, and the Blues will welcome that. Just don't over-pay for his services though....

Welcome...and where is Briere going?

...one and all to the Puckjunkie.com Blog. In this blog we'll discuss anything and everything related to fantasy hockey (and perhaps sports in general). Pretty much nothing is off limits, save for ensuring a certain level of decorum is maintained in the posts. First up this hockey off-season is the impending UFA signings beginning July 1st...here's the latest:

Daniel Briere - is being courted by a number of teams. Edmonton, Philly, Montreal and Phoenix are rumored to be prime to begin discussions with the talented center. Buffalo can't keep both Briere and Drury and it looks as though they are lowering their sight on Drury, and keeping their core young guys together (Pominville, Vanek, Campbell, Connolly). Briere's a great young talent. He had just an ok playoffs and that's likely the main reason why the Sabres are likely to choose Drury over Briere.