Fantasy Mailbag - November 8

[GoalieGuild]

Fire away, fantasy freaks! Polishing School of Block, will be posted around noon MST. Reinvented the wheel just a little bit, took the solid criticism to heart and hopefully you like it!!!

[Killer67]

I drafted Rinne & Ward as my 1-2 punch but they've been slightly less punch lately. The Halak owner won't consider moving him but do you think I should be making a play for a better starter or are these two going to turn it around? I'm assuming they still have great long term potential but my team is good enough to challenge now.

Thanks

[GoalieGuild]

I drafted Rinne & Ward as my 1-2 punch but they've been slightly less punch lately. The Halak owner won't consider moving him but do you think I should be making a play for a better starter or are these two going to turn it around? I'm assuming they still have great long term potential but my team is good enough to challenge now.

Thanks

I would hang tight. Rinne's slide is a little more serious right now but in Ward's situation, he logged a TON of minutes in October and traveled a ton as well. If you look around the league at the goalies that logged mucho minutes in October, they are going through some energy drain right now (Bryzgalov, Neuvirth, even Thomas a bit). Ward will be fine. Rinne needs to grow mentally and get over his internal issues but the season is still young and maybe just bench him the next few games if you want to keep your peripheral stats in tact. But I wouldn't try and get anyone better, you'd end up having to give up too much!

[Draxhall]

Will Quick keep up this pace? Or should I sell high and snag Luongo (who is on the block)? Or maybe even a high end forward? Team/League info in sig.

[GMGates]

What to do with Boucher in Philly? What's your take on him in a one year?

Thanks!

[Dr.Smurf]

Does Varlamov still have any value to Washington, or will they look to Neuvirth (who they already signed for another 2 years) as their future?

[nick12345]

Hey - thanks for doing this.

With Bobrovski playing so well and Philly stringin together some wins, do you think Leighton will be able to grab the starting job back or is he screwed?

[tradejunkie]

Howdy!

Rank 'em for NEXT year...

Gustavsson, Neuvirth, Lindback, Elliott, Holtby

[GoalieGuild]

Will Quick keep up this pace? Or should I sell high and snag Luongo (who is on the block)? Or maybe even a high end forward? Team/League info in sig.

I don't see any reason why Quick won't keep up his great play. The Kings are doing a good job of getting Bernier into the net and giving Quick adequate rest. So even though he has logged a ton of minutes, I don't see him experiencing the same energy drain that guys like Ward and Bryzgalov are currently experiencing.

It might be enticing to have Luongo on the block and potentially available, but not for Quick. Luongo is playing better and getting more comfortable with his style adjustments, but I still don't think he's going to be as great as we expected him to be at the beginning of the year. He still flops and labors and sprawls a lot. And Schneider is REALLY good. Better than I expected. So I would hold onto Quick.

[GoalieGuild]

What to do with Boucher in Philly? What's your take on him in a one year?

Thanks!

I think he wins the other spot over Leighton. He is a veteran presence, has already developed a relationship with Bobrovsky on and off the ice and put the team in the playoffs last year. Leighton has none of those assets on his side and the organization is peeved about his hidden back issues. I seriously think he gets waived or traded.

I think Boucher holds decent value as a third-string goalie on a fantasy team and is not a bad guy to hang onto. You never know what could happen with Bobrovsky at the mid-point of the season and Boucher is great coming off the bench and playing well in solid streaks. If you have the space, keep him around.

[grindin griers]

You mention about goalies that have started a lot so far starting to show some energy drain about this time of the year ... when can we expect Backstrom to slow down? He also did the trip over to Europe and has started every game except two I believe?

[GoalieGuild]

Does Varlamov still have any value to Washington, or will they look to Neuvirth (who they already signed for another 2 years) as their future?

Varlamov still has fantasy value in Washinton, but the leash is much shorter than at the start of the season. Holtby will be NHL ready very soon (like a few more games / months) and Neuvirth has already established what I expected of him.

But to answer your question, yes, I think Washington will look to Neuvy to be the future of the franchise. The X-factor is his playoff success in the AHL. And I think scouts are really starting to understand (finally) that Varlamov is way too much skill and not enough poise and positioning. He is not as mentally tough. Not to say he can't be very good in stretches, but these groin issues combined with the lack of minutes is not helping his future in Washington.

I seriously think the Caps should look to trade Varly now, or maybe over the next few months when his value is really high and he's really young. Holtby has just as much upside as Varlamov, and Holtby is a bigger body with a more refined game. I can't remember where exactly varlamov graduated in my Top-100 Prospects Rankings, but I know it was in the Top-10. Holtby is now up to #11 overall ... so you can see they are all very close in long-term potential.

[GoalieGuild]

Hey - thanks for doing this.

With Bobrovski playing so well and Philly stringin together some wins, do you think Leighton will be able to grab the starting job back or is he screwed?

Kinda answered this below - but my opinion is that Leighton is screwed. He was waived once, he'll probably be waived again. You don't mess with momentum and legit potential like Bobrovsky has, and Boucher has done nothing to lose his spot to Leighton.

[GoalieGuild]

Howdy!

Rank 'em for NEXT year...

Gustavsson, Neuvirth, Lindback, Elliott, Holtby

Neuvirth
Elliott
Lindback
Gustavsson
Holtby

This would be a ranking by fantasy value and games played. I really like how steady Elliott has progressed and because Leclaire is so injury prone, I have to put him second. But realize that anything could happen with Lindback and Gustavsson ... they are both very good and could see more games depending on how Rinne and Giguere do. And I am starting to think Holtby could be backing up Neuvirth, but it's hard to gauge where he would be in a ranking like this, this early in the season.

[scliff]

Hi there, I have some goalie issues at the moment to say the least. I drafted Miller and Rinne and neither of them have been all that impressive so far. Both Pavelec and Lindback are available free agents and I'm thinking about picking one up. How do you see the Nashville and Atlanta situations playing out? Which would be the better pickup to solidify my tending?