Fantasy Mailbag - October 25

[Ron Burgundy]

Got a little excited during the Oilers game 1 and traded for Khabi mid-way through the second period. Unfortunately due to a long first scoring period in our league I only had him in the lineup for last week so missed the hot start.

Obviously the team still has some work to do and will probably see a few more 6-1 games as the year goes on, but to me in the SJ game he was looking lazy at times (a la his last couple of years in Chicago other than his contract year).

Have you been able to get a look at him this year and do you think the first 2 games were a mirage? Or is it just that he's on that young-team rollercoaster?

Thanks in advance.

PS - thanks to your great insights I was able to snap up Lindback and Karlsson in my draft and am loving how that turned out.

[Pokerface]

Justin,
You mentioned above that FPW might not come over to NA, was that based on particular knowledge of his situation or desire to stay overseas or a more general possibility as a foreign player?
thanks....

[GoalieGuild]

Got a little excited during the Oilers game 1 and traded for Khabi mid-way through the second period. Unfortunately due to a long first scoring period in our league I only had him in the lineup for last week so missed the hot start.

Obviously the team still has some work to do and will probably see a few more 6-1 games as the year goes on, but to me in the SJ game he was looking lazy at times (a la his last couple of years in Chicago other than his contract year).

Have you been able to get a look at him this year and do you think the first 2 games were a mirage? Or is it just that he's on that young-team rollercoaster?

Thanks in advance.

PS - thanks to your great insights I was able to snap up Lindback and Karlsson in my draft and am loving how that turned out.

Khabibulin is a lot like Giguere. They suffer serious dehydration issues and they are in the tail end of stellar careers. Their minutes need to be managed. Khabibulin was awesome the first four games...but he's trailing off quickly. I haven't watched more than one full game from him, plus some stretches here and there. But I know his history and I know that the Oilers are making a huge mistake playing him every single minute through the first six games of the season. It's even more frustrating that they have yet to "choose" between JDD and DD and the only way a decision is made is if they play. The Oilers are rebuilding and they have an awesome backup in JDD and a decent future backup in DD. And a guy named Olivier Roy who will probably be much better than both of them. Yet they feel the need to play Khabby every single minute in the first six games. It just doesn't make sense.

Khabibulin is capable of playing like he did in the first two games. But he needs to be rested. And he needs to be motivated. There's no rest and unless another goalie plays, there's no motivation.

[GoalieGuild]

Justin,
You mentioned above that FPW might not come over to NA, was that based on particular knowledge of his situation or desire to stay overseas or a more general possibility as a foreign player?
thanks....

Nothing in regards to his personal desire or anything particular. It is the sheer fact that he's very early in his skills progression timeline and the Thrashers are VERY deep in goal. Eddy Pasquale has been the "surprise prospect of the month" in my opinion and Chris Carrozzi is an excellent young goalie as well. Combined with Mannino and Pavelec, we won't be seeing FPW in NA for a long time, maybe another 4 years. But he's still worthy of the Top-100 because of his long-term potential. But just barely!