Somewhere under the radar - skys are .....

[NYR9394]

Shoeless wrote:

Ahh now there is a name I hadn\'t thought of NYR9394 - bears looking at for sure. There is a guy who deserves to play with Crosby for a while.

Wow, that would be 40 goals just waiting to happen. Especially since he\'s not afraid to get his nose dirty in front of the net and in the corners. That would be really sick to watch, but i\'m glad we still have him. :laugh:

[Shoeless]

Oh well guess Fedotenko and Satan will split the pot with about 25 dingers each.

[NYR9394]

I dont know what to expect with people who play with Crosby. It seems that the only guy who has guarenteed success when playing on his line is Malkin.

I actually picked up Sykora when he got wing eligibility(I already had Thornton,Camalleri & Brind\'Amour so i didn\'t need another center)last season thinking that since he was playing with Crosby he would point-per-game player easily. Not quite. He wasnt even a PPG player when they put him with Malkin. If there is one thing i\'ve learned it\'s that even though you may be playing with a superstar, it doesnt automatically guarentee success. Remember how much Ovechkin just loved the idea of playing with fellow countryman Viktor Kozlov? That didn\'t quite pan out either.:laugh:

[Shoeless]

In time I think the match will be made - The Great One didn\'t find his mesh right away either.

[playmaker26]

Simon Gagne

If he\'s healthy he could get 45 goals and 75-80 points. As a Flyers fan, I sure hope so.

[playmaker26]

NYR9394 wrote:

Petr Prucha. The guy didn\'t score 30 goals for nothing. He just got a really raw deal last season.

He\'s overrated and will never hit 30 goals again. He is a good 3rd line checking winger who can chip in with some offense. Similar to Callahan but I like Callahan much more.

[fantasyhockeygeek]

Everybody talks about Vanek having a bounceback year so he might fly a bit under the radar... but the man you need to look at is Derek Freaking Roy. I asked about him in another thread a while ago and since then I\'ve done a fair amount of digging, and I LOVE what I came up with.

First 44 games of the season (when Vanek was disappointing quite a few owners): Vanek = 0.57 points/game, Roy = 0.75 points/game. The last 38 games of the season that gave Vanek owners hope for the future: Vanek = 1.03 point/game, Roy = 1.34 points/game!!

If you project his first 40 games played to a full season (he missed 4 due to a shoulder injury), ie as if Vanek was playing poorly, you can put him at around 60 points... but that is equivalent to Vanek putting up 45-ish points.

So if you\'re pencilling Vanek in at say 77 points with 45 goals (seems to be a common view), that is roughly equivalent (in terms of projection) to Roy putting up 101 points 38 goals. I don\'t think Roy will put up those kind of numbers, but he has serious upside on an 80-point prediction. A few other things to consider about my new man-crush Roy:

- Last year was his 3rd year in the league, and he put up 81 points. He\'s oldish (25) to be playing his 3rd year, but he\'s been a winner and clutch in every level of hockey he\'s played in. Think of a scoring Chris Drury (though with respect to Roy, few players are winners like CD)

- Buffalo missed the playoffs and largely disappointed, but he still put up great numbers. If/when the team gets their act together his +/- and upside is better.

- Roto league stud! Last year\'s stat line: 78 GP, 32 G, 49 A, 81 pts, +13, 49 PIM, 218 shots, 23 PPP, 5 SHP. He actually started shooting more when Vanek got hot again.

[NYR9394]

playmaker26 wrote:

NYR9394 wrote:

Petr Prucha. The guy didn\'t score 30 goals for nothing. He just got a really raw deal last season.

He\'s overrated and will never hit 30 goals again. He is a good 3rd line checking winger who can chip in with some offense. Similar to Callahan but I like Callahan much more.

Are you nuts? Seriously? Prucha is definitely not overrated. There\'s only so much you can do when you\'re playing on the 4th line and getting 4th line minutes with Blair Betts & Ryan Hollweg. Either that or he was a healthy scratch and did get a chance to produce with decent players. It\'s not his fault that he got such a raw deal.

And chip in SOME offense? What is he, Brad Isbister? He\'s a nice second line winger at the very least. And he\'s WAY better than Callahan. The only comparison that can be made between them is that they are both midgets who arent afraid to take or give a hit.

[playmaker26]

NYR9394 wrote:

playmaker26 wrote:

NYR9394 wrote:

Petr Prucha. The guy didn\'t score 30 goals for nothing. He just got a really raw deal last season.

He\'s overrated and will never hit 30 goals again. He is a good 3rd line checking winger who can chip in with some offense. Similar to Callahan but I like Callahan much more.

Are you nuts? Seriously? Prucha is definitely not overrated. There\'s only so much you can do when you\'re playing on the 4th line and getting 4th line minutes with Blair Betts & Ryan Hollweg. Either that or he was a healthy scratch and did get a chance to produce with decent players. It\'s not his fault that he got such a raw deal.

And chip in SOME offense? What is he, Brad Isbister? He\'s a nice second line winger at the very least. And he\'s WAY better than Callahan. The only comparison that can be made between them is that they are both midgets who arent afraid to take or give a hit.

Don\'t let your Rangers bias get in the way here.

Prucha\'s 30 goal season was not something we will be seeing again...maybe 1-2 years. I see him as being a 20-25 goal scorer with 18-23 assists. Sure, his linemates were not very good, but I don\'t know how you see that changing this season? They lost some guys but they also brought in some players. Dawes will have a more prominent role than last season.

Did I say anything about comparing him to a fringe 4th liner like Isbister? No. I think Prucha will be a 3rd liner.

[Fongmeister]

My Sleepers...

C-Andy McDonald. The guy isn\'t a multipositional stud, but he does get the job done in points. I find him undervalued

LW-Todd Bertuzzi. I\'m willing to take a flyer on the guy personally. If he can stay healthy I think he\'ll be good for 40-50 pts. And tons of PIMs. He could also end up on the top line if Cammy gets injured again.

RW-No one off the top of my head right now.

D-Kevin Bieksa. Although I am riding the hometown wagon, let\'s face it. Bieksa was up and coming, and got knocked out for most the season. Look for him to make a comeback. PIM and points stud.

G-Josh Harding. I don\'t like Nick Backstrom. I think he loses the job to Harding this season. Although everybody loves him in keepers, he goes untouched in 1 years.

[NYR9394]

playmaker26 wrote:

Don\'t let your Rangers bias get in the way here.

Sure, his linemates were not very good, but I don\'t know how you see that changing this season? They lost some guys but they also brought in some players. Dawes will have a more prominent role than last season.

Im not letting any bias get in the way....I actually dont think they\'re gonna make the playoffs based on the moves they did and did not make. How can I be considered biased? Im a realist.

How do I see it changing for Prucha? Let\'s see:

1)Increased ice time
2)Better linemates(wont be stuck on the 4th line. Second line or better with all the departures.)
3)He\'ll actually get real PP time.
4)He wont be a healthy scratch nearly as often.

I dont know why you\'re hating on Prucha. So you think Dawes will get more prominent role but Prucha,who has the 30 goal season under his belt already, wont get a chance at that prominent role? I dont get the unproven Dawes infatuation.

And the Brad Isbister thing was not meant to be taken literally. I was just saying that Prucha is definitely better than 3rd line checking material.

[fantasyhockeygeek]

And Shoeless, props for the Wizard of Oz allusion in the thread title...B)

[Shoeless]

pooladdict wrote:

Everybody talks about Vanek having a bounceback year so he might fly a bit under the radar... but the man you need to look at is Derek Freaking Roy. I asked about him in another thread a while ago and since then I\'ve done a fair amount of digging, and I LOVE what I came up with.

First 44 games of the season (when Vanek was disappointing quite a few owners): Vanek = 0.57 points/game, Roy = 0.75 points/game. The last 38 games of the season that gave Vanek owners hope for the future: Vanek = 1.03 point/game, Roy = 1.34 points/game!!

If you project his first 40 games played to a full season (he missed 4 due to a shoulder injury), ie as if Vanek was playing poorly, you can put him at around 60 points... but that is equivalent to Vanek putting up 45-ish points.

So if you\'re pencilling Vanek in at say 77 points with 45 goals (seems to be a common view), that is roughly equivalent (in terms of projection) to Roy putting up 101 points 38 goals. I don\'t think Roy will put up those kind of numbers, but he has serious upside on an 80-point prediction. A few other things to consider about my new man-crush Roy:

- Last year was his 3rd year in the league, and he put up 81 points. He\'s oldish (25) to be playing his 3rd year, but he\'s been a winner and clutch in every level of hockey he\'s played in. Think of a scoring Chris Drury (though with respect to Roy, few players are winners like CD)

- Buffalo missed the playoffs and largely disappointed, but he still put up great numbers. If/when the team gets their act together his +/- and upside is better.

- Roto league stud! Last year\'s stat line: 78 GP, 32 G, 49 A, 81 pts, +13, 49 PIM, 218 shots, 23 PPP, 5 SHP. He actually started shooting more when Vanek got hot again.

You\'re preaching to the choir Pooladdict - I had both Vanek and Roy last year. Drafted Vanek and made a move on Roy fairly early in the season. Then waited - they took me over the top in the end. I think Roy could go under the radar as you suggest but probably not by much in my money league - folks pay attention to who had what the last season and were successful with it.

[andrewklassen]

pooladdict wrote:

And Shoeless, props for the Wizard of Oz allusion in the thread title...B)

Yes and No...as I have been unable to dislodge that wonderfully soaring melody yet.

Here\'s a few guys I think will improve on last year\'s totals...you decide by how much and where to draft them.

Tanguay [58 points last year under Keenan now in the East]
Hejduk [54 points on a team that missed Stastny/Sakic for some time]
Brind\'Amour [this guy\'s always under-rated and he was hurt last year...tallying only 51...he should be back over 70]
Lupul [46 points before injury was close to PPG pace]
Nylander [37 points before injury...will be a top 2 line C on one of the most explosive offense teams in the league]
Clowe [he\'ll be well above the 8 points from last year]
Weiss [could be a 1st line C...will that matter in FLA?]

Band-Aid Boys Club [pick at your own risk]

Connolly
Havlat
Justin Williams
Afinogenov
Sakic [was hurt last year...likely not under the radar]
Bergeron

[Rad64]

I like Andrews picks. Guys with an injury last season are definatley worth a look later on in a draft.

Tanguay looks to be a great sleeper in Montreal. I would be surprised if he didn\'t reach 75+.

Nylander should put up great numbers in Was.
I think Kozlov may be a sleeper candidate for the Caps too.

Clowe/Weiss/Booth/Bernier will make nice late round sleepers.

I think Brunette in Minny might have a good year and his stock will have taken a tumble.

Purcell in LA.