Pominville

[Slow Train]

So, I could not help but notice that Pominville is quite low on Dobber\'s top 300 list. Number 69 if memory serves. Now, I know that he had a pretty bad year last season but even still he was 13th overall for RWs in our ESPN league. Ahead in total points of the likes of Hemsky, Kessel and Dumont to name a few. Over the last month, only Gaborik averaged more fantasy points per game than Pominville.

Now I surely don\'t expect to see Pominville at the top of any RW list, but there are quite a few RW\'s ahead of Pominville on Dobber\'s list. I am wondering if there is a reason for this. I am relatively new to fantasy hockey and would love to get the inside scoop as they say.

Thanks as always.

[Chuk]

I have been thinking along the same lines. Was Pominville that bad or was Buffalo just brutal? Is he a buy low candidate?

Pominville preformed well below expectations last year. I think the place on Dobbers list is a reflection of this.

Even though he had a horrible year last year he still put up decent numbers. Considering the inconsistency in Buffalo with their lineup, maybe we are going to see a return to form of the previous year.

No doubt a healthy Vanek and Connoly (LOL..just sounds funny) will lead to a better offense and better chances for Pominville. Plus a full season with Roy might let them gel and start to from some chemistry.

Going forward he should be a reliable 70-80 point player in BUF with 30+ goals. He will never be mistaken for a top tier player in the league but he is a valuable fantasy asset, especially in leagues with positional requirements.

[NYR9394]

Sometimes I feel that Dobber has a bit of long term memory loss on certain players. A perfect example is Mike Cammalleri. He forgot that Cammalleri had an 80 point season under his belt, so he listed him with some ridiculously low number(65?), just because he had a rib injury that limited him to only 63 games two years ago. That rib injury was no indication of his talent level or the people he plays with, but it\'s what Dobber used as the basis for a really low-ball prediction. He comes back and almost hits 40 goals and reaches a PPG. Swing and a miss.

Another example is Alex Tanguay. He sucked badly under Keenan, left Calgary, then his numbers almost reached the levels we have become accustom to, almost a PPG even in an injury riddled year. (41 points in 50 games) With health next year, which is a variable nobody can predict, he should be back to the 75 point plateau.


My point behind this is to not take Dobber\'s word as gospel 100% of the time. A healthy Vanek + not seeing 3rd/4th line duties should gt Pommer closer to the 80 point guy he was 2 years ago and not the dud he was this year.

[doulos]

Tanguay has had 4 out of the last 5 seasons where he has missed games and struggled to put up points the last 2 seasons. Even if he maintained his current pt/game pace he would have failed to hit 70 points again.

Pominville has hit 80 points only once in his career but coould do it again, particularly since he finished off this season strong. I see him as more of a 70 point guy though.

But you\'re absolutely right, the rankings are a guideline to be followed and not gospel.

[hockeyislife]

Perhaps the reason why Pomiville slid down on Dobber\'s list os that he doesn\'t have a longterm history yet to base his performance on.

I think that last year was just an off season for him, and that he will get back to the 70+ point range this season. He still was among the top 15 in overall scoring for RW last season.

Like NYR said, Dobber\'s guide is only that. It\'s not a guarantee that a player will perform that way.

[STONE.]

NYR9394 wrote:

A healthy Vanek + not seeing 3rd/4th line duties should gt Pommer closer to the 80 point guy he was 2 years ago and not the dud he was this year.

I think this is a great point. Pommer played much of the year with Vanek, and if you look at his year, there is a big dry spell between mid-Feb and mid-March (not coincidentally the time Vanek was out).

No reason to think he won\'t bounce back with a healthy Vanek.