Not all the teams played the same amount of games. But after 12 games looking at this NHL season so far it is crazy. Who would of thought going into Halloween that Anze Kopitar would be first in goals. 12 games 10 Goals and 21 points. He only had 60 something last year. And is well on his way of setting new career highs in everything. The kings offense is on fire right now along with the Rangers, Sharks, Oilers, Flames, Capitals, Avalanche and Stars. Like who the hell thought most of the teams would be offensive juggernauts right now with the exception of the Sharks and Capitals. Here is some slow starts and guys that are hot out the gate and an analysis. I didn't put the top players on the Hot Start List.
Slow Starts
Oli Jokinen (CGY) - Get rid of him as fast as you can. Last year 57 points. This year 5 points in the Flames 10 offensively productive games so far. This is now the trend with Jokinen. He is in the coaches dog house and not on the the top two lines. Trade him for anything you can get from another owner. Drop him for a younger forward on the top lines that is actually producing and getting goals. Jokinen is 30 gonna be 31 in December. But he is DONE!
Bobby Ryan (ANA) - This kid has the talent and skills. But it is not showing up on the box score right now. He has 2 goals and 2 assists. The 1 goal and assist came the other night. The ducks stink right now they lost 6-3 to the Maple Leafs which is emberassing. When the ducks turn it around so will Ryan. Do not give up on him so soon.
Bryan Little (ATL) - After a 31 goal season. He has 0 so far after 8 games along with 5 assists. The alarming number here is just the 12 shots in those 8 games. With Kovalchuk hurt, he should get top time. Now is his chance to start scoring, the Thrashers will be depending on it. If you trade him do not trade him cheap. He does have value as he is still getting points even without scoring goals right now.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic (SAN) - A semi-breakout season last year with 36 points. Only has 3 points after 12 games right now. Strange considering all the goals the Sharks are scoring. Ehrhoff was traded and you think Vlasic would of picked up more slack. Instead him and Rob Blake have somehow became putrid. I would not be playing Vlasic in my lineup. Only on the bench. If he does no signs of coming out of this slump, look to trade or drop him for a better guy.
Christopher Higgins (NYR) - A former 27 goal scorer and main player in the Gomez trade. Has yet to light the lamp for his new team. The Rangers have been producing offensively and Higgins only has 2 assists in 12 games. He is shooting the puck averaging almost 2 a game. But not a single goal yet. As of right now he has no fantasy value what so ever. He should not be on your team even in the deepest of leagues. You will get nothing for him in a trade. Would you want him if you were another owner?
Pekka Rinne (NAS) - After such a great season last year in his 1st year. He has really been lousy in his sophmore season. He is on a team that struggles to score goals on a nightly basis. But his GAA and SAVE % right now are so off from last years. It is early and so far Brodeur and Loungo rebounded. It is early still so don;t give up him already. If this continues he will kill your goalie stats. You need to think about finding a reliable goalie to put in untill he snaps out of it.
Steve Mason (CLB) - Mr Rookie of The Year and Vezina nominee is off to a bad start also. Yes he does have a 5-3 record. But his GAA of 3.51 ranks him 38th out of 42 goalies. And 39th out of 42 in Save % with an 88.3% ! The BlueJackets play defensive minded hockey. So its a shock to see his stats nose dive. But the BlueJackets look like a half decent team. So I don't think this will keep up all year. He did look soild in a few games.
Niklas Lidstrom (DET) - Is it finally the end of an era for Lidstrom. I thought he was going to be good again this year. But so far 3 points in 10 games. Not Lidstrom like stats so far. The whole detroit team stinks so far. So do not panic yet and trade him. Give the Red Wings 2 more weeks to get it together. If not maybe its the end of the road for the great Lidstrom.
Great Starts
(Goalie Tri-Fecta) Craig Anderson, Ryan Miller, Ilya Bryzgalov - These 3 goalie have been off to a great start so far this season. Ryan Miller is the sole reason that buffalo wins games. he is 6-0-1 in 7 games this year. Bryz is the only reason the Coyotes are off to a great start. He shutout 2 high scoring teams in the Penguins and Sharks. And has been stellar except his last game. Craig Anderson has been worth every penny the Avalanche paid for him. His numbers are great for a team that was at the bottom last year. Out of all 3 of these guys Miller has the most value. Bryzgalov is the most likely to drop off in stats because there is now way the Coyotes keep playing good. Anderson was good on the sucky panthers last year. So I do not see him doing horrible even when the AVS hit a losing skid. Plus he just got another shut out against the Oilers who were scoring alot.
Kings (1st Line) - Kopitar, Williams and Smyth, wow what a start. All though of course Justin Williams had to get hurt right smack dab in the middle of it. Will this keep up. No, but enjoy it while it lasts. Kopitar is the true stud out of the three. Smyth is old and puts up good numbers nothing spectacular though. Just Williams is a walking band-aid. Kopitar should score close to 90 points this season. If you have Ryan Smyth I would trade him now, I don't think his value can get much higher than what it is now.
Mike DelZotto (NYR) - Wow is he amazing offensively, sorta Mike Green. In the aspect that he is not that good defensively. DelZotto logs alot of PP time. He was given the #1 PP QB reigns as a rookie. And so far hasn't let anyone down. He is first in points for D-Men as a rookie thats incredible. He is 2nd in goals with 4. Just picture what he can do if he gets more then 16 minutes a game. If he works on his defense. He can be a 22+ minute D-Man. I do see him hitting a little dry patch in the next couple weeks. And he will finish with more then a half a point a game average. Do not trade him unless the other owner is ripping himself off, the sky is the limit.
Oilers (1st Line) - Hemsky, Penner, Gagner have been pretty good since being united. Dustin Penner has 8 goals and 15 points already. Not bad considering he had 37 points all last year. Hemsky finally is starting to look like a bonafide assist guy that could score from time to time. And Sam Gagner is starting to look the player people thought he would be. My advice would be to keep them if you have them. The oilers look promising especially with MSP and Eberle coming over next year. This can be an offensive team like the Blackhawks for years to come.
Renee Bourque (CGY) - He has proven to be a reliable producer the last 2 years. But he does have that flag next to him for being Injury Prone. With 14 points in 10 games he has more then Iginla and Jokinen combined. He has not been known to get them PPG goals. So this is the perfect candidate to trade "HIGH". Either in a package or straight up to improve another spot on your team. If he keeps it up and doesn't get hurt I would be amazed.
Ales Kotalik (NYR) - He has 12 points in 12 games. With 5 of them being goals. But he only shot the puck 12 times. If he would only shoot the puck more heh. So far so good as he is on the top power play unit right now. He has been productive out there with Gaborik. But a long term injury to Gabby like what almost happened the other night. And say goodbye to Kotalik's numbers. At 30 years old, trade him now while his value is at its highest its ever been.
No comments:
Post a Comment