It’s a busy night in the National Hockey League tonight as we kick start the week with ten games tonight. A nice rest for most of the players should help teams rejoice and prepare for the second half of the season. Things are very tight at both of the Western and Eastern Conferences. Only 1 point difference between the Islanders and the Lightning; mind you the Isles have a couple games in hand. Surprisingly enough the Red Wings have made a big push in the Atlantic and are now sitting in second place. Amazing what a year of healthy players can do; last year was injury fest for the Wings. They are currently riding a 5 game win streak but will be without goaltending Jimmy Howard for a few weeks. Both Toronto and Buffalo have been putrid in the last month. Buffalo has lost 11 straight and Toronto has lost 6 in a row, but only has 1 win in their last 10 games. Ugly on all accounts, but more so for the Leafs as the management and fans figured they would be fighting for a playoff spot instead of a top 10 pick.
Anaheim continues to dominate the West as they have won 5 games in a row and have some roster space to make a move or two before the deadline. Keep an eye out, and if a player of worth is moved in their direction his fantasy value should increase drastically. Another team on the up rise is the Winnipeg Jets who have also won 5 games straight. After somewhat of a slow start things are looking really good for the Jets…they seem to have all lines firing and big Byfuglien is heating up! Calgary is one point ahead of the Kings for the final wildcard spot in the West…it’s going to be a tight finish. Here is a random stat I thought I’d throw out there…the Kings are 1-7 in the shootout; yikes.
As the rules go in the NHL if you miss the All-Star game and you were invited; you automatically miss the next game. So with that in mind, you won’t be seeing Crosby or Malkin tonight. As for Hornqvist and Letang; they are a game time decision tonight and I would imagine they will be in. The Penguins have 4 games this week so if you were pondering whether or not to take Crosby in the HBSL pool; I’d guess he only misses tonight’s game.
Erik Johnson is also out for the Avalanche which may hinder their chances at making the playoffs. Phaneuf is week to week for the Leafs and will certainly help with their ‘tanking’ that has been taking place as of late. These are two big defensemen who contribute a lot to their teams so expect both the Avalanche and the Leafs to switch up their defensive pairings…perhaps someone will get some more power play time who wasn’t before and is now worth scooping up for a couple games.
As you have heard Mike Richards passed through waivers and is now part of the Kings AHL team. It’s a shame, he was once a great player, one who worked hard and played hard…perhaps now a days too much partying? Whatever the case may be, the Kings just shred 900k off their roster and I would imagine will be active in a trade in the near future.
There is word out that Brodeur has retired and will be joining the St. Louis Blues front office; so if you scooped him up a few weeks back for some spot starts, get rid of him. Maybe pick up the backup goalie for Columbus (Curtis McElhinney) as I mentioned yesterday that Bobrovsky is hurt and will be for a few weeks. Calgary looks like they will be leaving Joni Ortio off the roster for now; we shall see if that holds but I would remove him from your roster if you are counting on goalie starts.
A few names to keep an eye on and to consider trading for using the buy low method would be players such as Filppula, O’Reilly, B. Schenn, Mikael Backlund and Evander Kane. Some of these guys had slow starts and are starting to pick up their game as of late. Remember it’s the second half of the season now and trades may happen, players may be traded from low ranked teams like Buffalo to possible contenders. Matt Moulson? Chris Stewart? Both of these guys have been underperforming this season and would be a great pickup if they are traded to a quality team; Moulson in particular.
Starting Goalies: (bold is starting, italics probable)
(NYR) Lundqvist VS (NYI) Halak (ARI) Smith VS (PHI) Emery (WPG) Pavelec VS (PIT) Greiss (WSH) Holtby VS (CLB) McElhinney (DET) Mrazek VS (FLA) Luongo (DAL) Lehtonen VS (MTL) Price (TBL) Bishop VS (CAR) Khudobin (COL) Varlamov VS (NSH) Hutton (BUF) Enroth VS (CLG) Hiller (MIN) Dubnyk VS (EDM) Fasth (ANA) Andersen VS (VAN) Miller
Make sure you have your HBSL team submitted before tonight’s first game! Thanks for reading, enjoy tonight’s games.