SMC 11-1-2015 Typical cloudy, cool November day as the hockey season shifts into the second month.  Nice to be inside with a hot cup of joe while thousands of people are running all through the 5 boroughs of NYC. It looks like Detroit’s Gustav Nyquist is coming to life after a somewhat disappointing second season.  It’s November and that means that Pavel Datsyuk is close to returning for the struggling Red Wings.  I looked and saw that the Dallas Stars are atop the Western Conference.  Getting Antti Niemi might be the most underrated off-season move. The Sharks started off hot and now are just floundering.  Didn’t mean to use the bad pun there. NY Islanders Frans Nielsen is a beast so far this season.  Let’s see if the change from October to November affects him much. If Alain Vigneault breaks up the Nash-Brassard-Zuccarello line ever again, he should be interrogated intensely. Happy to see Zuccs fully recovered from that scary incident that happened during practice in last year’s playoffs. The Devils are serving notice that they will be competitive.  Well, that’s until the injuries start taking hold. Los Angeles is for real after that extremely slow start.  And they are doing it without Anze Kopitar being involved much. Devils’ Lee Stempniak is usually a streaky scorer but he seems to be more aware of his surroundings with 6 of his 8 points assists. Stars D John Klingberg is not having any effects of the sophomore jinx as he leads all NHL defenseman in points with 11.  Well, actually tied with those two guys in Montreal and Erik Karlsson.  Some pretty decent company, no? I expected Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin to be atop the league leaders in scoring but a bit surprised to see Boston’s David Krejci up there at number 3. I didn’t realize that Nashville is 7-1-2 on the season.  They certainly have been quiet about it. Toffoli, Carter and Lucic oh my! Jake Muzzin should see his production increase with Christian Ehrhoff now sidelined for a bit. Pittsburgh’s offense has finally erupted with two straight 4 goal games.  Oh wait!  They played Buffalo and Toronto back to back. This is not the Tampa team everyone was expecting to see this season at 5-5-2.  Will Andrej Vasilevskiy cut into Ben Bishop’s playing time this season?  Brad Marchand is having himself a season with 5-4-9 in 8 games. Everyone, well mostly everyone, is expecting the Montreal Canadiens will win the President’s Trophy but the Washington Capitals will give them a good run along with the NY ...

LOS ANGELES The basic theme for this team seems to be to just qualify for the playoffs then make a strong run, winning 2 Stanley Cups in the past 4 years.  After missing the playoffs last season, few minor changes were made with Mike Richards bought out, and Jarret Stoll going the free agent route. Defenseman Slava Voynov, with all his domestic violence issues, will not be back, maybe forever.  So the Kings brought in free agent D-man Christian Ehrhoff to fill Voynov’s minutes while hulking Milan Lucic was acquired in a trade.  Lucic fits the team well standing at 6’4” and 235 lbs. and brings that bruising style of play that the Kings love to dish out. Anze Kopitar in particular is playing for a contract so he can hit pay dirt with a huge season.  World class goaltender Jonathan Quick mans the crease again while all the top players will be back.  Head Coach Darryl Sutter is back for another year behind the bench and he handles the team very well.   GOALIES Every Stanley Cup contender has a steady influence in the crease and Quick brings that every night.  There is no doubt that Quick will see the majority of starts while newly acquired backup Jhonas Enroth is capable of spelling Quick to give him needed rest.  2012-2015                      GP      GAA       W        L        OTL       SP Jonathan Quick             407       2.27     212      139       46         .915 Last season he returned with a 30+ win season posting a 36-22-13 record with solid metrics.  Quick is a big-game player and gets up for the bigger games but is a solid #1 goalkeeper for the regular season.   DEFENSE The Kings’ defense seemed all set with Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Voynov & Alec Martinez rounding out the top four but that was before Voynov had a run-in with the law.  Not that it should’ve mattered with this team but continuity sure was disrupted.  With Voynov gone and the young defensive talent gaining valuable experience, the unit should be solid from the get go with new addition Ehrhoff.  Expect Doughty to lead the way offensively but Muzzin will challenge for that title this season.  Martinez is capable of chipping in but only worth a roster spot it if one of the top 2 lose time to injury.       FORWARDS Kopitar is the leader on offense but had an off year in 2014-2015 where he had the least amount of points in a non-strike or lockout season since his rookie year when he scored 61.  AK is poised to cash in big time if he even remotely has a standard Kopitar season of say...

Welcome to the new version of PrimePucks™ NHL IN 30 for 2015-2016. In the past we would give you our daily countdown to who we think would be the Stanley Cup champions but this year we are using a totally different format as most major websites are doing exactly what we were doing; bringing you a full, detailed synopsis of each NHL team from 30 to 1.  This season we thought mixing it up a bit would be more interesting.  Face it, for most “fantasy poolies”, it’s the players on the top teams that one cares about because you won’t get hit with poor plus/minus figures and you are more likely to get major point distribution from the better teams in the league.  The new format will have three parts to it.  It will be somewhat some of the same old format for the third part but with a different twist on the first two parts.  The final 16 teams will be written up in the same old style which was a full article featuring one of the playoff teams as we countdown to the Stanley Cup Champions.  At least, what we think will be the Stanley Cup Champions.  The first two parts will be broken down this way.  The first article will feature the 7 teams we think will not be fighting for a playoff spot come the second half of the season but rather, fighting for a chance to pick first overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft in June 2016.  We will call that article, NHL IN 30: LOOKING OUT FOR NO. 1.  The second part will be a feature spotting the 7 teams that will just fall short of the coveted playoff berth which will be entitled, NHL IN 30: CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR.    PART II: CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR The following squads have plenty of playoff-worthy talent to get them to the post-season but will need things to fall a certain way or other teams to start tanking. In other words, we would not be surprised if they are among the top 16 come April, but we are predicting they will be on the outside looking in:   PITTSBURGH PENGUINS: A quarterfinal playoff exit at the hands of the New York Rangers left the Pittsburgh Penguins failing again to make another lengthy run at Lord Stanley. GM Jim Rutherford acted swiftly by adding an elite scoring winger in Phil Kessel to line up with either Crosby or Malkin. Their top-six forwards will arguably be the most prolific in the NHL, but what about the defense? You can’t fully trust Kris Letang and Olli Maatta as the top defensive pairing, mainly due to recent injury concerns. Losses of Paul Martin and Christian Ehrhoff hurt their defensive depth. Yes, the ...

From what I can see, with the Pittsburgh getting everyone back into the lineup except for defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, the Penguins will start to be an imposing force again.  Last night they didn't even get offensive contributions from Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin and still managed to manhandle the Detroit Red Wings 4-1…. It's nice to see the Sedin twins still have something left in the tank as the Vancouver Canucks held off the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 last night. Not to be outdone by the Sedins, Marian Hossa scored twice while Patrick Kane took over the league lead in scoring with 3 points in a losing effort…. The night ended with another high-scoring affair as the Washington Capitals defeated the San Jose Sharks 5-4 in overtime. This game went to the dogs, we'll just once dog actually, as Capital Jay Beagle had 2 goals and an assist. Don’t look for more games like this one from Mr. Beagle…Sharks d-man Brent Burns scored twice and already has 6 points in February whereas he only had 8 total points in January. Expect more consistent scoring from the talented blue liner….the Sharks offense seems to have woken up as all the main characters had 2-point nights with the exception of Joe Pavelski who had 1 assist.  Continue to roll out your Sharks every week as they battle for playoff position.

Hot coffee on a cold day.....let's go! I think Christian Ehrhoff took the task to hand yesterday with 7 SOG and the game-winning goal in the third period. Finally earning that paycheck... No Kunitz. No Dupuis. No Hornqvist.  No Bennett.  No Letang.  No problem for the Penguins as long as they have both Crosby, Malkin and Fleury leading the way.... The Islanders had the Blues, leading 3-0 after 1 period, but Marty was the inspiration taking over for Jake Allen.... Both top defensemen for the St. Louis Blues had a combined 15 SOG, Shattenkirk 8 & Pietrangelo 7..... Vladimir Tarasenko is slowing down, but not much as he potted his 17th goal to seal the deal on Long Island. You knew Jaroslav Halak had to lose after winning 11 in a row and Steve Mason had to win eventually. It was just odd that the Flyers would beat the Kings in LA after going 1-8-2 in last 11 games.... Has anyone seen Anze Kopitar this season? Two teams you gotta believe in this year are the NY Islanders and the Calgary Flames.... If Florida can string together a few wins, then they would be my surprise team of the season so far... And Columbus would be my surprise team going the other way but with the way Sergei Bobrovsky has been playing in his last few games, I think the Blue Jackets are ready to make a run.... I mean, the Jackets did beat the Tampa Bay Lightning on their own ice 3-1 as they have everyone back in their lineup.... Buffalo's Matt Moulson had 7 SOG but I'm sure he daydreams about his days playing alongside John Tavares on Long Island.... Roberto Luongo must be loving life playing in Florida again, getting away from last year's circus in Vancouver.... You just gotta love what this kid Aaron Ekblad is bringing to, not only the Florida Panthers, but the NHL as well.   3 more assists last night brings him up to 17 points in 25 games.  Impressive indeed... Remember how it was the end of the world for Leaf fans when they took a 9-2 shellacking from the Tampa Bay Lightning? They have gone 5-1-1 since that game.  Sometimes you need a little smack on the behind to get you going... With 7 points in last 4 games, Joffrey Lupul seems to be getting into one of his zones that he is famous for. The other thing that Lupul is famous for is getting injured... Every single Canuck had a SOG in yesterday's contest against Toronto.... Tyler Seguin with his 3 points leapfrogged over Crosby and Voracek for the NHL lead in points. Plus he leads with 21 goals.  Boston?  Do you see what is ...

There is always much optimism with many defensemen that they will to continue to develop after breakthrough seasons or maintaining elite offensive production, but fantasy owners need to be cognizant of when they get off to slow starts. A mere blip on the radar or signs of things to keep coming? A few of the after-mentioned candidates are not reaping the expected retuns for their fantasy owners... James Wisniewski was high on many pre-draft lists after a monster 52-point season,but has regressed early with only 3 points in his first nine games. A broken finger injury which should sideline him a few weeks is complicating matters as he is becoming one frustrating fantasy asset to own. I wouldn't necessarily cut bait so fast, as the Columbus team has been besieged by injuries and should be a more competent offensive squad by the second half. Also, to those who have suggested that his last season's production is more of a statistical outlier, the "Wiz" has also scored 50+ pts for the Habs a few years back. He is the real deal, so maybe "buy low" on him when Columbus starts getting healthier again. Justin Faulk has been hyped for a few years now as Carolina's next great offensive defenseman, but it hasn't materialized yet. After his career high 32 point season in 13-14, fantasy hopes were high but new coach Bill Peters has been utilizing him more as a top pairing shutdown defender. He has been kept off the primary power play unit but that could change soon as the team continues to struggle on the man advantage. Faulk has the makings of a solid all-around rearguard, but the jury is still out on whether he can put up big numbers. Hold on for awhile longer while the team's key forward pieces like Staal and Skinner are back healthy. If better options present themselves, the feel free to cut bait. So much for Christian Ehrhoff automatically returning to his 40+ point days, as he is off to a slow start in Pittsburgh. With the Penguins rolling with 4 forwards on the primary power-play unit, the German rearguard has seen his fantasy value diminish over the first few weeks. However, when dealing with the high octane Penguins, he can still have considerable fantasy value as he should accumulate plenty of points by association despite the present lack of pp time. Johnny Boychuk does take a hit to his fantasy value with Lubomir Visnovsky back in the fold for the Islanders. After going 6 games without a point, his two power play assists have re-energized his fantasy...

There is no doubting that the Pittsburgh is the goldmine of fantasy hockey especially when you have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to start you off. There has been a lot of talk over the past few years about how the Penguins can't seem to get it together for the Stanley Cup playoff run.  The knock on goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was that he was a great regular season goalie, but come the playoffs, he was lacking that extra gear. Some changes were made in the off-season with the Draft Day trade of James Neal for Patric Hornqvist, and letting Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen leave via free agency. Christian Ehrhoff was signed to add support for Kris Letang. Letang needs to play a full season and stay away from injury.  GOALIES When it comes to fantasy hockey goaltending, having a number 1 who starts just about every game and gives you decent enough metrics is all you care about. When it comes to playoff hockey, it's the rabid fan that cares more about the goaltender's performance than the fantasy poolie which makes Fleury the perfect fantasy goaltender.  He starts every game, gets you close to 40 wins, has decent metrics and pitches in a few shutouts and rarely gets injured.  It doesn't hurt that he has a powerhouse offensive club in front of him.  Thomas Greiss was brought in to serve as backup and if he proves more than capable, he might steal a few more starts from Fleury than Jeff Zatkoff did last season. DEFENSE The Pittsburgh defense flows through Letang, but help is on the way. Ehrhoff was signed to take some of the offensive pressure off Letang and with last season's sensation Olli Maata recovering from an off-season shoulder surgery, Ehrhoff's presence was sorely needed. He will also act as an insurance policy if Letang should go down to yet another injury.  Letang was once considered one of the top 2 or 3 fantasy D-men in the league but injuries have taken their toll.  Maata will have to ward off not only the sophomore jinx, but pursuit from other young talent such as Derick Pouliot (recovering from his own off-season surgery) and Simon Despres, who may get an extended look this time around. Those are your potent offensive defensemen with Paul Martin and Rob Scuderi providing the defensive support. FORWARDS There is not much to say about Crosby and Malkin that poolies don't already know. What will be interesting to see is if Hornqvist will take the role vacated by Neal and be that 40 goal scorer.  Chris Kunitz enjoys life on the wing of ...

it's nice to finally talk about how players are performing in games, but keep mind in that statistics in exhibition contests are entirely misleaading. As a fantasy owner, you are paying attention to possible line combinations and power-play units that are clicking during the pre-season. A few notable performances to mention during the first night of live game action: Justin Schultz scored a goal and an assist for Edmonton in the 3-1 intra-squad victory over Calgary. Here is a rising defenseman who should easily build on his mini-breakout season of 33 points. With the Oiler's young guns poised to take a big step forward, Schultz will move into the top 15-20 tier of fantasy defensemen. Love his upside.. Vladimir Tarasenko is also one to watch for St. Louis, collecting a goal and an assist. Even on a balanced offense where coach Hitchcock evenly rolls out three lines, the young stud winger is easily the most talented and can make a run at 50-55 points... Keep your eye on Columbus RW Cam Atkinson (2 goals), as he should play big minutes while Nathan Horton recovers from injury. And even if he does, the oft-injured winger should miss enough games to allow Atkinson to be the top RWer for an extended period of time. Ryan Johansen gets all the love, but Atkinson is a pure goal scorer. He will bust out soon. Solid late-pick. -Bobby Ryan apparently got his "bell rung" after colliding with Kyle Turris during an Ottawa practice. Speaking to reporters after the incident, Ryan appeared to be ok and is listed as 'day-to-day' and will likely miss their exhibition opener.. Jonathan Drouin missed another scrimmage for Tampa Bay due to an upper body injury. Coach Cooper stated that the youngster should be ready to go for their exhibition games. The Lightning start Tuesday night against Nashville.. Christian Ehrhoff has been paired with Paul Martin during Pittsburgh's first few days of camp. The former Buffalo rearguard should be highly regarded in fantasy as a return to his 40-point days are coming.. Minnesota coach Mike Yeo has been pleased with the Thomas Vanek-Mikko Koivu pairing so far. The Wild are loaded at left wing, as Zach Parise should be primed for another big year. In terms of fantasy worth, regardless of where these two wingers line up, both figure to get time on the primary power-play unit.

After finishing last in the NHL last season with 52 points, the Buffalo Sabres under GM Tim Murray are in full rebuilding mode for the upcoming campaign. While considered favorites to land Connor McDavid in the upcoming draft sweepstakes, recent veteran additions during the off-season (Moulson, Gionta, Meszaros, Gorges) will make them better but not quite good enough to be in playoff contention. The subtraction of defenseman Christian Ehrhoff leaves the Sabres with arguably the weakest supply of fantasy options in the entire league. Top draft pick Sam Reinhart will be a fantasy stud in the near future, but recent departures of Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek have left the Sabres devoid of elite fantasy talent. That being said, there a few interesting mid-round options plus sleepers that could help your fantasy teams in the late rounds of your drafts. Goalies There is quite the logjam in the crease for Buffalo, as three 20+ year olds will potentially challenge for the starting job. The safest bet seems to be Jhonas Enroth, who struggled last season with a 4-11-5 record, 2.78 GAA and .911 SP. He will certainly be pushed by Michal Neuvirth, who never fulfilled his potential while a member of the Washington Capitals. Matt Hackett will probably start the season in the AHL, but has the ability to move up the depth chart. His 13-17-2 record for Rochester and 1-6-1 mark for Buffalo last season may suggest he is not ready yet. Considering that the team projects to be among the weakest in the NHL, play it safe and stay away from drafting any of the above-mentioned goalies. Defense With Christian Ehrhoff no longer on the team, Tyler Myers once again becomes the top fantasy option on the Sabre's blue-line. While his offensive numbers have plummeted since his 48-point rookie effort, he will be counted on to anchor the team's top power-play unit. Injuries have plagued him throughout his career, but his upside makes him a low-risk gamble in the middle to late rounds. If he can stay healthy, a return to the 40-point mark is not out of the question. 2nd-year Rasmus Ristolainen should make a decent jump in Year 2, but does the sophomore jinx await him? Coach Ron Rolston plans to hand the gifted youngster a much bigger workload, so keep tabs on how he is being utilized in training camp. New addition Andrej Meszaros will get top-four minutes, but you can cap his numbers at the 30-point range. Andrei Benoit could be a late-round sleeper, considering his power-play success for ...

After finishing last in the NHL last season with 52 points, the Buffalo Sabres under GM Tim Murray are in full rebuilding mode for the upcoming campaign. While considered favorites to land Connor McDavid in the upcoming draft sweepstakes, recent veteran additions during the off-season (Moulson, Gionta, Meszaros, Gorges) will make them better but not quite good enough to be in playoff contention. The subtraction of defenseman Christian Ehrhoff leaves the Sabres with arguably the weakest supply of fantasy options in the entire league. Top draft pick Sam Reinhart will be a fantasy stud in the near future, but recent departures of Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek have left the Sabres devoid of elite fantasy talent. That being said, there a few interesting mid-round options plus sleepers that could help your fantasy teams in the late rounds of your drafts. Goalies There is quite the logjam in the crease for Buffalo, as three 20+ year olds will potentially challenge for the starting job. The safest bet seems to be Jhonas Enroth, who struggled last season with a 4-11-5 record, 2.78 GAA and .911 SP. He will certainly be pushed by Michal Neuvirth, who never fulfilled his potential while a member of the Washington Capitals. Matt Hackett will probably start the season in the AHL, but has the ability to move up the depth chart. His 13-17-2 record for Rochester and 1-6-1 mark for Buffalo last season may suggest he is not ready yet. Considering that the team projects to be among the weakest in the NHL, play it safe and stay away from drafting any of the above-mentioned goalies. Defense With Christian Ehrhoff no longer on the team, Tyler Myers once again becomes the top fantasy option on the Sabre's blue-line. While his offensive numbers have plummeted since his 48-point rookie effort, he will be counted on to anchor the team's top power-play unit. Injuries have plagued him throughout his career, but his upside makes him a low-risk gamble in the middle to late rounds. If he can stay healthy, a return to the 40-point mark is not out of the question. 2nd-year Rasmus Ristolainen should make a decent jump in Year 2, but does the sophomore jinx await him? Coach Ron Rolston plans to hand the gifted youngster a much bigger workload, so keep tabs on how he is being utilized in training camp. New addition Andrej Meszaros will get top-four minutes, but you can cap his numbers at the 30-point range. Andrei Benoit could be a late-round sleeper, considering his power-play success for ...