Some weekend updates…and I’m not Chevy Chase… McGinn-Demers Trade: The Florida Panthers shipped off veteran defenseman Jason Demers to the Arizona Coyotes and received LWer Jamie McGinn.  The Cats cleared about $12 million in cap space and added some grit.  Don’t expect much in terms of offense from the journeyman now on his 6th NHL team.  The Coyotes add another veteran defenseman to go along Niklas Hjalmarsson, acquired right before the NHL Entry Draft from Chicago, Alex Goligoski and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.  This gives the Arizona Coyotes a very solid core in front of Antti Raanta who will be taking over the reins as the starting goaltender in the desert.  The Coyotes are an improved team and should not be an NHL doormat anymore. Draft Guide Updated:  Look for the new Draft Guide file in your account.  All updates are highlighted in yellow, so they are easy to spot….Some updates…Evander Kane added to Buffalo Sabres team page and Forward Tiers as was Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks….All recent signings, David Pastrnak, Bryan Little, Nikita Zadorov to name just a few….Even the above trade has been updated in the Guide…Made a few forecast changes to Connor Brown and Oliver Bjorkstrand in particular as we curbed our enthusiasm for both talented wingers… EXCITING NEW FEATURE WE THINK YOU WILL LOVE ON THE DRAFT GUIDE PDF!!!  Open the Draft Guide and click on any Title in the Table of Contents and you will be brought directly to the page!  No more scrolling.  I am working on adding that feature for the individual Team Pages as well.  Hopefully will be done by tonight!  Check back every few days for updates as we continue to add and make updates throughout the pre-season. Ciao for now! Ray

Some weekend updates…and I’m not Chevy Chase… McGinn-Demers Trade: The Florida Panthers shipped off veteran defenseman Jason Demers to the Arizona Coyotes and received LWer Jamie McGinn.  The Cats cleared about $12 million in cap space and added some grit.  Don’t expect much in terms of offense from the journeyman now on his 6th NHL team.  The Coyotes add another veteran defenseman to go along Niklas Hjalmarsson, acquired right before the NHL Entry Draft from Chicago, Alex Goligoski and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.  This gives the Arizona Coyotes a very solid core in front of Antti Raanta who will be taking over the reins as the starting goaltender in the desert.  The Coyotes are an improved team and should not be an NHL doormat anymore. Draft Guide Updated:  look for the new Draft Guide file in your account.  All updates are highlighted in yellow, so they are easy to spot….Some updates…Evander Kane added to Buffalo Sabres team page and Forward Tiers as was Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks….All recent signings, David Pastrnak, Bryan Little, Nikita Zadorov to name just a few….Even the above trade has been updated in the Guide…Made a few forecast changes to Connor Brown and Oliver Bjorkstrand in particular as we curbed our enthusiasm for both talented wingers… Check back every few days for updates as we continue to add and make updates throughout the pre-season. Ciao for now! Ray

Antti Raanta secured a 38-save shutout against the Lightning. Who joined him in the perfect lineup?

BTP: NO WORRIES, I’VE GOT YOUR BACK! Last Year’s New York Rangers showed how valuable a backup can be in your quest to make the playoffs as Cam Talbot stepped in for the injured Henrik Lundqvist and was nothing short of spectacular as the Rangers surged on their way to winning the President’s trophy.    MONTREAL CANADIENS:  When you are possessing one of the elite goaltenders in the NHL today you never think that your #1 net minder will go down to injury for a significant stretch of time, but it happens all the time.  The most recent case had Carey Price missing a few weeks with an undisclosed lower-body injury.  In comes relatively unknown rookie Mike Condon who started 9 games in a row, going 5-2-2 in those games until Price’s return on Friday, November 20th.  The Canadiens are hoping to challenge for the President’s Cup and need those kind of efforts in order to fulfill that goal. The Rangers proved how valuable having that solid backup is last year, and the Habs are proving it again this year. Teams that have excellent backup goaltending are the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings and the St. Louis Blues.  The Rangers signed Antti Raanta after trading away last year’s savior Cam Talbot to the Edmonton Oilers for a few draft picks.  All the ex-Chicago Blackhawk has done so far in 4 games is win all 4 with a 1.25 GAA and .955 SP.  Raanta seems to have the skills to someday take over for the King of Broadway, but that won’t be for a few years and who knows what happens in that span of time. Andrei Vasilevskiy will one day in the very near future be the undisputed #1 goaltender in Tampa Bay but as of right now, he is still considered the backup, but probably is more like a 1B compared to Ben Bishop’s #1B status.  Last year Vasilevskiy burst onto the NHL scene and went 7-5-1 in 16 appearances sporting a 2.36 GAA and a .918 SP allowing the Lightning to let go of aging Evgeni Nabokov.  Vasilevskiy was recovering from off-season surgery and has recently returned to action, appearing in 4 games and going 2-2-0 with a 2.03 GAA and a .929 SP.  It is safe to say that the surgery was a success. It’s not so much the case of Petr Mrazek being the backup, or Jimmy Howard for that matter as they both have split time somewhat equally at the beginning of the s2014-2015 season, but Mrazek has started the last 3 of 4, giving him 12 starts versus Howard’s 9.  With a back-to-back weekend, Howard should get the start on Saturday.  Mrazek showed last ...

SMC 11-8-2015 If anyone hasn’t noticed yet, the Buffalo Sabres are going to be a tough opponent this year. Especially once Robin Lehner returns and gets into mid-season form. Rasmus Ristolainen is going to be a force for the Sabres power play someday soon. Along with Jake Eichel and Sam Reinhart amongst others, this team will be quite competitive for some time. The LA Kings seem to be on a mission this year which doesn’t bode well for the Western Conference. The window of opportunity of getting any Anaheim Duck player on the cheap is quickly closing with the 4-game winning streak.  They dug themselves a bit of a hole but they are the team who can overcome that in a hurry. Anze Kopitar is going for the CY Young award this season with 5 goals and an assist at this point in the season. Panther fans are still waiting for that late season magic displayed last year with the arrival of Jaromir Jagr.  Growing pains with young talent will always be the case no matter what. Tyler Toffoli with 7 points in past 6 games has arrived.  Mike Condon is almost a splitting image of Carey Price, but not really. Who would’ve thought that the Philadelphia Flyers were going to shut out the mighty Winnipeg Jets?  And can Michal Neuvirth get a win without shutting out the other team?  All three of his wins have come by shutout. Toronto keeps losing but they are playing better.  Just looks bad seeing all those red ‘L’s in a row. Nazem Kadri with 7 SOG still couldn’t beat out Mr. SOG Alex Ovechkin who had 8. Kris Versteeg is leading the Carolina Hurricanes in points with 10.  Shame on you Eric Staal. St. Louis has started Jake Allen 6 games in a row and he has won 5 of those.  Looks like he is ready for full-time #1 duties. Remember Magnus Paajarvi?  He played last night for the Blues.  That’s the second game he has played this season. This Colton Parayko is something else.  Scored on the PP even though Kevin Shattenkirk returned to the lineup last night. Since Filip Forsberg isn’t grabbing the headlines like he did last year, some owners may think he doesn’t have it this season, but he still has 8 points in 13 games.  One good streak and he is on his way.  Buy low? No Parise?  No Problem says Devan Dubnyk.  Just let me go back in time to a year ago and play like I know I can; a 1-0 shutout of the Tampa Bay Lightning. No small feat. I think Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov is ready to break out. The NY Rangers know what they had in their grasps last year and are determined to get back ...

* Rick Nash extended his point streak to ten games, collecting an assist in the New york Ranger's 2-0 road win over the hapless Edmonton Oilers. Henrik Lundqvist had an easy night saving all 16 shots for the shutout win and his third straight. Derick Brassard was the latest casualty of the mumps virus, missing the game. Look for Derek Stepan to gain an uptick in fantasy value during Brassard's absence... * Jonathan Toews picked up two helpers for Chicago in their 2-1 win over Calgary. 25 points in 31 games is just right for the super captain- close to a ppg clip year-in, year-out, but limited upside. Antti Raanta was stellar in goal, turning aside 23 of 24 shots and raising his numbers to 4-2, 1.85 GAA, and .944 SP. When Corey Crawford returns, who gets the backup gig- Raanta or Scott Darling? Tough one... *Mike Santorelli led the Toronto offense with a goal and an assist in the 4-3 SO win over the Los Angeles Kings. With 13 points in the last 10 games, the 29-year old could be a decent short-term stopgap in deeper leagues...

* Rick Nash extended his point streak to ten games, collecting an assist in the New york Ranger's 2-0 road win over the hapless Edmonton Oilers. Henrik Lundqvist had an easy night saving all 16 shots for the shutout win and his third straight. Derick Brassard was the latest casualty of the mumps virus, missing the game. Look for Derek Stepan to gain an uptick in fantasy value during Brassard's absence... * Jonathan Toews picked up two helpers for Chicago in their 2-1 win over Calgary. 25 points in 31 games is just right for the super captain- close to a ppg clip year-in, year-out, but limited upside. Antti Raanta was stellar in goal, turning aside 23 of 24 shots and raising his numbers to 4-2, 1.85 GAA, and .944 SP. When Corey Crawford returns, who gets the backup gig- Raanta or Scott Darling? Tough one... *Mike Santorelli led the Toronto offense with a goal and an assist in the 4-3 SO win over the Los Angeles Kings. With 13 points in the last 10 games, the 29-year old could be a decent short-term stopgap in deeper leagues...

Good morning all! Christmas is coming! With Zdeno Chara back in the lineup, Boston should be able to get back on track soon enough. I don't know if this particular coaching change will help Ottawa but I do agree that a change was needed. I think you can now consider Buffalo NHL-ready as they have gone 7-3-0 in last ten games separating themselves from the Carolina Hurricanes. The biggest reason in Buffalo is G Jhonas Enroth. He has taken the reins after a somewhat sluggish start.  The Philadelphia Flyers have an upcoming 8-game road trip which will say a lot about their chances for the playoffs. I could see a lot of names changing addresses for the Hurricanes when the trading deadline approaches. It's impressive to see the Florida Panthers in the middle of the Eastern Conference standings with 32 points through 28 games. Nice job! Can you believe Toronto is the hottest team in the NHL right now with an 8-1-1 record over last 10 games? Who would've thought after the 9-2 Tampa catastrophe? The Leafs did it by beating the former hottest team, the Detroit Red Wings, twice in one week. Nazem Kadri is playing well on both sides of the puck and has 7 points in 6 December games and he had 7 total points in all of November. That Sean Couturier is on fire recently if you haven't noticed. He also has 7 points in 6 December games like Kadri. At 6-3-1 in last 10 games, is that considered a slump for Tampa Bay? With Crosby slumping and all their injuries throughout the early season, the Pittsburgh Penguins still sit atop the Eastern Conference. Nicklas Backstrom, the assist machine, had a hat trick against Tampa. Now, with all the firepower in that game, I wouldn't have guessed him to get a hattie. Scott Darling lost against the Islanders 3-2.  He has played well with a 5-2 record and a 1.97 GAA.  Corey Crawford has a 1.87 GAA and Antti Raanta has a 2.02 GAA. What do they feed those Blackhawk goalies? Sergei Bobrovsky and the Columbus Blue Jackets are storming their way back into the playoff picture by rattling off six straight wins. Get on the bandwagon and hitch the cannon up to the back. When Kris Letang is in the lineup, he is lethal. Well, maybe not lethal, but damn good. Frederik Andersen is 7-0-0 in December. I don't think he can get through the month without a loss. Do you? If Edmonton could only score a little bit more each game, Arizona might have been in last place in the Western Conference instead of the Oilers. I think a coaching change may be in order ...

With 7 points in the past 4 games and 15 points in past 9, it is safe to say that Chicago's Patrick Kane is on fire. Kane's 2 goals paced the way in the Blackhawk's win over Jake Allen (29/33 SV) and the St. Louis Blues. ...Allen didn't have his best game and new Blue Martin Brodeur will make his debut tonight against the Nashville Predators....Antti Raanta turned aside 40 shots on goal to earn the win in his first start since October 25th. Raanta should see most of the action over the next few weeks as starter Corey Crawford recovers from a lower-body injury... Kris Versteeg has shown no signs of slowing down as he pitched in with a goal and 2 assists giving him 7 points in last 3 games. Versteeg es en fuego!  He now has 21 points in 21 games played this season.  Grab him as he is for real.... Minnesota's Darcy Kuemper (18/19 SV) came within a minute of pitching a shutout against the Montreal Canadiens but Alex Galchenyuk spoiled that bid. Kuemper is solidifying his hold on the starter's role but things can change if and when Josh Harding is ready to return to NHL action. The Wild will need to address their soon to crowded goaltending core..... Will the Edmonton Oilers ever win another game this season? That's 11 straight losses with 4 of those losses in overtime so they did manage to grab 4 points out of this ordeal.  Big deal, right?  Something will have to give for these poor Oiler fans who have suffered long enough.... The Philadelphia Flyers are just a touch above the Edmonton Oilers as they have now lost 10 of their last 11 with a 5-4 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks last night....Wayne Simmonds scored twice and, with 7 SOG, may be on the verge of breaking out of his slump. The Flyers are in a desperate state and something big may be lurking just around the corner.  He does have 17 points in 25 games but more was expected of the RWer....

Raanta allowed three goals on 27 shots in a 3-2 loss to the Predators on Thursday. James Neal had Raanta's number and scored all three goals to push Nashville past the Hawks. He will be back in the cage for a third straight game tonight in St. Louis.