Allen is expected to start the season in the AHL despite having a strong camp.

The Blues have an excellent Head Coach in Ken Hitchcock, but he believes in balanced scoring which does not help fantasy poolies in choosing St. Louis players. Most of their best forwards are unlikely to score much more than 60 points this season.  David Backes and Patrik Berglund are probably their best forwards, but let's face it they are not Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.  They have two top defensemen in Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk.  They are both young and very talented, and Pietrangelo just agreed to a seven-year contract, so he should be happy, and he could have a career year.   Shattenkirk is now a consistent 40 points per year scorer.  Things get a little dicey at goaltending with quite a logjam with Jaroslav Halak, Brian Elliott and Jake Allen all in the mix.  We think that Halak will be the starter, but Elliott could take away a lot of his starts if he gets hot again.  With so many goalies to start, Hitchcock tends to play whoever is hot, so keep an eye on that.  The Blues have a very talented team, and they could challenge for the Stanley Cup. But other than defensemen Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk, they do not have many top fantasy players.  Power forward Chris Stewart sometimes looks like he is a real steal, but then he goes into a prolonged slump.  Be careful with this team other than the top two defensemen.      Goalies It is hard to figure out the Blues goaltending situation. One would think that Halak should be the starter, but he gets injured a lot, and he can be inconsistent.  He started in only 15 games last year as he was beset with groin injuries.  His record was last season was only 6-5-1, with a pretty solid 2.14 goals against average and three shutouts, but his save percentage was a very mediocre .899.  Halak stayed in St. Louis during the offseason, and he went through a very regimented program to get him in shape, and deal with his groin problems. He has added a lot of strength while, also, losing 14 pounds. It looks like he will start the season in great shape.  He is in his walk year, so he has a lot of incentive to play well this season.  His competitor for the starting job, Brian Elliott is also in his walk year, so their competition should be fierce.  Elliott had one unbelievable season in 2011-2012 when he went 23-10-4 with a spectacular .940 save percentage, a 1.56 goals against average and 9 shutouts.  Wow!  But he came back to earth last year with a 2.28 goals against average and a .907 save percentage.  ...

The 2013-2014 PrimePucks Fantasy Hockey Draft Guide has been updated. The Guide is revised with all the latest developments so that you can be prepared for your fantasy hockey draft.  As we near the start of the season, the Guide is updated more frequently so that you can be assured you have the most current and relevant information at your hands.  Just access the updated Guide through the FILES link in "My Account".  Get it now and WOW your fantasy opponents! Ryan O'Reilly collected two goals and an assist in the 4-3 victory over Los Angeles, quickly asserting himself as a viable fantasy option, as he has been shifted to left wing on Colorado's top line during camp. Playing a regular shift with arguably the two most talented Avalanche forwards, Matt Duchene and P.A. Parenteau, will provide a decent spike to his numbers. On the rise.. Not a great debut for St. Louis goalie Jaroslav Halak, who stumbled in his first start by allowing 4 goals on 23 shots in the 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay. With Brian Elliott and even Jake Allen ready to pounce, Halak's standing as the Blue's no. 1 backstopper is tenuous at best. If you draft him, you might need to consider adding Elliott fairly early.. I don't love Tampa's new free agent addition Valtteri Filppula, but he should be locked in as the second-line center with Vincent Lecavalier out of town. The underachieving Swede dished out three assists last night, but he will require a healthy dose of power-play time to get close to the 60-pt. range in '13-14. Training Camp Update: All signs points to Claude Giroux being available for Philadelphia's season opener, as the star center might be playing in Tuesday's preseason game.. Boston's Patrice Bergeron has received medical clearance to play in today's exhibition game. Can fantasy owners expect him to return to his 70+ point days? Only injuries could hold him back.. News from Toronto is that forward Nazem Kadri's x-rays on an apparent hand injury turned out negative. Expect him ready to go when the real games begin.. Is Leaf goalie Jonathan Bernier banged up? Despite stopping 10 of 11 shots on Thursday, he complained of an undisclosed injury. Coach Randy Carlyle is referring to it as a "knee irritation". Obviously, if anything happens to Bernier, James Reimer's fantasy value skyrockets. Just like that! PrimePucks™ continues to bring you the NHL IN 30 every day in the month of September, bringing you in-depth team analysis for the upcoming season. Today's featured team: The ...

The 2013-2014 PrimePucks Fantasy Hockey Draft Guide has been updated. The Guide is revised with all the latest developments so that you can be prepared for your fantasy hockey draft.  As we near the start of the season, the Guide is updated more frequently so that you can be assured you have the most current and relevant information at your hands.  Just access the updated Guide through the FILES link in "My Account".  Get it now and WOW your fantasy opponents! Ryan O'Reilly collected two goals and an assist in the 4-3 victory over Los Angeles, quickly asserting himself as a viable fantasy option, as he has been shifted to left wing on Colorado's top line during camp. Playing a regular shift with arguably the two most talented Avalanche forwards, Matt Duchene and P.A. Parenteau, will provide a decent spike to his numbers. On the rise.. Not a great debut for St. Louis goalie Jaroslav Halak, who stumbled in his first start by allowing 4 goals on 23 shots in the 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay. With Brian Elliott and even Jake Allen ready to pounce, Halak's standing as the Blue's no. 1 backstopper is tenuous at best. If you draft him, you might need to consider adding Elliott fairly early.. I don't love Tampa's new free agent addition Valtteri Filppula, but he should be locked in as the second-line center with Vincent Lecavalier out of town. The underachieving Swede dished out three assists last night, but he will require a healthy dose of power-play time to get close to the 60-pt. range in '13-14. Training Camp Update: All signs points to Claude Giroux being available for Philadelphia's season opener, as the star center might be playing in Tuesday's preseason game.. Boston's Patrice Bergeron has received medical clearance to play in today's exhibition game. Can fantasy owners expect him to return to his 70+ point days? Only injuries could hold him back.. News from Toronto is that forward Nazem Kadri's x-rays on an apparent hand injury turned out negative. Expect him ready to go when the real games begin.. Is Leaf goalie Jonathan Bernier banged up? Despite stopping 10 of 11 shots on Thursday, he complained of an undisclosed injury. Coach Randy Carlyle is referring to it as a "knee irritation". Obviously, if anything happens to Bernier, James Reimer's fantasy value skyrockets. Just like that! PrimePucks™ continues to bring you the NHL IN 30 every day in the month of September, bringing you in-depth team analysis for the upcoming season. Today's featured team: The ...

Ryan O'Reilly collected two goals and an assist in the 4-3 victory over Los Angeles, quickly asserting himself as a viable fantasy option, as he has been shifted to left wing on Colorado's top line during camp. Playing a regular shift with arguably the two most talented Avalanche forwards, Matt Duchene and P.A. Parenteau, will provide a decent spike to his numbers. On the rise.. Not a great debut for St. Louis goalie Jaroslav Halak, who stumbled in his first start by allowing 4 goals on 23 shots in the 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay. With Brian Elliott and even Jake Allen ready to pounce, Halak's standing as the Blue's no. 1 backstopper is tenuous at best. If you draft him, you might need to consider adding Elliott fairly early.. I don't love Tampa's new free agent addition Valtteri Filppula, but he should be locked in as the second-line center with Vincent Lecavalier out of town. The underachieving Swede dished out three assists last night, but he will require a healthy dose of power-play time to get close to the 60-pt. range in '13-14. Training Camp Update: All signs points to Claude Giroux being available for Philadelphia's season opener, as the star center might be playing in Tuesday's preseason game.. Boston's Patrice Bergeron has received medical clearance to play in today's exhibition game. Can fantasy owners expect him to return to his 70+ point days? Only injuries could hold him back.. News from Toronto is that forward Nazem Kadri's x-rays on an apparent hand injury turned out negative. Expect him ready to go when the real games begin.. Is Leaf goalie Jonathan Bernier banged up? Despite stopping 10 of 11 shots on Thursday, he complained of an undisclosed injury. Coach Randy Carlyle is referring to it as a "knee irritation". Obviously, if anything happens to Bernier, James Reimer's fantasy value skyrockets. Just like that!

Allen is not getting as many starts over Elliott now as he did earlier in the season because of Elliott's recent success. Allen will get his seventh start on the road in Columbus on Friday. He is 5-1-0 with a 2.78 GAA and .887 SV% away from St. Louis this season. Don't hesitate to use him as a spot start.

Allen gets the call for the second game of a back-to-back. Brian Elliott played well enough yesterday to get the win vs. Chicago. This will be Allen's first start since being recalled, he has a scary matchup vs. a surprising Blue Jackets squad.

Allen has been called up because Jaroslav Halak was hurt in yesterday's game. Allen is 8-3-0 with a 2.45 GAA, .906 SV% and one shutout this season.

Allen, 22, has appeared in 12 games with the Blues this season, posting an 8-3-0 record with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. In 35 games with the Rivermen, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound goaltender has a record of 13-19-2 with a 2.89 goals against average, .904 save percentage and two shutouts. Allen is obviously the goalie of the future for the Blues, and only holds value in deep-keeper leagues.

FANTASY MUST-STARTS 1. CORY SCHNEIDER, VANCOUVER 2. JAKE ALLEN, ST. LOUIS 3. RAY EMERY, CHICAGO read more