SMC 1/21/2018 DOWN IT AND OUT! Sorry for the short article and absence of an article last week but I've been driving my kids back to college these past few weekends. Sabres rattled again 7-1 by the Dallas Stars on Saturday.  The Sabres have given up 4 or more goals in their last 6 losses.  There was a 6 GA and two 7’s in that stretch.  Ouch! Every single Sabre player in that game on Saturday had a negative next to their name. I mentioned that Avalanche goaltender Jonathan Bernier should have been their #1 in the original version of this year’s PrimePucks™ Fantasy Draft Guide but tweaked back my gut feeling. Stick with your gut I always say.  Bernier has won 8 in a row with an insane Save Percentage of .957 in January. New Jersey is starting to slide down in the standings.  I think I said they would come back down to Earth.  Or even further. Nathan MacKinnon.  Wow!  We knew he had it in him.  I guess it took discarding Matt Duchene to get him rolling again like his rookie season. Winnipeg wins again.  When is Mark Scheifele coming back?  Doesn’t seem to be any rush to get him back the way they have been winning. So happy to see Patrice Bergeron having this kind of offensive stretch. Could Toronto’s 3rd period comeback against Ottawa spark the resurgence? I’m kind of torn between wanting Carolina or the NY Islanders making the playoffs. Did Arizona really put a beat down on the St. Louis Blues on Saturday?  I guess Carter Hutton has lost that magic. I’m thinking that the Florida Panthers will go on a hot streak now.  Maybe not a Boston-like hot streak, but a good offensive stretch nonetheless. Pittsburgh is still dangerous people.  Chicago, not so much. The Islanders must be really be happy to have Josh Bailey back in the lineup. Tampa Bay going through a little tough patch in the schedule.  Happens to every team. Have a great week everyone and may all your fantasies come true!

SMC 1/22/2017 OLDIES BUT GOODIES! Good day my fellow hockey addicts!  Got my fresh brewed cup of coffee and ready to tackle the day. Oh wait, that’s a football term.  I’m ready to rush up the ice! The early afternoon tilt for Saturday was a Jet-Blue affair.  St. Louis was the one feeling blue after with a 5-3 loss.  Trouble in St. Lou?  Perhaps they are missing David Backes a little more than originally thought. Surprised to see Ondrej Pavelec back up with the big boys since it seemed he was exiled for his inconsistent play.  I guess Hutchinson and Hellebuyck were pretty inconsistent themselves.  Pavelec should be motivated since being recalled.  Grab him and start him. I think Winnipeg can make a run for the playoffs.  It’s a gut feeling. Columbus is still sporting that 2017 magic!  Scott Hartnell is now picking up his scoring production with 6 in last 8 games. Carolina will be clawing away for that last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference along with about 9 other teams. Crazy! Some wild, high-scoring games at the beginning of the week.  An 8-7 PIT-WSH game on Monday.  A 7-6 DAL-NYR game on Tuesday night. Plus 6-4 OTT-STL and CHI-COL affairs on Tuesday as well.  A 6-5 DET-BOS on Wednesday and a 7-3 WSH-STL contest on Thursday.  And a 7-1 PIT-CAR finisher on Friday night. Must’ve been a full moon or just the craziest leading up to the Presidential inauguration. The blues gave up a lot of goals this past week. That Ottawa-Toronto game was fun to watch. The Montreal Canadiens have been quite pedestrian of late after that terrific start to the season in October and early November. The Islanders are coming! The Islanders are coming! John Tavares is heating up big time.  Safe to say he’s a second half player now.  9 points in last 5 games! Josh Bailey and Anders Lee are the beneficiaries of JT’s hot streak.  And Nick Leddy has been a force of late with 5 points in last 5 games. With 2 assists in Saturday’s Philly game, and 3 in last 3 games, New Jersey’s Michael Cammalleri might be starting one of those hot streaks he has. New Jersey may makes things interesting as they have a lot more home games then away games the rest of the way. The Flyers are spiraling out of playoff contention as fast as they got themselves into it in December. If Ovechkin is going to reach 50 goals, he is going to have to go on some scoring streak being that he has 22 to this point.  Worth it to try and trade for him. It wouldn’t hurt to surround your fantasy team with some ...

Justin Williams, Washington- Mr Game 7 is actually having a  fantasy impact early on with his new team as he collected 8 points over the first 10 games. Whether his production is sustainable or not largely depends on whether Nicklas Backstrom remains as his pivot. If he moves back to Ovie's line or Williams is shuffled out of top six, then his fantasy value could plummet.    Marcus Johansson, Washington- This guy has more of a shot to maintain some fantasy relevance as he has been a top six fixture for the Capitals over the last few years. The additions of Oshie and Williams puts a mild dent in his value but off to a decent start with 6-points in 10 games.    Frans Nielsen, New York- that's a four game point streak- 4G/2A- for the Isles second line center who flourished in a unit with Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey . Coming off a 43-point season, there is little reason to believe he can't build on those numbers and surpass the 50-point plateau.    David Pastrnak, Boston- The youngster has been getting big minutes with one of the NHL's most underrated centers in David Krejci. While he possesses true 35-goal upside, he might be a year away. Or if you are lucky, maybe not. Give him a shot of still available.    Darnell Nurse, Edmonton- Dont sleep on this 20-year old who is one of the better defensive prospects out there. Since being recalled from the minors, he had picked up a goal and an assist. This one is simple as he will continue to log more minutes if he keeps producing like an NHLer. Nurse is well worth the risk. 

Bailey has missed the last seven games with a broken hand that he suffered on October 23 vs. the Bruins. It is unlikely that Bailey will return to the lineup tomorrow, but this is a step in the right direction for Bailey. Monitor his status as the week progresses, he should travel to Florida on Wednesday.

Bailey is getting close to a return to the Islanders lineup, but it will not happen on Tuesday. He skated with the team on Monday and should travel with the team and play in one or both of the Isles back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday.

Bailey was not on the ice for the Islanders morning skate and obviously won't play on Tuesday, but traveling with the team is another encouraging sign that he fractured hand is not as serious as it was originally believed to be. He will likely return to the ice at some point during the road-trip.

Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said that the news on Bailey was "better that we initially thought." He added that Bailey has a "good chance" to travel with the team despite dealing with a broken hand on Saturday. There is no timetable for when we can expect him to be back in the lineup, but this is better news than the original diagnosis.

Bailey suffered a broken hand on Thursday and is expected to miss at least four weeks. They activated Mikhail Grabovski from IR as a corresponding move.

It has yet to be determined exactly how long Bailey will be out, but it is expected to be at least one month. Boone Jenner is scheduled to miss five weeks after having surgery on his broken hand in the preseason. Bailey recorded his fourth point of the year before departing Thursday's contest.

NOTE: Steve's ISD will be back tomorrow for a look at the top 5 fantasy defensemen over the last month. Here is another little taste of one of our premium articles, UNDER THE RAYDAR, which focuses on up-and-coming fantasy stars which may not have gotten any notice, or are on the verge of making an impact in the NHL.  Only available as a PRIME+PLUS subscriber, here is a piece on NY Islander Joshua Bailey: 10/18/13". Enjoy!: UNDER THE RAYDAR: Joshua Bailey-C-New York Islanders October 18, 2013 Everyone in fantasy hockey knows of John Tavares, and everyone in fantasy hockey has been waiting for Kyle Okposo to breakout. There are those who know how well Matt Moulson has done being on the wing of JT.  There are those who stare in awe at the speed of Michael Grabner but sigh at his lack of consistency.  As everyone's eyes have been focused on these bright and talented Islanders, there are other Islanders who should at least be on someone's watch list.  In the pre-season, everyone had thought it was time for Ryan Strome to make the jump to the big leagues, me included.  Maybe that time will come during the season.  There was another player who piqued my interest this year but I did not follow through on it with much conviction, although in the 2013-2014 Fantasy Draft Guide, we did predict him making a leap forward in production. The New York Islanders and GM Garth Snow have been waiting for 24 year old Josh Bailey to take the next step in his NHL career. He was drafted #9 overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft after a spectacular season with the Windsor Spitfire of the OHL.  His Spitfire team mates that year were Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique and Ryan Ellis among others.  Would you believe that Mr. Bailey actually led that bunch in scoring? Even beating out Taylor Hall? Well he did and you know how highly touted Mr. Hall is. John Tavares was drafted #1 overall the following year, which took all the attention away from Josh Bailey, leaving him to grow under JT's shadow. Bailey led that Spitfire team with 96 points in 67 games, outscoring Hall by 12 points, who played in 4 fewer games. The year prior, Bailey scored 61 in 69 games splitting time between Windsor and the Owen Sound Attack.  In four years of OHL play, the young Center had 183 points in 191 games.  Not too shabby.  So why is Bailey not recognized as an extremely talented offensive center?  With the Isles getting the number 1 overall in 2009, a lot of the focus was placed immediately on Tavares as being the...