When the Edmonton Oilers made those two trades last year to acquire Viktor Fasth from Anaheim and Ben Scrivens from Los Angeles, I thought that they were on the right track since the Devan Dubnyk experiment was a disaster. I had thought that Fasth would take over as the number 1 goaltender even though Scrivens played better upon arrival, but neither has shown any resemblance of an NHL starting goaltender. Comparing the numbers, Scrivens is just 4-7-1 with a 2.94 GAA and a .899 SP. Fasth on the other hand is much worse with a 2-3-1 record, a 3.63 GAA (whoa!) and a .885 SP. If the Oilers want to save their season, something needs to be done and quickly.  It's nice to have all those young offensive weapons, but they need a goalie who can take over as a true No. 1, with a little help from the defense of course. In fact, Minnesota just put Josh Harding on waivers and with Edmonton sitting near the bottom of the NHL, Harding might be the ideal candidate for this young team. Harding has the talent, and the experience now, to be their guy.  He doesn't cost much against the cap at $1.9 million, and if he doesn't work out, he's an unrestricted free agent at the end of this year. Other options include Martin Brodeur but I don't believe he would want to go anywhere except a Stanley Cup contender. They've gone down the Ilya Bryzgalov road last season and that didn't pan out. Tomas Vokoun could be a decent option but he hasn't played much over the past few years and is up there in age at 38. There are slim pickings out there that is why Harding makes so much sense.  He may have health issues, but he did sport a 1.65 GAA and a .918 SP in 29 games last year. Not too shabby and better than what they are getting now. Harding is worth a shot for a team that is trying to establish themselves as a true NHL contender. Harding wouldn't cost them a young talented player and the cap hit is very palatable. How bad could this be?  Harding just may cause the Oil to stop slipping. POST MARKS: SHARK BITE--Hats off to Troy Grosenick who got his first NHL start the other night and posted a 2-0 shutout of the Carolina Hurricanes. Young troy faced 45 SOG and turned every one aside.  Nothing could be finer than to shut out Carolina for my fir-r-r-r-rst win!.....STEALTH JET--Michael Hutchinson burst onto the NHL scene as the end of last season and opened a lot of eyes with a 2-1-0 record, a 1.64 GAA and a .943 SP. Can't get much better than that huh?  Well, so far this season he is 2-1-0 ...

Vokoun went 1-1 with a 2.41 GAA and .891 SV% in his two game conditioning stint.. He was playing his first games since having emergency surgery to dissolve a blood clot in late September.

Vokoun has not played all season after having surgery for a blood clot in his pelvis in September. It is unlikely that Vokoun will play any part in the Penguins' playoff run, but this is great news for Vokoun.

Well the NHL started back up in earnest last night with 4 games after the two week break for the Olympics. Some interesting news as gold medal winning goaltender for Canada, Carey Price, has a LBI and will miss at least 2 games. Maybe he is just tired and jet-lagged from his efforts in Sochi....Center Marian Gaborik has been activated by Columbus after missing 22 games with a broken collarbone. Grab him immediately if you can.  He appears to not be going to the AHL for conditioning like Pekka Rinne. Rinne should be back soon as the Predators starting goalie....Pittsburgh goaltender Tomas Vokoun has been medically cleared to play again, as he has recovered from his blood clot problem. This puts a big logjam in goal for the Penguins with Marc-Andre Fleury, Jeff Zatkoff and now Vokoun. This can't help any of their fantasy values.  Expect Zatkoff to be sent down....It appears that Vancouver center Ryan Kesler hurt his hand at the Olympics playing for the US. Also, there are reports that he has asked for a trade from the Canucks, so we will keep an eye on that.  Kesler has 38 points on the season, which makes him a marginal 6th forward. The Sabres beat the Bruins 5-4 in OT as right wing Matt D' Agostini scored the game winner. With only 8 points on the season, he is not fantasy worthy.  Buffalo center Zemgus Girgensons had 2 goals. Now that is a tough name to spell correctly.  Girgensons has great speed and, at 20 years of age, he has a lot of upside but he figures to be more of a second line defensive forward than a scorer....A lot of starting goaltenders were on the bench last night because of their efforts in Sochi.  One such instance had Chad Johnson in goal in place of Tuukka Rask for Boston. After last night, expect Rask to be quickly back in goal....In a tight match in Montreal, the Red Wings won 2-1 in OT, with Gustav Nyquist scoring the game winner. Nyquist has 25 points on the season, but it is in only 34 games.  If he is available in your pool and you need some forward help, pick him up.  He has a lot of skill. LA center Anze Kopitar had a big night with 2 goals and an assist against Colorado in a 6-4 win. Kopitar has 50 points on the season and he is a top fantasy forward.  Right wing Justin Williams had a goal and an assist for the Kings, but with only 31 points on the season we can't recommend him. He once scored 76 points for Carolina in the 2005-2006 season, but he has aged into a 50-55 point player....Young center Ryan O'Reilly had a goal ...

Well the NHL started back up in earnest last night with 4 games after the two week break for the Olympics. Some interesting news as gold medal winning goaltender for Canada, Carey Price, has a LBI and will miss at least 2 games. Maybe he is just tired and jet-lagged from his efforts in Sochi....Center Marian Gaborik has been activated by Columbus after missing 22 games with a broken collarbone. Grab him immediately if you can.  He appears to not be going to the AHL for conditioning like Pekka Rinne. Rinne should be back soon as the Predators starting goalie....Pittsburgh goaltender Tomas Vokoun has been medically cleared to play again, as he has recovered from his blood clot problem. This puts a big logjam in goal for the Penguins with Marc-Andre Fleury, Jeff Zatkoff and now Vokoun. This can't help any of their fantasy values.  Expect Zatkoff to be sent down....It appears that Vancouver center Ryan Kesler hurt his hand at the Olympics playing for the US. Also, there are reports that he has asked for a trade from the Canucks, so we will keep an eye on that.  Kesler has 38 points on the season, which makes him a marginal 6th forward. The Sabres beat the Bruins 5-4 in OT as right wing Matt D' Agostini scored the game winner. With only 8 points on the season, he is not fantasy worthy.  Buffalo center Zemgus Girgensons had 2 goals. Now that is a tough name to spell correctly.  Girgensons has great speed and, at 20 years of age, he has a lot of upside but he figures to be more of a second line defensive forward than a scorer....A lot of starting goaltenders were on the bench last night because of their efforts in Sochi.  One such instance had Chad Johnson in goal in place of Tuukka Rask for Boston. After last night, expect Rask to be quickly back in goal....In a tight match in Montreal, the Red Wings won 2-1 in OT, with Gustav Nyquist scoring the game winner. Nyquist has 25 points on the season, but it is in only 34 games.  If he is available in your pool and you need some forward help, pick him up.  He has a lot of skill. LA center Anze Kopitar had a big night with 2 goals and an assist against Colorado in a 6-4 win. Kopitar has 50 points on the season and he is a top fantasy forward.  Right wing Justin Williams had a goal and an assist for the Kings, but with only 31 points on the season we can't recommend him. He once scored 76 points for Carolina in the 2005-2006 season, but he has aged into a 50-55 point player....Young center Ryan O'Reilly had a goal ...

Vokoun will skate for the first time all season on Wednesday because of a blood clot. He is still a long ways away from playing, but this is a positive step for the veteran netminder.

Washington Capitals Head Coach Adam Oates looks to be throwing a monkey wrench into the Caps goaltending situation as he will start 22 years old German goaltender Philipp Grubauer for the 5th straight game tonight, putting Brayden Holtby back on the bench again even though he is not hurt, and likely sending Michal Neuvirth to his 9th straight healthy scratch. This even after Grubauer lost his last 2 games against Buffalo and Ottawa. In his defense he played extremely well in both games allowing only 3 goals total. Now Oates is playing with Holtby's confidence here, and he should be a little careful, because Grubauer is still mostly an unknow quantity with only 10 NHL games played so far.  Holtby was the nominal starter at the beginning of the season and he played well in October and November.  In November he went 8-3-1 with a nice .933 savepercentage.  But the wheels suddenly went off the track for Holtby in December as he won only one game in the month and played in only 5 games.  His save percentage dropped to .863 in the month.  On November 30 backup goalie Neuvirth stepped on the puck at pratice and went down with an injury.  Oates called up Grubauer from Hershey of the AHL where he had been playing well.  But I'm sure he didn't expect Grubauer to make such an immediate impact going 5-2-2 with a 2.02 goals against and a .938 save percentage.  Now Holtby's overall numbers this season are decent with a 13-10-2 record 3.00 goals against and a .915 save percentage.  But he has been bad lately.  If Grubauer plays well again tonight Oates will most likely give him another straight start.  There is some grumbling among the Caps fans that new Head Goaltender Coach Olaf Kolzig is changing Holtby's style too much, preaching him patience instead of using an aggressive style. There are a lot of goaltender ghosts around Washington's recent inability to get past the second round in the playoffs. Goaltenders have been brought in like Cristobal Huet, Jose Theodore, Semyon Varlamov Michal Neuvirth and Tomas Vokoun and have gone away without playoff success.  You could make a point that the reason that the Caps lost to the Rangers in the last 3 straight playoff series was because New York had Henrik Lundqvist and Washington didn't.  He only shut them out twice in a row in games 6 and 7 last season. Now this could play out several ways. And actually Oates line is that the goaltending situation will play itself out over time.  Poolies want to know how much time? On the...

Vokoun was given a three-to-six-month timetable for a possible return. And while the 37-year-old acknowledged that retirement is possible -- this is the second time Vokoun has dealt with blood-clot issues, the other time occurring when he played with Nashville in 2006 -- he hasn't given up hope of rejoining the Penguins. "It's hard to look that far ahead," he said. "But definitely, if I get cleared, I want to try. We'll see. I don't have definite yes or no.

Former Vezina winner Tim Thomas paid immediate dividends for his new team, as he stopped 25 of 27 shots in Florida's 4-2 road victory over Dallas. Already entrenched as the Panther's starter over unproven Jakub Markstrom, the 39-year old should surprise fantasy owners who drafted him the late rounds. Despite showing few signs of rust in his debut, he will surely endure his share of growing pains with the young squad, limiting his fantasy value. These aren't the Boston Bruins, so you must keep your fantasy expectations in check. The huge downgrade in supporting cast makes him a decent no. 2 fantasy goalie at best. "Timmy T" should be more than a serviceable option during the opening weeks, as he will be extremely motivated to get back to an elite level. Vokoun Who?: After the Pittsburgh faithful had learned the news of trusted veteran goalie Tomas Vokoun missing at least three months of live action, there were many concerns whether Marc-Andre Fleury can bounce back to elite status. Well, for at least one night, those fears were quelled as Fleury responded to his critics with a 28-save shutout over the New Jersey Devils in the season opener. We told you guys not to get caught up with all the negative hype surrounding Fleury after his dismal playoff effort last season. He has a proven pedigree as an outstanding regular-season goalie, which should be the only thing that matters to fantasy owners. Until shown otherwise, treat him as a middle-tier no.1 fantasy goalie option. Leave his playoff struggles to the Pittsburgh coaching staff! Other Fantasy Game Notes: Alex Chiasson's goal for Dallas gives him 7 in 8 career games. Anyone counting? Solid sleeper.. Keep your eye on defenseman Marc Staal, who has been earning top power-play minutes in the early going under new coach Alain Vigneault. He registered the only goal in the Ranger's 4-1 loss to Phoenix. He was utilized as a two-way shutdown defender in the past, but his elite skill-set and an almost full recovery from his eye injury should put him back on your fantasy radar.. The streaky Radim Vrbata scored three goals for Phoenix, making him valuable waiver-wire bait to start the season. Keep in mind that he is searching for a long-term extension, which could assist in a quick start for the Coyote forward.. Pittsburgh winger James Neal apparently re-aggravated his upper body injury and left early in the first period. Keep tabs on this one.. Not the start Rinne owners were hoping for, as the Finnish ...

Former Vezina winner Tim Thomas paid immediate dividends for his new team, as he stopped 25 of 27 shots in Florida's 4-2 road victory over Dallas. Already entrenched as the Panther's starter over unproven Jakub Markstrom, the 39-year old should surprise fantasy owners who drafted him the late rounds. Despite showing few signs of rust in his debut, he will surely endure his share of growing pains with the young squad, limiting his fantasy value. These aren't the Boston Bruins, so you must keep your fantasy expectations in check. The huge downgrade in supporting cast makes him a decent no. 2 fantasy goalie at best. "Timmy T" should be more than a serviceable option during the opening weeks, as he will be extremely motivated to get back to an elite level. Vokoun Who?: After the Pittsburgh faithful had learned the news of trusted veteran goalie Tomas Vokoun missing at least three months of live action, there were many concerns whether Marc-Andre Fleury can bounce back to elite status. Well, for at least one night, those fears were quelled as Fleury responded to his critics with a 28-save shutout over the New Jersey Devils in the season opener. We told you guys not to get caught up with all the negative hype surrounding Fleury after his dismal playoff effort last season. He has a proven pedigree as an outstanding regular-season goalie, which should be the only thing that matters to fantasy owners. Until shown otherwise, treat him as a middle-tier no.1 fantasy goalie option. Leave his playoff struggles to the Pittsburgh coaching staff! Other Fantasy Game Notes: Alex Chiasson's goal for Dallas gives him 7 in 8 career games. Anyone counting? Solid sleeper.. Keep your eye on defenseman Marc Staal, who has been earning top power-play minutes in the early going under new coach Alain Vigneault. He registered the only goal in the Ranger's 4-1 loss to Phoenix. He was utilized as a two-way shutdown defender in the past, but his elite skill-set and an almost full recovery from his eye injury should put him back on your fantasy radar.. The streaky Radim Vrbata scored three goals for Phoenix, making him valuable waiver-wire bait to start the season. Keep in mind that he is searching for a long-term extension, which could assist in a quick start for the Coyote forward.. Pittsburgh winger James Neal apparently re-aggravated his upper body injury and left early in the first period. Keep tabs on this one.. Not the start Rinne owners were hoping for, as the Finnish ...