Within the span of an hour yesterday we had retirement announcements from three excellent defencemen over the last two decades, with Zdeno Chara, P.K. Subban, and Keith Yandle all hanging up their skates.
Chara leaves as the all-time games played leader among defencemen, a cup winner in 2011, and a virtual lock for the Hall of Fame. Yandle leaves as the NHL’s Iron-man record holder, and having led an extremely successful career as a points-producer from the blueline. Meanwhile, P.K. Subban retires at only 33, with back injuries having taken away the explosiveness that defined his game in the early years, culminating in a Norris Trophy.
In all, a big piece of recent hockey history was finalized yesterday, and as both fans and fantasy GMs we can all appreciate how much these three brought to the game through their excellent careers.
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Nathan MacKinnon signed an extension that makes him the highest paid player (based on cap hit) in the league next season. His new cap hit will be $12.6 million, and that’s still going to be a very fair number for him in fantasy leagues. My projections had an extension coming in for him above $13 million per year, and with the cap expected to rise quickly, this deal may not even age poorly as it hits the last few years. In the meantime, Colorado’s depth may take a bit of a hit in the short term, but then again they have never really overpaid their depth players, and they have some young players ready to step into larger roles.
Accepting a cap hit just $100,000 more than the current highest paid player in Connor McDavid is also the kind of one-upmanship that we get with uber competitive players like MacKinnon.
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The Marco Scandella injury news (hip surgery – out at least six months) means that there is a little more of an opportunity for Scott Perunovich to keep the third-pairing spot on the left side, however Nikko Mikkola has the bigger contract and will give him a good push. Perunovich still could be a good buy-low early in the year if he starts slow.
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Last week I did a preliminary run-through of all of the top-100 players, and how I’m feeling about drafting them to begin sorting out my rankings for the year. A t the end I promised to cover some of my key guys that I will be looking at outside of the top-100, so let’s jump right into that.
Again, I’m going to run by Fantrax ADP to organize players off the start, as it’s a much better base than Yahoo. All of my leagues include hits, shots, and power play points to some variation of value, among a few other stats. I’ll take those base stats into consideration along with a main focus on points.
101-200 range
Vincent Trocheck (ADP – 127): The new Rangers centre has an easy route to being a top-50 player in multi-category leagues, as he should now be on the top power play, and playing alongside Artemi Panarin at all situations should buoy his point totals higher than they ever were in Carolina.
Boone Jenner (153): Another multi-cat stud, but also…
#CBJ coach Brad Larsen said he’ll open camp with wingers Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine on the same line. Center Boone Jenner likely gets the first shot between them, but Jack Roslovic and Cole Sillinger will also get a look.
Michael Bunting (156): Bunting was a top-100 player last year, and as he is now no longer a “rookie” could even see his ice time jump up over 16 minutes per game, which could bring both his point totals, and excellent peripherals, even higher.
Jakob Chychrun (170): He may be drafted higher than this in a lot of leagues, and the fact he has both injury concerns and a short track record of scoring success may scare some of you off, but at this point in the draft there will be no defenceman on the board with higher immediate upside than Chychrun, guaranteed. You win your leagues with picks like this, and if they flame out, well you haven’t lost all that much anyways.
Tanner Jeannot/Seth Jarvis/Pavel Francouz: I’ve spoken enough about these three over the last few months. They will be on quite a few of my teams this year, and will all be taken by me before their ADPs in the 170s.
Matthew Beniers (179): Abbreviated success in the NHL, first line centre, well insulated with quality two-way wingers. Another one of those upside picks that could serve you very well.
Ryan O’Reilly (182): On the flip side of the Beniers option, we have the safe 60- to 70-point centre with two shots per game (though limited in the other peripherals columns). Either way you decide to go, the bottom line is you can easily fill up on centres closer to pick 200, so unless you have a top-three pick, think long and hard about whether you need that centre you’re considering in the top-100 this year.
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201-300
Jakub Voracek (210): Can I interest you in a 65pt winger who is about to put up 25 power play points, and you can have him after pick 200 because no one likes the Blue Jackets?
David Krejci (223): Here’s another one of those later centres that you can have. He’s going to be starting the year between Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak. Those two dragged Erik Haula to being a point-per-game player as their centre, so Krejci should have no problem keeping up despite the age or the year away from the NHL.
Nino Niederreiter (234): Maybe there’s a little bit of the Preds homer in me shining through here, but I’m looking for him to play over 16 minutes per game for the first time since his 53-point campaign back in 2018-19 (split between MIN/CAR). He’s also likely playing alongside pass-first centre in Ryan Johansen, and will be locked into the top-six all year. Oh and he also racked up 119 hits last year and is joining the team who hit the most overall last season.
I know Cliffy just wrote about Nino yesterday and how he is in a battle with Eeli Tolvanen for the LW2 spot, but I think it’s more likely that we see Tolvanen battling with fellow youngster Philip Tomasino for the RW2 spot.
300+
Ross Colton (348): Colton may only have 109 NHL games under his belt, but depending on how playoff games factor into the breakout threshold, he may be less than half-a-season away from his jump in production. Last year he paced for 40 points while playing less than 13 minutes per game, and the opportunity is there this season for extra ice time with the top-six group due to injuries and offseason departures. A jump to 55 points would be in line with his breakout, but that may end up being more of a second-half-pace than a full-season pace. Racking up 200 shots and 200 hits wouldn’t be out of the question either with the added ice time.
Alexander Holtz (390): There is a top-nine spot for Holtz on the wing this year, and within the last year he has looked more and more ready to stick in the NHL. With a few excellent passers on the team, Holtz and his ability to sling the puck into the net from almost anywhere should have an easier time adapting to being a full-time scorer at the NHL level.
Dylan Cozens (426): This feels like one of those excellent post-hype breakouts that we all feel we should have seen coming. The former 7th overall selection could be a fixture in the top-six this year that has some more support on the back-end, and a bit more scoring ability on the wings as well. Especially with Peyton Krebs and Jack Quinn both expected to make an impact, the doors are open for the youth in Buffalo to really take over the offensive side of the puck for the team.
Well, there you have it. The rest of the key guys that are likely going to be in my watchlist/queue to realistically be drafted onto my fantasy teams.
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If instead of draft prepping your head is still up in the offseason clouds thinking about your rebuild and what it may look like in three years, then maybe this article will be more to your liking:
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In the meantime, you can find me on Twitter@alexdmaclean if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments. See you next Wednesday!
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
