Shallow Frozen Water

Boom Boom Geoffrion’s Ghost

you know when you work at a place and you take notice of somebody who “cuts their own swath” on the landscape of whatever you’re doing?  well, i wrote for talentedmrroto.com for several years and one of the guys you noticed on the site if you were paying attention was Michael Cauda.  everybody knew him as Commish Cauda.  it wasn’t like he was writing articles for the site or anything but he was there and contributing to make it a cool little community to hang out in.  if you happened upon talentedmrroto.com before it became basically defunct then drop me a line, particularly if you want to get a fantasy hockey mechanic check out what’s right and what’s wrong with your fantasy team.  anyway, Michael Cauda was known by anybody who hung out at tmr.com and he continues to be a contributor to my blog as we remain in contact.  i actually did a team review of his team last year and … well, it must’ve gone ok because he wants me to go take another look this season.  without further ado, let’s look at Boom Boom Geoffrion’s Ghost (ooo, creepy).

Commish (that’s what he’s known as to me) plays in a 10 team H2H at CBSSportsline with 2 divisions.   lineups can be set weekly and the categories are G, A, +/-, PPP, PIM, SOG, W, GAA, SV%, and SO.  he’s presently in 2nd place in his division and he got the 6th pick in his draft to start the season.  the draft results on this league are pretty interesting actually; Crosby didn’t go until 3rd overall, Ilya Kovalchuk went in the 4th round (!), and Brian Rolston, Martin Havlat and Mats Sundin all went in the 8th round.  i think i would’ve loved to draft in this league.

the league is actually pretty shallow.  you only start 3C’s, 4W’s, 4D’s, and 2G’s.  that means that everybody’s squad should be plenty stocked.  that’ll make things hard to trade i find since guys think that it’s better to stick with the guy you drafted rather than make a move that isn’t necessarily a step up.  it also means that your waiver wire is probably chocked full of statness too. 

Boom Boom Geoffrion was a Hall of Famer and a special player.  i think it’s always good to honour the greats.

C Pavol Datsyuk DET (B+) - one of the best assist men in the game.  a magician with the puck on a string.

C Ryan Getzlaf ANA (B+) - after last year’s playoff run a lot of expectations were put on him, he’s meeting those expectations and the grade’s only going to go higher.

C Michael Nylander WAS (B) - the Caps fired their coach and they need the offense to open up.  Nylander might get close to 90 pts this season as he gets his chunk of that offense.

W Marian Gaborik MIN (A-) - one of the best pure goal scorers in the game, now if only he can stay healthy for longer periods.

W Jarome Iginla CAL (A+) - when Iggy gets up a head of steam he’s a world beater.  another pure goal scorer so i think you’ll be fine in the goals category this season

W Milan Michalek SJ (C) - i want him to be better than this.  he might be the biggest disappointment on your team this year.

W Brendan Morrow DAL (B) - i’d like to believe that his game is closer to 2 seasons ago and not like last year … well i hope that’s true.  he can be a monster for PIMs too when he wants to knock the snot out of somebody.

D Brian Campbell BUF (B) - the Sabres offense is going to rely on Campbell and Spacek from the back end.  note that they seem to have awakened overall and Campbell will continue to contribute on a greater curve as guys like Vanek and Afinogenov show their dominating speed again.

D Tobias Enstrom ATL (B-) - he leads the entire league in PP time on ice and as Kovalchuk and Hossa pocket their stats then Enstrom will get a piece of that.

D Brian Rafalski DET (B+) - perhaps the best supporting D in the game.  when he doesn’t have to be his team’s best defenseman he truly shines.  he’s doing what Mathieu Schneider used to do but he’s better at it.

D Shea Weber NAS (B) - ok, he was injured … and he’ll still contribute 15 goals on the year.  i love this guy as a pure scorer off the point.

G Martin Brodeur NJ (A-) - no he hasn’t lost it.  no he isn’t a stiff.  there was a reason he was taken in the first round in every league i’ve seen this year (and if i’m wrong then he should’ve been).  he’s still the Devils best player and he’s an easy target for 30 wins on the season.

G Chris Osgood DET (B+) - i don’t think that Hasek is going to like the backseat like he’s been relegated to.  i expect that Hasek will take the job back and you best do something about that while you still can.  still, Ozzy’s really helped you in the interim.

BN Andy MacDonald ANA (C) - he’s really missed Teemu.  maybe they just need Todd Bertuzzi to score a LOT more though and Mac may just get some help that way.

BN Alexander Radulov NAS (B) - he’s been in and out of the doghouse a couple times this season already.  rumour is that his coach wants him to play some defense too.  come on guys, he’s a horse, let him score!  actually he’s kinda small so maybe he’s just a pony but still, he can score.

BN Devin Setoguchi SJ (C+) - he’s been a “sleeper” pick since he potted 2 goals alongside Joe Thornton on his first night in the NHL.  i still like him but in a shallower league there are probably better options to consider.

BN Petr Sykora PIT (B-) - just let him line up with Sid and leave him there … please?  that’d really help me a lot.  if he gets that then he’s well worth starting every week but unfortunately it’s not happening enough for my taste.

BN Carey Price MON (C) - ok, well he might be the best backup in the league and i still think he’ll get the starter’s job by season’s end.  he’s worth waiting for if he’s a G3 on your team.

BN Sergei Gonchar PIT (A-) - he’s among the best PPP options in the entire league.  here Sid, now go score.

a crucial thing to remember in a league this size is the fact that C’s are plentiful but you absolutely have to stock up at W and D in order to succeed.  that looks like what you did.  your D looks excellent and your starting W’s are top notch.  things seem to drop off from there but your bench is adequate enough for some short term support if one of the big guns goes down and your C’s although fairly vanilla are solid.  well, actually i love Datsyuk and Getzlaf this year and i think that Nylander/MacDonald are kind of vanilla.  i also think that you might be in some trouble in goal, simply because i think that Osgood’s run so far this year is not likely to continue over the course of the entire season.  you might have to tweak something there but it’s not like there’s a huge rush given the way that Dominik Hasek has been putting up stinkers of late.

Waiver Wire Options

Jason LaBarbera - he has the starting job in LA and would only relinquish it if the Kings decide to trade for another tender, but trading for tender’s hasn’t exactly been great for them in their history and they do have a young guy they want to give the job to down the road.  i think there’s a very good chance that LaBarbera keeps the starting gig in LA all season and he has a decent shot at 30 wins.

Kari Lehtonen - he should return from groin trouble any time now, in fact he was just activated  by the Thrashers on Monday night.  he returns to a team that seems to be awake finally.  he’ll be the starter this season.

David Legwand - underrated and forgotten on what is a strong offensive team

Mikko Koivu - he was the Wild’s 2nd leading scorer before he got himself felled like a tree by lumberjack Ohlund.  yeah, his elbow was high but what’s next pistols at dawn?

Jeff Hamilton - i like him for PPP particularly which you do count in your league.

Steve Reinprecht - this guy has a lot more value in deeper leagues and i mention him for the sake of guys who play in deeper leagues.  he’s gelling very well with Shane Doan this season but he’s probably not worth considering for your team given how shallow things are.

Tomas Plekanec - good option for PPP, +/- may be a problem.

James Wisniewski - looking like the Hawks 1st or 2nd option on the PP point, at least of late.

J.P. Dumont - a good bench option in a league like yours.

Ryan Malone - hot of late and can be a good PIMy option too.

Chris Neil - one of my faves for PIMs, but you know that.

Scott Hartnell - he’s been pretty invisible this year but it’s in him for some real hardnosed play and 20 goals.

drop Devin Setoguchi to add Kari Lehtonen - i’m a bit worried about your goalie situation.  i expect that Osgood will eventually take a back seat to Hasek and the jury’s still out as to whether or not Price is going to be the starter at all this season.  ride the situation out with both  Ozzy and Price but it won’t hurt to add a starting goalie to the mix as insurance down the road.  i was consider Radulov for the drop but i just think the upside is too much for him this season.

Trading Options

your D is very strong and i hope to help your G’s by adding Lehtinen to your squad so that only leaves beefing up your forwards a bit.  i have a little concern for Milan Michalek but nothing that is disastrous.  it could very well be that he has a monstrous 2nd half for your team but right now, he’s lagging a bit on what should be his pace.  i’m going to suggest that you target some grittier options up front and you use your D strength along with some lower end forwards as bait.

trade Tobias Enstrom to NYR Soft Europeans for Erik Cole - there is so much talk about Enstrom this season that his trade value couldn’t possibly go higher, well ok it could but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t look around to see what you can get.  i’ve read some fantasy writers advising you to go snap him up off the waiver wire but in all of my leagues i had already added him back when they fired the coach.  Cole is a scoring winger who’ll put up 30 goals easily if he can avoid the injury bug.  having more goals is always good.  Soft Euro’s needs help at D pretty badly, he’s starting Joe Corvo, and you have some wiggle room in negotiations with him.  if he wants to discuss moving a drastically slumping Jaromir Jagr or a temporarily cold Joe Sakic then jump at the chance.  another good guy to target off of him is Philippe Boucher who really hasn’t gotten back to his goal-scoring and PIMy ways yet this season.

trade Sergei Gonchar, Milan Michalek, and Andy MacDonald to Blades of Glory for Markus Naslund, Mike Fisher and Alex Tanguay - this move deals from your D strength in order to fix up your W’s a bit.  i love both Tanguay and Naslund as W’s this season and it’s looking like Naslund has just rediscovered how he can contribute offensively again.  Fisher will spend most of his ice time as a checking center but he’ll get the odd little occasion on the big line too.  what i dislike the most in this offer is losing the PPP that Gonchar puts up, he’s always a monster there.

trade Brian Campbell and Tobias Enstrom to DP Sucks! for Rick Nash - this shouldn’t work but i’ve seen weirder things happen in fantasy leagues.  you’d be adding a ton more goals to a roster that already should have more than enough to go around but if it’s possible then go for it.  if you’re looking to bulk up your W ranks then there are fewer better to do that with than Rick Nash.  the hope is that you can at least get a discussion going about what it may cost to get Nash off him.  if it’s going nowhere then take a look at trading for Daniel Carcillo off him and help yourself with PIMs.  you’ll pay a LOT less for Carcillo, an offer of Andy MacDonald is probably too much.

trade Brian Campbell to Ice Capades for Nikolai Zherdev - if this were last year i’d hate this deal but Zherdev has really blossomed so far this season.  you have the wiggle room at D and this gives you some depth at W.  this move is also good for Capades since he’ll need some short term help at D until Scott Niedermayer decides to return (which he will).  i wanted to be sure to mention Capades here because i suspect he’ll also read this review and his wife just gave birth to a bouncing baby future defenseman.

trade Chris Osgood and Brian Campbell to Charlestown Chiefs for Ryan Miller and Paul Kariya - the more i considered this the more i liked it.  i’m not confident that Ozzy is going to be the phenomenal option all season that he’s been for the Wings so far and Ryan Miller and the Sabres are just warming up if you ask me.  Kariya could be just what the fantasy hockey columnist ordered for your team and once again you have the D depth to get this done.  if he wants to negotiate and offer DiPietro instead of Miller then i’d be all over that too but i doubt that’s going to happen.

offer Tobias Enstrom and Brian Campbell to New Jersey Trauma for Daniel Sedin and Filip Kuba - fantasy owners downgrade Kuba as an option but he’s actually pretty decent and he’d only be a D4 for you anyway.  getting Sedin would be great, particularly since he hasn’t broken out like he can yet.  you offer a couple decent D options to Trauma, who needs them since he’s starting Duncan Keith and Andrej Meszaros regularly.

Conclusions

well there you go Commish, much of the work for your team was done before i came on the scene.  you built a strong offense through your D and you only need a little bit of tweaking overall to get moving in the right direction. 

use your D strength to brace your team up front and you’ll need to get yourself another G to help.  the suggestions i make are to point you in that direction and if you get something like that done then you’ll be more than fine.  i predict good things for you, if you stay healthy.  be healthy, be well.