Shallow Frozen Water

Ice Capades

early in the season i reviewed the team of Michael Cauda.  once i was done he suggested that i look at the team of a buddy of his, Ken Diorio.  Ken commishes the league they’re in, and incidentally, Mike has launched himself into 1st place in his division and 2nd place overall.

Ken is in 3rd place in his division, positioned to make the playoffs and with a little tweaking he could go far.  H2H playoffs can really be a crapshoot as guys rest near the end of the season before the “real” playoffs begin.  the stat categories for their league are: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, W, GAA, SV%, and SHO.  they start 3C, 4W, 4D, and 2G with weekly changes to the roster (that’s makes streaming as a H2H option very problematic).

let’s take a look:

C Pavol Demitra  MIN (B) - when healthy he’s a great compliment to Gabby who in turn has the talent of any pure goalscorer in the league.

C Mike Ribeiro DAL (A-) - when he was traded out of Montreal i actually said that his defensive play would get a lot better in Dallas and that was what he needed to go the next level of stardom as a hockey player.  he’s now their best skater, even more valuable than their captain.

C Eric Staal CAR (B+) - he’s going to explode for some points for you.  nice to have him as a C3 (Demitra is your C4 by the way).

W Scott Hartnell PHI (B) - the power forward and PIMy D’s are my faves in fantasy hockey and this guy makes my fave list.  the fact that he gets goals too is just gravy.

W Alexei Kovalev MON (A-) - PPP.  he’s a different player this year.  i read an interesting post over on the Canadiens blog a bit back, go check it out.  he’s very valuable to your team.

W Henrik Zetterberg DET (A-) - if he’s healthy he’s top 5 in the game.  unfortunately he’s not healthy enough because of back soreness. 

W Nikolai Zherdev CBS (B+) - he has 20 goals already, he understands the system and looks to be thriving in it.

D Andrei Markov MON (B+) - Sheldon Souray was the anchor for the Hab’s PP last year, now it looks like Markov just took on the role and there’s no discernable difference in their PP.

D Scott Niedermayer ANA (B-) - he’ll contribute plenty over the rest of the season but he doesn’t care about that unless they don’t get to the dance … and that ain’t happening, their invitation is already engraved or at least it should be.

D Wade Redden OTW (B-) - PIMs are a bonus and he’ll give you decent offensive stats too.

D Marek Zidlicky NAS (C+) - same sorts of stats as Redden but i still don’t like him as much.  as a D4 though he’s adequate.

G Manny Legace STL (B) - he’s an All Star and deservedly so.  hang on to this guy, he’ll do fine for you.

G Niklas Backstrom MIN (B-) - he’s slipping and i see Harding taking more and more starts away this season.

BN Scott Gomez NYR (A-) - one of the best assist men in the game, and your best C.  he shouldn’t be on your bench very often at all.

BN Patrik Elias NJ (C+) - has shown a little lately but mostly has been doing a disappearing act this season.

BN Slava Kozlov ATL (C+) - i downgraded him because he’s supposed to be contributing more than he has.

BN Bryan McCabe TOR (C-) - should return in Feb sometime but was having a hard year before getting shelved.  he has plenty of value though and will help your D corps when he’s back.

BN Nikolai Khabibulin CHI (B-) - a Blackhawk buddy of mine is saying there’s a rumour that he’d be sent to OTW for Emery, i don’t see it.  the Hawks DO want to move him though, how ’bout Pitt?

IR Marc-Andre Fleury PIT (B-) - if the Wall is sent to Pitt then MAF will be annoyed … and he should be.  before his injury he was really showing a spark.  i’m not worried about Conklin getting in his way though.

you have some injury history guys that you need to watch pretty carefully.  Demitra and Zetterberg are incredible talents, when they’re in the game.  Demitra has missed some games earlier this season and right now Zett is a bit dinged up.  Bryan McCabe is due back sometime in the next couple weeks and MA Fleury will take over for struggling Khabby or Nikl-Back when he’s ready to go.

right now you’re starting Demitra ahead of Gomez and as a general rule, that’s the wrong move.  start Gomez forever and gets get all giddy with all the assists and PPP he’ll give your team.  Elias is hot of late and i’d start him until i knew Zett was good to go.  your C’s are in good shape, your W’s are decent enough and both your D’s and G’s need some tweaking.

Waiver Wire Options

Braydon Coburn - more than adequate option if you look at his production over the last month or so.

Matt Niskanen - with Zubov and Boucher hurt then most of the 2 way weight falls on this kid’s young shoulders and he’s been dealing with it just fine.  i’m still picking him to blow up for stats over the 2nd half.

Marc Andre Bergeron - if his coach ignores the defensive miscues then he still has a hammer on the PP point.

Andre Kostitsyn - his production since Christmas is looking like it might lead to elite level stats, especially if he gets PP time with Kovalev.

Daniel Paille - deep sleeper but nice production, particularly with the absence of some of the other C’s in Buffalo.

Chris Neil - PIMs and pts.  too many people neglect PIMy forwards who’ll put up some decent pts.

Dustin Penner - if he gets to hang out with Hemsky/Horcoff like he has been then he’ll produce plenty.

Vesa Toskala - the Leafs are not the worst team in the league like some would have you believe and Vesa is one major reason why they won’t stink forever.

Peter Mueller - don’t look at his season stats, look at his stats since the new year.  it looks like a switch has been thrown with this kid and he’s putting pt/game stats.  i expect that’ll continue and the Dogs’ll make a run at the playoffs.

drop Slava Kozlov to add Andre Kostitsyn - he’s getting lots of opportunity, particularly on the power play, and he’s doing plenty with it.  he’ll contribute plenty til season’s end.

when Bryan McCabe is ready to go then the guy that should go from your lineup to your bench is Marek Zidlicky.  stats are similar for him and Redden but Wade will give you better PIMs and +/-. 

Trade Options

your best trade bait is Demitra, Backstrom, and one of Redden or Zidlicky and you need to upgrade at G2 or 3 and/or D4.

trade Wade Redden and Pavol Demitra to Charlestown Chiefs for Ilya Bryzgalov and Mike Green - Chiefs could use some  C help since he’s lost Sid and Mike Cammalleri recently.  you may have to offer up a goaltender to finish this up and if you do then go ahead and offer Nikl-Back (Backstrom) for one of his wingers (maybe Dumont is reasonable here).

trade Wade Redden to NYR Soft Europeans for Jose Theodore - you’ll have to wait until Bryan McCabe returns before you make this offer.  this’d allow you to offer up Nikl-Back for some help elsewhere.

trade Patrik Elias to Boom Boom Geoffrion’s Ghost for Tobias Enstrom - i had to make this suggestion because you really should ply something away from your buddy Mike.  he’s got a nice D stable and if he’s been thinking about his team review that was done in November then he’s been trying to figure out a way to trade some D depth for some help up front.  in the review i did for him i suggested he trade Campbell for Zherdev and if you have to go there again it’s still a good deal but i’m suggesting you start here because Elias has been hot of late and trading him doesn’t hurt your starting lineup as much.  this trade partnership could work out well for both of you.

Conclusions

when i contacted you about this review you thought that your team was fairly mediocre.  i actually think you have the potential to surprise some teams in your playoffs, particularly if you address your D4 and G2 issues.

the waiver suggestion i made for you will help your Wings and your Centers are already strong or else i’d be suggesting that Peter Mueller would look great on your roster too.  i’m hoping that the addition of AK will help your PPP categories and probably your G’s too.  if it doesn’t look to be working out for you with AK then Dustin Penner is my next choice as a waiver winger.

the trading options are given to try and prime things a tiny bit where you could use some shoring up.  both Backstrom and Khabibulin look like they could be losing significant playing time to their backups and if they do then your team takes it on the chin.  that is your priority move, you need a replacement at G2.  i’m hoping that offer to Chiefs goes somewhere because if it does then you’d be set at both areas that you need to address this season.  if it doesn’t fly then you’ll have to figure something out.

i hope you really do surprise some people in your playoffs, i really do think it’s there and it could happen.  good luck Ken.