Fantasy Hockey

Oliver Ekman-Larsson Poised For Big Year Another off-season is upon us, which means another summer of debating whether or not the Coyotes will still be in Phoenix next season. This time around things aren’t looking very optimistic in Glendale. The normally positive Bill Daly and Gary Bettman gave indications last week that the Coyotes stay in Phoenix could be coming to a close. Daly said it’s possible the team won’t play there for the 2013-14 season, and Bettman added that there were plenty of relocation markets who have expressed an interest in acquiring the team. Not a good sign coming from Bettman, a guy that almost always refuses to admit anything is wrong. It could be just pouring down rain and Bettman would still be trying to tell you he sees sunshine.

The Chicago Blackhaws and Boston Bruins are set to do battle for Game 3 tonight in Boston. The Blackhawks took the series lead in Game 1 in a triple-OT thriller. However the Bruins took the always important Game 2 on the road in another OT contest. In a series filled with star players it was the Bruins role players that stepped up in Game 2. Chris Kelly scored his first of the playoffs from Daniel Paille in the second period that knotted the game at 1. Both Tuukka Rask and Corey Crawford played very and the score stayed at 1′s until 13:48 of the first overtime when Paille put one home to tie the series at 1-1 heading back to Boston. Chicago dominated the Bruins in the first period on Saturday. They outshot Boston 19-4 after one and had a 1-0 lead, they also have a goal waived off in the first. The Bruins made great adjustments during the first intermission and limited the Hawks to just nine more shots in the second and third period combined. Their top-pair of Dennis Seidenberg and Zdeno Chara continues to shutdown the Blackhawks in 30-plus minutes of ice time. Tonight the Bruins will be back at TD Bank Garden for Game 3 where they are 7-2 in the playoffs. As for Chicago they are 3-4 on the road. “I’m looking forward to seeing the excitement in this building..I remember 2 years ago how loud it was. I can’t wait to hear it again,” said Game 2′s hero Paille. Boston has done a great job in the first two games shutting down the Hawks top-6 forwards. Jonathan Toews has yet to record a point in the Finals while their top-6 have combined for seven points. Viktor Stalberg will draw back into the Blackhawks lineup after being a healthy scratch in Game’s 1 and 2. He will replace the Brandon Bollig and skate on the fourth line with Marcus Kruger and Michael Frolik. “We need some speed from him, bring some energy,” said Coach Joel Quenneville about inserting Stalberg back into the lineup. The first two games of the Finals have been excellent especially with both games going to an extra frame. These two teams are about as even of a matchup as you can find, so it would not be surprising if we are in for some more ‘free’ hockey tonight. Prediction: Bruins take a 2-1 series lead on home ice with a 3-2 win.

Pascal Dupuis has gone from trade throw-in in 2008 to one of the top potential free agents in 2013, but can the Penguins keep him?

Fantasy Impact:The Nashville Predators have acquired defenseman T.J. Brennan from the Florida Panthers in exchange for winger Bobby Butler.

Three overagers to keep an eye on at the NHL Draft...   Every year a lot of players end up not hearing their name called on draft day the first year they are eligible. Just because a player has been passed over one or more times doesn’t mean they will never end up drafted. This year there are a handful of players that could finally hear their names called and could be worth a late pick in fantasy drafts.

Edmonton has a few rookies in the AHL ready to break through     To start the American Hockey League season, the then on-going NHL labour dispute was probably the best thing to possibly happen to the Edmonton Oilers affiliate Oklahoma City Barons. Along with Jordan Eberle, several NHL caliber players found themselves in Barons uniforms rather than taking the ice at Rexall place to start the season. Eberle would play 34 games for the Barons before the start of the truncated 2012-2013 NHL season, contributing 51 points to the Baron’s fifth place Western Conference finish, the franchises third straight Calder Cup playoff berth since the franchise was re-activated for the 2010-2011 American League season.

Ottawa's future star goalie Robin Lehner was the focus of our attention two years ago The 2013 Fantasy Prospects Report will be the seventh annual production from DobberHockey. And it's out now! What better way to celebrate than to take a trip down memory lane at past prospects and profiles? For the next few weeks, we will unveil a different biography each day. Enjoy!

We're working on our 2013 Fantasy Draft Rankings as part of our Fantasy Prospects DB and it's challenging as this year's draft class is pretty stacked. So we thought we'd reach out to the FHS community for a little assistance. Here is how it shall roll: I'll lay out some profiles of the viable draft eligible candidates and you vote for who the best fantasy prospect is among that group. Then rinse and repeat. After a series of posts like that we should magically have ourselves a tidy little top 10 list. The criteria here is that we're looking for the best fantasy prospect, so not the best player but who we believe will be the best player from a fantasy perspective over the long-term (next 10 years) amongst those eligible for the 2013 NHL draft. So essentially you should be voting for who you would pick in a fantasy prospect draft, all factors taken into consideration. The slide never even really got started for Jones before he gets picked 3rd: Seth Jones - 50% Aleksander Barkov - 30% Valeri Nichushkin - 10% Sean Monahan - 5% Elias Lindholm - 5% Write-In Vote - 0% So with the 3rd pick in any fantasy prospect draft, Gary Bettman would like to announce that we have selected Seth Jones. Here is who is off the board: #1 Nathan MacKinnon (64% of the vote) #2 Jonathan Drouin (69% of the vote) #3 Seth Jones (50% of the vote) Here are your candidates for the 4th pick: Aleksander Barkov, C, Tappara (FIN) Rankings: Central Scouting: #1 (Euro Skaters) ISS: #5 Bob McKenzie: #4 (mid-term) Craig Button: #4 The Hockey News: #6 Hockey Prospectus: #5 NHL Numbers Consensus Rankings: #4 NHLE: 40.5 Required Reading: Corey Pronman's Draft Rankings Copper & Blue's Comparables Visuals: Aleksander Barkov #16 Highlights 2012-13 FHS Scout Says: So young and yet nearly unprecedented productivity in SM-liiga this year makes him a curiously underrated top 5 pick. You might be able to hit the jackpot here. But then again, maybe the Finnish league isn't what it once was if a 17-year-old is tearing it up. * Valeri Nichushkin, RW, Chelyabinsk (KHL) Rankings: Central Scouting: #2 (Euro Skaters) ISS: #4 Bob McKenzie: #10 (mid-term) Craig Button: #5 The Hockey News: #5 Hockey Prospectus: #4 NHL Numbers Consensus Rankings: #5 NHLE: 20.0 Required Reading: The Hockey Writers Prospect Profile Corey Pronman's Draft Rankings Copper & Blue's Comparables Visuals: Valeri Nichushkin 2013 WJC Highlights FHS Scout Says: Here is where the serious questions start as Val shows a lot of potential but the production leaves me wanting more. I think there is bust potential here as he could be more flash than finish. * Sean Monahan, C, Ottawa (OHL) Rankings: Central Scouting: #5 (NA Skaters) ISS: #9 Bob McKenzie: #6 (mid-term) Craig Button: #6 The Hockey News: #7 Hockey Prospectus: #7 NHL Numbers Consensus Rankings: #7 NHLE: 33.1 Required Reading: The Hockey Writers Prospect Profile Corey Pronman's Draft Rankings Copper & Blue's Comparables Visuals: Sean Monahan Highlights FHS Scout Says: Has a lot of intangibles that NHL scouts love like great hockey sense, defensive conscience, strong on draws, etc. but that's not necessarily a great calling card for his fantasy potential. His numbers this year were very solid, especially given that Ottawa was a crap team, as Monahan was in on 44% of Ottawa's goals... lofty! But a little extrapolating is going to have to be done to determine what he will do when surrounded by more talent. * Elias Lindholm, C, Brynas (SEL) Rankings: Central Scouting: #3 (Euro Skaters) ISS: #7 Bob McKenzie: #5 (mid-term) Craig Button: #9 The Hockey News: #4 Hockey Prospectus: #6 NHL Numbers Consensus Rankings: #6 NHLE: 36.9 Required Reading: The Hockey Writers Prospect Profile Corey Pronman's Draft Rankings Copper & Blue's Comparables Visuals: Elias Lindholm 2013 WJC Highlights FHS Scout Sa

Calder finalist Brendan Gallagher was featured prominently in last year's report The 2013 Fantasy Prospects Report will be the seventh annual production from DobberHockey. And it's out now! What better way to celebrate than to take a trip down memory lane at past prospects and profiles? For the next few weeks, we will unveil a different biography each day. Enjoy!

How does the (new) Northeast Division shape up financially?     Four weeks ago we looked at a breakdown of the salary cap situation for all 30 NHL teams. The message is clear: there will be fewer dollars available for free agents this summer than there are normally due to the salary cap ceiling dropping to $64.3 million. The impact on fantasy hockey, mainly cap leagues, is significant as there will be many players who will be forced to sign for less than what we may think they are worth.