Chicago Blackhawks
Must-haves: Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews, Brian Campbell, Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp
Contributors: Kris Versteeg, Cam Barker, Brent Seabrook, Dave Bolland, Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien
Sleepers:
Cristobal Huet, Brent Sopel, Jack Skille
Specialists:
Ben Eager, Adam Burish, John Madden, Colin Fraser, Tomas Kopecky, Troy Brouwer, Aaron Johnson, Corey Crawford, Antti Niemi
Offseason
analysis: For the second year in a row, the Blackhawks made quite a
splash in free agency. This year's top haul was Hossa, who signed a mega
12-year deal, and it came a year after Chicago lured Campbell to the
Windy City with a long-term contract. Unfortunately, we found out weeks
after the deal that Hossa needed shoulder surgery and could miss up to
two months of the season. He is still worth owning in all Fantasy
formats but is definitely a draft-and-stash guy. Re-signing Versteeg,
Barker and Bolland was also key to Chicago's Stanley Cup hopes. However,
they lost a few key players. Hossa will make up for the loss of Martin Havlat, but much of the intrigue will be in net, where Huet
takes over the full-time starting role for Nikolai Khabibulin, who left for Edmonton. Chicago's success could rely
on how well Huet transitions in net. He has yet to play more than 52
games in a season and Chicago will at least ask for 60 with unproven
backups in Crawford and Niemi. Huet has the potential to be a No. 1
Fantasy goalie playing for a top contender, but we like him as a No. 2
option on Draft Day.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Must-haves: Rick Nash, Steve Mason
Contributors: Kristian Huselius, Fedor Tyutin, Mike Commodore, R.J. Umberger, Rostislav Klesla
Sleepers: Antoine Vermette, Derick Brassard, Nikita Filatov, Jakub Voracek, Kris Russell, Fredrik Modin
Specialists:
Mathieu Garon, Jared Boll, Jason Chimera, Jan Hejda, Raffi Torres, Derek Dorsett, Marc Methot, Samuel Pahlsson, Andrew Murray
Offseason analysis: The biggest news Columbus
made in the offseason was signing the All-Star Nash to a contract. Now
that he is on board long-term, Columbus can focus on playing hockey and
be glad its captain is locked up for the forseeable future. Columbus had
more key subtractions -- Jason Williams, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and Wade Dubielewicz
-- than additions, but one of their biggest pickups was Pahlsson. He is
a faceoff and penalty-killing specialist who will continue to be very
helpful in those Fantasy formats. And while he was already under
contract, getting Brassard (shoulder) back to full strength is key.
Brassard was well on his way to Calder Trophy (top rookie) honors in
2008-09 before he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in December.
Brassard had 25 points (10 goals) and a plus-12 rating in 31 games. He
was developing into a solid top-line center and could now be asked to
run the point on the power play, an area Columbus struggled with
mightily last season. Vermette and Filatov are two other players that
Fantasy owners should keep tabs on. Vermette totaled 13 points (seven
goals) in 17 games with Columbus last season after being picked up in a
trade from Ottawa, and Filatov -- a 2008 first-round pick (sixth
overall) -- is a rising star. The only issue is that Columbus is having
trouble finding Filatov top-six minutes and the young winger is
threatening a return to Russia. It's not hockey without a little
offseason drama.
Detroit Red Wings
Must-haves: Pavel Datsyuk, Brian Rafalski, Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall, Chris Osgood
Contributors:
Tomas Holmstrom
Sleepers: Todd Bertuzzi, Daniel Cleary, Valtteri Filppula, Jason Williams, Ville Leino, Jimmy Howard, Jonathan Ericsson, Patrick Eaves
Specialists:
Brad Stuart, Brett Lebda, Andreas Lilja, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby
Offseason
analysis: While most of Detroit's core group of stars returns in
2009-10, the Red Wings still had a mass exodus of sorts in the
offseason. Detroit lost the likes of Mikael Samuelsson (Vancouver), Tomas Kopecky
(Chicago), Marian Hossa (Chicago), Ty Conklin (St. Louis) and Jiri Hudler
(Russia). That opened the door for Detroit to bring in Bertuzzi,
Williams and Eaves to help shore up the right side of the ice. The real
wild cards are Bertuzzi and Williams. Both have played in Detroit in the
past and both have a knack for scoring. Detroit stands by the fact
Bertuzzi is 100 percent healthy and ready to shock the world. Williams
does his best work playing on a contender and Detroit is very much that.
Conklin was extremely valuable as Osgood's backup last season, but
Detroit finally felt Howard deserved a shot in the NHL after patiently
waiting the last four years in the minors. Osgood hasn't played more
than 46 games the last four seasons and coach Mike Babcock hasn't been
afraid to rotate goalies, so Howard better be prepared to play. Two
other players on the Fantasy radar are Leino and Ericsson. Leino came to
North America last season as the second-most coveted overseas import
behind Fabian Brunnstrom. Detroit had
the luxury of letting Leino transition in the minors, but when he
finally came to the NHL, all he did was score (nine points in 13 games).
They re-signed him for two years and look forward to Leino's
contributions. As for Ericsson, he has been a favorite of Babcock for a
long time and only an injury kept him from making a bigger impact in the
NHL last season. But Ericsson had quite a showing in the playoffs and
the long-term injury to Lilja (concussion) could free up a spot for the
25-year-old blueliner.
Nashville Predators
Must-haves: Shea Weber, J.P. Dumont, Jason Arnott, Pekka Rinne, Ryan Suter
Contributors:
Martin Erat, David Legwand, Dan Hamhuis
Sleepers:
Steve Sullivan, Patric Hornqvist, Colin Wilson, Cody Franson, Alexander Sulzer
Specialists:
Dan Ellis, Joel Ward, Wade Belak, Jordin Tootoo, Ryan Jones, Marcel Goc, Jerred Smithson, Kevin Klein, Ben Guite
Offseason
analysis: The Predators chose not to address their blue-line issue
in the offseason and in fact let Greg Zanon
leave for Minnesota, a year after Nashville traded Marek Zidlicky to the Wild. They have a solid core of players in
Weber, Suter and Hamhuis, but depth is Nashville's biggest concern. It
finally seems they are going to dip into their system and give Sulzer
and Franson serious looks. A real sleeper in the mix is Jonathon Blum, who is entering his first full year of pro hockey, but
Nashville would like to bring the 2007 first-round pick along slowly.
The re-signing of Sullivan was huge for Nashville. Sullivan came on very
strong late in the 2008-09 season after he initially played tentatively
following a two-year absence from the NHL because of a back issue.
Sullivan had 27 points in his last 25 games and finished with 32 points
(11 goals) in 41 contests. Nashville is excited to put him on the top
line with Arnott and Dumont. Nashville also re-signed Ward this
offseason after his breakout 35-point performance in '08-09. However,
Nashville is looking for more this season from Hornqvist and Jones. Both
players were expected to be impact skaters for the Predators last
season, but spent the majority of the time bouncing between the NHL and
AHL. General manager David Poile has given both players a vote of
confidence heading into 2009-10 after strong finishes last season. One
other key wild card is Wilson, who turned pro after leading Boston
University to a NCAA championship. Wilson has his eye on bypassing the
AHL and nabbing a roster spot out of training camp. The Nashville front
office can't say enough about Wilson's playmaking prowess, but they
aren't going to risk hurting his development if he isn't ready for the
big time.
St. Louis Blues
Must-haves: Brad Boyes, Chris Mason
Contributors: Keith Tkachuk, David Backes, Patrik Berglund, David Perron, Carlo Colaiacovo, Alexander Steen
Sleepers:
Andy McDonald, Paul Kariya, T.J. Oshie, Erik Johnson, Alex Pietrangelo
Specialists:
Ty Conklin, B.J. Crombeen, Brendan Bell, Barrett Jackman, Eric Brewer, Cam Janssen, Jay McClement. Roman Polak, Brad Winchester, D.J. King, Mike Weaver
Offseason
analysis: The Blues had a pretty quiet offseason in regards to
making a splash in the free-agent market. Their biggest move was luring
Conklin from Detroit to back up Mason, who was outstanding down the
stretch for St. Louis in 2008-09. Unfortunately, Conklin loses some
Fantasy appeal on Draft Day since Mason is expected to shoulder the
workload and not share it like Chris Osgood
did with Conklin in Detroit. Bell was a surprise addition to the blue
line since St. Louis already has a solid core of players, and they are
getting practically two new fresh faces in Johnson and Pietrangelo.
Johnson, the No. 1 pick in 2006, is returning from a year on injured
reserve due to a torn ACL. All the reports have been positive and St.
Louis is hoping Johnson returns to the offensive threat he was as a
rookie in 2007-08 (33 points in 69 games). Pietrangelo, the No. 4 pick
in 2008, was given a chance to wow the St. Louis organization last year,
but it wasn't meant to be and he was sent back to junior hockey for more
seasoning. The Blues hope a year later Pietrangelo is ready for the
show. Another key injury returnee is Kariya, who played just 11 games in
2008-09 due to hip issues. Kariya came out of the gate on fire with 15
points and is still a top offensive skater when healthy. The Blues have
pretty much all of their core players that helped get them to the
playoffs in '08-09, so don't sleep on the fact that they can make some
noise in the Western Conference.
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