Jay Bouwmeester – McKeen's Hockey

Allen Key – St. Louis Blues 2018-19 Season Preview

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 15 Sep 2018 17:39:09 +0000

REVIEW / STATE OF PLAY – The St. Louis Blues managed to make the playoffs for six straight years. They even scraped into the postseason in 2016-17 despite trading Kevin Shattenkirk to Washington at the deadline. That run ended in 2017-18 though.

The Blues seemed on the right track through Feb. 9 with a 34-20-3 record, but they went 1-7-2 over their next 10 games to largely kill their playoff chances. For the second straight year, the Blues decided to part with a significant piece of their puzzle at the deadline rather than risk losing the player as an unrestricted free agent. This time it was Paul Stastny who left the team in the midst of the Blues’ late-season fall. St. Louis ended with a 44-32-6 record, which put the Blues a mere point shy of the playoffs.

NO NEED TO PLAY THE BLUES – After finishing 24th in goals for last season, St. Louis was aggressive in adding offensive weapons over the summer. The Blues signed Patrick Maroon to a one-year, $1.75 million contract, Tyler Bozak to a three-year, $15 million deal, and David Perron to a four-year, $16 million agreement over the summer. Those three starters are offensive leaders, but they are all strong secondary scorers that will serve as strong support behind Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko.

The Blues also acquired Ryan O'Reilly from the Buffalo Sabres, providing the Blues with an excellent second-line center and giving them the luxury of using Bozak to anchor the third line. It’s also worth noting that O’Reilly won 60% of his faceoffs last season while Bozak won 53.6%, so the Blues have shifted from being a team that was fairly mediocre on the draw to one that’s dominant in that regard.

Another potential additional piece to the offensive puzzle is Robby Fabbri. He was showing promise when knee problems put his career on hold. The 22-year-old last played on Feb. 4, 2017, but he’s healthy going into training camp and could be another solid secondary scorer this season.

Jake Allen

IN ALLEN THEY TRUST – Part of the reason for the Blues’ late season derailment was Jake Allen. From Dec. 14 onward, Allen posted a 2.95 GAA and .900 save percentage in 32 games. His struggles were partially mitigated by Carter Hutton’s strong play, but Hutton left the Blues as an unrestricted free agent so that he could pursue other opportunities to become a starter.

In Hutton’s place, the Blues have signed Chad Johnson, who posted an ugly 3.55 GAA and .891 save percentage in 36 games with Buffalo in 2017-18. Johnson has had better seasons than that and has enough experience that he can potentially be trusted as a short-term starter option in a pinch should Allen get hurt or need some time off to reset during a cold stretch. However, Johnson is not someone that you want as your primary option in net if you intend to make a serious push for the playoffs.

In other words, St. Louis needs Allen to be better this season than he was in 2017-18 or all the forward additions that the Blues made over the summer might be for naught. Now to be fair, Allen bouncing back isn’t an unreasonable hope for the Blues to have. Allen has certainly had better seasons than his 2017-18 campaign and while he didn’t offer details, Allen did make some adjustments over the summer, so perhaps those will bear fruit. The 2017-18 campaign was just his second season as a full-time starter after all, so it’s not shocking that there have been some growing pains there.

If he does bounce back, then the Blues would seem to have all the pieces they need to at least be a competitive team this season.

OUTLOOK – Even with a strong season out of Allen though, the Blues are a step below the NHL’s elite squads. Their offense still isn’t quite as strong, their defense has a big name in Alex Pietrangelo and a rising star Colton Parayko, but there are better blueline groups out there, and even if Allen bounces back, he’s unlikely to be mistaken for an elite goaltender. In other words, St. Louis has a lot of things that there are decent in and the sum of those parts should be good enough for run to the playoffs. Once they get there though, there are teams that will be able to outclass them across the board.

McKeen’s 17-18 Yearbook Updates

Ryan Dadoun — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 21:20:54 +0000

It is early in the pre-season, but Ryan Dadoun brings a round up of the news so far. Nothing earth shattering, but lots to keep an eye on. McKeen's will do an update end of day Monday based on injuries, camp performance, etc.

In the meantime here is what you need to know.

Anaheim

Hampus Lindholm – Shoulder injury will probably keep him out until early November. That’s not surprising given the initial projections from when he had surgery in May, but it’s his absence is more probable now than it was over the summer.

Ryan Kesler – The hope is to have him back by Christmas after he underwent hip surgery in June. Over the summer it looked like he might be back in November, so the recent news here has been discouraging.

Antoine Vermette – Might end up being the one to fill the void left by Kesler. He’s been practicing on a line with Andrew Cogliano and Jakob Silfverberg. If we’re talking about standard fantasy leagues though, Vermette’s value is still borderline at best.

Arizona

Jason Demers – The Coyotes acquired him from the Florida Panthers. Arizona views him as a top-four defenseman, but it’s not clear who his defensive partner will be. He got a decent, but not great, amount of power-play time in Florida last season while Keith Yandle/Aaron Ekblad served as the team’s primary defensive options with the man advantage and he’ll probably end up in a similar situation in Arizona behind Oliver Ekman-Larsson/Alex Goligoski when it comes to power-play ice time.

Boston

Torey Krug – He suffered a non-displaced jaw fracture on Tuesday and was projected to miss at least three weeks from that date. That will cost him most of training camp and at least three regular season games.

Buffalo

Alexander Nylander – He suffered a lower-body injury on Sept. 8 and hasn’t skated at all in training camp as a result. Good news is that the Sabres think he’ll resume skating in near future, so maybe he’ll still return with enough time to spare to make his case for a roster spot.

Carolina

Lee Stempniak – More of a side note for now, but he’s been dealing with an undisclosed problem that might be more serious than initially believed. He has soreness in his hip/back and had an MRI on Thursday, so we’ll see what the results of that are.

Detroit

Andreas Athanasiou – Still hasn’t signed. There’s the threat of him heading to the KHL and even if he does re-sign in the not too distant future, he’ll be a young player that’s missed a good chunk of training camp/preseason play.

Edmonton

Ryan Strome – It’s a bit of a stretch to mention at this stage, but the Oilers seem to be going with a top line of Maroon, McDavid, and Strome so far. As a fun aside, McDavid also thinks Strome is a good sleeper pick in fantasy leagues. (https://www.nhl.com/news/edmonton-oilers-connor-mcdavid-sees-ryan-strome-as-fantasy-sleeper/c-290885390?tid=277729150)

Drake Caggiula – Similarly, it might be too early to read into it, but so far Drake Caggiula is being tested on the second line with Draisaitl and Lucic.

Los Angeles

Marian Gaborik – Is taking some contact as he recovers from a knee injury. Still unclear if he’ll play in the preseason, but it’s progress.

Nashville

Ryan Ellis – This happened a couple weeks before training camp, so you probably already have it in your projections, but just in case he’s out for four-to-six months with a knee injury. That has led to them mixing up their defensive pairings though. Ekholm and Subban were split up so that Ekholm is now with Josi (although Ekholm-Weber has also been experimented with) and Subban is with newcomer Emelin.

New Jersey

MONTREAL, QC - SEPTEMBER 21: New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) waits for play to begin during the third period of the NHL preseason game between the New Jersey Devils and the Montreal Canadiens on September 21, 2017, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire)

Nico Hischier – Another stretch, but for what it’s worth Nico Hischier has stood out in preseason games so far, upping what were already good odds of him making the team. Hynes suggested that Hischier has forced talks of him having a bigger role than previously projected. Hischier-Hall is an interesting combo, though of course it’s another preseason pairing so who knows.

NY Islanders

Alan Quine – Quine sustained an upper-body injury in mid-September that was projected to cost him four-to-six weeks. So he’s missing training camp and a couple weeks of the regular season in all likelihood.

Ottawa

Colin White – Suffered a broken left wrist on Monday and is projected to miss six-to-eight weeks. He had been seen as being in a good position to make the team, especially due to Derick Brassard being a question mark. Although…

Derick Brassard – His recovery from shoulder surgery is ahead of schedule, per what Guy Boucher said today. He still might not be ready for the start of the regular season.

Clarke MacArthur – Unfortunately even after his strong playoff showing, he ended up failing his physical. Sucks to say, but it may be that his playing career is over.

Erik Karlsson – As of Thursday he still wasn’t skating due to his foot injury. He’s unlikely to be ready for the start of the season and who knows if he’ll be begin the curve once he finally is given the green light to play.

Philadelphia

Travis Sanheim – It’s still tentative, but he’s off to a good start and seems to have improved his chances of making the team. Had 10 goals and 37 points in the AHL last season.

Sean Couturier – The Flyers are toying with using Claude Giroux as a left winger. Couturier could be the beneficiary if that happens as he could move up in the depth charts as a result, possibly even on a line with Giroux and Jakub Voracek (which they did test out in practice, but that doesn’t mean they’ll actually use it in games).

St. Louis

Zach Sanford – Suffered a dislocated left shoulder that will keep him sidelined for the next five-to-six months.

Jay Bouwmeester – Has a fractured left ankle that will be re-evaluated in three weeks. Along with Sanford, these ones are fringe just because they didn’t have much in the way of fantasy value even when healthy.

Alexander Steen – Suffered a hand injury in the Blues’ first preseason game on Tuesday that will cost him at least three weeks (at which point he’ll be re-evaluated). Certainly he’s the most noteworthy of the three fantasy wise.

Toronto

Patrick Marleau – It’s looking like Patrick Marleau won’t play alongside Matthews in even strength as Babcock’s preference appears to be a trio of Zach Hyman, Matthews, and William Nylander. Marleau and Matthews should share the ice in power play situations though.

Joffrey Lupul – Team’s says he failed his physical, but now it looks like the league wants to look into it after Lupul’s claim of cheating followed by his retraction(deletion)/apology. Probably doesn’t matter fantasy-wise either way. Even if Lupul is deemed fit to play he’ll probably end up in the AHL at most.

Vegas

James Neal – Has a broken hand that was projected to sideline him for two-to-four weeks. He’s one week into that timetable at this point so perhaps he’ll be okay for the season opener. Still sucks to miss training camp on a brand new team though.

Washington

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: Washington Capitals left wing Jakub Vrana (13) makes a pass during an NHL game on March 16, 2017, at the Verizon Center, in Washington, D.C. between the Washington Capitals and the Nashville Predators. Nashville won 2-1 in overtime.
(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire)

Jakub Vrana – More grain of salt stuff, but the Capitals have been giving him top-six opportunities. He played alongside Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov in Wednesday’s preseason game and tonight it looks like he’ll be with Backstrom and Oshie (Kuznetsov/Ovechkin aren’t playing).

Winnipeg

Tyler Myers – Feels 100% after only playing in 11 games last season.

NHL Fantasy Playoffs

Carl Lemelin — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 13:36:41 +0000

Those of you still contending for your league championship are left to make crucial roster decisions every week. Starting or benching a player could be the determining factor between winning or losing in the playoffs.

You all know who your studs are, but now that most fantasy rosters are set for the championship drive, let’s look at those bubble players; the ones you should ride as weekly starters and those who should be shelved for the rest of the year.

RIDE ‘EM

Valteri Filppula (C) – TBL: As good a first half as everyone thought he had, Filppula is authoring an even better second. Currently riding an 8-game point streak (4-8-12, +4), the Finn pivot also benefits from manning the point on Tampa’s first PP unit which also features red hot Steven Stamkos. Classic case of a late-bloomer, with a career-best season at the age of 30.

Ondrej Palat (LW) – TBL: The 22 y/o Czech rookie has always found a way to produce offense at every level. His line, center by Filppula and completed by Ryan Callahan on RW, is one of the hottest in the NHL. Consequently, Palat has been promoted to the PP’s top unit, where he benefits from the new-found chemistry with his regular linemates. His numbers are no fluke; very smart playmaker.

Gustav Nyquist (RW-LW) – DET: Simply one of the best goal scorers in the league at the moment: 12G, 9A for 21 pts (+9) in 17 GP since Feb. 2^nd. What’s even more impressive is that Nyquist is doing this without that much help from his regular linemates (Riley Sheahan and Tomas Tatar aren’t exactly tearing it up). This should be enough to convince his owners to pencil him in from here on out.

Steve Mason (G) – PHI: The Flyers have definitely figured it out since Craig Berube took over behind the bench. First they took care of their horrible defensive warts, than they worked through the offensive issues that haunted them in the first half. Now they’re firing on all cylinders and Steve Mason’s owners are reaping the benefits: 11-3-1 record since Feb 1^st, with a .923 SP and 2 SO. As safe a bet as there is in the crease outside of Tukka Rask at the moment.

Wayne Simmonds (RW) – PHI: A point-a-game producer since Feb 1^st (15-7-9-16), Simmonds is establishing himself as one of the best young power forwards in the NHL. His line isn’t quite lighting it up (centered by Braden Schenn, with Vincent Lecavalier on LW), but Simmonds has scored 13 of his 24 goals on a red hot first PP unit keyed by center Claude Giroux’s all-world playmaking abilities.

T.J. Brodie (D) – CAL: Has taken full advantage of Dennis Wideman’s injury, producing at a career-best pace (6-0-6-6, +10). Although you shouldn’t expect a point-a-game pace, Brodie is a solid option as a no.5 or 6 D in most fantasy leagues for the rest of the year.

BENCH ‘EM

Mike Ribeiro (C) – PHO: After a stellar season in Washington, Ribeiro is in the midst of one of the worst slumps in his career. The playmaking wiz strives on ice-time and creativity. However his blatant lack of discipline and lackadaisical play lately has earned him a benching following a misconduct on Feb 28^th. Since then things have yet to improve (12-1-3-4, -5). He has been demoted to third or fourth line duty and to the second PP unit. Monitor his play and icetime. Both must sharply pick up before you can start him again.

Jay Bouwmeester (D) – STL: After a hot offensive first half, Bouwmeester has come back down to earth since his return from the Olympics: 13-0-2-2, with both points coming in the same game. I never viewed Bouwmeester as a reliable source of offense from the back end. Don’t expect anything more than his career average of 0.41 PPG the rest of the way. If you have a better option, he should be benched; if not, good luck!

Brent Seabrook (D) – CHI: Yes he still is Duncan Keith’s partner, but he is far from his equal. Seabrook has only one assist in his last 8 games and mans the point on a second PP unit of the Hawks that has been very cold. Chicago has been extremely top-heavy in its offensive production lately, which hurts Seabrook’s likelihood of producing points.

Dan Boyle (D) – SJS: It seems time has finally caught up to this once elite offensive defenseman. He has suffered through long point droughts this season, including one of ten straight games between Jan 20^th and Feb 7^th. Currently mired in a 5-gamer, Boyle can simply no longer be considered an automatic starter.

Bobby Ryan (RW) – OTT: The Sens’ first half success was keyed by a hot second line, centered by emerging center Kyle Turris. Not so coincidentally, their second half debacle can be partly explained by the complete collapse of that same line. Bobby Ryan is on that line and there is no relief in sight: 16-3-3-6 (-7) since Feb 1st. Now comes word that he has suffered an upper-body injury.

Buyer Beware – Don’t Overvalue

Carl Lemelin — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 10:09:18 +0000

DO NOT OVERVALUE

My last posting dealt with players that might be under-valued or underrated fantasy assets going into the 2013-14 season. But what about those players that may be overrated? As a fantasy team owner, identifying overvalued stars is at least as important as trying to find those hidden gems at the draft. In fact, there are probably more championships lost via ill-advised early round picks than won because of later rounds strokes of genius.

There are many reasons why your opponents tend to overrate the pre-season fantasy value of a player: reputation, career stats, projected line-ups, overall team outlook and media hype surrounding the player. Conversely, some critical factors are too often overlooked: age, injury concerns, career trends, actual value versus fantasy value, and chemistry issues as they relate to the type of player.

Here are the players I feel you should think twice before drafting too soon or paying too much for (in the case of salary cap and auction type leagues).

1- Nathan Horton (RW) – CLB: Was viewed as one of the top free agents from this year’s crop and was awarded a huge 7-year deal by the Jackets at a $5.3M cap hit. His career best PPG (0.87) came in his final season in Florida (2009-10), in which he only played 65 games. Horton has never approached that kind of offensive prowess since. He isn’t expected back in the line-up until late-December and will be hard-pressed to find the playmaking centerman help he had in Boston when he does reintegrate the Columbus line-up. Superb playoff performer and key contributor on a contending team, but a risky fantasy proposition.

2- Jay Bouwmeester (D) – STL: Has always been a tantalizing skater and that’s what made him the 3^rd overall pick in the 2002 draft (Florida). Showed signs of an eventual offensive breakout when he averaged 41.75 points per season between 2005-06 and 2008-09; proceeded to average a measly 27.3 over the next three seasons. Jumped back up to approach the 40-point mark (pro-rated 38.4) last year, but an obvious lack of elite vision from the back-end along with a diminishing offensive role within the Blues line-up (Kevin Shattenkirk and Alex Pietrangelo ahead of him) all but guarantee he won’t be able to maintain this kind of pace. Durable, but an unreliable source of offense.

3- Troy Brouwer (RW) – WAS: To the untrained eye, last season was a breakout for Brouwer: entering his prime at 28, he posted career-high numbers (0.70 PPG, pro-rated 33 goals). But that all came in a season where the Caps’ PP was on fire. Brouwer benefitted from the brilliant passing of Mike Ribeiro and Nicklas Backstrom on the man-advantage, where half his points came from. Also played on Ribeiro’s right most of the season. No more Ribeiro, no chance at 30 goals. Let someone else take a flyer on him in the third round.

4- Artem Anisimov (C) – CLB: We just mentioned the lack of elite playmaking skills in Columbus (see Nathan Horton). Anisimov has all the NHL-quality individual skills scouts rave about, but 4 years into his NHL career, it’s clear he lacks the offensive vision to help make his wingers better players. He is likely the Jackets’ no. 1 center yes, but there are no pass-first wingers on the roster that could help bolster his fantasy outlook this season.

5- Ryan Miller (G) – BUF: It may surprise you to learn that Miller has only authored one season with a SV Pct. of .920 or above (.929 in his Vezina Trophy winning season of 2009-10). In every other year, Miller has statistically been a very average goaltender. In leagues that put a premium on wins, he has always had the stamina to collect them in bunches on traditionally good Buffalo squads. But the Sabres are entering a semi-rebuild and will likely be overwhelmed in the newly formed, powerhouse Atlantic Division. Now 33, Miller simply isn’t worth wasting a high pick on anymore.

6- Devan Dubnyk (G) – EDM: Don’t get me wrong, I like Dubnyk as an up-and-coming talent in the crease. He recorded an impressive .920 SV Pct. last season on a weak defensive team (Oilers ranked 19^th with 2.73 GA/G). The problem is that most fantasy formats love the wins. Well, the Oilers have a new coach, are still learning how to win and are now in the toughest division in the league. They will get there, just not quite yet.

7- Jonas Brodin (D) - MIN: Overwhelmingly viewed as a snub when the NHL announced its Calder Trophy nominees last year, the youngest rearguard in the NHL had a stellar rookie campaign. The 10^th overall pick of the Wild two years ago lived up to the hype playing along-side stud Ryan Suter. Taking a closer look at the numbers however, we quickly realize that almost all of his offense came with the help of his All-Star playing partner (9 of his 11 points at ES). Brodin has no track-record for producing significant offense. He will be an NHL workhorse, but likely never become the true PP quarterback that fantasy owners seek.

8- Mike Cammalleri (LW) – CAL: Yes, he is coming off a nice bounce-back season; yes, he is still only 31; yes, he is clearly the offensive leader in Calgary; and yes I believe Cammalleri can repeat that same success. But after last year’s rebound, most will expect a return to the point-a-game player he was in the final season of his last stint in Cow-Town (2008-09). Cammalleri did find his sniper-type game, as we saw his patented one-timer from the RW dot on a more regular basis in 2013, but who will feed him those pin-point passes now that Alex Tanguay has been shipped to Colorado? At best expect 60-70 points, but only if Calder candidate Sven Baertschi proves ready to step in right away as a top PP unit playmaker.