By JIMMY D / Jimmy wants to be No. 1, like Steve Stamkos | Jimmy's archive
A year after Americans went 1-2 in the NHL entry draft, Canadians are expected to go 1-2 Friday in the 2008 edition of the event. And Ontario Hockey League players could go 1-2-3-4-5.
It’s a keeper poolie’s dream night Friday, as serious fantasy hockey participants look into the crystal ball to see who will be producing fantasy stats for them in three to five years.
Steve Stamkos of the Sarnia Sting, a hugely creative player, shapes up as the No. 1 pick. That’s the same position Jimmy D expects to land in the inaugural NHL Draft Contest he set up at fantasy sports site Fanjack.com.
The contest is a question-and-answer format where you select among several answers that have been provided. Obvious answers earn you small amounts of points (Stamkos will be the No. 1 overall pick is good for one point), but predict a longshot answer (Tampa Bay will trade the first overall pick to two teams like Quebec did with Eric Lindros back in 1990) and that will earn you 100 points.
There are 13 draftees whose draft range you must predict, as well as six questions involving the draft itself (such as how many trades will be completed during the first round, when will the first goalie -possibly Guelph’s Thomas McCollum – be selected and which former or current NHL player will be involved in a trade).
The draft could see five of the top seven positions go to defencemen. After Stamkos, World Junior stud Drew Doughty and New York-born Zach Bogosian are projected as the next two picks. Doughty is a 6-foot, 220-pound rock who can fly (scored 24 goals as an OHL rookie with Guelph), while Bogosian led Peterborough in scoring and tallied 51 assists.
Alex Pietrangelo of the Niagara IceDogs could be a Top 6 pick, while WHL teammates Luke Schenn and Tyler Myers could go back-to-back in the Top 5 from the Kelowna Rockets.
WHL forwards Kyle Beach of Everett and Zach Boychuk of Lethbridge are possible Top 10 picks, while Cody Hodgson – voted the OHL’s smartest player, if you believe smarts are important – also figures in the DraftMaster contest.
Meanwhile, Europe’s crop of players appears weaker than in past years.
Russian forwards Nikita Filatov and Kirill Petrov ranked 1-2 in the year-end Euro list. Both have climbed in year-end rankings from Red Line Report (Filatov to No. 2 and Petrov to No. 9). Casual fans will recognize Europe’s seventh-rated skater, Russia’s Viktor Tikhonov, grandson of the Russian coaching legend. And on paper anyway, it looks like a skimpy year for goalies, with aforementioned McCollum - and Chet Pickard - the best of an otherwise mediocre bunch.
Check out the game. We’ll see who can challenge Jimmy D and if anyone from Atlantic Canada beats him, he’ll get props in this column next week. www.fanjack.com/fantasysports/2008
Draft Fallout and Trade Banter
Marian Hossa is on the list of ‘might be traded’ in the draft contest, but there are rumours out of Pittsburgh that he is being offered seven years and $50 million to stay. There were rumours earlier in the week that Evgeni Malkin was going to be extended and also that Marc-Andre Fleury was getting contract attention.
Either Sid the Kid is going to offer to play for free and survive off his meager Reebok and Gatorade endorsements or the Penguins have league permission to surpass the cap. This bears watching during the week as a Hossa signing will impact discussions around Malkin, young gun Jordan Staal and warrior winger Ryan Malone (who is connected with Columbus in some trade reports).
Alexei Yashin is another NHLer to make the ‘might be traded’ category in the contest, in part due to the rambling this week that he might return to Long Island. One of Jimmy’s favourite targets for derision, Yashin played in Russia last year after getting an $18 million buyout of his silly 10-year Islander contract.
The dude had talent, but not much grit and Jimmy wonders if he would be much more than a power-play specialist in the new NHL. The game is all about speed and tenacity these days. Yashin will be 36 and never played with much gusto when he was 26. Jimmy thinks this would be a stupid thing to do, but the Islanders have not been immune to stupid things the past 15 years or so.
He’s the opposite of Stamkos, who brings speed, creativity and surprising grit to the rink. And in Tampa Bay, a top-flight talent will end up playing alongside Vinny Lecavalier or Martin St. Louis or both, making him instant fantasy production in 2008-2009.
Expect more than the 72 points last year’s No. 1 – Chicago’s Pat Kane – produced this year.
Stay busy and stay lucky.
Jimmy D
jpoole@herald.ca |
