By JIMMY D / Fantasy Sports | Jimmy's archive

Barely a week after they paraded the Cup around the ice in Raleigh, next year’s fantasy planning is already in full swing.

And the future of your fantasy roster on display at GM Place Saturday, the best 18-year-olds in the world thinking “Pick me! Pick Me.”

Here’s Jimmy’s take on what went down and how it affects your keeper league roster and your plans for your league draft in September.

Erik the Blue
Erik Johnson is a hulk who can skate, defend and shoot. He is ready to contribute right away, but the Blues might decide to pack him off to college for a year while they sort out details of their sale and recover from their train wreck of a season.

Al MacInnis greeted Johnson on stage and if he can produce half the fantasy booty that Al did, he is a worthy pick right away for your lineup.

Staal tactics
Jordan Staal seems to be carbon copy physically and intellectually as brother Erik. Lanky, but solid, he plays nice two-way game. The scouts believe he might be a notch below Erik skill-wise, but he will be a solid offensive contributor and with the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the same power-play unit, points will come in bunches.

With older brother Marc ready to play regularly on the Blueshirts blueline, only little brother Jared is yet to be drafted. The buzz is that Jared may be the best of the bunch. Of course, the hype back in the day was that Keith and Brent were better than Wayne too, but there is only Gretzky in the Hall of Fame.

Hawk-y hockey
Chicago grabbed Jonathan Toews at No. 3, possibly the most complete kid in the draft. He is big enough, skilled enough and smart enough to play right away. With some injury luck, this could be the year Chicago turns things around with its stockpile of young talent.

Backstrom Boys
Washington pegged Niklas Backstrom, who excelled as a 17-year-old in the Swedish Elite League last year, at No. 4. If he develops an on-ice rapport with Alexander Ovechkin, his meal ticket – and 60-70 points in his rookie year – will be punched.

Phil ‘er up
The Bruins need an identity and a player to sell tickets and jerseys. You know, the stuff that Joe Thornton guy used to do before they cleverly sent him packing.

Phil Kessel might be the guy. Quick and skilled, he was likened at one point to a young Pat Lafontaine and was grabbed at No. 5. He faded a bit in his draft year and apparently took a shine to Big Macs, as he showed up a little tubby at the draft. His dad played in the CFL briefly, maybe he was bulking up to switch sports.

Best of the rest
Columbus got the other real speedster at the top of the draft by taking Derick Brassard from Drummondville. Explosive one-on-one moves will have him in the show within two years.

On the home front, it was a Wild day for Lower Sackville’s James Sheppard, who went ninth overall to Minnesota. The Screaming Eagle could find himself in an explosive lineup when he arrives there in two years or so, after the Wild picked up Pavol Demitra from the Kings on Saturday.

Alder Point’s Bryce Swan went 37th overall to Anaheim. Odd to have a swan turn into a duck…
And two kids from Hammond Plains – both Halifax Mooseheads – were grabbed in the middle rounds. Speedy winger Ryan Hillier slipped to 84th overall where the Rangers drafted him.
Andrew Bodnarchuk, who is undersized but quick and talented on the blueline, was taken 128th by Boston. Maybe Kessel can share some bad eating habits in Beantown and he can put on some weight.

Net gains
Goalies were a big part before, during and after the draft. First, a blockbuster trade on Friday moved Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen to Miami for Roberto Luongo and Lukas Krajicek.

Luongo’s numbers shouldn’t change much on the Left Coast, but the trade shows Florida believes Auld is a legit No. 1 keeper. The fact the Panthers traded for career backup Craig Anderson indicates they will not be acquiring anyone to challenge him for the No. 1 spot.

Late in the day Saturday, Toronto confessed that J.S. Aubin is not really the key to any Stanley Cup aspirations and traded Finnish prospect Tuukka Rask to Boston for Andrew Raycroft. Unless Raycroft was afflicted with a serious case of Blainelacheritis, there is no reason to expect the 2003-2004 Rookie of the Year can’t rebound and play well.

In Boston, it cements journeyman Tim Thomas’ claim to starter status and ensures up-and-comer Hannu Toivonen gets pushed by Rask, his young countryman.

As for the draft, Jonathan Bernier of Lewiston was the first goalie taken, 11th overall by the Kings. Finn Riku Helenius, the star of the World Under-18 tournament, went No. 15 to goalie-poor Tampa and Semen Varlamov went No. 23 to Washington.

Calgary picked Leland Irving of the Everett Silverbacks to complete the first round keeper situation.

Flame-out & Oil drops

Jordan Leopold was deemed expendable by the defence-rich Flames – at least after Alex Tanguay’s name got dropped in the mix. Now, we get to see if the former Moosey is legit star material or if he can produce just as well alongside Daymond Langkow as he could alongside guys named Sakic and Forsberg.

And in Edmonton, a bidding war will break out now that Chris Pronger has asked to be traded. “Personal reasons” often means a player heads back to his former home or close by, but it’s hard to imagine St. Louis paying the piper to reacquire him. After a slow period of adapting to the new rules, Pronger was his usual dominant self.

With all this on the go, it’s hard too imagine how kooky things will be when free agency opens July 1. Keep your notebook nearby to keep track of all the action.
Those who stay busy will stay lucky.

Jimmy D