5 Teams To Be Concerned About in Net
By Ray Calder, HockeyObserver.com
In addition to the long term loss of Martin Brodeur in New Jersey, here are 5 other goaltending situations that fantasy owners should keep an eye on ;
Dallas Stars - Marty Turco has been awful to this point in 2008 . Dallas has allowed the 4th fewest shots in the NHL despite being without their best puck moving blueliner until this past Friday (Sergei Zubov). Entering Wednesday night, they had the worst goals against average as a team in the league . Backup Tobias Stephan has provided little relief to this point so Turco will be given a chance to work his way out of his funk .If you have other options you should be using them until Turco strings at least 3 decent games together .
Atlanta Thrashers - Kari Lehtonen has the kind of potential to be a top 10-12 netminder in the NHL . A major issue is that the soon to be 25 year old has missed so much development time with groin injuries the last couple of seasons . The team has a reliable backup in Johan Hedberg, and an emerging talent in Ondrej Pavelec . Pavelec was talked out of returning to Europe when he was demoted to the AHL at the end of training camp this season . The team has a decision to make as to who to go forward with . Fantasy owners should probably have a quick hook with Lehtonen if he's slowed by injury any further this season . A trade of Lehtonen here is possible, but if I was another NHL club I would be wary of exchanging much of an asset for a guy that has chronic groin issues .
Edmonton Oilers - The team is carrying three netminders and would no doubt like to shed one to create some payroll flexibility . Jeff Drouin- Deslauriers has been the hot hand of late and should be the only Oiler stopper in fantasy lineups . Both Mathieu Garon, and Dwayne Roloson are riskier plays and the sooner the Oilers find a trade for one of them, the more easily it will be fantasy owners to diagnose how to handle the Oilers net . The reason Drouin- Deslauriers is still with the team is that he would have had to clear waivers to return to the AHL, and the team really likes him, and is certain they'd lose him to another club for no compensation .
Colorado Avalanche - Neither netminder Andrew Raycroft, or Peter Budaj have provided anything close to consistent steady play . The team is doing a good job limiting opportunities as they sit 3rd in the entire league in fewest shots allowed per game . They're not a candidate to make a deal for another goalie at the moment, so probably the best place for either guy is on your bench until one of these two grabs the job and runs with it . On the farm, neither Tyler Weiman or Jason Bacashihua is going to push the guys on the big club aside anytime soon .This is a marginal playoff contender so there isn't a great upside investing in anybody in this goaltending group .
Washington Capitals - Brent Johnson has stepped into the crease and grabbed this job from offseason free agent signee Jose Theodore . Johnson was last a starter all the way back in 2001-02 when he was with the Blues . This is a plum job for either man for fantasy as the Caps are in the top half of the league in scoring and sure to improve once Alex Ovechkin kicks his production into a higher gear . For now if you have Johnson, play him until he proves he's not capable of carrying your team as he's going to help the wins category at a minimum . Theodore through the season's first 4 plus weeks, looks like one of the summers biggest free agent misses .