Just Fantasy Hockey - Injury Report

Anaheim
J-S Giguere (G) Groin - Questionable for Oct. 30 vs. Vancouver
Fantasy Spin: Jonas Hiller now becomes the default number 1 goalie in Anaheim until Giggy can get healthy. Anaheim is struggling but is should soon be able to turn around their game. Start Hiller in all formats.

Atlanta
Ilya Kovalchuk (LW) Foot - Out until at least mid-November
Fantasy Spin: With their leading scorer out for 3-5 weeks, Evander Kane has made the jump to the top line. Expect Atlanta to mix it up until they can find the right chemistry on the top 2 lines. Kane has limited value but may be worth look in deeper leagues. Peverly and Little should see a lot more ice time as well, don’t hesitate to play them.

Boston
Milan Lucic (LW) Finger - Out until at least late November
Marc Savard (C) Foot - Out until at least late November
Fantasy Spin: With 2 of the top Bruins out of the line-up for an extended period of time, the depth players must step up to carry the team. Krejci and Bergeron now become the top two centers, while Wheeler and Ryder will be looked upon to score the big goals. Look for more production from the defence during this time. Keep playing your Bruins as their potential on the ice far out-weigh them sitting on your bench.

Chicago
Jonathan Toews (C) Upper body - Questionable for Oct. 29 at Nashville
Fantasy Spin: Toews has started the season slow and this injury doesn’t help his case. Look for the Hawks to rely on Sharpe, Kane, Byfuglien and Bolland to step up while Toews clears out his cobwebs. Look for Andrew Ebbett, Troy Brower and Jack Skille to add depth with Toews and Hossa are out.

Colorado
John-Michael Liles (D) Shoulder - Out until at least late October
Fantasy Spin: Liles is skating and looks to return this week. That is great news for the Aves powerplay and owners of Wolski, Hedjuk, Stastny and Quincey. Activate Liles for your line-up next week.

Detroit
Johan Franzen (C) Knee - Out until at least mid-February
Fantasy Spin: Detroit is struggling to score goals and find the right line combinations to make an impact. Although it is not wise to sit players like Zetterberg and Datsyuk, think twice about starting Betruzzi, Cleary and Leino until the Red Wings get going.

Edmonton
Sheldon Souray (D) Concussion - Out until at least late October
Fantasy Spin: Still not skating, Souray is taking a very slow road to recovery. Gilbert, Grebeshkov and Vishnovsky are the direct beneficiaries of this injury. Having Souray’s booming slapshot from the point on the powerplay hurts the Oilers, keep him stashed on your IR until he hits the ice and plays a couple games.

Florida
David Booth (LW) Concussion - Out until at least early November
Fantasy Spin: Receiving a crushing blow, Booth was carried off the ice on a stretcher. With Booth out for an undetermined amount of time, look for Frolik and Olesz to benefit with more icetime. With Florida having the second lowest goals for, I would look at other players as fantasy options.

Minnesota
Pierre-Marc Bouchard (C) Head - Out indefinitely
Fantasy Spin: With Minnesota struggling to score goals, the injury to PM Bouchard truly hurts. A lack of secondary scoring has frustrated fantasy owners. Eric Belanger has been a clear beneficiary of the injury as he has netted close to a point per game. Don’t expect Sykora, Nolan and Sheppard to get going until Bouchard can return. Look for Koivu and Havlat to continue leading the charge for the Wild.

Montreal
Andrei Markov (D) Ankle - Out until at least early February
Fantasy Spin: Adapting to life without their most productive defenceman has been difficult. With Markov out for an extended period of time, M-A Bergeron has been signed to fill the void. Bergeron has helped turn the Habs powerplay around by offering them another option from the point. Add Bergeron in all formats as he will eat up a lot of PP time.

Nashville
Jason Arnott (C) Arm - Out until at least early November
Fantasy Spin: With Arnott out, the Predators are finding it difficult to find the back of the net. The lowest scoring team in the league, the Arnott injury has affected the team’s fantasy value. It would be best to rest your Predators until they can get their game back on track with the exception of Weber and Suter.

New Jersey
Patrik Elias (LW) Hip, groin - Out until at least late October
Paul Martin (D) Arm - Out until at least late November
Fantasy Spin: With a November 4th date to return, the Devil’s will welcome back the veteran. Elias will take some time to get back into game condition so keep him reserved for the week he returns. Paul Martin has been a staple of consistency on the Devil’s blueline. With his injury, they have called up journeyman Cory Murphy. Murphy has limited fantasy value.

NY Rangers
Marian Gaborik (RW) Undisclosed - Questionable for Oct. 28 at N.Y. Islanders
Fantasy Spin: The Rangers are holding their breath hoping that Gaborik’s injury is not serious. The second leading scorer in the league, any injury to Gaborik will be a huge blow to the entire team. Keep him in your line-up until you hear differently. No news is good news.

Philadelphia
Simon Gagne (LW) Groin - Out until at least early November
Fantasy Spin: his will be a good test to see if Philadelphia can overcome a major injury. Expect Gagne to be out for an extended time and continue to struggle upon returning. Expect Briere, Giroux, Hartnell and JVR to step up and play the wings on the top 2 units.

Pittsburgh
Sergei Gonchar (D) Wrist - Out until at least late November
Fantasy Spin: The top team in the league has already shown they can do it with Gonchar out of the line-up. The main beneficiary of the injury will be Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski on the top powerplay unit. They have increased value now that Gonchar will be out for at least a month.

San Jose
Joe Pavelski (C) Foot - Out until at least late October
Fantasy Spin: Although he is skating, the timetable for Pavelski is still loose. An underrated fantasy player, Pavelski centers the Sharks second line when healthy. Patrick Marleau has thrived with Pavelksi on the sidelines.

St. Louis
T.J. Oshie (C) Appendectomy - Out until at least early November
Fantasy Spin: Struggling to find his game early in his sophomore year, Oshie will be sidelined temporarily. He offers little fantasy value at this point but has a bright future in St. Louis. Look for Boyes, Kariya and McDonald to continue to eat up the icetime for the Blues.

Toronto
Phil Kessel (RW) Shoulder - Out until at least early November
Fantasy Spin: With only 1 win under their belt, Toronto needs Kessel to come back to help lead their lousy offence. Aiming for a November 3rd return, he still has not been cleared for contact. Owners should expect Kessel to struggle when he does come back into the line-up. Keep him reserved until he has a week of game time under his belt.

Vancouver
Daniel Sedin (LW) Foot - Out until at least mid-November
Pavol Demitra (RW) - Shoulder - Out indefinitely
Sami Salo (D) Knee - Out until at least late November
Fantasy Spin: The infirmary is loading up for the Canucks. With 3 important pieces out of their line-up and Luongo struggling early, Vancouver has looked for rookies to help with the depth. Michael Grabner and Sergei Shirokov have been promoted from the AHL and may be worth a look in deeper leagues. Mathieu Schneider is back from an early injury and should be activated in all formats.

Mark

Just Fantasy Hockey - Week 5 Rookie Report

It's Tuesday, time for the JFH Rookie Report.

John Tavares (C), NYI - 10GP, 3G, 4A, 7PTS
Tavares has slowed down of late, going pointless in his past 4. The bad news for JT owners is that his ice-time has also decreased as he has averaged roughly 18 minutes on the ice over the past 5 games. That is down on his over 20 minutes from the first 5 games.
Fantasy Impact:
The 18 year-old has shown that he is human afterall. He'll have his ups and downs throughout the year, just don't get too high or too low on him and do something you'll regret. At the end of the year, 65-70 points is a strong possibility.

Ryan O'Reilly (C), COL - 11GP, 2G, 8A, 10PTS
The hottest of all the freshman, O'Reilly has 6 points in his last 4 and points in his past 7 games (9). His ice-time has also gone up and he played a season-high 20:13 on Saturday night. The Avs love the progress O'Reilly has made in transitioning to the NHL game and are giving him the opportunity to blossom.
Fantasy Impact:
While O'Reilly is red hot, he doesn't have a scorer's pedigree. His career-high in points with Erie (OHL) was 66 in 68 games. Hard to imagine him coming close to a PPG at the NHL level this year. Sell a fellow owner on O'Reilly's hot start and you'll be happy when he slows down in a few weeks.

Niklas Bergfors (RW), NJ - 9GP, 2G, 3A, 5 PTS
With 3 points in his past 2 games, Bergfors is showing the Devils why they drafted him 23rd overall in the '05 Draft. Niklas has spent the past 4 years adapting to the North American game in the AHL. He received over 17 minutes of ice-time in back to back games last week, showing that the Devils feel his game has finally matured enough to become a reliable NHLer. Playing on an effective line with Clarkson and Zubrus, the Devils are setting this youngster up for success.
Fantasy Impact:
Bergfors has great offensive instincts and can be a productive scorer if he sticks on the Devil's 2nd line. Not as heralded as some of the other rookies, Niklas could be just as valuable the rest of the way. If he is a FA, pick him up, especially in keeper leagues.

Michael Grabner (RW), VAN - 6GP, 2G, 3A, 5PTS
With injuries to Daniel Sedin and Pavol Demitra, Grabner is getting the opportunity to show his talent. The young Austrian has responded well with 4 points in his past 3 games. Playing on a lightning quick line with Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond, Grabner is making the most of his audition.
Fantasy Impact:
The 14th overall pick in the 2006 Draft, Raymond has high-end offensive skills and speed to burn. He could be a nice find for the Canucks, and your fantasy team.

Michael Del Zotto (D), NYR - 12GP, 4G, 8A, 12 PTS
While we thought Del Zotto would start to slow down, he has actually heated up. The 19 year-old rearguard has 7 points in his last 6 games and has seen his ice-time steadily increase, playing a season high 20:14 against NJ last week. His 12 points is tops among all rookies and tied with Dan Boyle for the league lead among all Dman.
Fantasy Impact:
We still think it will be impossible for Del Zotto to keep this pace up. That said, he may be more advanced than we thought. You may want to ride him out through his first tough stretch (it will happen) and see how he recovers. He could end up being a great keeper DMan by the end of the year.

Other notables:
A slow week for Dallas winger Jamie Benn with just 1 goal in his past 3. Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk has 4 points in his past 4. Rangers Centre Artem Anisimov has 2 goals in his past 2 games while continuing to get minimal ice-time. Pre-season sleeper LW Ville Leino has just 1 assist in his past 5 games with the Red Wings. TB D Victor Hedman is pointless in his past 4.

Chris

An Eight Year Pact

The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed 25 year old superstar, Rick Nash, to a 8 year, $62.5 Million dollar contract.

The ownership of the Blue Jackets have made a clear statement that Rick Nash will lead the team into the prime years of his career. Nash, a natural goal scorer, possesses tremendous finishing ability and has led the Blue Jackets in goals the past five seasons. Nash is a four time NHL all-star, Canadian Olympic athlete and was tied for the NHL lead in goals in the 2003-04 season.

In 78 games last season, Nash had 79 points with 40 of those being goals. He excels in every category and should be a first round selection in all drafts and an easy selection as a keeper. Look for Nash to surpass his 79 points next season as Columbus surrounds him with young talent.

Derick Brassard will be one of those young beneficiaries that should play with Nash all season. Playing in 31 games last season, Brassard amassed 25 points and valuable chemistry playing with Nash. The duo should form a dynamic pair next season and propel Columbus into playoff contention yet again.

Mark

Budding New Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an active offseason by signing tough guy Colton Orr to a 4 year, $4 Million dollar contract, signing defenceman Francois Beauchemin to a 3 year, $11.4 Million dollar contract, signing Swedish centerman Rickard Wallin to a 1 year contract, resigning speedster Mikhail Grabovski to a 3 year, $8.7 Million dollar contract and trading talented d-man Pavel Kubina to Atlanta for Garnet Exelby.

Brian Burke has slowly started to mold the Toronto Maple Leafs into a team which will eventually compete for the Stanley Cup. The main building block in the foundation seems to be intimidation. Burke has focused on bringing in players that have the ability to play a well balanced game and can hit you through the boards.

Colton Orr played in all 82 games with the Rangers last season and has little fantasy appeal. If your league rewards penalty minutes, Orr may be worth a look in deeper roto leagues as he gather close to 200 last year.

Francois Beauchemin is coming off an injury plagued season last year. Playing in a mere 20 games, he scored 5 points and had 45 shots in Anaheim. In Toronto, Beauchemin will be looked at for leadership as well as his consistency on the blueline. The 29 year old offers minimal fantasy value and may be worth a look in deeper leagues.

Rickard Wallin has spent the last 4 seasons playing in Europe and saw his last NHL game back in the 2003-04 season with Minnesota. The captain of Farjestad, Wallin will offer the Leafs leadership up front and will be given every opportunity to play on the top lines. Wallin is a wildcard at this point. With 45 points in 55 games in the Swedish Elite league, a 60 point campaign may not be out of the question for the unknown Leaf.

Mikhail Grabovski flew onto the scene last season in Toronto. He started out very strong as opposing teams were caught by surprise with his speed and quick shot. Unfortunately for Grabovski, teams quickly learned that his one dimensional play could be slowed by being physical and his stats suffered. With 48 points in 78 games, is a good option as depth guy in all formats. He will get plenty of ice time in Toronto and contributes in all categories.

Garnet Exelby was brought in from Atlanta as a salary dump but offers the Leafs a great young defenceman that can hit hard and is eager to prove he can play at the NHL Level. At this point Exelby is a depth d-man and offers no fantasy value.

Pavel Kubina, had arguably, his best season as a Leaf last year. He maintained a career high in points with 40 while playing in all 82 games. In going to Atlanta, Kubina will continue to offer high reward to fantasy owners. The offensive minded Kubina will help lead a young Thasher defence corps that should be near the top of the league when it comes to defensive points on the powerplay. Another 40 point, 100 PIM season is not out of the question which makes him a must draft on draft day.

Mark