Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Much like the Capitals, take a chance on Chimera

Fantasy Forecast for Tuesday, December 29

MONDAY'S ROUNDUP:

Though he is not expected to make his Capitals debut until Wednesday evening, left wing Jason Chimera has received a slight bump in his Yahoo! ownership following his trade from Columbus.
Chimera (39 games, 8-9-17, owned in 4 percent of all Yahoo! leagues) is expected to play on Washington's third line, replacing Chris Clark, one of the two players he was dealt for on Monday. Also going to Columbus was defensive defenseman Milan Jurcina (27, 0-4-4, zero percent), who carries no fantasy value.
Chimera's projected linemates are Brooks Laich and Eric Fehr. According to Washington's staff, Chimera has never played with any of the current Capitals before.
As for Clark (38, 4-11-15, 1 percent), the natural right wing who was playing left wing for the Capitals has been struggling to score for most of the season. He should also see third-line duty for the Blue Jackets, slotting behind Rick Nash and Jakub Voracek.

The right side agrees with Eric Staal. In his second game since being shifted from center to right wing, Staal scored 2 goals and 3 assists to lead the Hurricanes to a 6-3 win at Washington on Monday. Staal (29, 8-18-26, 93 percent) and linemates Jussi Jokinen and Matt Cullen combined for 10 points. In the previous contest, Staal recorded 2 assists to end a three-game scoreless streak.

Bruins left wing Milan Lucic (10, 2-3-5, 38 percent), out since Nov. 25 with a high ankle sprain, has resumed skating and is hopeful of playing in Friday's Winter Classic outdoor game against the Flyers. Before then Boston has one other game, hosting Atlanta on Wednesday.

The Coyotes team Web site reports that backup goalie Jason LaBarbera will start Tuesday's home game against Phoenix, spelling starter Ilya Bryzgalov who suffered a 3-2 shootout loss at San Jose on Monday. LaBarbera (6, 2-3-0, 2.33 GAA, percent) last played on Dec. 17, his first live action in nearly a month.

Winger Zach Parise of the Devils broke a 12-game goalless streak by scoring twice in Monday's 3-2 win against Atlanta. Parise (37, 17-25-42, percent), who scored a career-high 45 goals last season, is currently tied for 10th in the NHL in scoring.

Rangers top-line center Vaclav Prospal (38, 8-24-32, percent) underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Monday morning to repair a lateral meniscus tear, and will be sidelined 10 days to three weeks.

Right wing Chuck Kobasew will be missing from the Minnesota lineup for four to six weeks with sprained anterior and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee, according to the Star Tribune. Kobasew (34, 4-6-10, percent) was acquired from Boston earlier in the season and is 4-5-9 in 27 games with the Wild.

The power outage continued for the Red Wings in Monday's 1-0 overtime loss at Columbus. Detroit has now been shutout in three of its last four games, and it was their fourth blanking this month and sixth for the season. With four shutouts at Joe Louis Arena, the Wings tied the 1996-97 squad for second most.

Fantasy owners looking for a quick fix by adding rehabbing Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro will have to wait a little longer for any immediate payoff. The New York Post reports he worked out with the Islanders on Monday to prepare for his next start with AHL Bridgeport this weekend. "Right now, we'd like to see him play a full game," GM Garth Snow said. DiPietro hasn't had live action since he was pulled after two periods on Dec. 11 in his second rehab start with the Sound Tigers. He experienced tightness in his leg that the team said was unrelated to his knee injury. "First, we have to see how he came out of [Monday] and how he does [Tuesday]," Snow said of DiPietro, who will work out again today.

TUESDAY'S PROJECTED GOALIES:

Pittsburgh (Marc-Andre Fleury) at Buffalo (Ryan Miller), 7:00 p.m. ET
Columbus (Mathieu Garon) at NY Islanders (Dwayne Roloson), 7:00 p.m. ET
Nashville (Pekka Rinne) at St. Louis (Chris Mason), 8:00 p.m. ET
Chicago (Cristobal Huet) at Dallas (Marty Turco), 8:30 p.m. ET
Vancouver (Roberto Luongo) at Phoenix (Jason LaBarbera), 9:00 p.m. ET
Minnesota (Niklas Backstrom) at Anaheim (Jonas Hiller), 10:00 p.m. ET

RECENT INJURIES:

Daniel Alfredsson, RW, Ottawa: Will miss four to six weeks with separated left shoulder.
Evander Kane, RW, Atlanta: Is day-to-day with a shoulder injury.
Paul Kariya, LW, St. Louis: Is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Chuck Kobasew, RW, Minnesota: Is out four to six weeks with sprained anterior and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee.
Paul Mara, D, Montreal: Is day-to-day with a hand injury.
Marc Methot, D, Columbus: Placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.
Tom Poti, D, Washington: Is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
Vaclav Prospal, C, NY Rangers: Will miss 10 days to three weeks following arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear.
Derek Roy, C, Buffalo: Is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Jerred Smithson, W, Nashville: Is sidelined indefinitely with a broken left hand.
Justin Williams, RW, Los Angeles: Placed on injured reserve with a broken right leg.

TRANSACTIONS:

Anaheim Ducks: Placed LW Kyle Calder on waivers. Recalled RW Troy Bodie from Toronto (AHL).
Boston Bruins: Assigned F Yannick Riendeau to Providence (AHL).
Chicago Blackhawks: Reassigned LW Bryan Bickell to Rockford (AHL).
Columbus Blue Jackets: Acquired RW Chris Clark and D Milan Jurcina from the Washington Capitals in exchange for LW Jason Chimera.
Florida Panthers: Assigned F Shawn Matthias and LW Steve MacIntyre to Rochester (AHL).
Los Angeles Kings: Recalled F Scott Parse from Manchester (AHL). Loaned F Corey Elkins to Manchester. Placed F Justin Williams on injured reserve, retroactive to Dec. 27.
Montreal Canadiens: Activated RW Brian Gionta from injured reserve.
Nashville Predators: Reassigned D Alexander Sulzer to Milwaukee (AHL).
New Jersey Devils: Activated RW David Clarkson from injured reserve. Reassigned D Matt Corrente to Lowell (AHL).
Tampa Bay Lightning: Reassigned G Riku Helenius to Norfolk (AHL).
Vancouver Canucks: Recalled C Alexandre Bolduc from Manitoba (AHL).
Washington Capitals: Acquired LW Jason Chimera from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for RW Chris Clark and D Milan Jurcina.

NHL.COM EXPERTS LEAGUE:

Week 13 results through Dec. 28
Rocky Trottier 2 vs. Hempstead Slowpokes 8 (1 tie)
Skoula Hard Knocks 4 vs. The Birdcage 5 (2 ties)
Clown Shoes 3 vs. Code Monkeys 5 (3 ties)
Big Skillets O'BKLYN 6 vs. Philly Cheesestakes 2 (3 ties)
Ovi's Heroes 2 vs. Ready Arnott 4 (5 ties)
Hammerhead United 2 vs. Out on a Dan Hinote 7 (2 ties)

EMAIL OF THE DAY:

Morning Sir,
I've got two questions for you in relation to my keeper pool team. I'm in a 27-team keeper pool and I'm currently sitting around the middle of the pack. I've had a few injuries and slow starts to players which hasn't helped. I made a trade earlier in the year to get Nicklas Lidstrom to bolster the defense a little (which hasn't overly panned out, but that's life).
My question here is, do you think he's going to sign on for another year or two, or is this likely to be curtains for the man? If he's going to keep playing I'll hang on to him as he'll be a big asset next season for me, but if not, I can probably trade him as I don't think I can catch the leaders from here. If he was traded, what's his worth? I've got some talent up front (Eric Staal, Stephen Weiss, Marc Savard, Martin Havlat and Paul Stastny) but I'm a little weaker down back (Alexander Edler, Sami Salo, James Wisniewski, Lidstrom) so I think I'd need a defender to replace him.
Also, on slow starts, in goal I have Niklas Backstrom with Jaroslav Halak as a reserve. Backstrom has finally started picking his game up, so is it worth keeping him or should I shop for a better offer?
Cheers,
-- Adrian


Any post 2009-10 talk about Lidstrom is purely speculation on my part, as I haven't read anything recently beyond this year. At this point, I can see Lidstrom going the route of signing year-to-year deals as he decides how much longer he wants to remain active. With Detroit coming off two straight Cup appearances and with the Olympics looming for Lidstrom, I don't believe he's been fielded too much discussion beyond this current campaign. It hasn't been an easy season for the Red Wings and I can't see Lidstrom going out this way. He is worth keeping for next season, but is likely not the fantasy building block he once was. At the very minimum, Lidstrom is a No. 2 offensive defenseman. After 18 seasons he has this annoying little habit of alternating disappointing and bounce-back campaigns. His value in your fantasy league is relative to what the needs of your opponents are. Never hurts to explore a trade for a superstar.
Backstrom is not a disappointment, but the Wild as a whole are. Minnesota has scored only 100 goals, perilously close to the bottom of the League. Backstrom is a bonafide No. 1 fantasy goalie and at the very least a second-round pick in a 14 to 16-team league this year and beyond. Halak is playing out of his mind right now, but his long-term keeper status is questionable until he gets out of Montreal where Carey Price is the future, though not the present. If you hold on to Backstrom and keep him for next season you have a solid foundation to build on.

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