Ice Fishing: Keepers and Tossers of the Week

Let me come right out and apologize for not getting this up yesterday. I sustained a severe Rock Band 2 injury(my GM has asked me not to disclose the specifics but I am allowed to say that it is an upper left hand injury) and my typing was suffering as a result. I'm still not at 100% but the swelling has subsided enough that I've been cleared to surf the net and engage in some short article typing. I'm a gamer though so I'm going to bring it to you today until I literally cannot do it anymore.

You'll notice the title of the add/drop column has changed to a slightly more creative and undeniably more fanciful title. I like it. The content is the same however. Let's have a look at which players are good pickups this week in your fantasy hockey league, and which you should just throw back.

Grab 'em:

Todd Bertuzzi
LW, Calgary

Don't look now but big Bert is scoring goals again. His shot totals and +/- are ugly but his 10 PIM and 5 goals in 5 games make up for it. He's also seeing significant powerplay time. I'm not sure if this is going to keep up but for now Bert's a good add.

Milan Hejduk
RW, Colorado

Holy crap is it 2001 in here this week? Well, looking at Hejduk's career this WOULD be the time for him to have a 70+ point season. Hejduk is also seeing powerplay time, 3 PP goals in 6 games, and has been the biggest beneficiary of a healthy Paul Stasny so far this season. The Stasny/Hejduk/Smyth line is red hot and Hejduk is probably the only one on it who MIGHT have gone undrafted. If you are in need of a RW, or if you just want to bench Selanne for a while, he's worth a look.

Mikko Koivu
C, Minnesota

Minny is red hot right now as well, undefeated through their first four. They are scoring an uncharacteristic number of goals without Marian Gaborik's services. This won't last but I suspect that Koivu is the real deal. Think of him as a short term addition or a bench player for now, but if this keeps up you don't want to be the guy who passed on him.

Phil Kessel
RW, Bos

Kessel was the Bruins 5th overall pick in 2006. Translation he's supposed to be good. Kessel had some early setbacks in his career when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Translation he's overcome adversity. Despite all of that Kessel continued to play a gritty game upon his return. This season he is logging more ice time and has moved up to the second line with Marc Savard, who, we can all agree, dishesthe puck like few others. When I recommend guys I like to recommend guys that are supposed to be as good as they look. Kessel was always supposed to be THIS good. Enjoy him, even if he is from Boston.

Alexander Edler
D, Vancouver

He's doing a little bit of everything for the Canucks right now. In the last game he logged 20:34 of ice time. That was second only to Sami Salo. He leads the team with a +6, which is spectacular when you consider that the Canucks have only won three of their six games, giving up 20 goals and only scoring 21. Edler is playing solid D, taking shots, getting PIM and seeing powerplay time. If you are short a D-man Edler is worth a roster spot. Its only going to get better in Vancouver.



Weigh 'em:

Aaron Voros
LW, New York Rangers

9 points in 9 games is nothing to sneeze at, particularly from a big guy that will get you some PIM as well. That said he owes all of that to Dubinsky and Zherdev. Also all of those points were scored at a time when the Gomez line and the Naslund line were not clicking. Voros will slow down. (crosses fingers) Another thing to remember... the numbers may look impressive but the Rangers have played almost twice as many games as everyone in the league.

Mike Modano
C, Dallas

Modano has 6 points through Dallas' first six games. He is also playing point on Dallas' number 1 power play unit (at least until Zubov comes back) and looks comfortable in that role. Its hard to hate on a guy that literally put USA hockey on the map but Modano's time is coming to a close. He will have several bursts like this throughout the season but he is, now, a glorified third line center.

Ales Kotalik
RW, Buffalo

Buffalo is red hot. No one is hotter then Thomas Vanek. But a close second to Vanek is Ales Kotalik who has 4 goals, 3 assists, and 6 PPP to start the season. Kotalik's success is underscored by the relatively quiet seasons that are being had by Jason Pominville and Derek Roy, Buffalo's 80 point players of a year ago. Maybe Buffalo is going to trade that mantle back and forth between lines each year, but more likely Buffalo's second line is stepping up while the first line adjusts to new defenses.

Annti Miehtinen
RW, Minnesota

I'm Anti-Miehtinen. Now that I've got that out of the way... I said above that I like to recommend players that are supposed to be as good as they look. I was looking squarely at Annti here when I said that. Minnesota is not a high scoring team, but their stars will obviously do fairly well. Mikko Koivu is one of their stars. Annti Miehtinen... used to play for the Stars. He was drafted in the 7th round. In three seasons he has never put up more then 35 points and that was on Stars teams that needed wingers as badly as Minnesota does. Also, while Miehtinen is receiving top line minutes and powerplay time now, he is usually third on the depth chart to the injured Pierre Marc Bouchard and Marian Gaborik. This too will pass.



Toss 'em Back:

Chris Drury
LW/C New York Rangers

Yes its time to panic. Through nine games Drury has 2 assists. Ouch. He's still a great hockey player and is bound to have a streak or two here and there but Chris is settling into the second half of his career. He's a 60 point player at best now and its starting to look like breaking 50 might be a stretch.

David Booth
LW, Florida

Mea Culpa. Maybe I got carried away on this one. My bad.

Steven Stamkos
C, Tampa Bay

Unless you are in a keeper league, Stamkos looks like he isn't going to have much value this year. Melrose is barely playing the young center, who frequently looks like the best player on the ice and relegating him to third line duty with no ice time on the powerplay. Whether this is a wise move or a foolish one it does seem to be the direction the Mullet is going. So long as that stays as is, Stamkos will be a "keep in mind for next year" kinda guy. Put him back in the pond. Let him grow.

That's all for this week. The BTT injury report and some other random news and notes will be coming your way later on today.