If you can imagine me while I writing this, I am doing a happy dance since it is just a few days away from the start of the 2011-12 regular season of hockey, which also means it's the start of your hockey leagues or pools. Every Sunday, I'll give my general impressions of player's performances is the past week, any injuries to report and some guys I like that may be in your Free Agent pool that would play a few more games than usual and would be worth a gamble for those in Head to Head formats. Since we don't have much except some preseason action going on, I'll just make some general reporting on players and how they're doing:
Sidney Crosby, Penguins - He's been ruled out from the season opener (surprise, surprise, surprise) and has still not started contact drills. He's travelling with the team for their opener and is still practicing so at least there's no setbacks thus far. Once he starts taking hits and has no set backs from his concussion, then a timetable can be set on when he'll return. It's strictly my guess here but I'm thinking he's going to be out for at least the first few games of the season.
More after the jump...
Rick DiPietro, Al Montoya, Evgeni Nabokov, Islanders - I thought at this point in the preseason that we'd get a pretty good idea on who was going to be getting some playing time but there's no indication that anything is settled in New York. More or less, avoid this situation at all costs since there's no clear winner and using a three-goalie tandem just spells bad news for any fantasy hockey manager out there.
Ryan Kesler, Canucks - He had offseason hip surgery and it sounds like his timetable to return to the rink has been delayed until late October at the earliest. That really stinks for those who drafted him since his ADP is at 31.0 for Yahoo and 32.1 for ESPN. If you haven't drafted yet, drop him down a round or two, depending on your league depth and settings.
Jaromir Jagr, Flyers - He's been playing like a man possessed and has done a great job in his return to the NHL. I think he becomes a top 50+ forward but keep in mind that he's 39 and he's no spring chicken. His ADP is at 115.6 for Yahoo which sounds about right but his ESPN ADP is at 60.2 which sounds too high for me to take for a him as a #2 RW for my team.
Andrei Markov, Canadians - Another player who's not expected to play for the season opener but it sounds like his return to the rink is unknown at this time. Unknown being the key word as not a good word to hear for those who drafted him this season. I expected him to be fine this year but clearly I was wrong about him being ready for the opener. Be sure to scrounge up an alternative defenseman if you've drafted him but if you haven't drafted yet, knock him down a round or two in your league.
As usual, many thanks for your time and I am sure to try to update as often as I can on info that is pertinent to fantasy hockey teams. If you have a quick question that needs to be asked during the hockey season, give me a jingle here or contact me at @MattPTurner on Twitter for the quickest method of getting my attention. And while you are at it, be sure to give Fake Teams a follow on Twitter at @FakeTeams!