Fantasy Prospect Pick Up Of The Week

He not only leads all rookies in scoring, but Michael del Zotto (pictured courtesy Getty Images) has the most points among all blueliners as well. With a goal Monday night, he now has 4 lamp lighters to go along with 5 helpers. His 9 points are 2 more than former London knight teammate John Tavares.

All of this is pretty impressive for a guy who didn’t get an invite to Canada’s world junior summer evaluation camp. That’s right the NHL’s top scoring rookie and defenceman wasn’t being considered for the world junior team this summer, and I don’t think it was because they were expecting him to crack the rangers line up and be unavailable.

Del Zotto played his 9th game Monday night, and with 3 ppg’s one game winner and a plus 2 rating, it’s safe to assume his show on Broadway will run for the whole season. Especially the way he’s been quarterbacking man advantage on the club with the most power play goals in the league.

And that’s why Michael del Zotto is my fantasy prospect pick up of the week.

Top 5 Tuesday: Young Defenceman

Only once in the last 4 draft classes has a defenceman not been taking either first or second overall. So it stands to reason that there are some blue chip blueliners in the NHL right now. But not all of them have come in the top 2, 5 or even 10 on draft day. Here are are the 5 best young blueliners in my opinion.

5. Michael Del Zotto-New York Rangers
The 19 year old has shot out of the gate in New York with 2 goals 3 assists in 5 games, putting him a tie for 3rd in scoring among defenceman. The 20th pick in the 2008 draft has exploded up the depth chart in New York and is getting regular power play time on the first unit, often times with forward Ales Kotalik manning the left side. Del Zotto has one power play goal and has set up Kotalik twice by faking a shot and feeding a one timer. He leads all Ranger d-men in points and is only playing 15 minutes a night.

4. Alex Goligoski-Pittsburgh Penguins

Taken in the 2nd round of the 2004 draft, Goligoski's route to the NHL may have taken a little longer than Pittsburgh expected, but now that he's arrived full time he's making his mark. In his second full season, Goligoski has 4 points in 6 games and a plus 5 rating so far this season. Goligoski's strong play last year (20 points, +5, 45 games) allowed the Penguins to deal Ryan Whitney and he hasn't made them regret their decision. The 24 year old was drafted out of high school, then spent a year with Sioux City of the USHL. After 3 years with the Minnesota Golden Gophers he played one full season with Wilkes-Barre. Last year he split time between the big club and the AHL, but looks to be a full time Penguin now.

3. Erik Johnson-St. Louis Blues

Johnson might have drifted from peoples minds after missing all of last year due to a knee injury suffered in a golf cart incident, but he's back with the Blues and reminding people why St. Louis took him first overall in 2006. He has size at 6.04 and 234 pounds, skates extremely smooth despite tearing his ACL and MCL last year, and has terrific instincts. As a rookie he played 18 minutes a night on a Blues team that missed the playoffs. St. Louis is one of the "it" teams this year, a club on the rise that made the playoffs without the services of Johnson last year and could do some real damage with him. He's likely not even 100 per cent recovered and is just in his sophomore season, but Johnson will anchor the Blues, and maybe team USA's blueline for years to come.

2. Viktor Hedman-Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa's blueline was atrocious last year, this season it's a reason the Lightning are tied for first with Washington in the Southeast division. Tampa's blueline is an overall +3 and Matthias Ohlund and Hedman have 4 points each. There were a lot of people (not me, but Guy Flaming was one of them) who thought Hedman should have been drafted first overall, now he's making his case. The 6.06 Swede has done everything for Tampa. His 4 assists are tied for the team lead, he's +2, has 8 penalty minutes and is playing 25:40 per game, putting him top ten in the NHL among all defenceman, not just rookies.

1. Drew Doughty-L.A. Kings

When Canada's Olympic summer orientation list came out and Drew Doughty was on it, most thought he was token young player invite. He started dispelling the theory that week, and has continued to prove he belongs so far this season. Doughty scored a beauty Tuesday night against the Islanders, and is second among blueline scorers with 2 goals and 4 assists in 5 games. The Kings like the Blues and Lightning are much improved this year with 8 points to lead the Pacific Division, and have won 4 straight. Just like with St. Louis and Tampa Bay, a young blueliner is a big reason why. Doughty led all defenceman in shots with 126 and was tied for points with 27 last year. He wasn't a finalist for the Calder trophy last year, but it won't be long before his name starts surfacing for the Norris.

As for tonight's show, we'll be joined by Tampa Bay prospect Dustin Tokarski. The goaltender has started his pro career with Norfolk, this after winning a Memorial Cup and WJC title during his junior career. Our ICU Video Focus of the Week will be the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Memorial Cup hosts recently stopped in Edmonton and skated away with a 4-1 win so we'll speak with some key players and head coach Kelly McCrimmon. The NCAA season is underway and we'll continue our season previews with Hockey East, which produced the Frozen Four champion last year. Finally, we welcome the first of many scouts to the program as Mark Seidel from North American Scouting will be our guest. 7-9 PM MST on the TEAM 1260 in Edmonton or online http://www.thepipelineshow.com/. Have a question for us or one of our guests? Drop us a line pipeup@theteam1260.com.

Huge Names Dealt at CHL Deadline

The trade deadline in the CHL is January 10th, except for the Q which does it's own thing and set today as the big day. In all leagues there has been significant movement already and more is expected before Saturday. Here's a few of the bigger deals:

In the OHL the marquee trade centers around John Tavares who has been shipped from Oshawa to the London Knights (no surprise there). The Knights and Windsor were the two teams competing for Tavares with the Hunters coming out on top. What's interesting to me is that London doesn't just get Tavares but defenceman Michael Del Zotto as well, a 1st round pick in 2008 of the New York Rangers.

To London: (F) John Tavares + (D) Michael Del Zotto + (G) Daryl Borden
To Oshawa: (4) 2nd round draft picks + (2) 3rd round draft picks + (F) Christian Thomas + (D) Scott Valentine (G) Michael Zador

That's a lot of future to give up for Tavares (and Del Zotto) but the Hunters have always been uber-aggressive when it comes to acquiring top talent. This should make them the top dogs in the OHL although Windsor is still mighty tough... and the deadline is still a couple days away.

In the QMJHL the biggest name to move was Chris Didomenico who was dealt by Saint John to Drummondville the day after he'd helped Canada win gold at the 2009 WJC in Ottawa. That swap breaks down like this:

To Saint John: Mathieu Gingras + Simon Giroux + a 1st in '09 and a 2nd in '10
To Drummondville: Chris Didomenico (TOR '07)

The Sea Dogs also traded off defenceman Alex Grant and a 5th rounder to Shawinigan in exchange for Danick Gauthier and a 2nd in ('09) and a 1st ('10). Grant was a 4th round pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2007.

The WHL deals began in earnest yesterday with the Kyle Beach to Lethbridge news (see Dean's blog entry below). Today the names kept rolling...

To Spokane: Brady Calla (FLA '07)
To Kamloops: Seth Compton + 3rd Rd ('10)

To Kelowna: Ryley Grantham (CGY '07) + 5th ('11)
To Moose Jaw: Dylan Hood

To Kamloops: Curtis Kulchar + 3rd and 4th ('09) + 2nd ('10)
To Vancouver: Nick Ross (PHX '07) + Alex Rodgers

Spokane does well adding experience, grit and leadership in Calla. Moose Jaw does well getting Hood, he's a decent player and at the same time the rockets got a bunch tougher by adding the always ready to rumble Ryley Grantham to their mix. I'm not a big Nick Ross guy but at the junior level he's decent enough. There's a reason he's on his 3rd team in just over a year though.

I had conversations with a couple people around the Edmonton Oil Kings this week who say the team is really not in either the Buyer or Seller mode. They're willing to do something to make the team better but not if it's going to take away from the future - moving a veteran is possible but don't expect to see top kids being moved from the Oil Kings.

I'm sure that netminder Dalyn Flette could be had for a later round pick but I don't know if there is anyone shopping for a second string netminder. Would the team consider moving 20-year-olds like Brandon Lockerby, Jeff Lee or Brenden Dowd? Tough to imagine that they could and still remain in the playoff hunt.

It should be interesting to see what Bob Green and his team decided to do. They're right in the thick of the playoff hunt but aren't considered contenders... a serious playoff stretch drive and a potential top 8 Conference finish might help at the ticket booth though.

Top Prospects Report Card (Pt. 1)

The CHL Top Prospects Game (TPG) has come and gone now and after getting to sit on the festivities for a week or so I thought it was about time to go over the performances of the participants. I'm really going to try and simplify it as much as possible; give a guy's name, club team, North American ranking according to Central Scouting and overall rank from ISS, then offer a brief synopsis of my thoughts on the player. The latter will be comprised of one on one interviews, the skills competition and of course the game itself.

Again, the legend is as follows: Name, team (league): (Central Scouting/ISS)

Goalies

Chet Pickard, Tri-City Americans (WHL): (1/4) Pickard played well, I would not say he was head and shoulders above the other four goalies here but he may have been the most consistent. I found it interesting that a guy from Winnipeg would decorate his mask with Captain America but when I asked him about it he told me it was a winning contest design drawn by a little kid. Of course, the team name goes well with the mask too. Grade B

Robert Mayer, Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL): (15/6) Quite the disparity between his CSS and ISS rankings. I know early on in the year he was one of the netminders being touted as one to watch this year but he hasn't played all that well. Was in net for Switzerland at the WJC but that team underachieved badly and suffered relegation for next year. Mayer stopped 9/9 in the breakaway relay during the skills but was lit up in the TPG game. Despite how engaging and friendly he was in interviews, I'd have to guess his stock dropped. Grade D

Peter Delmas, Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL): (2/5) Delmas was strong for Team White in the game but was only 6/9 in the breakaway relay the night before. What I do like about him is that he's got a ton of starts under his belt already what with Jonathon Bernier spending time in the NHL and the WJC this year and on the shelf with injuries last season. Delmas could be a dominant goalie in the Q starting next year. Grade B

Thomas McCollum, Guelph Storm (OHL): (3/3) It should be noted here that because ISS combines their Euro and North Americans together, McCollum is their top rated NA goalie behind two Euros. Easily made the highlight save of the game with a reach behind him goal line glove save. Even Grant Fuhr said it was an unbelievable stop. Very care free and friendly off the ice. Also went 9/9 in the breakaway relay. Grade +B

Defencemen

Tyler Cuma, Ottawa 67's (OHL): (15/34) Of the 6 players to take part in the fast lap event, Cuma placed 3rd with a decent time of 14.458 seconds. He got a second assist during the game and made a couple nice passes but this is a fairly quiet, don't-always-notice-him type of player. Nice enough guy in person, played along with me in an interview where he jokingly slagged former 67's (and current Oil Kings) play-by-play voice AJ Jakubec. 2nd rounder to me. Grade +C

Zach Bogosian, Peterborough Petes (OHL): (3/9) In the days and weeks leading up to the event, this was the player that I'd been hearing the most buzz about. "Watch his speed with the puck", "He's got a big shot" and "Size, speed and skill... complete package" were the types of comments I was getting. Before the skills competition, John Sexsmith had me appear on Global Sports and this was the guy I said to watch for. Bogosian was very good but was not the top blueliner of the event. He did blow a power play goal past Mayers and was generally solid throughout, wouldn't surprise me if he goes in the top 5. Grade +B

Michael Del Zotto, Shawa Generals (OHL): (14/22) Looking for a guy who raised his stock? Here's your guy. Del Zotto went Ray Bourque in the accuracy shooting going 4/4 then made a great move on the breakaway relay only to hit the post. No points in the actual game but played well defensively and did create at times. Probably closer to top half of the first round now than he was two weeks ago. Grade +B

Drew Doughty, Guleph Storm (OHL): (2/2) Clearly comfortable with the media now after appearing in several showcase events all year but his performance last week was pretty average bordering on disappointing. However, as Stu MacGregor (Oilers head amateur scout) told us last show, Doughty had the least to prove and NHL teams already know very well what he has to offer. But based only on his play last week... Grade D

Tyler Myers, Kelowna Rockets (WHL): (6/18) Standing a very Wookie-ish 6'6, Myers stood out for his height and his physical play. Once this guy fills in that frame (he's currently under 200 lbs) he could be a force to be reckoned with. Very strong play defensively and notched an assist as well. Not sure he's a top 10 guy but his play here may have helped his cause. Grade B

Jyri Niemi, Saskatoon Blades (WHL): (29/33) Surprised onlookers by winning the hardest shot competition with a NHL calibre 97mph blast. However, that was about it for positives on the week. Didn't have a great game (like most of Team Red) and his lack of English didn't help when it came to interviews. Grade C

Alex Pietrangelo, Niagar Ice Dogs (OHL): (5/4) A well balanced blueliner with size and offensive ability, Pietrangelo probably did not live up to the expectations some had of him. His fast lap was second worst (15.281 seconds) and only ranked that high because the "slowest" skater wiped out. No points in the game but did score on his breakaway relay attempt and played physical so it wasn't all bad. Grade +C

Colby Robak, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL): (8/14) One of the under-the-radar players who helped his cause with a good showing in the game. His wonderful long bomb pass to Jamie Arniel was one of the best plays of the night. Fell during his fast lap but looked very good until that slip. Stock surely went up and a strong finish in Brandon might get him top 12 consideration. Grade B

Yann Sauve, Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL): (21/47) One of the players who was voted into the event by the NHL teams that wanted to take another look at him. Sauve played the role of the trigger man on the power play for Team White and picked up a helper on the games second goal. Most notable, he was the other player in the fight with Steven Stamkos. Grade -B

Luca Sbisa, Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL): (18/28) The Swiss product has been solid for the Hurricanes this year, underperformed in the WJC and was pretty good in the TPG week. Sbisa finished second in the accuracy shooting event going 4/6 and he played OK in the game. I like him as a late first rounder, a very good 2nd rounder if he's still there. Grade -B

Luke Schenn, Kelowna Rockets (WHL): (7/7) Without question he was the best blueliner in the game and his draft stock just went through the roof. If Doughty isn't the top rated defenceman anymore it'll be because Schenn just leap-frogged him. A total package of size, defensive reliability, bang on outlet passes, physical play and leadership skills. Scored the opening goal but was dominant, especially in the first half of the game. His 94mph shot was 2nd best in the big shot event. Great performance. Grade A

Colten Teubert, Regina Pats (WHL): (27/21) There was more hype around Teubert early on this year but his stock has dropped for some reason. I've heard the knock on hm described as "All the tools, no tool box" and when I interviewed him in the preseason I could kinda see why. However, he was very well spoken last week and I personally thought he had a pretty good game. He was one of the more physical guys on the week. Grade B



Part 2 with a look at the forwards will come out in the next few days...