So the next few days will be all about wing-men, and no I’m not talking about this kind. (And speaking of that movie, how was there never a sequel? If it had been made 5 years ago is there any doubt it would have turned into a trilogy at least? “We’ve got a hit! It made money! Now go start production on the sequel immediately!” But we don’t even have a script yet. “It doesn’t matter just go make it!” Between that and stealing story lines from comic books Hollywood really has gotten lazy.) Today we look at the position of right wing, which is deeper than left wing but not by much. The Top 6 were, in order: Corey Perry, Martin St. Louis, Jarome Iginla, Patrick Kane, Claude Giroux and Alexander Semin.
7) Dany Heatley – RW (Min): I’m pretty excited about Heatley this year. He struggled and had the worst season of his career last year, but before that he was a borderline 1st round draft pick. Now he’s in Minnesota (without Jacque Lemaire – which is good) and with the most underrated Center in the NHL – which is also good. If him and Mikko click, Heatley could get back to his 80 Point, 39 Goal level.
8) Marian Gaborik – RW (NYR): Just based on his stats from last year (22G, 24A, +8, 16PPP’s and 192 Shots) and his fragile body Gaborik doesn’t deserve to be ranked here. But I’ve got high hopes for this Czech (see they are taking over the NHL!) and when you look at what he did 2 years ago it starts to make some sense (42G, 44A, +15, 26PPP’s & 272 Shots). Plus he’s got a top Centerman in Brad Richards passing him the puck now.. Just stay healthy you two!!
9) Jeff Carter – C/RW (CBJ): So I kinda forgot about Carter in my Center rankings, but since he’s eligible for Right Wing (at least in Yahoo) I decided to put him here with the Right Wingers. Well that’s my story anyway… The big question with Carter is how he and Nash will do together on the top line. They’re both more of the shooting type so it may not work out as well as some people think (If I were CBJ I’d put Brassard in between them on the top line). That said, he’ll still get his 30+ Goals and 300+ Shots and you’ll draft that and like it.
10) Marian Hossa – RW (Chi): Marian “Jimmy” Hossa seems to be aging at a rapid rate. He’ll turn 33 mid-season and has been on a steady decline for a couple years now. But 33 is not too old for a hockey player to turn in a vintage season. Which for Hossa means 30+ Goals and 250+ Shots. (For those of you who didn’t click on that link and are still reading this…)
11) Teemu Selanne – RW (Ana): Now here is somebody who definately pushes the line for being too old to turn in a vintage season. There’s still a small chance he’ll retire and an even smaller chance he plays for some team other than the Ducks, but he’ll play. Last year proved he’s got plenty left. Amazingly though at the “advanced” age of 40 he had 80Points and 34PPP’s, and if he can fight off osteoperosis for 1 more season and play another 70 games the Power Play Points will still be plentiful.
12) Danny Briere – RW (Phi): I gotta admit I’m not a Briere fan. Yes I share his name but not even that can hide my hate for him. He’s a tiny guy by NHL standards so I always feel like he is on the verge of a catastrophic injury (ala 2 years ago when he played in 29 games). But the numbers have been there in the past when he plays and he had a great season last year (34G, 34A, +20, 246Shots and a somewhat odd 87PIM’s). He’ll be worse than that this year but if he plays, he could get close to that level of production.
13) Loui Eriksson – RW (Dal): Loui Loui – how cool is it that there are still some people out there who have the name Loui? If my wife and I end up having a boy and I even suggest the name Loui I’d get slapped. I love Eriksson’s talent but losing Richards is going to hurt. I think a slight drop across the board from last years numbers (27G, 46A, +10, 25PPP’s) is in the cards.
14) Chris Stewart – RW (Col): I know people are going nuts for this guy and I’ll probably get knocked for having him here, but I have to see him do it in St. Louis for a full season before I start going gaga. But still it wouldn’t shock me if he put up 35 Goals and a point per game, maybe even more than that.
15) David Backes – RW (Stl): Backes that ass up! DB had a quitely awesome season last year and I think he can get even better. 35 Goals, 35Assists and 20 Power Play Points – something along those lines.
16) Dustin Brown – RW (LA): The DB from LA always gets overhyped. The Goals are decent and he shoots like he’ll lose his arms if he doesn’t (260Shot average last 3 seasons), but in the end 56 or 57 points (with minimal PIM’s) over a full season is just blech.
17) Phil Kessel – RW (Tor): I had a pretty unhealthy crush on this guy last year and he disappointed. Plus he’s on Toronto so his value gets inflated. HOWEVA, he’s a lock for 30 Goals and 300 Shots so if he falls far enough he’s worth a pick. Just make sure you have some good plus/minus guys to counter Kessel’s awfulness there.
So I’m gonna cut it off here because I consider Kessel the last guy in the 2nd tier of Right Wingers. Now full disclosure I originally had Joe Pavelski – C (SJ) on this list as a RW then I realized he only qualifies at Center. My bad. And Pavelski as a Center would probably be somewhere in the 25-30 range. I’m a big fan of his this year.
