While we lack a puzzle board and free spins, we have plenty of fantasy spin for this series of updates. Grab your favorite beverage because we’re going for a long ride through all 30 teams. Names that are more common will be on a last name basis (i.e. Selanne instead of Teemu Selanne) while the less familiar get both names. This first report will be for the Anaheim Ducks. They stand at 8-2-1 through 11 games with 39 goals scored and 31 allowed.
Recent Lines: Emerson Etem-Getzlaf-Perry; Kyle Palmieri-Ryan-Selanne; Andrew Cogliano-Saku Koivu-Winnik; Matt Beleskey-Nick Bonino-Brad Staubitz
Defense: Sheldon Souray-Francois Beauchemin; Luca Sbisa-Toni Lydman; Brian Allen-Ben Lovejoy
Goalies: Fasth and Hiller
PP1: Etem-Getzlaf-Perry-Souray-Beauchemin
PP2: Koivu-Getzlaf-Ryan-Selanne Beauchemin
Analysis: The first thing about the Anaheim Ducks that comes to mind is their goaltending. I’m going to go out on a limb and say this but Jonas Hiller (3-2-1 3.69 .872) needs to be dumped to the waiver wire immediately. The only reason he had any success in the early going was with the offense in front of him. Fasth has stepped in and been able to beat much tougher teams and do so with confidence. Fasth (5-0-0 1.72 .932) is the #1 goaltender for the Ducks the rest of the way barring injury.
I don’t understand why Sheldon Souray isn’t out on both power play units and Beauchemin is. Souray has had a longstanding reputation of being a power play quarterback so in my mind he deserves to the be out there for both units. Yes, his age might be a factor but I still think the talent is there for him to run both lines. Souray has two power play goals and an assist. Beauchemin has the same number of power play points as I do–zero. Simply put, Souray shoots and Beauchemin doesn’t.
It’s still confused why Daniel Winnik doesn’t get power play time while Emerson Etem does. Etem has just six shots on goal in seven games and he’s the one getting the power play time? Really? The Ducks are 1-of-13 on the power play in their last four games so the man advantage teams aren’t getting it done with consistency.
I see a lot of results and promise in pairing up Ryan with Selanne. Both of those guys had four point nights last night and seem to work very nicely with each other. That was why I mentioned Kyle Palmieri as a good depth guy for your team to have. He’s one of those players who will be in the right place at the right time and be able to pick up some points and a good plus/minus rating by being on that line. I’d really like to see Koivu get moved to center the line with Ryan and Selanne and see what happens when the Ducks put their top three players together on a real number one line.
The good (or bad) thing about the Ducks is they have a nice offensive balance. Winnik has five goals but has gone ice cold after his strong start. Six other players have four goals each on the season. The Ducks are a difficult team to own players on since any of them could score at any time.
Players to own: Fasth, Selanne, Ryan, Souray, Getzlaf, Koivu, Palmieri, Bonino, Winnik (in case he pulls it together again).
