Chris Nichols

­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.

@Nichols_NHLPool on Twitter for timely NHL & poolie info, along with occasionally snarky comments.

Live blogging nightly: line combos, defensive pairings, analysis, statistical trends and more from every game on the NHL docket. Refresh the 'Live NHL Recap' page while the games are on to get new info as it is added.

Send in a brief fantasy hockey question, including all relevant league info, and it may be included in a future Hockey Hearsay blog during the week. One per person, please. Send it via Twitter for a possible response in the blog, or send via email (include your first name and hometown to represent!) if you'd prefer. chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

We're more or less halfway through the season and if your fantasy team is having issues (everybody but one team in your league isn't in first place...), why not get a second opinion?

Each and every weekday, as has been the offer all season, you can write in to chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com with a brief fantasy hockey question and it may appear as part of a Hockey Hearsay blog. Whether you'd like advice on a trade offer, a free agent addition or which direction to take your keeper league team - we can cover any angle of your fantasy roster.

A quick look at some recent NHL player tweets involving last night's Canada/ Russia WJC gold medal game:

@MMoulson: Tough loss for Canada...I sent a box of tissues to 91's room...he's going to be heart broken

@samilepisto: Canada is choking big right now!! What's goin' on EH?!?

@samilepisto: Amazing tournament for this Russian team. Coming from behind all three games. Impressive! I like 25 for Russia good pick up wash..

@samilepisto: These Russian guys need to go see a dentist tho...

@BizNasty2point0: Somewhere in our colorado hotel Ilya Bryzgalov is doing back flips on his king size bed going nuts. Games tied 3-3. #NoiseComplaint

@BizNasty2point0: Big win for the russians, sick come back. As for there teeth, they can chew corn on the cob through a tennis racket. #NoDental?

And you can see the evolution of Scottie Upshall's tweets as the game progressed...

@ScottieUpshall: Watching this @$$ beating by #teamcanada over the Russians w/ the guys at John Elways in Colorado. "How ya like dem apples mother Russia?"

@ScottieUpshall: I have a long withstanding grudge against the Russians, losing two wj finals and a world championship by 1 goal.. I'm pullin for these boys!

@ScottieUpshall: Canada is in one now! Let's go. Get back to hitting, take the body boys!

@ScottieUpshall: We need way more cowbell out there right now!!! Common Canada!!

@ScottieUpshall: There could be nothing worse... Heartbreaking.

The Washington Post reports that Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin received a cortisone shot on an undisclosed area following the Capitals' 1-0 overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday and has been prohibited from handling the puck for two days, which was why he wore the gold no-contact jersey in practice this morning, according to coach Bruce Boudreau. Ovechkin is expected to participate fully in practice on Friday, Boudreau said.

"I'm going to be OK," Ovechkin said after the skate. "Bruce gave me some skating, no puck handling, nothing. He told me just [to] be relaxing and ready for Saturday."

Asked if there was any concern about his injury, Ovechkin replied: "It's not an injury."

Boudreau said he believed that it may have been a lingering problem.

"I don't know. It's probably been awhile for him to get a cortisone shot," Boudreau said, before addressing whether it has limited the Washington captain. "I don't know. I couldn't tell you. I'll find it maybe on this weekend if it's worked or what."

Fire & Ice observes that Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur is the NHL’s all-time leader in regular season wins and shutouts and a certain Hall of Famer, but he didn’t want to get any special treatment because of his reputation or his past.

So, after Saturday’s 6-3 loss in Carolina, in which Brodeur gave up three goals on seven shots before being pulled only eight minutes into the game, Brodeur let goaltending coach Chris Terreri know that the coaching staff shouldn’t feel obligated to continue starting him if they believed Johan Hedberg gives them a better chance to win right now.

“I told him if they want to play Heddy for a while, that’s fine,” he said. “I have no problem with it. People have bigger egos than I do about the way I am. For me, it’s important to play well and feel good and have fun doing it and it’s been really tough. So, I just wanted to take a step back and work. When I was injured, it was not a step back. I couldn’t do anything about my game. I was just sitting and healing. Now, this is a good week for me and I’ve been working really hard. I’ve talked to Chris a lot on the ice. I’ll feel better when I get back in the net.”

Brodeur has been working hard in practice this week with Terreri and remained on the ice again for extra work today at the the end of the team’s optional morning skate.

“It’s just like anything. When you’re not doing well it’s a good time for me to take a step back and start working again,” Brodeur said. “When you play a lot and you don’t win, it plays mind games a little bit. I just wanted to refocus on the right things and that’s what I’ve been doing this week.”

Brodeur also believes that watching a game or two can be a little helpful to him.

“It’s important to look at things out there and how other people play and stuff like that and how our system is working defensively.” he said. “Sometimes you can learn and be able to be ahead of the play a little bit because you’ve been watching more.”

Lemaire told Fire & Ice he believes Brodeur will fight through this.

“Marty, he’d like to be better all the time,” Lemaire said. “So, he’s going to think about last game and what he can do better. That’s how he thinks about last game. Not that he didn’t play well and things like that. He’s a fighter. It’s something new for him. It never happened (before). (He) only knows really what’s going on inside and how he takes things.

“It’s got to be different for him because he’s been on top. He’s been the best for a long time and he was great and now it’s tougher for him. But he’s a fighter. He’s always been. He’s had bad games in the past and bounced back the following game. Here it’s not only him. It’s the team too that makes him like this. It’s not only him. It’s how we play in front of him too.

“If you look at the last game, he made the first three saves on the goals. He made the first save, then a goal. He made another save, then a goal. He made another save, then a goal. If you go back through all the games, how many saves did he make like that and the puck went in the net after? So, it means that we have to play better in front. So, that’s why I can’t only blame him. It’s the whole team.”

Hedberg will start tonight vs. PHI and Lemaire said Brodeur may play the rematch @PHI Saturday, but wouldn't commit either way.

“I wasn't happy with the last two goals we got scored against us,” Flames coach Brent Sutter told The Calgary Herald following last night's 3-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, where Miikka Kiprusoff was in net for Calgary. "The last two can't go in the net on us.”

Especially the goal by Kevin Bieksa.

“At the end of the day, when everybody gets back into the zone, it's a three-on four,” Sutter said. “It's a shot from the top of the circle. A wrist shot, that can't go in the net.

“At that point in time, it's a tough goal to get scored against you.”

The New York Post mentions that when the Rangers meet the Stars on Friday night, Sean Avery will skate in Dallas for the first time since Nov. 30, 2008, when he scored a goal in a 4-3 victory over the Oilers. That was two days before he uttered those two famous bad words -- "sloppy seconds" -- at the morning skate in Calgary that represented a cry for help and the first step toward his return to Fashion Avenue.

Avery was escorted out of town by a posse led by Marshall Tom Hicks that wanted to hang him high. He left Dallas a scorned man and left behind a wreckage of a relationship between himself and the franchise, between himself and the community. He returns a Ranger.

He returns contrite.

"I have to take the major portion of the responsibility for what happened in Dallas," Avery told The Post. "They gave me a contract to come there and help the team win and when I got there, I didn't adjust.

"I didn't adjust to the conditions. I didn't adjust to Texas as a whole, I didn't adjust to the team, and when I say the team, I don't mean the organization, I mean some of the guys in the room.

"I'm responsible 100 percent for that; 100 percent."

The friendship between Brett Hull, the co-GM of the Stars at the time, and Avery paid the ultimate price after everything unfolded.

"I apologize to Brett Hull," Avery told The Post. "Brett Hull is the guy who saw that I could help his team, and I didn't do that, and I hurt him.

"Obviously it hurt our relationship. That's my No. 1 regret about the whole situation."

He told The Post he most certainly expects to wear a target on his back during Friday's.

"I can't imagine why anyone would want to give me a warm reception there after what happened," Avery said. "I signed with good intentions, I wanted to help the Stars win for all the money they were giving me.

"I look back, and it's almost hard to believe all the stuff that happened there in such a short amount of time. Then there was the suspension and the rehab that got me back to New York. It just seems like they were all steps I had to go through.

"Thinking about it, the whole situation, and with some of the personalities involved, I don't think anything would have made it work. It was the wrong place for me to go.

"It was doomed from the start."

The Boston Globe ponders whether Tyler Seguin is an NHL centre or whether he's better on the wing.

Answers to those questions, like the 18-year-old’s NHL career, are still in the works.

Prior to his NHL arrival, Seguin had been playing centre for Plymouth, his junior team. Before dominating in the middle, however, last season’s OHL Player of the Year played wing as a rookie in junior. It appears Seguin’s centre-wing movement will continue.

At the start of the Bruins’ recent five-game road trip, Seguin was the right wing alongside Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron. In Atlanta and Buffalo, when Gregory Campbell was out sick, Seguin centered the fourth line between Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton. Then in Monday’s finale in Toronto, Seguin played both positions on the No. 2 line. For stretches, he was in the middle with Bergeron on his right. Late in the game, he shifted back to wing and was replaced by Bergeron.

“Bergy was taking some faceoffs, but most of it, [Seguin] was at centre,’’ said coach Claude Julien. “In cases like that, I’m kind of using both.

“If it’s late in the game and you really want to make sure you’re good in your own end, you go with the experienced guy. At the same time, Tyler’s obviously a little bit more comfortable at centre using a little bit more of the ice. So you give him that opportunity as well.

“Bergy’s played wing before. I think we can alternate those two guys depending on the game situation.’’

The Globe points out that the Bruins projected that, as a rookie, Seguin might be better suited at wing. He could use his speed to stretch out opponents and put defencemen on their heels, much like Phil Kessel (also a natural centre as an amateur) did upon arriving in Boston. He could also be absolved of the defensive responsibilities required of centres.

“I keep telling him to have that confidence, because his skill level is very good for this league as well,’’ Julien said. “He just has to start using it and have the confidence of using it.

“I think right now, those things are starting to show. A lot of it is feeling comfortable about his game and his overall game. I think that’s what’s happening right now.’’

The Buffalo News notes that a power play is supposed to create momentum. It's supposed to inspire an offence. It's supposed to turn around the game. The Sabres' power-play unit, especially on the road, has been doing all of those things.

For the opponents.

The Sabres have hardly had an advantage while holding the man-advantage. They rarely score on the power play, and they've been allowing short-handed goals at an alarming rate. They're hoping to change the trends when they visit the San Jose Sharks tonight in HP Pavilion.

A good start would be keeping the Sharks out of the short-handed goal column. The Sabres have allowed shorties in back-to-back games, continuing a season-long run of ill-timed lamp-lighting. Buffalo has allowed eight short-handed goals, the highest total in the NHL.

"It's just having the mindset that we also have to play defence on the power play at times," defenceman Tyler Myers said Wednesday. "It just goes to show in the stats that you have to. Eight goals against, it's not an area that we're proud of. We're going to have to clean it up."

The News projects that the Sabres are on pace for 17 short-handed goals allowed, which would match the highest total of coach Lindy Ruff's tenure. The 2005-06 edition gave up 17, and the Sabres allowed 13 the following season. They've been improving their numbers every year since, finishing with a paltry three shorties allowed last year. That was tied for the third fewest in the league.

"It's just paying attention to detail," goaltender Ryan Miller said. "We had four guys change, and one guy was tired going for a puck. It's just too easy. We coasted off the ice. No one gave an out or support. No one was talking.

"You have a man-advantage, it doesn't instantly mean you have an advantage. You have to work hard at every chance you have. You have to work hard five-on-five, you have to work hard four-on-five, five-on-four. ... The other team's going to be pushing and trying not to give you that advantage. They're going to be pushing the puck, pressuring the puck. We have to be better."

The Chicago Tribune writes forget the pressure high-scoring Blackhawks winger Patrick Sharp puts on opponents. Teammates apparently feel the heat too during Sharp's hot streaks.

"Everything is get him the puck, or every play on the power play he wants set up for him," Patrick Kane kidded hours before Wednesday night's 4-2 loss to the Stars at the United Center. "He's not really humble."

Kane isn't really serious. He can joke about the size of Sharp's ego because the Hawks know it is smaller than a hockey puck.

On the ice and off, Chicago's most overlooked sports star takes pride in knowing his place.

This is the guy who during last spring's NHL playoffs graciously finished a TV interview even after the interviewer confused him for somebody else. So it came as no surprise Wednesday to hear Sharp struggle trying to explain how only two players in the league scored more goals than his 23 in the first half of the season.

It took Sharp until the 74th game last season to reach 23 goals. Not even smart phones improve that fast.

"It's difficult talking about yourself, how good you are, how many goals you've been scoring," Sharp said. "It takes away some of the focus. It's only the first half and we have a lot of hockey to go. There are a lot more important things than how many goals I have."

The Tribune believes that if there was a bigger steal in Chicago the past decade than the Blackhawks' 2005 trade with the Flyers for Sharp, it involved a ski mask and getaway car. The Hawks gave up Matt Ellison, who's playing Thursday night for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League.

In return they received a player who quietly developed into one of the most dangerous scorers in the NHL.

"He's our go-to guy right now because he's as good as anyone in the league at getting open and finding ways to score," Patrick Kane said. "When you go through a stretch like that, you don't want it to end. Hopefully, he stays hot and some other players in here can get hot too."

The Miami Herald reports that the Florida Panthers found a home for centre Steven Reinprecht on Wednesday, lending him to Germany's Adler Mannheim.

Florida is still on the hook for the remainder of Reinprecht's salary -- he is signed through the 2011-12 season -- although the Panthers are thought to be getting some money back from the German team to offset what is owed to Reinprecht through this season.

Reinprecht went on waivers last Friday. Former Panthers forward and current television analyst Bill Lindsay played his final two professional years in Germany from 2005 to '07 and said he thinks Reinprecht is going to find success on the big rinks in Europe.

"That's going to be awesome for him, it's going to suit his style and his talent will be superior in many ways there,'' Lindsay said. "He's going to be the guy over there. Put it this way, I was an offensive guy there. What's he going to be?''

LA Kings Insider points out that the Kings had gone five consecutive games with the exact same lines — at least at the start of the games — and had lost four of them, so it was hardly a surprise to see new combinations at practice Wednesday. As Dustin Brown points out below, Terry Murray likes to keep “pairs” together and not change two-thirds of a line, and Murray mostly stayed consistent with that.

Brown and Anze Kopitar stayed together and picked up Wayne Simmonds. Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams stayed together and picked up Michal Handzus. The fourth line stayed the same. The biggest change was on the third line, where Kyle Clifford stayed and is now with Jarret Stoll and Marco Sturm. Here’s what Brown said, after practice, about the changes, followed by Murray’s explanation as to why he felt change was necessary…

BROWN: “Sometimes, combos get stale. Terry has always been about pairs, ever since he’s been here, so we’ve got Smytty and Willy still together. The only pair that’s been split up that’s really been together is Zeus and Simmer. It’s just a different look to try to get something going. Zeus, since he’s been here, and maybe since he’s been in the league, has been known as a checker, a third-line centre. But his skill level is pretty high. When he gets down low, with those two players controlling the puck the way they do, and having a net presence, it could be a good combination. Then Stolly is perfectly capable of being a shutdown guy, if that’s the route they want to go. I think it’s just a matter of mixing things up and getting a new look and seeing how it works.”

MURRAY: “As I said to the players this morning, we’re at 39 games, with four games now that we have not won. It’s just time for a change. There’s been some very good games, some great team effort, some great line looks this year, but right now we need to get some attention back. I think we just got away from some of the details of the game. That, to me, is that emotional connection to the game for 60 minutes. We’re doing a great job for 40, 45 minutes. We’re outshooting teams. I’m looking at our scoring chances against, that we do every game, and we’ve got a wide margin on that one. The bottom line is winning games, and that’s why I’m changing up some things.

“Change is not just for change. There’s change for a reason. It is to get some other results, to put players in other positions, that you believe can do it. The other part is to get refocused at a very difficult time here. We’ve lost four games. We’ve come through the holidays. There’s a lot going on with young players, with probably family around. We’ve played more games, in a short period of time, than probably any other team in the league will play. That’s demanding, that’s hard. I don’t want to let anybody off the hook on this. This is part of being a pro hockey player. That’s the way it is, and you’ve got to have a process where you’re going to learn from it. I want to highlight the message that you’ve got to learn from what we’ve just gone through. I’m not happy with it, and there needs to be change whenever the coach isn’t happy. … We’re so close to breaking through, with our team play. I really like what has happened in the last couple games. I thought the San Jose game was going to be that one that would push us through. We were doing a lot of good things against Chicago, so it’s very encouraging."

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reminds readers that Wild defenceman Brent Burns might be 25, but this is his seventh NHL season. He's a husband. He's a father. And he's an NHL veteran, evolving into one of the Wild's leaders.

"Exactly," Burns said. "I'm starting to think that way, too. ... I still think I'm young at heart and fun and I've got a lot to learn, but I'm starting to think that I can make a difference helping the team every night."

"That's bouncing back when I mess up, not being such a roller coaster, stepping up when we need it. Mental toughness is my biggest improvement."

Burns leads the Wild with 12 goals -- second among NHL defencemen -- and has 26 points, 11th among defencemen.

His season is suddenly putting pressure on the organization. Just as it did with Mikko Koivu last summer, the Wild will need to make a long-term decision with Burns because he will be a year away from unrestricted free agency. Once the Wild is permitted to extend Burns' contract after July 1, it will have to decide whether to sign him to an extension (Koivu got a seven-year, $47.25 million contract) or even trade him if a deal can't be reached.

"Chuck's got no choice. He's got to get him signed," former Columbus Blue Jackets General Manager Doug MacLean said. "It's critical for this franchise. There's not a snowball's chance they can lose him after [losing Marian] Gaborik, no way."

Fletcher offered this to The Tribune: "It's difficult to find players with that size coupled with that mobility. He obviously has high-end talent and a very good work ethic. He's one of the more dynamic defencemen in the game.

"There's always an element of surprise with Brent. You never quite know where he's going to come from and what he's going to do. That sort of unpredictability just adds to how dangerous he is offensively."

Fletcher is most excited about Burns' defensive game "evolving." This season, coach Todd Richards has used Burns in a matchup role against some of the best offensive players in the league.

"And he's done well," Fletcher said. "That's the exciting thing about Brent. I still think there's more untapped potential."

Former teammate Brian Rolston told the Trib this: "When I was [in Minnesota], I thought he could be a Norris Trophy candidate in time. He's got all the tools to be a Rob Blake or one of those guys that everybody wants as a defenceman.

"He's playing fantastic, and he's just got to keep building on that, which will make it hard on the organization not to sign him."

Newsday reports that two days after suffering a groin strain in the Islanders' 5-2 win over Calgary, goaltender Rick DiPietro did not practice with the team Wednesday. Although coach Jack Capuano said DiPietro had improved after resting Tuesday, he wouldn't commit to using him in tonight's game against the Oilers.

"He's feeling much better, but we won't make a decision until [Thursday night]," Capuano said after practice.

Should DiPietro be unable to play, the Islanders would likely go back to Nathan Lawson, who preserved the win Monday with a stellar performance in relief. Twenty-year-old Bridgeport goaltender Kevin Poulin, who was called up Wednesday, would back up Lawson.

"I haven't made a decision, but I'd be comfortable with [Lawson] or Kevin, who is one of the top goaltenders in the AHL," Capuano said. "If Ricky can't go, I'll evaluate."

Newsday writes that Capuano, who was promoted from Bridgeport to replace Scott Gordon in November, has been impressed with Poulin, 10-4-0 for the Sound Tigers with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage.

"He's a confident kid that, when given the opportunity, knows he can play at this level," Capuano said. "That's what you need from someone who is your last line of defence.

The Islanders might be concerned whether this opportunity for Poulin - generally regarded as the top goaltending prospect in the Islanders' system - could have an adverse effect on his development.

But Capuano has seen other young players, in particular 20-year-old defenceman Travis Hamonic, thrive in a similar situation.

"It's happening to Travis right now," Capuano said. "Whether Kevin stays, plays or goes back, it's a situation where he would get a taste of it, and you can always learn from that."

@KatieStrangNYI noted on Twitter right before this HH blog published that DiPietro was first off the ice at practice, but Lawson will get the start.

Philly.com says that Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said he has watched James van Riemsdyk mature not just since he took over as head coach last December, but even since the start of this season.

"He's actually matured since this year," Laviolette said. "He came into camp and he started really well, he hit a bit of a patch there, and since he's come back from that, if you look at the scoring chances, he is our most consistent player."

Consistency is something van Riemsdyk, the second player chosen in the 2007 draft, talked a lot about in training camp. When he entered camp with an additional 10 pounds of muscle, JVR said his goal was to be one of the Flyers' top players consistently.

He followed that up with a relatively quiet preseason and went the first 17 games without a goal.

"I didn't contribute on the score sheet as much as I wanted to early on," van Riemsdyk said. "But, to be honest, I didn't really buy into the fact that I was playing that terrible at the beginning of the year. I think I had a lot of good chances but then I maybe started squeezing my stick too tight and that [finishing] part of my game was lost a little bit.

"I think I maybe hit the reset button and went back to what makes me successful - and I think that was the big key."

The article points out that JVR realized that he is most successful when he uses his 6-3, 211-pound frame and natural speed in a combination of punches. He was the Flyers' second-fastest skater in their pre-holiday skills competition. And he also had the hardest shot, pinging the radar gun at 101.5 mph on a slap shot.

The challenge recently has been more mental - to enter each pregame stretching routine, each warmup and each faceoff with the same preparation. Skating regularly on a line with Mike Richards and Andreas Nodl can only help.

"Even in those games that I wasn't playing as well as I wanted, I still think I was preparing myself to play well and working hard," van Riemsdyk said. "I'll continue to learn about that as I go through my career, learning how to get yourself ready to play every night. You can't ever take nights off. I need to make sure I remember to bring the same effort and same play every night."

After a rocky rookie season, van Riemsdyk thought he had everything figured out heading into his sophomore season. Now, projected to finish with stats equivalent to what he put up last year, van Riemsdyk knows he has a lot more to learn.

"When you go through tough times like that, you learn a lot about yourself," van Riemsdyk said. "It's always good to go through that and see what you're really made of."

Jonathan: "My head to head league uses 3 goalie categories (wins, GAA and saves). Currently I have 4 goalies, Halak, Kiprusoff, Gustavsson and Giguere on the IR (2 active roster spots. Daily roster changes allowed but we can only make 30 player adds per year and I’m already at 19). Obviously I haven’t been happy with the 2 Leafs goalies and am thinking about adding someone else instead. Notable free agent goalies include Khabibulin, Steve Mason, Turco, Dipietro, Theodore, Elliott and Leclaire. There are others as well but needless to say there are no ‘good’ starters available. Should I go for one of these guys, or wait for an injury or trade to create another opportunity? PS I’m in first in my league but not by much."

Chris: With only 30 moves per season you really have to be careful Jonathan, especially with 19 already used. I'm actually inclined to go another way altogether though. Since this is an H2H league, where you can really take advantage of extra offensive players by rotating them in nightly, I'd be much more in favour of having you drop Gustavsson to add a decent forward.

Halak and Kipper are going to start the vast majority of the time and their stats should be good. Granted, you'll suffer slightly in wins and saves by losing a third goalie. You'll be helped in GAA though and you'll gain in more offensive categories overall than you'd lose in wins/ saves. You may as well leave JSG on the IR for as long as you can, to save yourself a move. Otherwise, if he were on the bench too, I'd suggest adding a second extra forward.

Then you can see as the second half progresses if someone like Turco regains his starting job and maybe would make a good play as you get ready for your playoffs.

Lisa: "Hey there Chris, what do you think about MAB's production once he comes up to Tampa (or can he be claimed by another team?)? Is he worth a high waiver claim? Not much on the FA wire for scoring defensemen who play on the PP. Thanks."

Chris: He cleared waivers on his way down to the farm and it's my understanding that he does not have to clear waivers to be called up. The original reports suggested he'd be playing for several weeks down there too to get back into playing shape.

I don't think I'd use a high waiver claim on him, especially if you're in an H2H league (which I seem to remember you are) and would have to sit him on the bench until he's called up. MAB can be a good PP threat for sometime after the All-Star break, assuming he supplants Brett Clark and/or Pavel Kubina. Both of those guys have seen PP1 time on D. I think MAB has better PP skills than either guy, but with this kind of layoff it's impossible to predict how that'll go right away.

Clearly though, whoever is on TB's PP1 with that talent will hold fantasy interest in any format.

Lonely End of the Rink: "Doc, with the season half over I find myself fluctuating at the middle of the pack. 10 team weekly lock roto keeper league (keep 4). G, A, + -, PIM, SOG, PPP, SHP, Hit, W, GAA, SV%. In goal I have gone with the WAS tandem. Been o.k. lately, but as soon as I decided to go with it, it wasn't pretty. I dropped Turco for Nabokov. Was hoping TAM would pick him up, but doesn't look like it now. I need PIM, so I picked up Downie (unfortunately not in the line up this week). With Getzlaf going on IR I scooped up J. Staal. I could also use some + - (2nd to last). Been trying to pry Chara away from his owner using Enstrom or Kaberle with Selanne as bait (he needs A & PPP), but no go.

My team consists of: C - Franzen (rw), Krecji, J. Staal, Getzlaf (ir) LW - Heatley, Nash, Neal RW - St. Louis, Selanne, Downie D - Green, E. Johnson, Enstrom, Kaberle, Carlson G - Varlamov, Neuvirth, Nabokov.

FA's - Rask, Nittymaki, Tavares, Pavelski, Savard, Martin, Suter, Pietrangelo

I also had thoughts of trading for Broduer and Parise (using him as a keeper for next season). Owner needs LW.

Any thoughts? Thanks again."

Chris: Your goaltending should be strong in the second half and Nabokov is a lottery ticket that may or may not pay off. With your weekly lock format, he's worth the bench spot now with the upside - potentially as trade bait down the line. Either way, Washington's goaltending will likely largely dictate whether or not your team can climb up in the standings.

Tavares has been really hot for the last few weeks and he's been doing it with a good +/- too, so he's someone you should seriously consider getting in there. The problem is where? It'd be nice if you could package Krejci or Selanne in a deal, which would either free up a centre slot or let you move Franzen to the wing and put Tavares in there.

It's too bad Paul Martin hasn't chipped in many points lately because his +/- would sure help you and Johnson has been inconsistent with results, although he has come on a bit lately and hopefully that'll continue.

As far as acquiring Brodeur and/or Parise, good question. Has Brodeur's value fallen far enough that you could get him for James Neal? Or, since there are only four keepers per team, might the gamble of Erik Johnon's future potential entice Brodeur's owner more? Hard to say. Brodeur could certainly be one of your top four, although younger is better where possible. Getting either him or Parise will depend on where that owner is this season in terms of competing for this year's title and what you have to offer. If Parise's owner wants a LW, Heatley or Nash are too much to sacrifice since they're healthy now and Parise may not play this year. Neal may not be enough, but maybe he would be. Never know until you ask. His recent slump isn't likely helping things.

Get some talks going with the owners involved and if you need more help, you know where to find me.