Chris Nichols

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

Twitter: @Nichols_NHLPool/ Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

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In the doing, The Calgary Herald notes Jarome Iginla gave us happy reminders of those who preceded him.

There was an inkling of Bossy or Kurri’s savvy instinct in even sensing the opportunity. A glimpse of Esposito’s single-mindedness or Hull’s dynamic swoop in barrelling to the net. A passing nod to Gartner or Jagr’s giddy up in getting there in the first place.

Then, as a capper, Gretzky’s infernal cheek on the deke.

What a feat.

What a player.

“I didn’t know about the list until someone mentioned it to me a while ago,” confessed Iginla, who Sunday became only the 10th man in NHL history to score 30 or more goals each year over a decade. “Once I heard about it, I thought it was pretty cool. Just because of the guys who’ve done it.”

Yes, look at the names on the list. Gartner. Jagr. Esposito. Gretzky. Hull. Dionne. Bossy. Kurri. Sittler.

Putting the moment in perspective, making it all the more impressive, think of the names that aren’t there. No Richard. No Brett Hull. No Sakic. No Messier. No Lemieux.

Such an accomplishment screams of durability.

Of consistency.

Of dependability.

“I’ve been really blessed to stay healthy,” said Iginla. “You have to be lucky. You have to be fortunate to play a lot of good minutes and alongside good players.

“Tonight I was like, ‘It’d be kind of neat to get it at home.’

“But I never dreamed it would be on a penalty shot, where I haven’t been, uh, as, uh, successful as I’d like (he was 0-5 at the ’Dome, career, before Friday). I’ve had a few of them in front of our fans, but I don’t think I’ve ever put one in here at home before that.

“So that was a treat. For me.

“I was excited when it went in. I don’t want to use the word ‘surprised.’ That doesn’t sound positive. But I was definitely excited when I saw it go through the five-hole.”

On his penalty shot move against Pekka Rinne, Calgary's captain told The Herald: “I’ve been working on some moves with Tangs (Alex Tanguay),” Iginla laughed. “He’s been showing me some of his stuff. I figured I was going to try a move and fortunately it worked tonight.”

Head coach Brent Sutter got in a nice dig when asked if there’d be discussion now about using Iginla more on shootouts.

“Hmm,” he replied, to a chorus of laughter. “We’d have to have a long discussion.”

His coach offered some serious thoughts on his best forward too, naturally.

“He’s a well-conditioned athlete,” lauded Sutter. “He trains extremely hard. He understands the importance of being in top shape. And the older you get, the harder you have to work at it.

“Any time a player’s done what he’s done — what is it? 10 straight years now with 30 goals — it’s a great accomplishment. Yet he’s achieved it because of the type of player he is, the way he plays, how he handles things. But also credit to the teammates he’s had, too.

“As an individual player ... obviously, his shot, his intelligence in the offensive zone. It all gets added into it ... to be that type of goal scorer.”

The type of goal scorer, The Herald points out, that comes along once in a generation for a franchise. If it’s lucky. One that comes along only 10 times in the history of a game.

“What a great accomplishment,” said linemate Tanguay. “Over the years, to be able to sustain that grind, perform year after year.

“Look at this list. They’re all Hall of Famers. I might be mistaken about that, but I don’t think I am. It’s great company for him. Kurri. Marcel Dionne. Mike Gartner. Jagr.

“It’s a great list to be on.

“And Jarome fully deserves it.”

The Edmonton Journal believes we have a fairly good idea what the Edmonton Oilers’ game plan is for this spring — get that lottery pick so they hopefully take Swedish defenceman Adam Larsson, who, by all accounts, is better at this age than ballyhooed countryman Victor Hedman, who was the No. 2 selection in the 2009 draft.

But what about this summer? They have $32 million committed to 14 players next season, which leaves them a whopping 27 million bananas to get to the 23-man roster limit by negotiating deals with their own guys like Andrew Cogliano and Ladislav Smid, but also leaves them plenty of room to hit the free-agent marketplace.

0r is the NHL draft in June the end-all and be-all?

“We have more cap flexibility than we’ve ever had,” said general manager Steve Tambellini, excising another $4.25 million for next season when the team dealt Dustin Penner to the Los Angeles Kings. “We started last year moving heavy contracts of veteran players (Steve Staios, Ethan Moreau, not re-signing Fernando Pisani) and we can now go forward with our group and keep growing and also get into the free-agent market. But the free-agent market depends on what level you’re talking about. Are we going after the really high-end guys? No.”

The Journal says they tried hard for a strong two-way defenceman and a very good role-playing forward in free agency last summer but they signed with other Western Conference teams instead, in large part because the Oilers are starting over and the free agents wanted to be on a Cup contender.

They’ll have to buck that trend this summer, too. As exciting as the kids are, the rebuilding Oilers are two to three years from being a Stanley Cup threat — their goal is to be in the playoff hunt like the Columbus Blue Jackets at this time next year, not out of it on Jan. 1 — and 28- to 30-year-olds don’t necessarily want to wait when they’re in their prime.

“We have good people around these kids now ... I’m happy with the leadership, but we might need more,” said Tambellini, admitting it’s always going to be hard to attract free agents to Edmonton. The most recent NHLPA poll said that Edmonton was the second least desirable place for players, so the Oilers have a two-pronged attack (draft building and minimal free-agent searching).

“If we were only reliant on free agency to get better or making that one big trade to get better, then 10 years from now we’re spinning our wheels. I don’t want that,” said Tambellini.

“We’re not going to attract the high-end (free agents) until this group shows them that they’re right there (in the Cup hunt). Then I think you zero in on the high-ends,” he said. “I know people around the league are looking at us ... knowing, in time, what’s going to happen with the talent here. Then Edmonton will be a place to be. With the free agents, it depends what level we’re talking about. Is it guys you want to sign for one year, two or five? When we’re at the (Cup contending) stage, we’ll consider that (the big name, longer-term deals).”

So, The Journal wonders, are they going to be a team close to the $59.4-million cap limit or a $44-million cap minimum team next year? Probably somewhere in the middle. They want to leave flexibility when Hall and the other kids get through their entry-level, three-year deals, and will be in the $4-million to $5-million range, or higher if one or all suddenly looks like Steve Stamkos. The Oilers have to be careful where they don’t overpay for an unrestricted free-agent and get locked in for a long-term deal when the kids and Hall come due for big raises.

Until they dip a toe into the free-agent waters, Tambellini is focusing on the draft, with 10 picks in the seven rounds — five in the first three rounds (an extra first for the Penner trade, an extra third for the Staios trade last season). Can they have too many draft picks? There’s only so much room for kids on an NHL roster.

“Too many picks? Not right now. These are the few years if we’re rebuilding where we need high draft picks, quality picks, and once these kids get rolling (and the team gets more points), our draft position won’t be as good,” said Tambellini.

“We have really good flexibility at the draft with three picks in the first two rounds ... and don’t believe the stories about this being a poor draft. I talked to one other (Western) general manager and he says it’s deep until about the 40th pick, and we’ll have two firsts (their own and the one from the Los Angeles Kings, which could be about No. 20) and a high second. We have options to use them as they are or package them with players to move up. Maybe we see a guy we really like at No. 10, and we can use the second round pick or the extra first to move.”

“There's a way to play to be successful, we know it,'' Wings coach Mike Babcock told Michigan Live following Saturday's 5-1 shootout loss to the Phoenix Coyotes, which saw Detroit blow a 4-1 third period lead. “But until we get our head around doing it, we're not going anywhere.

“There gets to be a point in your season where you got to decide, if you think you're a championship-caliber team, that there's a right way to play. Unless you get 23 guys doing it the same way and wanting to do it, nothing's going to happen.''

He added: “We've been around enough winning that every guy in this room understands. But obviously I got to do a much better job to get them all to do it, because we're not doing it.''

The Ottawa Sun writes that the fates of Bobby Butler, Colin Greening, Erik Condra and Zack Smith, all considered to have a good chance to be future Ottawa Senators, won’t be decided in these final games of the 2010-11 National Hockey League season.

Their make-it-or-break-it chance will come during training camp in September, when jobs will be won and lost.

Still, the final weeks of this season represent an important opportunity for them to make an impression, to show they can play in the National Hockey League, and to fix themselves in the minds of Senators head coach Cory Clouston and general manager Bryan Murray.

So far they’ve managed to create good impressions. If they hadn’t, they would have been returned to Binghamton of the American Hockey League and someone else would have been promoted. (Greening will be recalled today after playing in Binghamton on Sunday afternoon.)

They still have a lot to prove, though, and Clouston and Murray will be watching closely as the Senators a four-game road trip and a stint in which they’ll play nine of 13 games on the road against a diverse array of opponents: from those out of the playoffs (Florida Panthers) to those on the edge (Buffalo Sabres), to those near the top of the standings (Tampa Bay Lightning).

“I think we’re looking for compete level, we’re looking for intelligence, we’re looking to see if the player belongs at this level, and the areas he needs to work on,” Clouston said. “It’s a good measuring stick for them, as well, to show them where they stand, and it’s also a good opportunity for those guys to push other players, push veterans.

The Citizen says that so far, all four have performed above expectations, giving Murray and Clouston some hope they’ll fit smoothly into roles this fall. However, their play so far has also raises expectations, Clouston said, and those expectations will be even higher in September.

“It should motivate them even more, and show that, with a little bit extra of hard work they can be on this club right from day one, as opposed to partway through the season,” Clouston said.

Greening, Condra, and Smith, who is viewed as the next Chris Kelly, will never score barrels of goals. Indeed, Butler would be considered a success if he could get between 15 and 20 in a full season. But they aren’t expected to be top-six forwards, either. If they can fit comfortably on the third and fourth lines, the Senators can plug holes with modest salaries, always an important consideration.

“These next games, we’re going to get a real good look at different types of teams,” Clouston said. “You’re able to gauge their intelligence, their hockey sense, and their ability to play against different opponents.”

The article also points out that winger Nick Foligno is among the players Clouston would like to see leave this year with a sense that he’ll be pushed by younger players in the fall. Foligno, now 23, will be returning for his fifth season as a pro. Will he be ready for the next step? Maybe a push will help.

“I wouldn’t just single him out, but I wouldn’t take him out of that group,” Clouston said. “We need him to be more consistent. We need him to have higher expectations, that it just doesn’t happen. He’s got to be part of the group moving forward.”

The Boston Globe believes that the 2010-11 Bruins have been a sled pulled by two game-changing hounds: Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara.

Thomas should already start penning his acceptance speech for the Vezina Trophy presentation in June. Chara, although not a favorite to win the Norris Trophy, remains high atop a short list of shutdown defencemen.

In the last eight games, in which the Bruins recorded 15 of 16 possible points, some new names belong on the game-changing roster.

During the offseason, management’s belief was that David Krejci was ready to become a first-line centre. Last year in the playoffs, Krejci was so important that after he suffered a dislocated wrist against Philadelphia, the Bruins never could recover.

But for most of this season, Krejci has fallen short of the bosses’ expectations. He didn’t play with enough urgency. He cheated away from the play, failing to come back hard for pucks. In turn, that left Krejci with too little speed in the neutral zone to be a threat to opposing defencemen. In short, Krejci only showed bursts of game-changing presence.

That’s all changed. Krejci (10-40—50) is now tied with Patrice Bergeron for the most points on the team.

“Right now, we’re seeing David Krejci playing the way I think we expect him to play,’’ said coach Claude Julien. “So if we’re amazed by that, that’s the way David Krejci should play, and that’s what we expect out of him. He’s capable of making those plays. He’s capable of seeing the ice well. His two linemates are also playing pretty well. So that’s made for a pretty successful line lately.’’

The Globe points out that over the last eight games, Krejci has two goals and nine assists and his play has been contagious. Lucic, who’s always elevated his performance in important games, has been just as powerful. During the eight-game point streak, Lucic has five goals, six assists, and two fights — against Edmonton’s Jim Vandermeer and Tampa Bay’s Eric Brewer. Lucic now has a team-best 28 goals.

The biggest surprise has been Nathan Horton. After a hot start as a Bruin, the right wing had been on the fast track to irrelevance. But Horton, who’s never dressed for a playoff game, has added a welcome element to his game: bite. He has four goals and four assists in the last eight games.

It perhaps is no coincidence that Horton also has dropped the gloves twice during this stretch. That’s two times more than he fought in each of the last two seasons.

The Raleigh News & Observer notes that Cam Ward's streak of consecutive starts in goal for the Carolina Hurricanes ended at 24 games Friday, when he was given a break.

But that's it, coach Paul Maurice said Sunday. The Hurricanes have 16 games remaining in the regular season, and Ward should start them all, meaning he would play in 40 of the past 41.

"He should be well-rested and fresh," Maurice said. "We have enough blocks of time off between our blocks of games. We ran him 22, 23, 24 in a row ... so this should be easy for him.

"Unless something comes up where he's not right or not feeling right ... I would expect him to be ready to go."

Maurice said Ward did not ask to sit out the game in Chicago Friday, where Justin Peters started.

"He won't do that," Maurice said. "Even if there's an injury or there's something you're worried about, he's not going to tell you he can't play. None of those guys will."

The News & Observer points out that last season, Ward started 24 straight games, then was sidelined the next 18 games with a back injury. Ward has not had a recurrence of the back problems this season, but Maurice said he was not given the option to play or sit against the Blackhawks, the defending Stanley Cup champions.

"We assessed where he was physically after the [Buffalo] game and made that decision after that game," Maurice said.

"We've been saying all year that we need to put something like this together and put us in the spot we want to be," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville told the Chicago Tribune of the team's current eight-game winning streak. "Just about every team in our conference and around us has had that type of roll where they've gone through a 10-game stretch with a loss or several wins in a row. It's such a competitive conference that what we just did we're happy about, but it's what we're going to do going forward that's going to determine what we have to do."

The Nashville Tennessean believes that Preds goalie Pekka Rinne's natural attributes are easily identifiable.

At 6-foot-5, he can take up most of the net. He combines that with quickness, so he's not often caught out of position. He's a good stick-handler, which helps with outlet passes.

But his ability to snuff second chances with his hands has helped turn Rinne into one of the top goaltenders in the NHL.

"He's really active with those hands," Predators forward Martin Erat said. "He knows how to stop it and you don't have that many rebounds coming from him."

When a puck comes at Rinne and he has a chance to catch it, his glove hand will often turn and twist and compensate just so he can stop the shot. For example, it's common to see Rinne backhand a shot headed for his blocker, rather than use his stick-hand to deflect it in another direction.

"I guess I'm just used to that," Rinne said. "I've always been taught to use my hands. I guess that's the way I've been taught to play and the way I want to play the game — to prevent the rebounds."

The Tennessean points out that Finnish goaltenders are often known for good glove work. This includes Miikka Kiprusoff of the Flames and Niklas Backstrom of the Wild.

"I think that's the way they teach the goalies over there — to be active and use their hands," said Rinne, who is from Kempele, Finland. "That's just the way all of us learned to play."

Earlier in the season, Predators Coach Barry Trotz said Rinne's ability to catch and corral pucks had prevented approximately 10 second-chance opportunities.

Rinne's glove hand has another benefit. When he stops a play by freezing the puck off a shot, he stems the opposition's momentum.

"Guys with great hands can slow things down and stop the play," Trotz said. "That's a real advantage for goalies who can catch, because they can slow things down and they can even go quicker. If they catch really well, they can get the puck out of their glove, down to their stick and move it to someone to keep the play going. It's another tool in your arsenal."

According to The Columbus Dispatch, former Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock was speaking figuratively in 2008 when he described winger R.J. Umberger - traded from Philadelphia to Columbus only months earlier - as having a Flyers tattoo. But it was a wholly believable image.

Umberger was just coming off a trip to the Eastern Conference finals with the Flyers, and had just closed on a house in the New Jersey suburbs when he was traded to the Blue Jackets at the 2008 NHL entry draft. A prideful player coming from a legendary organization, Umberger had Flyer orange in his pores if not stamped on his chest.

"I found myself checking their scores and their (roster) moves (after the trade)," Umberger said. "I stayed in touch with the guys to see what was up, what they were doing.

"You eventually have to let go of that and move on. I was happy to be in Columbus, but it took me probably 15 games or so to get going on the ice and to get comfortable with my role here."

Umberger now has Union Blue in his pores, and it'll shade a bit darker tonight when the Blue Jackets play in St. Louis. He'll dress in his 229th game for Columbus, one more than he did as a Flyer.

It's a symbolic number that is not lost on Umberger.

"I feel so connected to this city and this team," Umberger said. "I love the organization and the guys in the room everything about it. And I'm really proud to say that."

The Dispatch writes that Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson, who traded a first-round pick to acquire Umberger, said he leaned almost entirely on the advice of Hitchcock before making the trade. In one full season (2005-06) as his coach, Hitchcock saw a passion and resolve in Umberger that the Blue Jackets sorely needed.

"R.J. is so committed," Howson said. "When I think of him, that's what I think of - commitment, to his profession and his team."

Umberger has never missed a game as a Blue Jacket, playing in all 228 since the start of the 2008-09 season. He could break Jason Chimera's franchise record (243 straight games) on April 5 in Dallas, a record he's been targeting and trying not to talk about (bad luck) for many months now.

Umberger's 20 goals, 28 assists and plus-7 rating don't jump off the page as one of the NHL's elite players, but there's a reason Howson considered him "untouchable" - along with captain Rick Nash - at last week's NHL trade deadline.

"Where Nash is more of a flashier, pure goal scorer, Umby is the gritty, grind-it-out, work-for-every-inch type of goal-scorer," coach Scott Arniel said. "You need both. You need lots of both."

The article notes that making the playoffs is a challenge Umberger has embraced. The old Philly tattoo has faded, he said, and a new one's coming in.

"The new one's over top of it and twice the size," Umberger joked. "I didn't think I could enjoy a place as much as I did Philly. My heart was in that place in a big way.

"But my heart's here now, and it's gotten even bigger."

LA Kings Insider writes that toward the end of practice Sunday, Terry Murray — as coaches often do — pulled aside Dustin Penner for a quick chat.

Since Penner joined the Kings a few days ago, there has been plenty of on-ice communication involving Penner, coaches and teammates, as everyone is trying to get Penner as comfortable and familiar as possible with his new environment. After practice, Murray discussed his chat with Penner, sharing that the reason was two-fold: one, to encourage Penner to relax a bit and, two, to discuss the defensive coverage on Daniel Sedin’s game-winning goal Saturday night.

MURRAY: “The puck comes along the boards and, a big body like that, I would like to see him just finish on that defenceman and make sure that puck gets out of the zone. There was a support guy, the D pinched and I think Burrows kept the puck in at the blue line. But, to me, it’s a matter of that’s where you dig in and get the puck out of the zone at any cost, play hard and physical on him.

“It’s been a pretty intense, probably month, maybe longer for him. His name surfaced almost every time there was a conversation about Edmonton with the trade deadline approaching. Now it’s done and over, and he can become a part of the L.A. Kings as quickly as possible just by relaxing and getting to know your teammates.”

Disappointed he didn't hit his first self-prescribed target date for a return last week in New York, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune posits that Wild forward Guillaume Latendresse is done picking targets.

"Last time I picked a target, I didn't reach it and it was not good for the head to keep working," said Latendresse, who has been out since Oct. 25 because of myriad abdominal and hip injuries and actually scored the first goal of the NHL season, said he felt "awesome" Saturday but not as good after a long practice Sunday.

"Today, it was tighter, the legs were heavier," he said. "I guess, we'll see. It's going to be like that all year."

Asked if he feels pressure to return with the team fighting for the playoffs, he said: "No. I think that's the good thing about the organization. They respect the players before the team. They want to make sure you're 100 percent when you come back and that you can actually help the team.

"Second of all, it's for my future, too. It wouldn't be good for me to come back two weeks [early] and miss the rest of year and maybe next year, too."

The New York Post notes the Rangers scored seven goals in Gaborik's return to the lineup yesterday, but the star winger did not account for any of them.

Gaborik had 14:28 of ice time in the Rangers' 7-0 victory over the Flyers at the Garden after missing six games with concussion-like symptoms. His return gave his teammates a boost of confidence, but his offence was not needed due to Ryan Callahan's first career four-goal game and Mats Zuccarello scoring two more.

Gaborik, the Rangers' fourth-leading scorer with 17 goals in only 48 games, recorded four shots on goal and two missed shots, but the important thing was how he felt physically following the game.

"So far so good," said Gaborik, who reported no lingering symptoms. As for his performance, the two-time All-Star said he was rusty.

"Felt pretty good,'' Gaborik said. "Obviously missed six games you know, so hopefully it's going to get better and better. At times a little off, but I think overall going in the right direction. Just haven't played in a while."

Callahan said Gaborik's presence made a difference, even though he didn't score.

"To have one of the top guys in the league back in the lineup adds another threat," Callahan said. "Anytime he's in our lineup it makes us a lot deeper and makes it easier on some of the other guys. He played well. He looked good and had some chances, so I think he's 100 percent."

Gaborik, like his teammates, was more concerned with the two points the Rangers picked up than with his personal performance.

"Huge win," Gaborik said. "We didn't really have success against Philly [this year]. Cally got a big game, and Hank. Everybody was good. Power play was good. We're moving the puck well, everybody showed up and it's a huge two points."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes that Deryk Engelland earned a full-time spot among Penguins defencemen this season not only because of sound positional play and a physical edge, but because he proved he can fight at an enforcers' level. But he hasn't fought since Feb. 10.

Ben Lovejoy stuck with the Penguins as a seventh defenceman, which meant sitting out for stretches of time. But he hasn't missed a game since Feb. 20.

Roles for the two defencemen have changed recently, and that's more than fine by them.

"Everything -- more minutes, different situations, [penalty killing], playing against the top two lines more," Engelland said. "It's been good. It's a new challenge. It's been a lot of fun. It's good to play more minutes."

"This is fun," Lovejoy said. "Playing way bigger minutes than I'm used to against more skilled top lines is a blast. This is something that I've looked forward to for a long time."

The Post-Gazette notes that two things changed the dynamics of the Penguins' defensive corps.

Alex Goligoski was traded to Dallas on Feb. 21, with defenceman Matt Niskanen one of two players the Penguins received in return. Two nights after the trade, Brooks Orpik was sidelined in a 3-2 overtime loss to San Jose with a broken right index finger that is expected to keep him out for most of the rest of the regular season.

While the Penguins have worked Niskanen into the mix and regrouped without Orpik, Engelland and Lovejoy have spent some time expanding their horizons.

It's clear that Lovejoy, 27, and Engelland, who turns 29 in a few weeks, will have regular and significant roles for the foreseeable future. They are finishing their first full NHL season after playing top roles with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League the past few years.

"You had to put in your work when you weren't playing," said Lovejoy, who was in uniform for 25 of the Penguins' first 60 games.

"It's not fun getting killed and getting 'bag skated' every day, but this is why you do it -- so you are ready to play 19 or 22 minutes a game. And this is fun."

Engelland's penalty minutes have been bolstered by 12 fighting majors, including eye-catching bouts early in the season against NHL heavyweights Colton Orr and Jody Shelley. That has calmed down because Engelland feels a responsibility not to leave his team short-handed during the stretch drive.

"A lot depends on the game situation now, where at the beginning of the year you had all your top guys in," Engelland said. "Now, every point is huge. We have guys banged up, and a lot of the guys that you fight only play a couple minutes a game. You've got to pick your spots and try to not do too much."

The night Orpik's finger was injured, San Jose's Ryane Clowe challenged Engelland to drop the gloves in the third period. Engelland was tempted.

"I would have loved to that game," he said. "But with five [defencemen left in the game] ... I know they're in great shape, but four [defencemen] at that point in the game, that late, is tough."

It's a tradeoff Engelland is more than willing to make, especially since he is feeling good about his overall game.

"Even though it's the same plays, my confidence is up a little bit from the beginning of the season," he said.

Lisa: "Hey Chris, I'm wondering about the benefits of hanging on to Hamonic, Pavelec, Neal and MAB in a 1 year points and PiMs pool for the last month of the regular season.

Hamonic seems to been overtaken by MacDonald (he's a FA), Pavelec is still out on a bad team (take a chance on Emery?), Neal looks overmatched without the 2 injured studs (try PMB, Arnott or Stillman?) and MAB's back spasms are cause for concern (sub Shattenkirk?). Any thoughts? Thanks."

Chris: Without going into each scenario with each player, let's hit the main points briefly.

I don't think I'd really classify it as MacDonald necessarily overtaking Hamonic as much as Hamonic had a nice PIM/ point run and McDonald has been a more consistent point source... but that said, having both on the team wouldn't be a bad thing for you if you had room. Hamonic's PIM haven't been there of late, but he has shown he can pay off huge in just a few games. Since you're in an H2H format, that could end up winning a week for you.

Pavelec is on the same Thrashers team as his earlier season success and wins are cyclical, so I still don't think I'd be chancing Emery in that situation. Given Hiller's uncertainty that could change, but for now I'd stick with Pavelec.

I'm not sure about MAB. He won't play tonight and apparently shouldn't have played Saturday. I'd rather you had the MacDonald/ Hamonic combo than add Shattenkirk in MAB's place, but it's a pretty big gamble to drop MAB at all because he's been so effective with TB. The problem, as you know, is that back spasms are kind of like concussions in that it's impossible to gauge how long they can affect someone going forward. A broken bone provides a definitive timeline... this is trickier. You could stick with MAB for weeks and he won't play, or you could drop him today and he'd be back later in the week.

And as much as Neal hasn't produced yet, the danger in dropping him is losing that potential point/ PIM/ SOG combo. PMB has certainly been especially hot though lately, so if you can't afford to wait then I suppose sometimes you've gotta gamble. I like what Arnott has done since the trade, but I worry about how little Washington scores and wonder how much he'll really produce the rest of the way if the Caps are winning games 2-1.

Brian: Hey Chris,

As always, thanks for the great blog and thanks for the advice on my rotisserie pool earlier this year. I managed to unload Liles for Kesler right before their fortunes changed and, while I won’t win this year, am in a more respectable position.

I’m also in a keeper pool: H2H, 14 teams, counts G,A,+/-,PIM,PPP,SOG,FW,HIT,W,GAA,SV%. We keep 3 F, 2 D, 1 G, and the deal is that a keeper takes up a draft position one higher than they were taken last year (e.g. if I drafted Tavares in the 5th rnd, he becomes my 4th rnd pick next year). Conflicting picks move up one rnd. First rounders cannot be kept. My team, with next year’s draft position in brackets for those I may keep:

C: Ennis (8), Krejci (14),

LW: Cammalleri, E. Kane (13),

RW: Horton (3), C. Stewart (2),

F: Eberle (18), Clutterbuck

D: Visnovsky (10), Karlsson (18), MAB, Keith (15)

G: Ward, Anderson (17), Crawford (19)

BN: Ott, Malhotra, Glencross, Laich,

IR: Gonchar, Brassard (8)

This is a definitely a rebuilding year for me, though a recent Devils-like comeback is slowly taking me out of a good draft position with a very slight chance at making the playoffs. My question is, who should I be keeping for next year? I want players that are in low rounds so I can contend for a few years. I’m leaning toward Eberle, E. Kane, Krejci up front, but love the upside of Ennis. On D, Keith is a definite and I had plans on keeping Karlsson but it’s hard to ignore Visnovsky’s 51 pts. For G, I’m leaning toward Crawford. Anderson is playing up now but was one of the reasons for my team’s struggles this year.

Any thoughts? If I can keep Anderson, I’ve been offered Carter for Visnovsky and Crawford, with Carter going as my 12th rnd pick next year. Thanks."

Chris: I'm not sure if it's the lack of sleep I've had in the last week or if I'm just being dense Brian, but I'm not completely following the way that keeper process works. Or maybe I am.

If I have this correctly, let's say your team has 19 rounds of drafting with 14 teams per round. If you were to keep Crawford, as an example, then that means in the 19th round of your draft you'd actually be passing on that round's pick because you hung onto Crawford? If so, that's an interesting format.

And if so, then I get what you're saying about wanting to keep guys drafted in the later rounds since that'll mean you get a crack at earlier draft picks, which means better talent.

As far as Anderson vs. Crawford, it's tough to say right now. Love the Hawks. Still not sold on Crawford as their No. 1 for years down the line, to be honest. Maybe he will be, but my proverbial jury is still out.

I LOVE Anderson and said as much after the trade when his stats were horrible and before he went on this great run. I'd much rather have a goalie on the Hawks than on the rebuilding Sens - let's be crystal clear on that - but keep in mind Anderson will be a UFA this summer and who knows where he'll end up? You owe it to your team to hold off on making that decision for now because, IMO, Anderson will be coming in at a low enough contract price that he might end up somewhere decent. Worst-case, even with the Sens, he's proven he can post strong SV% and respectable GAA numbers on mediocre teams.

Duncan Keith as a 15th rounder is an ABSOLUTE must-keep. As much as Visnovsky is >>> than Karlsson at this stage of their respective careers, I'd more likely keep Karlsson as your second D to gain that extra earlier round pick. Krejci in the 14th is likely a good bargain. Eberle for sure. Evander Kane should be able to take that next step in '11-12, so for the price and given your other options I'd likely agree with you on that one.

The key here, IMO, will be for your keepers is the Crawford vs. Anderson situation. IMO, you should be able to do at least a little better than Carter. I get that he's a good bargain as a 12th rounder next year and I'll defer to you in terms of having been in that format for awhile now, but if Crawford has the potential to anchor this Hawks team for years to come then I'd, at the very least, want to get a permanent winger (harder position to get than C) instead of Carter in the deal. Maybe Carter carries C/W for you this year since he and Giroux have alternated at the positions (each fantasy league is different and too many are lame in their designations), but I'd feel much better landing a permanent winger to part with your talent.