Chris Nichols

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

As part of a light four-game slate tonight (a blogger's delight after some of those crazy 13-15 game marathons), the Ottawa Senators are in California to take on the San Jose Sharks. That means a chance for Sens fans to catch the game on Sportsnet East and get their hate on for Dany Heatley, who is currently tied with Alex Ovechkin for second in the NHL goals race with 18. Marian Gaborik leads the pack with 21. Heatley and linemate Joe Thornton have combined for 67 points and Thornton is tied with Gaborik for the Art Ross lead headed into tonight's action.

But on the other side of the coin is Heatley's former centre, Jason Spezza, who has 15 points and is tied for 120th with guys like Wayne Simmonds, Kris Versteeg and Jamie Benn.

The Ottawa Citizen, which posed this very Heatley-less Spezza scenario today, indicates that Spezza says he isn't envious of the success his former sniper is having in San Jose and Spezza doesn't think he's the loser in this deal.

"I don't think so," he said.

"I got off to a slow start. You can't compare. You're not around the situation, or you don't see it, so you can't compare.

"Obviously I want to have better offensive numbers than I have, but I think my game has improved and Milan (Michalek) has pushed me to become a better defensive player, killing penalties with him.

"He has brought different aspects to my game, and hopefully I can round everything out here and become an offensive threat and play in all situations.

"When you play with a guy for so long, you do miss certain things.

"We had great chemistry, but, as a player, you move on."

It'd be pretty easy to point to Spezza's lower production so far and say he's less of an offensive threat without Heatley, but it's really too early to draw any hard and fast conclusions. One simple fact that is beyond reproach is that Heatley, who was magic with Spezza, currently has a playmaker in Thornton that not only matches Spezza's passing abilities - but likely surpasses them. Spezza has certainly had a drop in his left winger's sniping abilities with Michalek in place of Heatley. It's just a fact.

That doesn't however, have to mean that Spezza's days as a star fantasy producer are done. He has four points in his past five games, including what was only his second goal of the season.

Spezza touched on the chemistry issue, which is something that even Heatley says he's still trying to find with Thornton... despite their early success.

"You never know how long it's going to take," Heatley told The Citizen.

"I think there are still areas where we can get better and read each other a little bit, but overall it's gone real well and chemistry has (developed) real quick.

Maybe Spezza and Michalek haven't achieved - and probably won't - a Thornton-Heatley plateau, but let's not forget that Michalek has potted 13 goals with 18 overall points of his own in the first two months. That's only five fewer goals than Heatley and Michalek & Spezza are getting better together, generally with two-way threat Daniel Alfredsson on the other wing.

Both wingers, in addition to coach Cory Clouston, are slowly making Spezza into a better two-way player too. It's not a shift that happens overnight, but it's a work in progress that'll pay off down the line for the 26-year old pivot.

Throw in additional minor variables aside from chemistry like a) power play quarterback Filip Kuba's missed time earlier in the season, b) Spezza's own injury issues, c) his return to wooden sticks after a flirtation with composite and d) the fact that there are still 58 games left in the '09-10 campaign and there are still plenty of reasons for Spezza's owners to be hopeful of increased offensive production.

There are times to be patient and there are times to pull the parachute and hit the eject button... this is one of those patience moments in his fantasy timeline.

Oh - and in case the stats story surrounding Spezza and the pending Heatley showdown has gotten too big, let's not forget that the Sens - who missed the playoffs last year - are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 13-7-4 mark. As is above the post-season/ we've gone golfing high water mark.

BOUDREAU: OVECHKIN SHOULD PICK HIS SPOTS
You've no doubt seen or heard about Alex Ovechkin's knee-on-knee contact last night with Carolina's Tim Gleason, which cost Ovechkin a game misconduct and an injury. Today's Washington Times notes that coach Bruce Boudreau didn't rule out Ovechkin for Thursday's game (the stud winger is officially day-to-day and the injury isn't as bad as initally feared), but said the team would know more after tomorrow's practice. What he did say about his franchise player's style of play was a little surprising.

"He's pretty reckless," Boudreau said. "It is hard telling a guy who scores 60 goals a year to change the way he plays. At the same time, you don't want to see him getting hurt. Maybe he needs to pick his spots a little bit better."

Boudreau said he hasn't talked to Ovechkin about it ... yet. "Not as his coach, but someone who admires him I just don't want him to put himself in harm's way," Boudreau said. "We'll see. I don't think anything being said will change the way he plays, but who knows."

As for the other injured guys, Boudreau was told Alexander Semin doesn't expect to play Thursday and he said, "That's news to me -- I thought he looked pretty good to me out there."

The Times notes that Tom Poti went through a full practice and could be back by Thursday or the weekend. Mike Knuble is still shooting for December 9th, but that's not definite. Shaone Morrisonn is still feeling concussion effects and has no timeline.

LUONGO VS. BRODEUR
Wednesday night's NHL slate features four games, including the Vancouver Canucks on the road to face the New Jersey Devils. That means a match-up of fantasy goaltending giants Roberto Luongo vs. Martin Brodeur.

Luongo told The Vancouver Province he doesn't believe the goaltending duel is going to have a big impact on where the Canucks and Devils wind up this NHL season and who gets the starting nod for Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

"Is it really going to make a difference in the long run? I don't think so," Luongo said Monday before the Canucks left on a four-game road trip that includes stops in Philadelphia (Thursday), Carolina (Saturday) and Nashville (Dec. 8). "It's always nice to play a guy like Marty, obviously one of the best of all time. That's what gets me excited more than anything else."

Luongo sits with a 10-9-0 mark as we roll into December with 2.56/ .910 splits and one shutout. He was 4-3-0 in November though, including a 2.23 GAA and .921 SV%.

Brodeur's seasonal averages currently reside at 2.05/ .925 splits and one shutout with a strong 15-6-1 mark. He was just part of Player of the Week honours from the NHL and was 8-2-1 last month with a 1.67 GAA and .939 SV%.

PIETRANGELO WAITS... AND WAITS
Alex Pietrangelo was the fourth overall pick in 2008 and while that comes with high expectations for poolies, patience is the operative word for young defencemen. The St. Louis Blues are taking that to the extreme this season. The franchise will play its 26th game on Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks and Pietrangelo is still sitting at the nine-game mark, patiently waiting to see if he'll play his tenth game this season - which would start the clock ticking on his contract - or not.

You saw in last night's live blogging that it was Jonas Junland who took the injured Carlo Colaiacovo's spot in the line-up against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Pietrangelo probably wasn't too thrilled, even if he knows it's out of his control, but the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that Blues VP of player personnel Doug Armstrong says the rookie defenceman needs to keep an eye on the big picture.

"I think the credit has to go to Alex for what he's accomplished to this point," Armstrong said. "But he's a 19-year-old player and it's a man's league. We believe that his future is very bright. I think Alex has done everything he can be asked to do. What we have to impress on Alex, he has to look at this from a long-term perspective . . . we believe that he's gaining great experience being around Barret Jackman and Darryl Sydor and Eric Brewer on the backend, to only on the ice, but off the ice, what these guys do to play in the NHL.

"We think that he's building that foundation, learning what it takes to be a pro, and not just a pro, but a very good pro. So, he's tracking very well and we, as an organization, are very excited about where he's at and where he's moving to."

Pietrangelo has been invited to play with Team Canada at the WJCs, but nothing has been decided either way on that front.

Although the young blueliner's single-season value is non-existent right now, these sorts of situations can present a prime bargain opportunity in those deeper keeper leagues with farm systems. Should his owner be getting impatient, remember Pietrangelo's offensive upside and that he and Erik Johnson are the future of this team's power play on the blueline. It couldn't hurt to fire off an email to his owner just to poke around and check the temperature of a potential trade.