Fire & Ice indicates that the past few months have been drastically different for Patrik Elias health-wise than the summer of 2009 and that could mean a strong season is ahead for the Czech forward.
Last year, he had surgery on his hip in June and wasn’t able to work out much while he recovered. Then, he needed groin surgery in September and missed the start of the regular season.
“That’s why I literally started working out right away (after the season was over),” he said. “I needed that. It’s normal. You go through careers with bumps and bruises, injuries and sometimes you are not able to do the extra work off the ice for yourself. I feel great this year so far. I’m doing all the exercises with the trainer here: running, weight-lifting, playing tennis three or four times a week, biking a lot. So, I’m staying busy.”
He and his wife are staying in New Jersey this summer, rather than going back to the Czech Republic, because she’s due to give birth in November and can’t fly.
He told Fire & Ice that not only he is excited that former A-Line mate Jason Arnott is back with the Devils after being acquired from Nasvhille in a trade last month, but he’d also like to see the third member of the line – UFA Petr Sykora – come back too. Sykora is recovering from two surgeries in March though… one for a sports hernia and one on his hip. Elias liked the suggestion of Sykora coming to training camp as a tryout if he is healthy enough to do so and he said reports that Sykora had signed to play in Russia were false.
Ilya Kovalchuk’s UFA decision, which could still involve the Devils, will certainly impact Jersey’s potential line combinations for next season. We should see Arnott centre Elias for much of the time though, given their history. Travis Zajac and Zach Parise should remain a pair as well with Jamie Langenbrunner potentially leading the candidates to play the right side on that line. With a new coach though, anything is possible.
Regardless though, with Elias both fully healthy and now free to concentrate on playing the wing instead of also being used as a centre (he may still qualify as a C/W in your league for another year); the potential is there for a strong campaign for his fantasy owners. He’s only one season removed from posting 31-47-78 in 77 GP in ’08-9 and considering where he’ll likely fall in your draft based only skating in 58 GP last year (19-29-48), he should prove to be a real value. His shot total floor should be a minimum of 200 too, which is always a helpful stat for standard leaguers.
EXTENDED QUOTABLE
“This is Toronto,” Leafs GM Brian Burke told The National Post when asked if his moves have made this team better than last year’s edition. “There’s question marks over everything. And they’re fair ones. But we’re comfortable with our back end and we’re comfortable with our goaltending. Now, we’ve tried to upgrade our forwards.
“Are we good enough? I don’t know. Are we too young? We might be.
“The key to this thing for our fans is from since Jan. 31, when we made those two trades with Anaheim and Calgary; from that point on we were in a playoff spot. And that’s the group that’s coming back. And to that we’ve added Versteeg, Armstrong and Brown. Those are the … forwards that we needed. And we’re not done. We haven’t ruled out adding any more free agents. There’s still some parts out there.”
On the subject of rookie Nazem Kadri being pencilled in to centre the second line: “You have to look at last year with Matt Duchene,” Burke says of Colorado’s Calder candidate. “Obviously, he had an amazing year as an 18-year-old. So it wouldn’t be unheard of for Nazem to come in give us good minutes. So it’s not out of reach.
“But he has to prove it. He is indeed pencilled in, but that pencil’s not going to come out when training camp ends. If it comes out, it won’t be until the 20-game mark.”
DON’T FORGET JEFFREY
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes that a left wing is the prospect to watch this week at the Penguins annual developmental camp; but his name is Dustin Jeffrey, not Eric Tangradi — the forward widely presumed to one day make the most impact in the NHL. Tangradi, 21, likely will play for the Penguins at some point this season. Jeffrey, 22, could beat him to Pittsburgh.
The Penguins’ plan to try playing either centre Evgeni Malkin or Jordan Staal at wing — the latter is six months younger than Jeffrey — has created competition for a roster spot among their most NHL-ready forwards.
Jeffrey has two AHL seasons under his belt and posted 24-47-71 in 77 GP last season. The article notes that Tangradi is the winger at camp widely considered to possess the greatest high-end skill and he put up 17-22-39 in 65 GP in his rookie season in the AHL last year.
As things stand today, there are wing slots open on both the first and second lines. Sidney Crosby would centre Chris Kunitz on one unit, with Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal comprising two-thirds of the other line. UFA Bill Guerin might still be re-signed, which would likely leave one open slot for a prospect… and thus giving poolies a clearly interesting sleeper pick for single-season formats.
Also in that Tribune-Review piece was a note that 23-year old goalie Mattias Modig, acquired from Anaheim, is worth watching closely at this camp. There is no set No. 3 goalie (AHL starter) for next season and no set future No. 2 to Marc-Andre Fleury. Modig has a chance to fill those roles, although veteran Brent Johnson is signed for two more years as an inexpensive and pretty reliable option to rest MAF.
The article notes that no prospect in the system garnered more praise from opposing scouts at the 2010 entry draft than defenceman Simon Despres. Despres is held in higher regard by the Penguins now than when they selected him 30th overall in 2009 and while his offensive instincts will be obvious to even an untrained eye; what he should show this week is an improved first stride and overall smoother skating.
JOHANSEN’S POTENTIAL
The Vancouver Province writes that Ryan Johansen (6-3, 192 pounds), selected fourth overall at this summer’s draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets, continues to add muscle to a foundation of excellent vision and supreme playmaking ability that had him rocket up the draft rankings. Think a budding Joe Thornton. And even though he’s at least another year away from pushing for NHL employment, don’t tell Johansen he should simply accept the fact that another WHL season will do him a world of good. He’s not wired that way.
“When those questions go around, I use it as motivation and that’s all I see it as,” said Johansen, who turns 18 on July 31. “In the development camp, my goal every day was to show the coaches that I’m a fourth-overall pick. There were no returning players, but I felt like I was one of the top guys and felt strong and good with the puck. The coaches were pretty impressed.”
Scott Arniel, who’ll be behind the Jackets’ bench this season, told The Province he sees Johansen as a work in progress with considerable upside.
“You can see it,” said Arniel. “He stands out in a crowd. He’s got skill and is a big body with a long reach. And he’s got a real nose for the net, but he’s not very strong yet and needs to put on some weight to be solid on his feet.”
Johansen has already met franchise winger Rick Nash.
“It was pretty cool to meet a guy like that,” the 2010 draftee recalled. “He said, ‘I heard you’re going to be my new linemate.’ I said, ‘You’d be lucky to be mine.'”
ALIU: IT’S WHO I AM
The Atlanta Journal Constitution notes that newly-acquired prospect Akim Aliu has a reputation. In his own words, it’s not “squeaky clean.”
And that doesn’t bother the Thrashers prospect one bit.
Acquired by the Thrashers in last month’s trade with Chicago, Aliu admits past issues may have impeded his career but he’s looking forward to a fresh start in Atlanta.
“It’s who I am,” Aliu said at this week’s Thrashers prospect development camp. “I’m a pretty outspoken guy and I speak my mind. A lot of people respect that and some people don’t. There are definitely lessons to be learned in the bits of trouble that I’ve gotten into over my career. It definitely set me back.
“It’s kind of hard to look back on. Maybe I could have been farther in my progression now if not because of those incidents, but not much I can do now. I can’t dwell on it. I just have to move forward and try to make this hockey club.”
Atlanta GM Rick Dudley sees Aliu’s potential, as well as his drawbacks.
“He’s 225 pounds, skates like the wind and can shoot the puck,” Dudley said. “He has great hands, has a nasty side to him. He’s got all the attributes of a power forward. He just has to put it all together. We like to think he’s chances are pretty good.
“Akim’s been his own worst enemy. I think he will admit that but I know the kid very well. I like him a lot. He’s got some things to work with and deal with. He’s a good guy. He’s just got to figure it out that there will be a role assigned to him and he’s got to do that role.”
It remains to be seen how effective Aliu might be at the NHL level when he eventually gets there, but standard league owners in particular should be interested in his potential because of his ability to put up good PIM totals. Can he become a consistent enough threat to eventually work himself into a top six wing slot, where the offensive opportunities would be plentiful for someone willing to pay the price in the dirty areas? If so, the 57th overall pick from the 2007 draft and his 6-3, 225-pound frame could become a useful tool for fantasy leaguers.
COYOTES’ HAPPY MEDIUM
The Arizona Republic writes that the Phoenix Coyotes should have a blend of the young team Wayne Gretzky coached two seasons ago and the veteran-laden team Dave Tippett took to the playoffs last year.
“This year,” Tippett said, “I think you might see a happy medium. I think some of our young players really benefited from the year down in San Antonio last year and I’m looking forward to training camp and some of these young players coming in and trying to push veteran players out.
“It’s not an easy task to do – to push somebody out – but if they do come in and play well and earn a spot on our team, that’s how you make your team better. So I’m looking forward to some of these young players coming in and see what they have.”
The Republic indicates that the most-likely candidates to crack the roster are forwards Kyle Turris, Brett MacLean and defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, the top draft choice a year ago.
Ray Whitney, signed once the free agency period opened this month, will also be a new face in the locker room to help lead the team.
“Adding Whitney, we’re adding a very good veteran player at a high skill level, a player who’s won before – just a great attitude,” Tippett said. “We’re fortunate to get him. I think he’ll really help the scenarios of our team. We need a little extra push on the power play, just the skill level part of it, so he was a good pickup for us.”
BOLL INKED
The Columbus Dispatch Blue Jackets reports that RW Jared Boll has agreed to terms on a two-year, $1.45M contract. It’ll pay him $700,000 this season and $750,000 in 2011-12, which also allows him to avoid an arbitration hearing that was set for one week from today.
Boll’s PIM totals have declined from 226 to 180 to 149 since breaking into the league, but he’s still a good spot starter when you’re looking for PIM match-ups throughout the season. Last year he racked up 19 PIM in three games vs. each of San Jose and Phoenix, although he has high penalty totals against a number of teams in his young NHL career.
QUOTABLE
“Niklas was a big part of our success last year and he’s a part of our core that’s going to be together for a long time,” Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman told The Tribune after announcing the team would the four-year, $14M RFA offer sheet tendered by the San Jose Sharks. “I’m happy for him. He’s a quiet leader among our defensive group. I think he got overshadowed because we have some other superstars there, but he was really effective for us all year long. He’s only going to get better — he’s 23 years old.”
Bowman believes keeping Hjalmarsson is worth whatever salary cap space fallout still awaits the team.
“You add (Hjalmarsson) to the mix of other guys here,” Bowman said. “(With Jonathan) Toews and (Patrick) Kane and (Marian) Hossa and (Duncan) Keith, we have a lot of guys that we’re building this team around. We’ve been saying all along that our goal is to keep our core together. We’ve been trying to hit that point and Niklas is part of that core.”