The Islanders have finally put pen to paper with their captain on Tuesday, bringing Doug Weight back into the fold for another year. Weight signed a 1-year deal with a base salary of $850,000 and some bonuses (which were not disclosed). Weight will play a key role in the development of the team's young players like John Tavares, Josh Bailey and others, not to mention putting in some good minutes for the Islanders, who could use the depth down the middle of the ice.Weight's 2010 season was marred by injury, dealing with shoulder problems for the back half of the year. Weight only played in 36 games for the Islanders before undergoing shoulder surgery in March. In those 36 games, Weight scored 1 goal and added 16 assists for 17 points, which doesn't look good as a total, but his scoring rate of 0.47 points per game isn't too bad and in a 75-game season, discounting for possible injuries, that would be good for 35 points.
Neither of the publications I have for pool projections has anything for Weight and his 2011 campaign, so it might be wise to stay away from him this season, unless he has some remarkable start to the year, picking him up mid-season.
In what has been branded by the Score in the past, the Sports Forecaster 2010-'11 NHL Preview and Fantasy Guide has been one of my favourite reads leading up to drafts, because they do a pretty good job with younger players. The top 500 players and 50 goalies pull-out is also pretty good, but it is in such small print, it doesn't really work well in the dim lighting of the bar, once we're in full draft mode and someone decides to turn on the mood lighting.
The Forecaster is definitely going out on a limb this season by selecting Alex Ovechkin as the top scorer in the league this season. Okay, maybe they aren't, but they are suggesting that this is going to be one hell of a race between Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, both eclipsing the 120-point mark this year. Ovechkin is listed at 128 points in their forecast, while Crosby is not far behind at 123 points. As those two will go, as will their partners in crime, with Nicklas Backstrom listed at 107 points and Evgeni Malkin at 97 points. That is definitely a plausible top four picks in anyone's draft, if you ask me. Also, in terms of partners in crime, the Sedin twins come in 5th and 6th, Daniel Sedin coming in with 37 goals and Henrik Sedin with 30 goals, both with 96 points each.
The 22 players on the table above now come in at an annual cap hit of $59.9 million, which is $500,000 over the ceiling and they still have to deal with Marc Staal, who is a restricted free agent this Summer. The Rangers situation does not reflect well upon them at the moment and they will likely have to find some deals to help ease the pressure on their budget. Of course, the thought that still lingers in the minds of many is that Wade Redden may find himself as the odd-man out in this situation, ranking at the bottom of the blueline pack with the highest cap hit.
The Coyotes turned what was a disappointing season for Stempniak in Toronto into a pretty good season after a 
On a struggling Oilers team, scoring came at a real premium for their players and Gagner was no exception. He did, however, finish with 41 points (15 goals and 26 assists) in 68 games, which was good for second on the team behind Dustin Penner. With an influx of some clutch young talent coming up the pipe, the Oilers and Gagner could see a positive resurgence into the goal scoring column, which is a step in the right direction, especially if they learn to keep pucks out of their own net.
We're just under a month away until the draft goes down at Jameson's Pub and I am getting the feeling that a few of our competitors may be new at this, so I thought I would make up a post for those who are going to be new to the event and maybe it will prove to be a refresher for those who have missed a year or just want something to read on the blog today.
If you are going to be new to the Opiated Sherpa's draft this year or you've been in the draft for the past three years, you may want to see some historical data on how the first round has played out in those years. Personally, I wanted to see how many names are the same across the board and I also wanted to see how the times have changed, even if it is only three years difference.
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News surfaced on Thursday that Jordan Staal has not quite recovered fully from the severed tendon injury he suffered in the playoffs last Spring, when he collided awkwardly with the Canadiens' PK Subban. Staal suffered the severed tendon in his foot and was only out of the line-up for two games before returning to action. 
Mitchell's 2010 season with the Canucks was shortened to only 48 games thanks to a concussion, but in those 48 games, he managed to pot 4 goals and 8 assists, which gives him the 3rd-best scoring rate among Kings defensemen currently on the roster. A full season could see him hovering around the 20-point mark, especially with the amount of offense the Kings boast up front, but the word concussion looms large in making the decision to pick him or not.
In 2010, Downie really started to break out with the Lightning, getting matched up on a line with Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis, which really helped push his stock up in the end. He finished the season with 22 goals and 24 assists (for 46 points) in 79 games with the Lightning, also adding 208 penalty minutes, making him a great fantasy threat in the 2011 season. I think I will be giving Downie a bit of a boost, especially since reuniting the chemistry of that line seems like a no-brainer.
In 2010, Torres split time between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Buffalo Sabres, 
Hornqvist really came out of the shadows in the 2010 season, scoring 30 goals and adding 21 assists in 80 games for the Predators, in his first full season with the club. His 51 points was good enough for 115th in pool scoring, 86th among forwards and will likely be a desired player for most hockey pools as a player for growth.