
We're here! The Waiver Draft is upon us, so now that we have the order set for the start of proceedings today, please feel free to tell your teams that they can start scoring again.
So, we'll draft, starting today, and then we will see everyone go live on Monday in Week Nine.
First things first though... let's get through the review of Week Seven.


Anderson was the best player in the pool, picking up a 4-0-0 record with a shutout, earning 10 points and was the clear winner of the Player of the Week nod. Wins against Montreal, Boston, Carolina and shutting out the Rangers on back-to-back nights made it a very impressive week.
The 10 points now brings his season total up to 30 points, which is good enough for a tie for 2nd place in pool scoring, but falls to 3rd place on the wins tie-breaker.
Wilton has found himself a pretty good bargain, as he picked him early in the 2nd round of the draft, already up 25 spots, a whole round, from where he was taken in October.


There were only two players on his team that was unable to finish with any points and only one of those was injury-related, so almost everyone on the ice was contributing, one way or another.
Moving up in the standings is the key part of the story, as his team moved into the top 10, finishing in there for the first time this season. His previous peak position on a Monday morning was 11th and now he's likely got his eye on the money spots. As of Monday morning, his team is only 11 points behind 3rd and his team had already made up 13 points on the position in Week Seven.
Making a key improvement or two in the Waiver Draft, getting Jonathan Toews back from injury and hopes that Craig Anderson doesn't have to leave the team any time soon would be his three keys moving forward. No one has been able to string together two back-to-back Mover & Shakers yet, now would be a great time for that for Wilton.

Troy's goaltending, which has been carrying him, as best they can, only managed a single win in the week, as he told them he'd find them help to get their money back. Sam Reinhart of the Sabres and T.J. Brodie of the Flames didn't quite get the memo, as they finished with 3 points to lead the way for his team in weekly scoring.
So, now Troy has to decide in which direction he wants to go with his picks... does he goon it up? His team is 19th this week, 78 minutes back. His team is still in the survivor pool... will he opt for Peter Budaj? The outdoor game pool is still wide open... does he need any more representation for that one? Didn't think of that one, did you?

Marcin finished his second week in 3rd place and he's seemingly getting comfortable there. 7 points back of 2nd place and 6 points up on 4th place, getting quite the buffer zone. Scott lost a few points on him in the week, while Marcie gained a bunch on both teams, as did John S. and our Mover & Shaker, so things are looking competitive at the top again.

Kristy & Don still lead the overall race and they might be looking for help, as their lead over Marcie's team is only 1 minute. These two teams do have a buffer of their own, as Marcie's team is 23 minutes ahead of Grant's and she's also in the big money race, so I can't see her team staying in this race for too much longer.

Mike (21 wins), Wilton (17), John S. (16), Jeremy (15), Troy (15), Stacey M. (14), Grant (12) and Stuart (10) are all left in the pool and could they be looking for help in the Waiver Draft?
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
After the pool dug itself a nice hole in the plus/minus department, dropping down to a combined -95 from all of our forwards and defensemen in Week Four, the pool has picked up its socks and has now climbed up to -19 as a whole. Scoring 5-on-5 must have really gotten a boost over the last few weeks and most teams are quite happy about that. Marcin's team leads the way in plus/minus with a combined rating of +54, which is better than Cam and Dale C.'s teams, which are both +24.
The overall scope of the week was quite positive, as players were returning from injury and starting to score a bit too. In 52 NHL games on the schedule, the pool scored an average of 11.13 points per game, way up over Week Six, thanks to skater games going up and goalie minutes up as well.
We also had the 4th-best week in penalty minutes on average, up to 8.1 PIM per NHL game, which is bound to go up, when Week Nine kicks off. Oh yes, that'll be good.
NEWS AND NOTES

For Marcin, Staal hasn't been one of his biggest contributors this season, only 9 points in 21 games, but he has contributed to his 3rd place standing, heading into the new week. It only looks like he has to make one move and it isn't a forward that he's moving.

There are some rumblings that Kristy & Don may go all-in on the penalty minute front, so they may leave their injury-riddled goaltending alone and concentrate on the goons, one way or another. Last season, they almost got some money back, thanks to another team going the way of the goon, so this year, they might take advantage of their early lead.
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