


Gaudreau started off the week with a trio of assists against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, added a goal and an assist in Tampa Bay on Thursday, just a goal against the Panthers on Friday and capped the week off with another pair of assists in Carolina on Sunday. 2 goals and 6 assists in four games, brings his overall totals up to 15 goals and 54 points in 45 games this season, good enough for 3rd overall in pool scoring.
For Steve, this is the sort of distinction that would have been better to come for his team at the start of the year, when his team was not settled down near the bottom of the standings, but at this point, I'm sure this will work too. Steve and Scott are now embattled for the last spot in the standings and it's becoming quite a good show.


Jack Eichel and Kyle Okposo of the Buffalo Sabres led the way for Wes' team with 5 points each, while Mikko Koivu of the Wild, Ryan O'Reilly of the Sabres and Jacob Markstrom of the Canucks all had 4 points each. Only one player on Wes' active roster was held to naught in the week and for the most part, his team has remained fairly healthy for the last little while.
Unfortunately for Wes, his gamble on the Buffalo Sabres really turning their fortunes around didn't quite work out for him, except for this week, as they have sort of led to his disappointing season, where his forwards rank 23rd in the pool in scoring, while his defense hasn't been a big help and his goaltending has been good (tied for 7th).
His team is now 68 points out of the money with a second Waiver Draft to go in a couple of weeks, but it might be too little, too late for his team now. His only hope at getting his money back now is Eichel playing in the All-Star Game 3-on-3 tournament and putting on a show of his own. It's certainly possible, but a bit of a long shot, given that he is Wes' only representation in a few weeks.

Paul Stastny of the Blues and Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks were his only two bright spots in the week, each finishing with 2 points, while the rest of his team really didn't see too much action. His team really missed the likes of Nikita Kucherov of the Lightning, who has kept his team away from the Basement Dweller for the year, leading up to this point, as the Lightning return to action on Thursday.
There haven't been a lot of bright spots on Neil's side, besides Kucherov, as his forwards rank 12th in the pool, his defense has really struggled in 24th and his goalies have only been okay, tied for 11th. It all hasn't added up well for his team, which is holding steady in the standings these days. His team is 56 points out of the money and swapping out defensemen isn't going to give him that boost he needs.

The top 10 is still very much worth looking at, as the gap from 3rd to 10th is 29 points, something that a good hot streak and a home run in the next Waiver Draft could go a long ways from sorting out. That home run swing is somewhat improbable, but not impossible, so these teams will need those hot streaks or Mover & Shaker weeks to come fairly soon.


Now, a lead in this category is far more volatile than the scoring leads, given that this total has the ability to go down at any given time in the season, but so far, Steve's team is looking very stable, if not solid defensively. This is good news for him, as this gives him a very good shot at his money back in a season, where his team hasn't been able to score much.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The bye weeks have made for some real positives in the scoring department, as the average games have seen some excellent scoring numbers. This week's average NHL game was giving us 14.3 points for the pool, 2nd to Week One's average of 14.9 points, but that week also had 31 NHL games on the schedule, so the overall tally wasn't all that impressive.
Week Sixteen has 43 NHL games in it, not quite as high as some weeks we've seen, but certainly better than last, where a lot of teams will have finished up their bye weeks, some are getting started, but everyone should be back at it by the weekend and the schedule will start to improve for a short while, before the All-Star break.
NEWS AND NOTES

The Jagr days appear to be done in Calgary, which will be a required change for Ryan's team at the Week Eighteen Waiver Draft, which is only a couple of weeks away now. Monahan, on the other hand, won't be out for very long, meaning that Wilton doesn't have too much to worry about here.

This will affect Stacey M.'s projected games total at the start of Week Sixteen, as Ladd's games are due to come off, without any expectation of him rejoining the lineup anytime soon. Her team continues to hover around the top 10 and this injury may hinder her team's chances of moving up any further.

Aho is currently ranks 2nd among those players taken in the 8th round of the draft, making him into a really good bargain pick for Kristy & Don this season. One of the key picks that have helped them stay within arm's reach of the money spots this year. Any long-term effects of this injury could be devastating.

Cam's team has really fallen off the pace in recent weeks, seeing his team drop down to 16th this past week and a bye week for the Canucks isn't going to help his cause any. This could be a rough finish for him and he'll be looking intently on the All-Star Game for a chance at his money back.

Of course, that's not great news for Dale C.'s team, which currently holds down the 10th spot in the standings. Dale's team does rebound out of the bye week hell just fine, so there is hope for his team yet, but McDonagh's absence on the blueline will hinder his team, if it is for any extended period.
No comments:
Post a Comment