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The Six Foot Club: Sleeper Forwards for ‘09-’10
by Hippy Dave on 09/25/09 at 01:15 PM ET
Comments (7)
Personally I don’t believe the sleeper crop this year is that large. I just don’t see a lot of people proving themselves this season who didn’t in the last. There are always a few guys who really stand out at the end of a season and make it obvious they’ll rock the next. After doing some homework I realized all those guys were goalies, so that’ll be another post. This post will be about the youngsters who didn’t prove a damn thing last year but will this one.
What I really liked about this batch is that all of these guys are in the six foot club. They’re big boys, they play hard, and because of that, as they fill out their frames in the best damn professional league in the world, they’re going to become dominant players. If you’re in a long-term keeper league, these are the guys you’ll want to draft. If not, pick them up as last-round picks or pluck them off the wire when the first guys on your team start to falter.
One thing I’ll warn you about my posting style: I like to use links. Click on them as you go, they’ll be rewarding.
Stats: GP-G-A-PIM (past years include playoff stats as well as regular season)
John Tavares (C/W), New York Islanders
19 years old, 6’0”, 195
08-09 Oshawa Generals 32-26-28-32
08-09 London Knights 38-56-28-30
The number one draft pick this year, a lot is expected out of this guy. People have said he’s the next Sydney Crosby, or the next Wayne Gretzky. I don’t ever believe anyone saying anyone is the next anything, but this guy is going to be good. The question now is how good will he be in his rookie season. Two words of warning here: Steve Stamkos.
2009-10 Projected Stats: 82-34-26-55
T.J. Oshie (C) , St. Louis Blues
22 years old, 6’0”, 194lbs
08-09 St. Louis Blues 61-14-25-32
07-08 University of N. Dakota 42-18-27-57
I have a good feeling about this guy. Oshie is instrumental in the come-uppance of the St. Louis Blues. He’s got great hands, great timing, and he’s a good hitter. Out of all of these guys he’s going to have a better points overall combined with PIMs than any other sleeper. Watch out, though, Yahoo’s got him as a center, and he doesn’t take faceoffs.
2009-10 Projected Stats: 75-27-32-52
Nikita Filatov (LW), Columbus Blue Jackets
19 years old, 6’0”, 172lbs
08-09 Syracuse Crunch AHL 39-16-16-24
08-09 Columbus Blue Jackets 8-4-0-0
I don’t know what stirs this little widget in the back of my brain, but something insists this kid is going to score like a fiend this year, and for many years to come. We know so very little about him. But after watching that video and seeing that he’s scored 4 goals in 8 games at the NHL level, I think a certain hungry Columbus coach is going to goad a lot out of this youngster.
2009-10 Projected Stats: 70-30-20-35
Ville Leino (LW), Detroit Red Wings
26 years old, 6’0”, 182lbs
08-09 Grand Rapids Griffins 67-18-41-28
08-09 Detroit Red Wings 20-5-6-6 (13-5-4-6 in regular season)
07-08 Jokerit Helsinki 55-28-49-18 (1.4 PPG)
Ville Leino didn’t get a lot of ice time last year, and yet he scored at a 0.69 per game pace in his brief regular season stint with the Wings. Sure he sucked in the playoffs, but he was relegated to a small amount of ice time and was dwarfed by the intensity of the playoffs in general. This year, he’s going to blossom under the relative lack of depth the Wings have this year. This year will be the year of the Leino for the Wings.
2009-10 Projected Stats: 80-29-25-24
Victor Hedman (D), Tampa Bay Lightning
18 years old, 6’6”, 220lbs
08-09 Modo Hockey Ornskoldsvik 43-7-14-52
Drafted #2 overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Hedman possesses explosive speed, a large frame, and will log plenty of PIMs as he grows into his scoring defenseman role. I see in him a baby Zdeno Chara. Let’s see how this one finds himself in a rich talent pool governed by maniacs.
2009-10 Projected Stats: 68-12-28-90
Now these projections are purely speculative. In fact they’re probably too optimistic. When it comes to sleepers it’s important to believe that you can pick them off the wire and don’t need to concern yourself with taking them in the draft. Even if they were taken in the draft, they’re going to take some time to marinate and some fool in your league will drop them. So relax, have a cold one, and let the cards fall as they may. You’ll have plenty of time to make a good move on one of these guys when you see the stats stir.
-Dave
Filed in: Fantasy Hockey and Gaming | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
.......and the fact none of the others are sleepers at all.
Posted by lordosis on 09/25/09 at 04:34 PM ET
Ah, the adoration of fans already.
Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 09/25/09 at 05:54 PM ET
Ville Leino isn’t really on my radar as much as guys likee Derrick Brassard or Claude Giroux, but I suppose he is worth a look in pools with a large number of teams.
Posted by Steve Strowbridge from St. John's, NL, CA on 09/25/09 at 06:31 PM ET
Congrats on the by-line Dave. I’ve enjoyed your writing on the Member’s Blog and look forward to reading you more often.
Keep up the good work.
Posted by VooX from Behind the Bar in the Hasek Club Car on 09/25/09 at 09:48 PM ET
Thanks VooX. I’m gonna try. And Thanks Steve for mentioinig Giroux. That’s the kind of feedback I like to see in the early part of the season. That guy wasn’t on my radar but man he was pretty good in the playoffs. Who else you got?
Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 09/26/09 at 02:49 AM ET
And by the way, I already brought up Brassard in my last post.
Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 09/26/09 at 03:07 AM ET
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Except, you know, the part where Hedman is a defenseman.
Posted by Andrew on 09/25/09 at 04:03 PM ET