Now that the hockey season is back in full effect I can get back to a more traditional rambling style ramblings and less themed type articles.
First off, in case you had not heard this season DobberProspects will be adding more editorial content to the site. In the summer we tested the water with the 30 on 30 series in July and August and they were a hit. We got a lot of good feedback on them. The July posts looked at each teams entry draft results mainly while the August post focused on risers and fallers and organizational depth.
Looking forward each month we will be posting editorial content following this schedule
Week one of each month will look at the CHL leagues
Monday – OHL Prospects by Kathryn Jean
Wednesday – WHL Prospects by Brayden Sully
Friday – QMJHL Prospects by Mike Barrett
Week two of each month will look at American leagues
Monday – AHL Review by Zachery Devine
Wednesday –College Hockey Roundup by Kevin LeBlanc
Friday – USHL Update by Joseph Epstein
Week three of each month will look at European leagues
Monday – KHL by Pat Quinn
Wednesday – SHL Update by Brad Phillips
Friday – Liiga by Niko Salminen
Week four of each month will look at fantasy hockey
Monday – NHL draft prospects by Max Marco
Wednesday – Fantasy Prospect mail bag by Cam Robinson
Friday – IR Report by Michael Drover
Now more than ever the content at DobberProspects has everything you need or want
You can find all these posts under the “feature” page from the main menu
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More big site news is the launce of our very own podcast, DobberProspects Radio. The show is now five episodes in and each show features a guest interview in the third segment. Our guests have been;
Episode One: Gus Katsaros – McKeens Hockey, talking scouting and rookies
Episode Two: Russ Cohen – Sportsology & Hockey Prospect Radio, talking All-American Top Prospect Game, Scouting and Rookies
Episode Three: Ryan Wagman – Hockey Prospectus, talking Hockey Prospectus Guide Book
Episode Four: Shane Malloy – Hockey Prospect Radio, talking scouting, The Art of Scouting and EA Sports NHL games
Episode Five: Ryan Kennedy – The Hockey News, talking the Prospects Unlimited Magazine
Click on any of the show links above and subscribe to your preferred podcast host.
Follow on Twitter @DPR_show
Other podcasts you should be listening to
Keeping Karlsson The Best fantasy Hockey Podcast, sponsored by DobberHockey
The Prospect Project hosted by Jeff Marek, replacing the Junior podcast
McKeens unnamed podcast hosted by Gus Katsaros and Ryan Wagman
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Looking at some news today, goalie Zach Fucale has been assigned to the ECHL by the Montreal Canadiens. Fucale was a highly ranked prospect who was drafted 36th overall in the second round by Montreal and is best known for backstopping Halifax to a Memorial Cup. Halifax boasted a stacked roster that year including Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin up front and overall Fucales career stats are underwhelming. At 21-years-old it is far too soon to label him a bust, but he is certainly trending in the wrong direction. At this point I would not consider holding him on my prospect bench in any league. If you can’t trade him for another asset, try to drop him and add a free agent instead.
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The Boston Bruins have recalled goalie Malcolm Subban after injuries to both Tuukka Rask and Anton Khodobin. Subban will get the start Tuesday night as the Minnesota Wild are in Boston. Subban has one career NHL game played and struggled allowing five goals before being pulled. In four AHL games this year so far, Subban has a 4.50 GAA which is not very impressive.
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Troy Stecher had a very strong training camp with the Vancouver Canucks as an undrafted College free agent and was a surprise cut to me. But the Canucks have recalled Stecher after only four games in Utica. The Comets are not a very strong team and Stecher has only produced one assist in his four games there. The move was facilitated by injuries to forwards Derek Dorsett and Alex Burrows, and even though Stecher is a defenceman he and Jason Megna were recalled. This tells me how much the Canucks like Stecher as big Nikita Tryamkin is with the Canucks already and is yet to play a game. It was announced today that Stecher will make his debut against the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night. This would be a good time to add Stecher (Possibly replace Fucale) as he is only 9% owned on Fantrax.
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Bruins defenceman Adam McQuaid returns from injury and as a result rookie Rob O’Gara has been returned to the AHL. Big O’Gara played well in his three games posting good peripheral stats with three hits and seven blocks. He will be back at some point this season and is worth holding for leagues with category scoring stats like hits and blocks.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs made some moves this week, claiming Ben Smith off waivers and putting Milan Michalek on waivers. Michalek has cleared waivers and was assigned to the AHL affiliate the Marlies. Smith will wear Michaleks number 18 meaning the Leafs do not plan on recalling him. Smith is a fourth line player meaning there is an opening on the line where Michalek was playing with Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov. It looks like rookie Connor Brown will be given the opportunity to move up the roster and take that spot. Brown is a versatile hard working player with speed. He has played very well in a bottom six role this year and has won the trust of the coaching staff. Brown has good puck skills to match his compete level and skating and could become a fantasy relevant option soon. Brown is only 25% owned on Fantrax and could be a good add.