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Those damn lucky Oilers and McDavid, Ehlers finishes off an outstanding junior career, Leafs draft approach, NHL Mock Drafts and junior players make impact in AHL debuts.

Wednesday, April 22^nd

Old news now but with the Edmonton Oilers winning another draft lottery and the rights to draft Connor McDavid….I’m still not sleeping very well. Prior to the draft lottery, I said to my buddies and confessed to my girlfriend, “as long as Edmonton doesn’t end up winning then I am fine with whatever team wins it.”

Yup…I jinxed every other team and the Oilers fans can thank me when Connor McDavid stands in front of their future beautiful rink, next to his statue as one of the all-time greats in Edmonton. My frustration with the Oilers’ luck quickly turned when I started getting threatening angry texts from my buddies in my keeper pool. That’s when I clued in.

Our keeper league has a rule in place where the bottom five teams (of 20) are assigned the corresponding bottom five NHL teams and if one of them wins the lottery, then that guy wins the lotto too. Here’s a little backstory on our league. It’s been running for a decade and I recently decided to try rebuilding on the fly but unfortunately it resulted me in snapping my six-year championship run (obviously, the other guys were happy about that).

Those damn lucky Oilers and McDavid, Ehlers finishes off an outstanding junior career, Leafs draft approach, NHL Mock Drafts and junior players make impact in AHL debuts.

Wednesday, April 22^nd

Old news now but with the Edmonton Oilers winning another draft lottery and the rights to draft Connor McDavid….I’m still not sleeping very well. Prior to the draft lottery, I said to my buddies and confessed to my girlfriend, “as long as Edmonton doesn’t end up winning then I am fine with whatever team wins it.”

Yup…I jinxed every other team and the Oilers fans can thank me when Connor McDavid stands in front of their future beautiful rink, next to his statue as one of the all-time greats in Edmonton. My frustration with the Oilers’ luck quickly turned when I started getting threatening angry texts from my buddies in my keeper pool. That’s when I clued in.

Our keeper league has a rule in place where the bottom five teams (of 20) are assigned the corresponding bottom five NHL teams and if one of them wins the lottery, then that guy wins the lotto too. Here’s a little backstory on our league. It’s been running for a decade and I recently decided to try rebuilding on the fly but unfortunately it resulted me in snapping my six-year championship run (obviously, the other guys were happy about that).

Statistical leaders and reports from our team-scouts.   *   [...]

Mitch Marner dominating the OHL, Connor McDavid comes alive and Jets prospects impress

Saturday, January 3rd

Happy New Year to all of our dedicated DobberProspects readers! As we turn a new calendar year, I speak on behalf of the entire DobberProspects staff, including Associate Editor Austin Wallace, when I say that we hope to continue bringing you some of the best prospect coverage out there. As a new resolution, Austin and I are planning on ramping up the frequency of our ramblings so be sure to keep checking back.

Before I dive into the World Junior Hockey Championships, there are few non-WJC related prospect stories that need to be addressed…

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In an NHL draft class that features to projected superstars in Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, it’s extremely difficult to top the daily news that surfaces daily on those two players. In saying that, how about London Knights’ draft eligible forward Mitch Marner’s surgence? The young right winger has been absolutely sensational since the end of October.

He started the season off on a slow note with just four points in his opening 10 games which required me to remind the hockey world that he would be alright and not to worry, sending people to re-read my article on him late last summer. On October 24th, Marner picked up three assists against an Ottawa 67’s squad which sparked a 16-game point streak tallying 21 goals and 44 points before he was held pointless on December 5th against the Soo Greyhounds, ending that impressive run. Since he was blanked, Marner has picked back up from his storybook month that witnessed him become the OHL’s November Player of the Month.

In his past 10 games, the slick playmaking forward has dominated the gamesheet posting 10 goals and 28 points, including 5-point and 6-point nights in back-to-back games against the Sarnia Sting. Do the math and you quickly find out that Mitch Marner has racked up 31 goals and an astonishing 72 points over his last 27 games, with only one pointless game.

In any other draft, Marner would be a lock for a top 5 selection but the likes of McDavid, Eichel, Hanifin, Crouse, Werenski, Strome and Zacha are still making it tough to crack. Outside of maybe McDavid, I haven’t seen many draft eligible skaters with Marner’s ability to create offense and it’s going to be arguably the best Top 10 in the drafts recent history. What a class of players! Marner sits with a seven point cushion in the OHL scoring race (77 points in 37 games) ahead of Dylan Strome (70).

Tuesday, September 30th

As the NHL regular season draws nearer, bigger names are on the chopping blocks and here are some of the latest:

Anaheim Ducks reassigned top 2014 pick Nick Ritchie back to the Peterborough Petes. Anaheim’s depth kept him from having any real shot at the NHL this season.

The Coyotes have assigned Henrik Samuelsson and Tyler Gaudet (two players who are very close to NHL action because they are above-average two-way players) to Portland of the AHL. Joining them is goaltender Mark Visentin, among others.

With Rielly Smith and Torey Krug under contract, not surprised to see Seth Griffith (who was being tested in Smith's spot) reassigned to Providence. Defenseman Joe Morrow and forward Jared Knight will follow Griffith. Beyond Ryan Spooner and Alexander Khokhlachev, Griffith and Morrow are two fantasy worthy players in deeper keeper leagues.

Buffalo assigns Joel Armia and goaltender Andrey Makarov to the AHL

There are no huge Calgary Flames’ cuts (see Bennett snippet below) but here were the recent reassignments.

Tuesday, September 23^rd

Hockey is almost into full swing and exciting is building, especially in the hockey prospect world where everyone is rooting for their favourite youngsters to crack NHL lineups. The direct result of such an accomplishment is huge in the fantasy hockey world giving those successful prospects an immediate boost in value. It’s the ole’, “What have you done for me lately?” situation. Prospects close to reaching the big leagues hold more value than their equals years away. So pay attention to DobberProspects and we will attempt to keep you in the loop on who to target.

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Jonathan Drouin will miss the next 3-4 weeks with a slight fracture in his right thumb….Damn, that’ll hurt his Calder Trophy chances.

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Coyotes first rounder Brendan Perlini will miss some OHL time with a broken hand. He was a long shot to make Arizona’s roster. Man, this kid can absolutely skate. If you’re able to see a Niagara game this year (once he’s back of course), check him out. One of the most natural gifted skaters I have seen. My beer-league skating can’t shake a stick at it.

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