Calgary (CP) In the first of what will be a bi-weekly series when the regular season starts, a list of the Top 20 GDHL players... Pre-Season edition!
Notes:
+ Top 20 are listed with only Top 10 with explanations.
+ Again, this is my opinion. Please leave a comment if you disagree and we can debate.
+ Based on top Fantasy Value heading into GDHL07.
+ Factors include (Besides Stats): Age, Team Success, Linemates.
+ Assumes that S.Niedermeyer and Selanne are retiring.
+ There are many great players in the league... tough to narrow it down to 20. Be patient as I'm working out the formulas.
1. Sidney Crosby, PIT (--): Who can stop Sid the Kid? Answer: Nobody. The defending Art Ross champ is aiming to take it to another level this year especially with a strong cast of players. With Malkin and Staal having one year under their belt, along with the experience of Roberts, Sykora and Recchi, Crosby may hit 140pts this year.
2. Joe Thornton, SJ (--): "No Ordinary" Joe has been making the Bruins look more foolish for making that trade with each passing year he racks up 110+ pts. IMO, the only person with a legit shot of challenging Sidney for the scoring title and only person that may reach 100 assists. On the PP he's automatic which makes him a huge Pool Asset.
3. Martin Brodeur, NJ (--): How can a goalie that has been so good for so long and maybe past his best years be near the top of the rankings? Its because he came off a career year where he posted 47 wins with more than 25% of them by way of shutout. Future Hall-of-Famer should be strong once again if the offence holds up. Slam dunk for another 40+ win season to take another step towards St. Patrick's record of most wins.
4. Roberto Luongo, VAN (--): "The goalie that never could" with a bad team is now "the goalie that can do no wrong" with a mediocore Canucks team. He proved that he was worth every penny as he single handedly was responsible for the Canucks success last year. The Luongo vs. Turco battle in the playoffs will go down in history as one of the best. Another 40+ win season should be attainable especially if the Canucks land another Top 6 forward and will solidify his name along with Brodeur as the games best.
5. Vincent Lecavalier, TB (--): Finally lived up to lofty expectations that was placed upon him right after he was drafted. Won the Rocket Richard, excellent on the PP, faceoffs and will get in the occasional fight too. Can he follow it up with another 50+ goal season? I'm not convinced and if not look for him to drop fast in the rankings. Will get the benefit of the doubt now but expect 40 goals and 90 pts.
6. Dany Heatley, OTT (--): A very tough call between him and Lecavalier with Vinny getting the edge because of PIMs. Back to back 50+ goal seasons haven't been done since Jagr. That's saying something. I predict he'll make it 3 in a row and finish ahead of Vinny in the rankings.
7. Nic Lidstrom, DET (--): The consumate professional and the best defencemen in the league (assuming the retiring of Niedermeyer). Even though the Wings lost Schneider to ANA, they replaced him with Rafalski who can take the pressure off of Nic. After another Norris winning season, look for Nic to continue his outstanding play and lock up another trophy.
8. Marian Hossa, ATL (--): An impending UFA looking to prove that he's also worth $7M+... watch out. Hossa has outshone Kovalchuk during his tenure with ATL by a longshot. I was wrong about Hossa as well and he can do it all... except in the playoffs. OUCH! Outside shot at 50 goals with 90+pts a lock.
9. Jarome Iginla, CGY (--): Where Tkachuk was the model Power Forward of the late 90's, Iggy is the new breed built for the next decade. A natural goal scorer, who can fight and carry his team. If Iginla could just stay healthy for a full season he could score 50+ goals again and 100+ pts. His style of play, however, may not allow him to do that.
10. Marc Savard, BOS (--): Marc Savard? Top 10 in the league? I know that I wasn't the only one thinking this guy was riding off the coattails of Hossa and Kovalchuk. But after he went to the Bruins, he put together a ho-hum 96 pt season and is one of the true playmakers in the game to prove me wrong and grudgingly deserves to be here. Think Daniel Briere with checking wingers as linemates. Wondering what he'll be able to do when he consistently plays with Murray. Expecting another 90+pts with an outside shot of 70 assists.
Honorable Mentions:
11. Chris Pronger, ANA
12. Mikka Kipprusoff, CGY
13. Daniel Briere, PHI
14. Alex Ovechkin, WAS
15. Jason Spezza, OTT
16. Sheldon Souray, EDM
17. Sergei Gonchar, PIT
18. Martin St.Louis, TB
19. Evgeni Malkin, PIT
20. Sergei Zubov, DAL
Fur Engee (CP)
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4 comments:
Excellent ranking Victor! Good work!
No respect! No respect at all! From THN rankings Spezza is #5 in the entire league ahead of Lecavalier, Heatley, Hossa, Iginla and Savard. Jagr is ranked #10 and didn't even get an honorable mention. Zubov is rank # 164 by THN. How does he get an HM? Take off those Sather tinted glasses! Maybe his blantant over valuing of players is the reason that only the blockbuster Dubliewicz deal has been done with this GM! Try again on the rankings.
There were too many good players to take from and I wanted a good balance of Forward, D and Goalies. Remember though, this is from a GDHL Fantasy value PoV... which takes into account many other factors that the THN (as respectable as Eklund) doesn't! This could be his last year. Who knows? I think that Zubov will have a strong year based on the changes they've made in DAL.
oh, btw, still tweaking the formula and I expect this list to change a lot.
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