Anaheim Ducks
Must-haves: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Scott Niedermayer, Teemu Selanne, Bobby Ryan, Ryan Whitney
Contributors: Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Jonas Hiller, Saku Koivu, Joffrey Lupul, James Wisniewski
Sleepers: Steve Eminger, Andrew Ebbett, Luca Sbisa, Erik Christensen, Brian Salcido
Specialists: Nick Boynton, George Parros, Evgeny Artyukhin, Mike Brown, Ryan Carter, Sheldon Brookbank, Petteri Nokelainen, Steve McCarthy, Brett Festerling
Offseason analysis: The Ducks were certainly busy this offseason. They put their plans on hold until Niedermayer committed to playing for at least one more season. Once he said he was coming back in 2009-10, it opened the floodgates. It started with Anaheim trading defenseman Chris Pronger to the Flyers for Lupul and Sbisa. Lupul is making his second stop in Anaheim, but might have to play on the left side of the ice with Perry and Selanne on the right side. Sbisa was the Flyers' 2008 first-round pick and logged a little NHL-time last season before being sent back to juniors. He is fighting for one of the last spots on the blue line with Festerling, McCarthy and Salcido. Selanne also postponed retirement for at least one more season and his return was a big reason why Koivu chose to leave Montreal and sign with the Ducks for a season. He wanted to play alongside his fellow Finnish countryman. Unfortunately, his presence bumps Ebbett from being the team's second-line center, a role he thrived in last season behind Getzlaf, who should be ready for the season despite offseason hernia surgery. The Ducks added Toronto castoff Pogge to give them a solid third-string goalie, but Anaheim remains in the process of sorting out their starting situation between Giguere and Hiller. It's definitely a messy situation for Fantasy owners since both players have the ability to be starting goalies. Toughness shouldn't be an issue for Anaheim after adding Artyukhin in a trade from Tampa Bay. The checking-line forward already joins enforcers Parros, Brown and Brookbank.
Dallas Stars
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| Mike Ribeiro tied a career high with 56 assists last season. (Getty Images) |
Contributors: Loui Eriksson, Stephane Robidas, Steve Ott, Jere Lehtinen, Trevor Daley, Mike Modano
Sleepers: Brenden Morrow, Matt Niskanen, Fabian Brunnstrom, James Neal, Ivan Vishnevskiy, Tom Wandell
Specialists: Alex Auld, Krys Barch, Jeff Woywitka, Mark Fistric, Karlis Skrastins, Niklas Grossman, Brian Sutherby, Toby Petersen, Andrew Hutchinson
Offseason analysis: Aside from replacing their co-general managers and head coach, the Stars had a fairly quiet offseason. Joe Nieuwendyk is now running the personnel department and he has chosen long-time head coach Marc Crawford to hopefully guide the Stars back into the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how the veterans respond to Crawford, who is sometimes very brash. But that's what Nieuwendyk wanted. Crawford will have no problems holding players accountable and letting them know who is in charge. It seems the players are ready to buy into the system, as evidence with the veteran Modano willing to postpone retirement for at least another year. The return of Morrow from a torn ACL certainly changes the complexion of the left side of the ice. In his absence last season, Eriksson led the team with 36 goals and Neal was second with 24. They both stand to lose scoring chances with Morrow's return. Another key returnee from injury is Richards, who played in a career-low 56 games due to a few hand/wrist injuries last season. Keep tabs on Brunnstrom, who was inconsistent as a rookie in 2008-09. At times he showed his brilliance, but did struggle adapting to the NHL game after being the most-sought overseas import last summer. The blue line lost a key component in the offseason when Sergei Zubov chose to play in the KHL (Russia). Despite the fact Zubov was limited the last two seasons due to injury, his puck-moving abilities were sorely missed and that trend will continue in 2009-10 unless someone steps up. That's why the 21-year-old Vishnevskiy could land a roster spot out of training camp. He has solid offensive skills for a blueliner and could be the guy that helps pick up the slack for his departed countryman. The situation in net remains pretty much the same with Turco as the starter, but Dallas did pull off a sweet deal to bring Auld, who spent last year bouncing in-and-out of the lineup in Ottawa. Auld played for Crawford in Vancouver and will be around to help spell Turco, who was flat out exhausted by the end of last season after playing a career-high 74 times.
Los Angeles Kings
Must-haves: Anze Kopitar, Alexander Frolov
Contributors: Ryan Smyth, Dustin Brown, Jonathan Quick
Sleepers: Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, Justin Williams, Jonathan Bernier, Teddy Purcell, Oscar Moller, Thomas Hickey, Colten Teubert
Specialists: Jarrett Stoll, Erik Ersberg, Matt Greene, Michal Handzus, Peter Harrold, Raitis Ivanans, Rob Scuderi, Brad Richardson, Wayne Simmonds, Sean O'Donnell
Offseason analysis: In one of the biggest offseason trades, the Kings acquired Smyth from Colorado in exchange for defensemen Kyle Quincey and Tom Preissing. Aside from landing a potential 30-goal threat in Smyth, the Kings cleared some room on their blue line for perhaps first-round prospects Hickey and Teubert to make the jump to the NHL. As for Smyth, it will be interesting to see how he fits into coach Terry Murray's system. Murray preaches sound defense over offense, so the trade could actually end up hurting Smyth's Fantasy appeal because he might lack more scoring chances. The Kings helped soften the blow of losing two blueliners by signing Stanley Cup champion Scuderi. His Fantasy value won't increase, but he is going to be a great defensive addition. The Jack Johnson saga ended when the first-round disappointment re-signed for two years. It's not time to write off Johnson just yet, especially if he now gets a full year to play alongside Doughty, who is one of our favorite breakout Fantasy candidates. Doughty was the Kings' top-logging defender in 2008-09 as a rookie and we expect him to only get better. It was surprising the Kings didn't make a move to sign a veteran goalie in the offseason, but the team was very pleased with Quick's effort last season after he was called up from the minors. If he fails, there is always Ersberg, who is a former top overseas import, and the prospect Bernier, who showed late last season in the minors that he might finally be ready for the big time.
Phoenix Coyotes
Must-haves: Shane Doan, Ed Jovanovski, Ilya Bryzgalov
Contributors: Adrian Aucoin, Mikkel Boedker
Sleepers: Peter Mueller, Keith Yandle, Kyle Turris, Matthew Lombardi, Radim Vrbata, Scottie Upshall, Al Montoya, Lauri Korpikoski, Petr Prucha, Kevin Porter, Brett MacLean, Sami Lepisto
Specialists: Jason LaBarbera, Martin Hanzal, Zbynek Michalek, Jim Vandermeer, Viktor Tikhonov, Taylor Pyatt, Vernon Fiddler, Daniel Winnik, Kurt Sauer
Offseason analysis: The biggest buzz in Phoenix has been whether or not the team will remain in Arizona this season. A bankruptcy judge is trying to decide whether or not to award the team to the NHL, which will keep the struggling franchise in Arizona, or to billionaire Jim Balsillie, who wants to move the team to Canada. All these legal proceedings haven't sat well with coach Wayne Gretzky, who is MIA from training camp. The Coyotes signed a lot of players this offseason but made no earth-shattering moves. The biggest news was signing LaBarbera to keep the backup goalie job warm until Montoya is ready for a permanent recall, and adding Aucoin to a blue line that suffered in 2008-09 after Phoenix traded away Nick Boynton and Keith Ballard. The blue-line rotation will likely feature Jovanovski, Michalek, Aucoin, Vandermeer, Sauer and Yandle, but there could be some opportunities throughout the season for Lepisto and Jonas Ahnelov to showcase their skills. Up front, Doan is still the star scorer, but Phoenix really needs some secondary options. Lombardi looked great after he was added at last season's trade deadline, as did Upshall and Prucha. However, Phoenix really needs Mueller to get back on track after an awful sophomore season. He appears headed back to his natural position of center and also dropped 15 pounds in the offseason to help with his conditioning. Vrbata is back with Phoenix after fleeing the desert for a three-year deal with Tampa Bay last summer. It didn't work out for Vrbata in Florida and he eventually left for the Czech Republic, but vowed to return to the NHL. He has and is with the only team that was willing to sign him. General manager Don Maloney feels Vrbata will easily break 20 goals and 40 points this season. The Coyotes are also counting on some of their younger talent to take the next step, especially Turris after an extremely disappointing rookie season.
San Jose Sharks
Must-haves: Dan Boyle, Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Rob Blake, Evgeni Nabokov, Devin Setoguchi
Contributors: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Ryane Clowe, Joe Pavelski
Sleepers: Logan Couture, Torrey Mitchell
Specialists: Jody Shelley, Thomas Greiss, Kent Huskins, Douglas Murray, Brad Staubitz, Scott Nichol, Manny Malhotra, Jed Ortmeyer, Jamie McGinn, Joe Callahan, Derek Joslin
Offseason analysis: Depth is a huge concern for the Sharks after a few offseason trades depleted their roster. The first was moving defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich to Vancouver for a few prospects. The Sharks have five quality blueliners in Blake, Boyle, Huskins, Murray and Vlasic, but are searching for more bodies. That means Joslin and Callahan could both land on the roster. While adding Heatley was a great move, San Jose gave up two quality NHL forwards in Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo. While having Heatley, Thornton, Marleau, Setoguchi, Clowe and Pavelski is a coach's dream, aside from those players San Jose doesn't have a lot of other proven scorers. They are either checking-line skaters or unproven minor leaguers or prospects. Even the late addition of Malhotra basically boiled down to San Jose bringing in a NHL-worthy skater and not necessarily adding an All-Star caliber scorer. The Sharks would love for Couture, a 2007 first-round pick, to quickly adapt to the pro game and perhaps be an impact rookie. The depth concerns don't stop at forward or on defense. San Jose let veteran backup goalie Brian Boucher return to Philadelphia and have chosen to let Greiss, who has just three games of NHL experience, back up Nabokov, who missed time in 2008-09 due to injury. If Nabokov went down for any length of time, San Jose could be in some serious trouble.
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