Roto Exclusive : Guest Contributions and Featured Articles

Teemu Selanne – “Forget this, I go play hockey”.
At the venerable age of 42, the Finnish Flash has
decided to play for another year. Selanne is a lock
for top powerplay minutes and will likely line once
again with fellow countryman Saku Koivu, whom
he has tremendous chemistry with. Last season,
the Ducks as a whole appeared to be snake-bitten
as they finished bottom 10 in goals for and
powerplay conversion. Look for them to improve
this year, specifically on the powerplay where Selanne does the most damage. For this season*, Selanne
should post at least 60, while having the upside for 70. Selanne also provides great roto value for
standard leagues as he tends to produce 200+ shots, 40+ penalty minutes, and 30+ powerplay points.
*Assuming there is no lockout
Dan Boyle – The Sharks’ Dan Boyle will be entering this season at the mature age of 36, but that should
not deter fantasy owners from taking a long look at him. In 2011-2012, Boyle scored 48 points ranking
him eighth among defensemen in scoring, and posted a career-high 252 shots on goal. The Sharks are
playing to Boyle’s strengths, as he logged a team-high 3:56 on the powerplay while only 1:30
shorthanded, ranking him fifth among Sharks defensemen. Note that Boyle only managed 17 powerplay
points last season, which was his lowest total since the 2003-2004 season. With a modest increase in
production on that front, Boyle could push for 50 points in 2012-2013.
Kimmo Timonen – Prior to last season it looked like Timonen was trending down. The point totals went
down as his age went up. Toss in a Chris Pronger injury, and suddenly the 37-year old made his way back
into fantasy relevance with 43 points. It’s hard to say if those two incidents were directly related, as his
ice time did not change too drastically, but the numbers showed that Timonen produced more without
Pronger. In the 63 games played without Pronger, Timonen scored 38 points, compared to only five
points in 13 games with. Given the departure of Carle and the injury to Meszaros, look for Timonen to
shoulder the load once again and hit the 45 point mark with average peripherals.
Niklas Backstrom – With the additions of Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, and Mikael Granlund to their roster,
the Minnesota Wild are set to ice one of the best squads in team history. That bodes well for their
goaltender, as despite recording an impressive .919 save percentage
and a solid 2.43 goals against average, Backstrom still ended up well
below .500, with a record of 19-18-7. Backstrom will be turning 35 in
February, and is playing for a new contract which will surely provide
some extra motivation. While durability and the presence of Josh
Harding have typically stood in the way of his success in recent years,
this season is easily the best shot Backstrom has gotten in the past
five years at returning to the 30-win plateau.
~ Brandon Cheung (aka bondon)
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