Roto Exclusive : Guest Contributions and Featured Articles

y Eric Daoust
Surprises
• Gustav Nyquist – The much-hyped prospect is ready for prime time.
Nyquist is going to be in Detroit this season and to his delight will see
more minutes than a lot of people think due to the Red Wings lacking in
scoring prowess on both wings. Todd Bertuzzi, Dan Cleary and Mikael
Samuelsson are all prone to injury as well. The line combinations change
but Nyquist should be able to push for 20 goals and over 40 points.
• Niklas Kronwall – The loss of Nicklas Lidstrom means that the other defensemen will get more
responsibility. The most obvious benefactor is Niklas Kronwall, who will get more opportunities
to produce offensively. His last two seasons saw him get 36 and 37 points but many forget that
he had 51 points back in 2008-09. Expect him to get back in the 50-point range.
• Kyle Quincey – Another benefactor of Lidstrom’s retirement is Quincey, who will see his best
opportunity to relive the offensive success he had in his only season in Los Angeles. His
downside is in the 20s but expect him to clear 30 points in Detroit this season.
Disappointments
• Pavel Datsyuk – Many people see Datsyuk as one of the best players in the world.
Unfortunately, in this case it does not translate to fantasy hockey. The last two seasons he
missed time due to injury and only produced at a point-per-game pace. He is still an excellent
hockey player, but his days of scoring more than 90 points are likely behind him.
• Jimmy Howard – Lidstrom’s retirement has immense ramifications on the team’s defense, and
the changes over the summer have resulted in a top-six that is good in terms of puck movement
but probably less effective defensively. While Howard has done tremendous work as the team’s
starting goaltender, it is worth noting that his 2010-11 campaign produced a sub-par .908 save
percentage, meaning that he is not immune to drops in statistics. He remains a workhorse and
will be excellent in the win column, but may disappoint fantasy owners in save percentage.
• Damien Brunner – Another prospect who has received a lot of
hype this summer, Brunner is in the right organization if he wants to
have long-term success in the NHL. However, many people think he
will produce immediately due to his advanced age of 26. Those people
should be careful because the Red Wings make their prospects earn ice
time. They may favor youngsters like Cory Emmerton, Jan Mursak,
Joakim Andersson and Tomas Tatar while Brunner earns his rank in the
organization. Remember that Ville Leino played mostly in Grand Rapids
in his first season in North America.
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