Roto Exclusive : Guest Contributions and Featured Articles
Roto Exclusive : Guest Contributions and Featured Articles
Roto Exclusive : Guest Contributions and Featured Articles
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y Axeman33<br />
Disclaimer : I have never really attempted or professed to be a writer but I am certainly passionate about<br />
my fantasy hockey. When I saw the Oilers were available, I quickly jumped on the opportunity.<br />
Top three surprises:<br />
Sam Gagner<br />
Sammy was a RFA at the end of last season, <strong>and</strong> after going back<br />
<strong>and</strong> forth on a longer-term big money deal, both sides agreed on a<br />
one-year $3.2m contract. This will be his third contract with the<br />
Oilers, grabbing a 40% raise but probably not the term Gagner was<br />
looking for. Basically with a one year contract, the Oilers are<br />
telling him they want to see more before paying out big money on<br />
a long term deal <strong>and</strong> I think this is the contract that Sammy does<br />
just that. He will be centring the second line <strong>and</strong> surrounded with<br />
more weapons then he has ever had since joining the Oilers. Sammy has averaged 44 points per season<br />
with the Oilers <strong>and</strong> if he can stay healthy, I believe he will finally surpass the 50 point marker <strong>and</strong> quite<br />
possibly hit 60+. I expect big things for Gagner this year <strong>and</strong> will surprise most GMs with his point<br />
output <strong>and</strong> putting a smile on those GMs who have been patiently waiting for this type of output.<br />
Devan Dubnyk<br />
The Oilers actually did the smart thing with Dubnyk, their<br />
former first round pick from 2004. They let him play a few<br />
years in the AHL before slowly progressing his career in the<br />
NHL. The past three years, they have increased his workload<br />
incrementally from 19 games three years ago, <strong>and</strong> then up to<br />
35 games the following year then getting him into 47 games<br />
last year. In each of those years he has managed to lower his<br />
GA incrementally as well (his first year he held a 3.57GAA, last<br />
year it was lowered to a very respectable 2.67GAA). In the offseason,<br />
they rewarded Dubnyk with a new two-year, $7.0m<br />
contract, all but guaranteeing him the starter position,<br />
backstopping an ever-improving Oilers team. Needless to say, with an increase in pay comes an increase<br />
in expectations. I have no doubts that “Doobie” will once again improve over last year’s numbers. I can<br />
see him getting into 50+ games this year <strong>and</strong> coming close to the 30-win total, if not exceeding it.<br />
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