Roto Exclusive : Guest Contributions and Featured Articles

y Kevin Schulmeister
RISERS
Jakub Voracek
This may be the easy one as he has been given his largest opportunity simple by Jagr moving on. He now
gets first crack to produce alongside Giroux and there’s no reason to believe that he won’t roll with it as
he already started to improve his numbers. Last season, he had a career high in goals and shots on goal
to go along with 49 points. Voracek then followed it up by posting 10 points in 11 playoff games, good
for third on the team. Five could be Jakub’s magic number as he will be entering in his fifth year and is
ready to break out big time. Bank on 60 points, but don’t be surprised to see 70.
Luke Schenn
With back to back 22 point seasons, Schenn is another candidate for
a breakout season. He will probably be lined up with Timonen or
Coburn on the second unit. While he is a defensive player first, he
makes a solid first pass and has a good shot. He is going to be relied
upon to contribute, especially while Meszaros is out. Fact is, Philly
traded a big piece in JVR to get him and it is no secret that they are
looking for another defenseman. Until that happens, Schenn can
and will be a large part of this team. He may also be a bit happier
playing on the same team as his brother but I doubt that makes
much of a difference. I’d think 35 points is not out of reach for
Schenn, along with good peripherals for those in roto leagues.
Ilya Bryzgalov
Bryzgalov really didn’t have that bad of a season. The media blew it out of proportion, and obviously his
playoff stint was a mess. His GAA was actually a bit better than his career average, and 33 wins to boot.
He played fewer games than he was accustomed to and getting a few more starts should translate to
more wins. Philadelphia is still a very strong team and even on off nights, Brizzy should be able to steal
some wins. Note that Bryzgalov faced about four fewer shots per game than he is used to, and that
doesn’t always make it easier. Sometimes goalies that face a ton of rubber face the same number of
quality shots against and the extra shots improve save percentage. That being said, Philly has some work
to do on the defensive end and until Meszaros comes back, Bryzgalov will probably be facing some
higher quality shots.
Bryzgalov may slip in a lot of drafts this fall as his name took a beating last season. Philly fans wanted,
and thought they had, a stud goalie. He should now be acclimated to the fans and media, and just worry
about stopping the puck. The HBO series last year was a major distraction for him. I’d expect his save
percentage to be his biggest increase and also get a few more wins.
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