The Philadelphia Flyers may have just one win on the season, but one thing has become apparent to poolies as we hit the five-game mark of the young NHL season: Pitkanen’s got game.
Joni Pitkanen spent a good chunk of last year in the infirmary, but poolies were able to see brief flashes of brilliance. Enough to provide promise of the good things that have yet to come. As a rookie in 2003-04, it was apparent that Pitkanen was going to become a solid 40-50 point blueliner, and that he would be manning the Philadelphia power play for years to come. Last season, however, his 46 points came in just 58 games (he was sidelined with a torn abdominal muscle).
After starting this season off with a weak performance which saw him pointless and a minus-2, Pitkanen has come back strong with five points in four games.
Consider the facts. The Flyers are playing horrible hockey. That will not continue, and when it turns around Pitkanen’s plus/minus will turn around (while his production will certainly not get worse). Pitkanen was a plus-22 last season, so his minus-4 is way out of character. Finally, Pitkanen has been on the ice more than any other Philadelphia skater. His 27 minutes per game (9:24 on the power play) is proof to fantasy owners that he will be out there for every key situation.
His track record would suggest that a 70- to 75- game season is in the cards, but the 23-year-old is looking more and more like one of only a handful of blueliners who will achieve point-per-game status in the ‘new’ NHL…
Meanwhile… Sergei Zubov is pointless in four games, while his Dallas teammate and fellow rearguard Stephane Robidas has four points. Zubov began last season slowly too, whereas Robidas is seeing more and more time on the power play. It may be wise to save some salary room by switching Zubov for Robidas for a couple of weeks, and spending that salary on another position in your rotisserie league. Pick up Zubov again in a week or two, once he starts producing…
Ottawa forwards Mike Fisher and Peter Schaefer are both pointless in five games. Ottawa is struggling with their scoring in general, but if their secondary scoring is not producing, it hurts their primary scoring. This is opening the door for fringe players such as Denis Hamel and rookie Alexei Kaigorodov to get an opportunity that they would not have under normal circumstances…
In one of my roto-leages, I made the mistake of grabbing Curtis Joseph for the week. Oops…
If you own Chris Drury, he has five points in his last two games, and nine points on the season. Since the Buffalo forward is virtually assured of finishing the season in the mid- to high- sixties, he is quite overvalued at this point, which is often the time to trade him…
**************************** **************************** Have an opinion on Dobber's article? Let us know. Just hit reply below and post your thoughts. Anything goes...but keep it clean. **************************** **************************** PickupHockey.com is your online hockey community. We're always looking for sharp volunteer writers. If you feel that you'd like to contribute articles on a regular basis drop us an email. admin@pickuphockey.com
