11-16-2019, 12:50 AM
Losing Ilya Kovalchuk means some changes to the New Jersey Devils plan of attack, but they were active this summer in their attempts to fill holes. Jose Alvarado Jersey . Top Picks: Patrik Elias, Cory Schneider Even at 37-years-old, LW Patrik Elias can provide comfortable reliability to fantasy owners, even if 36 points in 48 games last season counted as his second-lowest per-game scoring rate of the last decade. Since 2006-2007, Elias has scored 426 points, which ranks 29th and given his role as the Devils offensive leader (particularly now that Ilya Kovalchuk is gone), Elias is a safe addition as a No. 2 left winger. There is a lot to like about G Cory Schneider who has a .931 save percentage over the last three seasons, the best in hockey among goalies with at least 75 games played and, by all rights, he deserves a starting job. Trouble is, the Devils have a future Hall of Famer on the roster and still havent given the slightest indication that Schneider is the starter. On the contrary, it doesnt sound like Martin Brodeur is prepared to take a backup role and the Devils loyalty to Brodeur could shape this decision. All of this makes Schneider a risky pickup, but if you believe that he will outplay Brodeur enough to take more starts, then Schneider has the potential to provide value as a Top 10 fantasy goaltender, maybe higher depending on how quickly he takes the lead. Value Plays: Following a season in which he scored just three goals in 40 games, there is an opportunity to buy low on the value of LW Ryane Clowe. Clowe adds to his value with hits, but his value is further enhanced in leagues with penalty minutes, as hes one of five players to have at least 225 points and 450 penalty minutes. Revel in the value that you get when people write him off because of last years goal-scoring anomaly when he had a 3.4% shooting percentage, compared to a career mark of 11.2%. Unlike Clowe, RW Michael Ryder is coming off one of his better seasons. In fact, hes scored 0.76 points per game in back-to-back years, his highest rate since his rookie season (0.78), yet Ryder is a potential value play because hes 33 and while hes a three-time 30-goal scorer, thats happened only once in the last six seasons. As a No. 3 right winger, he should be a capable performer. Likewise, 41-year-old RW Jaromir Jagr fits in about the same spot. He was productive last year, with 35 points in 45 games, but a playoff drought (no goals, 10 assists in 22 games) helps to sink his public perception. There is opportunity available in New Jersey for Jagr to play and fulfill a scoring role and he can still do it; not like he did at his peak, but good enough to hold down a spot on a fantasy roster. Sleepers/Breakthrough: Its difficult for the Devils centres to provide great fantasy value because they arent the same kind of offensive producers as their wingers and, with centre being such a deep position, that makes Adam Henrique and Travis Zajac effectively sleeper picks, even though they are playing down the middle on the top two lines. Henrique overachieved offensively as a rookie, in 2011-2012, crashing back to earth last year when he managed five assists (along with 11 goals) in 42 games. If he fits between Clowe and Ryder, that line could score, but maybe not enough for Henrique to be anything more than fantasy depth. Aside from 2011-2012, when he tore his Achilles tendon, C Travis Zajac has been exceptionally durable, missing a total of two games in his other six seasons, but he also appears to be miles away from the 60-point scorer that he was when he had Zach Parise on his wing. Until he shows that he can produce more offensively, and playing with Elias and Jagr could sure help, Zajac is also a fringe fantasy performer. Over the last three seasons, G Martin Brodeur has a .905 save percentage -- Steve Mason and Mathieu Garon were the only goaltenders worse with at least 100 games played -- and hes 41, so its not likely to get better, but if the Devils are insistent that Brodeur is their starter, he could have value. 36-year-old D Marek Zidlicky has an offensive track record, though he hasnt scored as often (27 points in 70 games) in New Jersey and, over the last five seasons, his minsu-52 is fifth-worst among defencemen. Perhaps hell connect with Elias and Jagr on the power play, but its also possible you can do better than a 36-year-old with declining offensive numbers. C Andrei Loktionov has 15 goals and 26 points in 87 career NHL games, including 12 points in 28 games with the Devils last season. He has some offensive promise, but probably needs to secure a spot in the top six to be relevant for fantasy owners. Same goes for Damien Brunner, who had 26 points for the Red Wings last season and is in camp on a tryout. Rookies: There dont appear to be any prime positions for rookies in the Devils lineup, but there are a couple that could challenge for time during the season. Stefan Matteau played 17 games for New Jersey last season before he was sent back to the QMJHL, which resulted in a tumultuous time in its own right. Hes a big, physical winger, but maybe not offensive enough to generate fantasy interest. D Jon Merrill didnt have the smoothest path at the University of Michigan, but he had eight points in 12 AHL games at the end of last season. The 21-year-old is big and skilled, and may need more time in the minors, but he could play a significant role for the Devils before long. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Brandon Lowe Jersey . -- The Oakland Raiders expect to have starting right tackle Tony Pashos back for Sundays game against the Houston Texans. Mike Brosseau Jersey . Thats exactly what happened. And they enjoyed every moment. Durant remained sizzling with 33 points, Serge Ibaka added 22 and the Thunder roared back from an abysmal start -- they trailed 22-4 early -- to embarrass the Miami Heat 112-95 on Wednesday night, erasing that big deficit out of the gate by outscoring the two-time defending champions by 43 points over a 33-minute span. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/1566i-tr...-rays.html . Every. Single. Game. Thats 1,230 in total to cover the regular season. The man is Corey Sznajder, a soft-spoken 23-year-old Salisbury University grad who lives in Annapolis, Maryland and has been charting zone entries and zone exits throughout the NHL. I love big projects, he said. No kidding. At the 2013 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, I met Eric Tulsky, who presented research on the value of controlled zone entries (short answer: about twice as valuable to enter with control of the puck rather than dumping it in) and Sznajder had charted a couple hundred games that were included in that study.MINNEAPOLIS -- Justin Verlander showed some rust in his return. The results werent great, albeit against a hot-hitting opponent. That award-winning right shoulder looked relaxed, though, and the sight of Verlander on the mound gave the sputtering Detroit Tigers a spark. Verlander lasted into the sixth inning, Nick Castellanos had two hits and two RBIs, and the Tigers salvaged a doubleheader split by beating the Minnesota Twins 8-6 Saturday night. "He knows how to pitch. He knows what hes doing. He can kind of contain the situation, and I think he did that well," said Torii Hunter, who had three of Detroits 17 hits. Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez each had three hits, too, and Joe Nathan notched his 27th save in 32 attempts despite an RBI double by Brian Dozier in the ninth. Verlander (11-11) improved to 5-0 in seven career starts at Target Field. With two outs and two on in the sixth inning, manager Brad Ausmus came for the ball and was greeted with an icy stare as Blaine Hardy arrived from the bullpen. "I wanted to finish the game, but I knew what he was seeing. Obviously Ive been off for a while and fatigue was a factor there and we really couldnt let this game slip away from us," said Verlander, whose last turn was skipped because of shoulder soreness. He was removed after one inning the start before that Aug. 11 at Pittsburgh, when Ausmus said he looked like he was throwing darts to protect the joint. Here, his motion was free and easy, and his changeup was diving. "He wouldnt be Justin Verlander if he didnt push back when hes being taken out. He does not like to come out of games, and I think thats great," Ausmus said. Coupled with their 12-4 loss to the Twins in the afternoon, the Tigers dropped to a season-most three games behind first-place Kansas City in the AL Central. They also fell to a game behind Seattle for the second wild-card spot. In the opener, Twins rookie Kennys Vargas drove in five runs and starter Yohan Pino (2-5) strucck out six in five innings. Austin Pruitt Jersey. So after the Tigers gave up a total of 32 runs and 34 hits while throwing a whopping 398 pitches in losing the first two games of the series, they badly needed the old Verlander to come through in this one. "Im extremely happy he got a win in his first start back," Ausmus said. Minnesota rookie Trevor May (0-3) completed five innings for the first time in four career starts, but he didnt hold his 4-2 lead after a two-run double by Trevor Plouffe in the third inning. Eugenio Suarezs broken-bat, two-run single pushed the Tigers in front 5-4, and Jared Burton was summoned from the bullpen. Castellanos hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run single in the seventh off Burton to add to the lead. Vargas finished the day with six RBIs and has driven in 23 runs in his first 22 major league games, all this month. The Twins scored seven runs in the opener off Tigers starter Buck Farmer (0-1), who managed only four outs. He gave up six runs in the second, while the Twins batted around for the third time in a span of nine innings. TRAINERS ROOM Tigers: Miguel Cabreras bothersome right ankle flared up a bit near the end of the long day, and Ausmus said hed consider keeping the slugger out of the series finale to give him two straight days off with no game Monday. "Obviously wed prefer to have Miggy in the lineup, but his health is more important," Ausmus said. Twins: Joe Mauer is still receiving daily treatment for the strained muscle on his right side that kept him out for 34 games. He stretched his streak of reaching base, the longest active in the majors, to 25 games and drove in four runs for the day. "I feel good. Im seeing the ball well," said Mauer, whos hitting .327 with 11 RBIs in 13 games since coming off the DL. UP NEXT The Tigers will try to split the series by sending reigning Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (14-4, 3.07 ERA) to the mound Sunday afternoon. Kyle Gibson (11-9, 4.13 ERA) pitches for the Twins. ' ' '