Fantasy Forecast for Friday, October 9

THURSDAY'S ROUNDUP:

In addition to the Fantasy Forecast, this season we are introducing Top Picks to help you make those tough active lineup decisions. Top Picks will highlight which players have a track record of performing well against that day's opponent. To view Top Picks for Friday, click here.

Late Friday afternoon the Red Wings announced that right wing Johan Franzen will miss a minimum of four months with a torn ACL in his left knee. The devastating injury occured during Thursday's 3-2 home-opening victory against Chicago, a contest in which Franzen scored the eventual game-winning goal, his first tally of the season. When the injury was announced, Franzen's ownership in all Yahoo! leagues was at 97 percent. That will soon plummet.

Fantasy owners of Tampa Bay's Mike Smith (0-1-2, 3.16 GAA, 48 percent) and Nikolai Khabibulin (1-1-1, 3.49 GAA, 76 percent) of Edmonton are hurting after both goaltenders allowed last-second game-tying goals and then lost in shootouts Thursday night.

The Dallas Morning News speculates the Stars and Flames will both use their backup goaltenders in Friday's game at Calgary. Alex Auld (4 percent) and Curtis McElhinney (1 percent) have yet to play this season.

Don't look now, but Dany Heatley (99 percent) is living up to his name, totaling a hat trick, 4 points and a plus-6 rating in San Jose's home-opening 6-3 win against Columbus on Thursday. After going pointless with a minus-3 in his Sharks debut, Heatley has 4 goals, 9 points and a plus-5 rating in the following three games. In those same three contests, linemates Devin Setoguchi (4-1-5, 97 percent) and Joe Thornton (1-8-9, 97 percent) also have been phenomenal. "They're a very dangerous line. I thought they got better as the night went on and I think that's a sign they're starting to click," coach Todd McLellan told the Mercury News. "The goals, the assists -- that's all nice. The fact that they played fast and in the right areas of the rink is what impressed me the most."
On Thursday, Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle (1-4-5, 99 percent) chipped in a goal and 2 assists.

High-scoring Oilers defenseman Sheldon Souray suffered a mild concussion in Thursday's shootout loss against Calgary, according to Edmonton's Web site. Souray (97 percent) took a hard check in the corner from Flames captain Jarome Iginla and had to be helped off the ice.

With rookie goaltender Jonas Gustavsson (0-2-0, 3.09 GAA, 28 percent) on IR, embattled starter Vesa Toskala (0-0-1, 4.94 GAA, 51 percent) of the Maple Leafs has a chance to play three games without looking over his shoulder and silence his critics. "Vesa's our No.1 goalie anyways and he'll play that way until further notice," coach Ron Wilson told the Toronto Star. "I was going to split Vesa and Jonas (Monday at the Rangers and Tuesday hosting Colorado) ... but for the next three games, you'll likely see Vesa playing all three. It's an opportunity for him to take over."

The Panthers hope to have newly signed center Dominic Moore available this weekend. He has yet to join the team because of the immigration process, reports the Miami Herald. Florida plays at Carolina on Friday and hosts New Jersey on Saturday.

The Ottawa Sun reports the Senators will have backup goaltender Brian Elliott (5 percent) face Atlanta at home Saturday. "He's played very well in practice," said coach Cory Clouston.

As expected, Flyers rookie James van Riemsdyk did not play in Thursday's loss to Pittsburgh as a precaution after hitting his head against the boards in Tuesday's overtime win against Washington. "He felt better (Thursday); he just didn't feel 100 percent," coach John Stevens told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Concussion tests are negative, and there is a chance van Riemsdyk (0-3-3, 12 percent) will return to action Saturday against Anaheim.

Lightning coach Rick Tocchet moved Stephane Veilleux (1 percent) to right wing on the top line with Vincent Lecavalier and Alex Tanguay in Thursday's shootout loss to New Jersey. In the previous two games, Steve Downie (1 percent) was on the No. 1 line and Veilleux was on the fourth line. "I just think he brought some energy, he's a fast guy that moves up and down the wing," Tocchet told the Tampa Tribune. Veilleux and Downie both were scoreless in the contest.

Prior to Thursday's Chicago at Detroit game, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was asked for an update on injured forward Marian Hossa. "He's not skating yet," Quenneville told the Detroit News. "He's improving his range of motion and he's on schedule to return in late November." Hossa (90 percent) had offseason shoulder surgery.

Fantasy owners of Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward should look forward to Saturday's game at Tampa Bay. On Tuesday, Ward defeated the Lightning 2-1 in a shootout at home and extended his streak of consecutive victories against Tampa Bay to seven, dating back to April 2008. In that stretch Ward (1-2-0, 2.75 GAA, 97 percent) has allowed only 13 goals for a 1.82 GAA. Prior to the run, Ward had been 6-7-1 in his career against the Lightning.

Early lineup warning -- Monday is Columbus Day in U.S. and Thanksgiving in Canada, and there are two matinee games: Colorado at Boston at 1 p.m. ET, and Los Angeles at the N.Y. Islanders at 2 p.m. ET. Remember, you can set your active Yahoo! lineups weeks in advance.

FRIDAY'S PROJECTED GOALIES:

Florida (Tomas Vokoun) at Carolina (Cam Ward), 7 p.m. ET (NHLN-CA)
Dallas (Alex Auld) at Calgary (Curtis McElhinney), 9 p.m. ET

RECENT INJURIES:

Blair Betts, C, Philadelphia: Is out at least four weeks with a dislocated right shoulder.
Dave Bolland, C, Chicago: Is day-to-day with a back injury.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard, C, Minnesota: Is day-to-day with headaches.
J.P. Dumont, RW, Nashville: Is day-to-day with a head injury.
Ben Eager, LW, Chicago: Is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Jonas Gustavsson, G, Toronto: Placed on IR with a groin injury and is expected to miss at least one week.
Filip Kuba, D, Ottawa: Is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Glen Metropolit, C, Montreal: Is day-to-day with bruised rubs.
Mike Modano, C, Dallas: Is out a week with a crack in his ribs.
Joe Pavelski, C, San Jose: Will be sidelined for two weeks with a lower-body injury.
James van Riemsdyk, LW, Philadelphia: Is day-to-day with a head injury.

TRANSACTIONS:

Atlanta Thrashers: Placed D Boris Valabik on IR. Activated RW Colby Armstrong from IR. Traded LW Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman to the Columbus Blue Jackets for future considerations.
Chicago Blackhawks: Assigned LW Bryan Bickell to Rockford (AHL). Placed LW Ben Eager on IR.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Acquired LW Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman from the Atlanta Thrashers for future considerations and assigned him to Syracuse (AHL).
Detroit Red Wings: Signed LW Brad May to a one-year contract. Assigned C Justin Abdelkader to Grand Rapids (AHL).
New York Islanders: Assigned RW Joel Rechlicz to Bridgeport (AHL).
New York Rangers: Recalled LW Evgeny Grachev from Hartford (AHL).
St. Louis Blues: Assigned LW D.J. King to Peoria (AHL).
San Jose Sharks: Recalled RW Jamie McGinn from Worcester (AHL).
Toronto Maple Leafs: Recalled G Joey MacDonald from Toronto (AHL) and placed G Jonas Gustavsson on IR.
Vancouver Canucks: Assigned RW Sergei Shirokov to Manitoba (AHL).

NHL.COM EXPERTS LEAGUE:

Week 1 results through Thursday, Oct. 8

Rocky Trottier 6, No Shanahan-igans 2
Skoula Hard Knocks 6, Hempstead Slowpokes 4
Big Skillets O'BKLYN 7, Clown Shoes 3
Code Monkeys 8, The Birdcage 2
Hammerhead United 6, Ovie's Heroes 4
Out on a Dan Hinote 8, Philly Cheesestakes 1

A reminder -- because the NHL season began in mid-week, Week 1 in Yahoo! is extended and runs from Oct. 1-11.

Recent transactions -- Out on a Dan Hinote cut ties with Darcy Tucker and added Radim Vrbata, and Big Skillets O'BKLYN waived Chuck Kobasew and claimed Patric Hornqvist.

EMAIL OF THE DAY:

Rocky,
Your recent Yahoo! draft advice was great. I used some of your player tips for my recent live draft with buddies from around the world in our highly-competitive rotisserie pool.
Here's my roster: Evgeni Malkin, Niklas Backstrom, Paul Stastny, Brooks Laich (just picked up by dropping drafted Ray Whitney), Milan Lucic, Steve Sullivan, Alexander Semin, Devin Setoguchi, Bryan Little, Bryan McCabe, Fedor Tyutin, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Ryan Miller, Ray Emery, Pekka Rinne and Jimmy Howard.

You'll notice I gambled on Howard instead of a fourth defenseman (defensemen went early in the draft, and I question Osgood's ability to keep the No. 1 role in Detroit).
My question is, who should I pick up for the empty spot and who should I drop to do so?
Free agent defensemen that I am considering include Ron Hainsey, Mattias Ohlund, Keith Ballard, Matt Niskanen, Drew Doughty, Alex Goligoski, Kyle Quincey and Jonathan Ericsson.
Of course, a trade of one of my centers for a highly offensive-minded defenseman is also a possibility, but I need to consider the waiver wire first.
Thanks,
Matt

No need to trade this early -- you have more than enough quality defense candidates to add via free agency. My first inclination was to suggest Doughty, and then I compared the numbers and still came up with Doughty. He's playing incredibly well for a 19-year-old, though he was the second pick in the 2008 Entry Draft. In his first three games, Doughty was averaging 23:50 of ice time per game (3:50 on the power play) and scored a goal (on the power play) and 4 points with a plus-2 rating and four penalty minutes. The only other defenseman getting more ice time is Quincey (25:18 through three games; 4:30 on the power play), and he had a goal and 2 assists with a plus-1 rating, proving his breakout last season with Los Angeles was no fluke. After those two, Goligoski would be my third choice.

Any one of those three would be a solid addition to your already solid lineup.

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