Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Week Eighteen Waiver Draft (Feb 4)

Well, Day 3 of the Waiver Draft hasn't really kicked off quite yet, as we're still waiting on Wes to make his first decision of the period.  We did alright on Tuesday, making nine drops and picks and almost completing the first round.  Obviously, some decisions are easier to make for some, than they are for others.

Opening up the day on Tuesday was Dale B. and you can't fault him for trying to find a little bit more offense from up front, as he dropped Toronto's Mike Santorelli and decided to pick up rookie Ottawa forward Mike Hoffman.  Dale is 23 points back in the rookie scoring race, but since he's added one of the top rookies in the league this year, he will have a couple going for him at the same time.

With the 12th pick, Wilton also tried to shore up some of his forward scoring, dropping Florida's Jimmy Hayes and picking up Anaheim's Patrick Maroon, trying to source the NHL's top team for a little bit of residual offense from their depth chart.  Maroon has been up and down in the Ducks' lineup, but there is always a chance for points there.

The first player deemed done for the year, Tampa Bay defenseman Radko Gudas, was dropped by Brenda & Seward and in his place, they decided to take Rangers blueliner Kevin Klein, who has been operating well out of his normal career scoring records.  If Klein can keep that sort of pace, the pool's second duo can continue to climb up the standings in an amazing comeback this year.

There was a lot of humming and hawing from the teams that made earlier selections in the pool, debating on whether or not Petr Mrazek of the Detroit Red Wings would be a suitable pick-up, citing the soon-to-return Jimmy Howard and/or Jonas Gustavsson, but Scott decided that he would go with the Czech keeper, dropping San Jose's Alex Stalock to make room.

As Stacey M. put it, she'll be "moving mediocre for mediocre," which is the motto of these late season Waiver Drafts, I think.  Stacey dropped Montreal's Lars Eller, who recently picked up a knock, but is continuing to push through it, while picking up Florida's Brad Boyes, one of the more popular pick-ups all-time in the draft pool.

Troy wasn't going to hang on a semi-washed up centre in Mike Richards, who the LA Kings opted to send down to the minors, possibly to find some more ice-time and regain his confidence.  In Richards' place, Anaheim's Kyle Palmieri will take his place, as Troy only moves across the State of California for more qualified help.  The Ducks have been popular already, hey?

While taking some time down in Panama at the moment, Tony has still been able to make his first move in the Waiver Draft, dropping a soon-to-be-healthy Jonas Gustavsson of the Red Wings and picked up Flyers back-up Ray Emery to take his place.  Gustavsson is quite the wild card, injury-wise, so picking up Emery should give him greater odds of more starts in the third segment.

The legend, Martin Brodeur, was dropped for only the second time in this hockey pool's history, but this time, it will be for the last time, as Dale C. needed to move him out to have an active body in his lineup.  In Brodeur's place, Montreal's Dustin Tokarski will have the go-ahead, but his minutes have been limited by another Canadian goaltending icon in Carey Price, so his points potential does seem to be low, but mostly because of his minutes.

Finally, the last move made on Tuesday night was Cam dropping another defenseman that has already been deemed, done for the year, letting go of Pittsburgh's Olli Maatta and picking up Columbus' David Savard to fill the void.  Savard has been quietly going about his business and doing quite well, picking up 17 points in 49 games to this point in the year.

As of the time I finished writing this post, I still haven't heard much from Wes, so I will remain somewhat skeptical that we will get too far on Wednesday, but finishing the opening round shouldn't be out of the question.

The top forward available as of now, Ottawa's Mika Zibanejad, who was a drop earlier this year by Stacey M., but has been decent of late.  The top defensemen, Washington's Karl Alzner or Ottawa's Cody Ceci, both with 14 points and Ceci would help your rookie race, if you wanted.  Boston's Niklas Svedberg is the top goalie, also a rookie, but is currently on a conditioning stint in the AHL, expected back soon.

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