Last Saturday Blues coach Andy Murray benched ultra-talented sophomore forward Patrik Berglund. Murray is trying to get the attention of his young team and have them pay attention to what they should be doing when they don't have the puck. Berglund had 47 points as a rookie one year ago, but has the kind of skills to put up 70 annually. He's a young player with maybe the most upside on that team. Be patient with him especially if you're in a keeper league.

 

 

I have no idea whether it's the fact that he no longer has the C on his sweater, or if he recommitted himself to better conditioning this offseason, but the Sharks Patrick Marleau has never looked better. He's showing better speed and tenacity in the offensive end, and has five goals already on the young season. Having just turned 30 years of age there is no reason that this can't be his peak season.

 

When the Canadiens lost defenceman Andrei Markov for 4 months to a sliced tendon in his ankle the club went out and signed Marc-Andre Bergeron, who is currently working on getting into NHL shape at Hamilton (AHL). Bergeron (once he's ready for NHL duty) is the smarter long term play than picking up a guy like Roman Hamrlik. For his career Bergeron has produced roughly 39 points per 82 games and should be able to roughly duplicate that kind of production assuming he can stay healthy.Bergeron just turned 29 years of age so he should have plenty left to help the understaffed Montreal blueline.

 

Having seen the Ducks' Teemu Selanne play a couple of times in the early going, this looks like it could be another huge year for him. It's really hard to believe that after scoring only 16 goals in 2003/04 , people were saying he was done. He still possesses plenty of speed to back off the defence, and his quick release still gives netminders fits. As long as he can stay healthy 40 goals looks like a safe bet yet again.

 

The Penguins Tyler Kennedy is 23-years old and already has a 10-goal season and a 15-goal season in his young career, despite playing out of the spotlight on the third line. This is a hard working , cerebral player with underrated hands.His knack for being in the right place means that if he was elevated to a top 6 spot due to injury he could really surprise. For fantasy he's ideal as one of the last forwards on your roster or as a spot player when your better guys have tougher matchups, and if he's on your waiver wire I'd add him.

 

The Canucks recalled Michael Grabner from Manitoba (AHL) to take the place of Daniel Sedin (out 4-6 weeks-broken foot) in their lineup. I saw Grabner play a number of times in the AHL last season with the Moose. He's pretty much a one way offensive talent with tremendous speed/skating ability. He's worth a pickup for Sedin owners needing an injury replacement, but be aware that his lack of attention to playing in his own end may see him sent back down in short order. The club also has preseason star Sergei Shirokov (7 points in 4 games) who has most of the same assets as Grabner waiting for another chance in the AHL. 

 

Also in Vancouver, with blueliner Sami Salo out at least a month with a sprained right knee you should look for Christian Ehrhoff to benefit from extra powerplay time.I really liked Ehrhoff a year ago as someone who was under the radar on a stacked Sharks club and he potted 42 points. He's just 27 years old, and very durable. In the early going he's shooting the puck quite a bit and really taking charge as the offensive leader on a blueline that lost Mattias Ohlund this past offseason to Tampa Bay in free agency.

 

The Devils Travis Zajac is off to another fast start after finally hitting the 20-goal mark last year in his third NHL season. With the Devils missing Patrik Elias (groin injury) in the early going, Zajac has taken it upon himself to create more offence and he's fired 18 shots at the opposition net in just 5 games.Zajac will always get plenty of ice time because he plays a smart two way game (an absolute must if you're going to play for New Jersey),can kill penalties,and is the teams top faceoff man. If you're in a weekly head to head league he's a guy you'd love to have because of his consistency.

 

You don't need me to tell you that the Rangers Michael Del Zotto is off to a tremendous start. He's been much better than anybody would have the right to expect of a 19 year old defenceman in his first pro season.And Del Zotto is no doubt gone in all of your leagues. If teammate Matt Gilroy is still available or if someone dropped him in order to add MDZ, go ahead and get Gilroy as he is showing very keen offensive instincts and to this point has not been burned with his tendency to roam deep into the offensive end. He's scored just one goal so far but is showing off tremedous puck carrying and passing skills and the points are going to come.

 

Speaking of impressive first year defencemen, I've seen the Sabres Tyler Myers a couple of times already and there is no doubt that Sabres fans and the front office have every reason to be excited.In his first 4 games he has a couple of assists and has been even or better (plus/minus) each night. For fantasy it's important that his owners be patient as he's doing what he should be which is looking after his own end first . With Myers the player he is most often compared to of course is Zdeno Chara and while thats an apt one- it's very important that you remember that Chara didn't produce more than 23 points until he had played parts of 5 NHL seasons . Don't expect huge totals this year but for keeper/dynasty league owners he's an excellent long term talent.

 

The Sabres Thomas Vanek suffered an upper body injury Tuesday evening against Detroit and will miss a week if not more. Someone you should have on your watch list as a guy to get off waivers should he be called up as a replacement is Nathan Gerbe. I saw Gerbe play a number of times last year in both the AHL, and in Buffalo, and he's a skilled forward who does everything at a very high tempo.He was the AHL Rookie of the Year at 21 years of age, and has 60-70 point potential once he sticks in the NHL for good.He's a top 6 forward and potentially a future star.

 

If you have start/sit questions, trade questions, or anything else fantasy hockey related please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with "fantasy hockey question" in the email header.I'd love to hear from you.

 

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Tags: Andy Murray  Patrik Berglund  Patrick Marleau  Andrei Markov  Marc-Andre Bergeron  Roman Hamrlik  Teemu Selanne  Tyler Kennedy  Michael Grabner  Sergei Shirokov  Sami Salo  Christian Ehrhoff  Mattias Ohlund  Travis Zajac  Patrik Elias  Michael Del Zotto  Matt Gilroy  Tyler Myers  Zdeno Chara  Thomas Vanek  Nathan Gerbe.