the kids'll be fine

there was all the buzz surrounding established guys last night but what's the point in shining a bright light on guy's you already know are going to be great? now having said that; Daniel Alfredsson is phenomenal, Simon Gagne and Vincent Lecavalier will both hit 50 goals this year, money was well spent on Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, Jason Arnott will lead a better offense than i thought and Chris Mason may not be the journeyman G that i was projecting.

now let me get to guys that may not be so much on the radar.
Nikl-back the goalie looks to be in fine shape. i had been pegging a guy like Josh Harding to push him for starts but the Wild's future looks to be in good hands for now (but you knew that already). Patrick Kane was among his team's leaders for ice time and it seems that little girl Havlat got hurt already, he's due for a MRI today. no way am i banking on Havlat anytime soon. Kane should provide adequate stats if his smallish frame can hold up over the course of the season.
the kids in Oil country nearly held off a staunch Sharks attack in regulation until Joe Thornton (who i hear is pretty good) scored the tying goal. the Oil eventually won in a shootout but i doubt they wanted to give up the one point to the Sharks. Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner threw together some really crisp passing that just plain snapped, and they both hit the scoresheet. i expect that given more opportunity that they will continue to contribute, keep a close eye out. it sounded like McT wants to give them more of a chance out there.
Daniel Winnik and Martin Hanzal combined in Phoenix to put the dogs over the top against the Blues. the guys i'm most excited about in the desert though are Peter Mueller who contributed little, and Daniel Carcillo who might become my next fave for a PIMs/points combo. Carcillo is getting opportunity and some are projecting him for 30 pts and 200 PIMs, that's Avery territory and i say, yes please. some rumours say that the dogs are talking to the Rangers about Al Montoya and they are shopping Ed Jovanovski for him. i say that the dogs need to get their hands on better goaltending so if they can get that deal they should move immediately on it.
have we heard from Dan Hamhuis again? i hope so. he disappeared last year but as you may recall he was a great addition to any fantasy blueline two years ago. if he's learned to play better defensively then maybe he can take the chains off offensively. here's hoping 'cause i love me the young blueline options in Nashville. Shea Weber only played just over 2 minutes last night after leaving in the first period with a leg injury. no more word but that alone can devastate a fantasy roster.
Yahoo has a typo in their boxscore of the Philly game listing Steve Downie as getting an assist on their last goal. sorry but NHL ice won't be seeing much of Downie this year, especially after he waits out his 20 game suspension for taking Dean McAmmond's head off. i think Downie is an example of a kid who ain't gonna be alright. he's a bit messed up, methinks (methinks? now i'm Shakespeare?)