Stat Thursday - SHTOI/game

one of my pet peeves about reviewing different fantasy leagues is when they start to add the obscure categories into the settings. scarcity makes the obscure so that there's little to differentiate the different squads in the league. if 20 SHP can win you a category then the fact that they happen so seldom is reason for me not to include them in the settings in the first place. i feel the same way about counting shutouts as a category. a goalie that gets 15 shutties could lead the world in the category and a fantasy team with that goalie will most likely win the category too. that's 12 potential points that i don't want to hand over to someone because scarcity shone on them.
now having said that, i don't include SHP in any of the leagues that i set up, but i realize that a lot of foolish commishes do. so i'm dedicating today's stat Thursday to SHTOI, particularly as it relates to PPTOI since the guy you're really going to want to target is the guy with high SHTOI while still gets plenty of PPTOI. i havent taken a real good look but i suspect that we're going to see a lot of defensemen on this list, maybe a couple surprises too. once again though, i'm not looking strictly at SHTOI but rather how it is also reflected in PPTOI. the first nubmer will be SHTOI/game followed by PPTOI/game.

Niklas Lidstrom (5:23)(5:12) - wow. the man does everything. he's 3rd in SHTOI/game and 26th in PPTOI/game. he is truly a horse and if you're playing in a fantasy league that takes into account the special teams categories then he is an absolute must add, must draft, must trade for type of guy.

Pavel Kubina (4:51)(4:09) - you think he might have some extra value to the Leafs D line? i actually blogged on him pretty badly yesterday but part of that was out of frustration when the Leafs were the chihuahua in a dogfight the night before in Ottawa. i don't hate you Pavel, honest. if the Leafs are busy shopping D-men then i'm fine with moving Bryan McCabe to Chicago (that's one rumour that came out yesterday) so a couple kids. there are some really nice youthful options to consider in Chicago. in the meantime, the Leafs nation doesn't hate you Pavel. they may hate JFJ but they don't hate you. incidentally, if the Leafs do trade McCabe then Kubina's value goes up a bunch since he'll be the triggerman on the PP.

Rob Blake (4:40)(4:01) - Rob Blake kills penalties? yep, dear reader. and he's not as old and decrepid as you might think. i project him for goals in the teens this season again and it certainly will be good for Jack Johnson to see the type of quality career he can have. Blake can be traded for fairly easily because people believe that LA will continue to struggle at both ends of the ice this season and they think that Blake is washed up. he isn't and he'd be a fine D3 on any fantasy roster, particularly in a league that counts special teams categories.

Dan Hamhuis (4:40)(3:44) - i think this relationship will drop whenever Shea Weber returns to the lineup and eats up almost all of Ham's PPTOI. he's a good short term option until Weber is back though and there are still some trade rumours swirling around him. just imagine if he were moved to NYR or something where they need a PP option.

Chris Pronger (4:32)(6:45) - Pronger is a horse and any trade offer you make for him better include your right nut and the person on the other end would have to want to consider that an option. those numbers will stay pretty much like that all year.

Tom Poti (4:18)(5:50) - the Caps signed Poti to be a PP QB for them, to pass the puck down low and let the big guns do their thing. Alexander Semin and Chris Clark haven't been able to get anything going for the Caps this season but when everything is put together then you'll see plenty of offense in Landover. Poti will ride those coattails all season. there's even a chance that he's sitting on your waiver wire and if he is then go get him now, particularly in special teams category leagues.

Bryan McCabe (4:18)(4:51) - hmmm. i've always liked McCabe as a PP option but i'm not a fan of his defensive play at all. i also would like to see defenders while SH having more lateral movement than McCabe shows. but i'm not the coach. McCabe is going to contribute a bunch on the PP, i guarantee that, and he's getting opportunity while SH too.

Marc-Eduoard Vlasic (4:16)(2:41) - so Pickle is getting PP2 time, he's still a good option, he's young and learning and as he gets better that PPTOI is going to explode. keepers should look at this guy and special teams category leagues should see him as a viable D... 4 maybe?

Jay Bouwmeester (4:14)(4:10) - with the emergence of Cory Murphy in FLA this season people seem to forget that Bo carried the bulk of the load last season and he's doing so again. now it's not like Meester Bo is sitting on your waiver wire for you to add him but you can certainly consider him a very strong D3 (maybe D2) option if you wanted to put a trade offer in to his present owner.

Francois Beauchemin (4:09)(6:46) - those PPTOI stats are going to come down a LOT now that Mathieu Schneider is healthy and back on the ice. in general his total ice time is going to come down a lot. he still has value but he went from a D3 to a D5 as soon as Schneid got off the schneid.

Kim Johnsson (3:49)(1:22) - i talk a lot about Brent Burns whenever i seem to discuss the Wild's defensemen but i Johnsson is still a good option for a bottom of the roster D, particularly if you count the special teams cats. do you know any dude by the name of Kim though? i actually know a guy who's middle name is Kim and, well he doesn't tell anybody that. that's probably wise, i'm pretty much a pacifist but right now i figure i could pop him on the schnoz and get away with it.

Sergei Gonchar (3:45)(6:26) - Gonchar is a great resource for PPP that comes at a price that isn't too over the top if you were thinking of making a move. it could be that he gets so much SHTOI because there aren't better options available to take the opportunity away from him.

Jaroslav Spacek (3:45)(4:27) - i reviewed a team that had Spacek on it a couple weeks ago and i remember saying that i'm not a big fan of his. i sure hope i didn't tell you to dump him and if i did make that foolish statement then i hope you ignored it. dude contributes at both ends of the ice and one can never just throw away a good resource.

Brad Stuart (3:44)(3:14) - i have Stuart on one team that is a bit short on PPP at the moment. i offered him up for a backup goaltender this week and the guy is thinking that i'm shorting him on the deal. no, i just really think that this guy will contribute. we already see he's getting opportunity on special teams and with opportunity WILL come stats.

Brett Clark (3:44)(2:54) - this is another guy who doesn't get enough play. he's a 40 pt D who gets plenty of special teams opportunity with an excellent offensive team. he got 10 goals last year and solidified his spot amongst the top D on the Avs. he can be traded for at a good price.

Paul Martin (3:43)(4:51) - i don't get how the Prime Minister gets so much PP time but somebody has to do it. he's not among my fave options for special teams stats but like i said, with opportunity will come stats.

Rod Brind'amour (3:42)(4:34) - and here we get to the first forward worth mentioning on this list. he's not the first forward's name i came across but i had my reasons for not including the one other guy who came up on the list. Rod the bod leads by example. dude works out forever and will kick your butt if you're not able to keep up with a guy whose got nearly 20 years on you. he kills penalties and he makes you pay for taking them. he can also be traded for a little more easily than your typical superstar.

Brent Sopel, Rob Niedermayer and Brian Campbell are the next names on the list but it's only worth noting that Campbell is the only one of the 3 that you want for your team. rumour is that he'll re-sign in Buffalo at some time this season by the way and that is a very wise move on the part of the Sabres.

gots to get back to work folks. i hope you enjoyed the romp thru Stat Thursday.