Pre-Game Skate: Fantasy Hockey, Peter Mueller, Dubinsky Injured, & More

A little (very) late on the Pre-Game Skate tonight (er, this morning). I have a good excuse though. We did our Gone Puck Wild fantasy hockey draft last night and it required my undivided attention.

I’m pretty happy with how it went. I managed to have a couple great IPAs and grabbed a couple players a few rounds after they should have gone, making the pick at the right moment and reached up for a couple of players (Brent Burns, Alex Stalock) that I think have upside that could pay off despite grabbed them a little ahead of where they were projected.

My team looks like this: forwards: Stamkos, Pavelski, Sharp, Kunitz, Marleau, H. Sedin, Thornton, Gaborik, Turris, Hornqvist, T. Johnson, L. Eriksson, Barkov, Perron. Defense: Letang, Pietrangelo, B. Burns, D. Boyle, E. Gelinas, Scandella. Goalies: Carey Price, Ryan Miller, Alex Stalock.

I’m happy with it. Rolling the dice on a couple of these. I think Tyler Johnson does well and that Loui Eriksson bounces back and starts to get a little closer to his ceiling. And I think Vancouver’s solid possession numbers last season bode well for Ryan Miller despite the loss of Kesler (the West is tough, but they also play Edmonton and Calgary a lot), and that Stalock will have the starting job wrangled from Antti Niemi by the start of December at the latest.

Mueller Heading to Europe

Bloomington, MN native Peter Mueller was placed on — rather reportedly requested that he be put on — unconditional waivers. It sounds like he’ll be exploring option in Europe.

It’s been a difficult five years for Mueller, who started his career in Phoenix at age 19 scoring 22 goals and 32 assists. The next year he went 12-23-35. He’s continued to regress since that impressive start. If he goes on waivers and heads to Europe it’ll be interesting to see if he tries to rekindle his offensive game there and make a return to the NHL after that.

The former eighth overall draft pick in the 2006 entry draft has always been tagged as a player with big potential and he showed flashes of it in his first two seasons. Love to see him get that touch back and make a return to the NHL for a couple years.

Notes and Notes (and Tweets)

– The Blue Jackets are a team who does not need any further bad news before the season starts after prolonged negotiations with Ryan Johansen meant he missed the entire preseason, Nathan Horton went down with a back injury, and Boone Jenner went out with a broken hand. However, they’re going to get more bad news. The team is losing Brandon Dubinsky indefinitely.

Two-thirds of their top line is out and the top line center missed camp and they just lost their second line center. It will be a tough open to the season for a team that many are predicting could be one of the most improved teams.

– The Devils let Ryan Carter go sign with Minnesota and has now signed Jordin Tootoo, who was bought out by the Detroit Red Wings. His one-year deal with New Jersey is worth the league minimum $550,000.

– The Flames 2014 first round draft pick Sam Bennett is expected to have shoulder surgery. It looked like Bennett had made the case for his inclusion in the opening night roster, so this is a tough break for him and the team, whose depth is an issue.

– Just a bit of good news:

– I’m talking constantly over on The Hockey Writers’ Podcast every week. A new episode went up last night. Sebastian Noren and I talk about coaches on the hot seat, the THW Power Rankings, and other non-sense.