Jarome Iginla is the prototype fantasy scoring hockey player. He offers a steady source of penalty minutes and goals, and is a good player to build your fantasy team around.

The NHL season will swiftly be upon us and a lot has changed since we last saw the Detroit Red Wings parading around the ice with the Stanley Cup.  Fantasy hockey like other sports has some relatively difficult stats to get and positions that tend to be harder to get production out of.  For example, it’s usually fairly difficult to get a goal scoring defenseman.  Like other sports, you want to try and find balanced players where you can, to fill out your roster, or ‘stat hogs’ that are so superior in one category that you can almost ignore it when filling out the rest of your roster.  I’ll discuss this further in later weeks, but in general, I’m trying to fill out my roster with power forwards and power play quarterback, scoring defensemen.

What is a power forward and why do you want one?  A power forward is forward who scores goals and is a very good source of penalty minutes.  Goals are harder to get and you need a steady source of penalty minutes as you will need a lot to compete in the category, as most players end up with some amount of penalty minutes during the season.  The prototype for this player is likely Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames. 

The power play quarterback is ideal because you know he’s going to see more solid scoring opportunities.  Scoring defensemen are useful and rare.  There are a handful that will get you more points than a forward.  Covet these players.  I’ve highlighted a few of them below.  Speaking of which, let’s start looking at the changes.

It was a crazy NHL off-season, especially around the NHL Entry draft where a number of trades took place.  Welcome to the salary cap influenced off-season NHL!  A lot of big names swapped jerseys and as a review, I’ll highlight a few in new surroundings and how they are going to affect their fantasy outcomes in 2009 over the next few weeks. 

Marion Hossa RW signs with the Detroit Red Wings

Hands down, this is the feature signing of the off-season.  He was already considered a top player to have in most formats when he played for the relatively talent-less Atlanta Thrashers.  Now this super talented player joins the defending Stanley Cup champions, who really only lost aging and retired, soon to be hall of fame goaltender Dominik Hasek.  You can expect an increase in Hossa’s plus minus rating.  Detroit is and should be a sound defensive hockey club, which combined with a strong supporting offense will make most players on this team good plus/minus players.  Hossa is a natural goal scorer and should likely now be considered as a top 15 pick in this years fantasy draft. 

Dan Boyle D to the San Jose Sharks

As I mentioned earlier, one of the things in fantasy hockey that I like is having one high scoring defenseman on my team.  The average defensemen seems to nudge 35 total points, mostly assists during the year.  What makes Boyle so special is not only is he a goal scoring defenseman, but he has put up 60 + point seasons in the past.  If he can stay healthy, he will be part of a potent Sharks offense, especially on the power play, which should translate into big point totals.  If your league counts power play points, his value is that much greater.

Ollie Jokinen C traded to the Coyotes

One of fantasy hockey’s most well rounded, yet completely under rated players gets a new home in the desert.  Jokinen has been a great source of goals, penalty minutes and overall points in Florida the last few years.  Phoenix proved to be scrappy at times last season, but overall I don’t see a big difference between Florida and Pheonix.  This trade will not affect Jokinen’s value negatively, but don’t expect a big improvement in overall numbers either.

Mike Cammelleri C/LW traded to the Calgary Flames

Fantastic addition for the Flames, who get a top young talent that if healthy, can light a large number of lamps.  He should post a solid plus minus rating for a team that has traditionally scored more than they allow.  If paired with Iginla, I’m expecting even bigger things from Cammelleri.  He qualifies as a C and a LW in most leagues adding to his value.

Alex Tanguay LW traded to the Montreal Canadiens

Last year’s best story, the revival of the Habs, gets a great new addition in proven goal scorer Alex Tanguay.  When I saw this trade go through, with the Canadiens giving up basically nothing, I thought this was a great move for them.  They add to an already talented core, without giving up anyone from their first three lines. Tanguay didn’t have a great season last year, but then he was removed from the first line along side Iginla.  Look for Tanguay to play a big part in the Canadiens success this season.

Lubomir Visnovsky D traded to the Edmonton Oilers

GM Kevin Lowe essentially stole Visnovsky from the Kings this offseason, giving up middling C Jarrett Stoll.  Visnovsky is another talented offensive defenseman who should see little change in his value this season.  It’s always hard to predict good plus minus players, but Visnovsky, a power play specialist, is likely to have a low rating.  The plus side is he’s always a threat to get 60 + points.  With an improving Oilers team that also landed a goal scorer in Erik Cole, Visnovsky should continue to produce a good number of assists and power play points.

Brian Campbell signs with Chicago Blackhawks

The offseason was full of talented offensive defensemen switching jerseys.  I love Campbell’s chances with an emerging young team in Chicago.  Jonathan Toews could bust out into NHL stardom as early as this season, allowing Campbell, a talented puck moving defenseman, to benefit.  I’d expect big things from the ‘Hawks power play this season.

Wade Redden D to the New York Rangers

Call this a gut feeling, but I think a change of scenery will be good for Redden.  A few years of mediocrity followed many seasons of superiority for the former Senator.  He’s not getting any younger but the Rangers have a lot of talented scorers on their team, which should provide numerous assist opportunities.  I think Redden has a chance to get back to his old numbers, with a superior plus minus rating with this change.  Beware though; he may also be over the hill.

Nikolai Zherdev RW to the New York Rangers

Some things surprise me, and the Blue Jackets trading away talented young forward Zherdev surprised me a lot.  Zherdev’s main problem has been ‘attitude’.  Apparently, it was so bad that Columbus thought it worth trading away one of the up and coming talents in the league.  I’m expecting a lot from Zherdev this season now that he’s playing for a stronger, veteran team.

Sean Avery signs with the Dallas Stars

This is a bold signing by Dallas, as Avery is a fantastic agitator.  He’s the kind of guy you love to have on your team, but hate to play against.  From a fantasy perspective, this doesn’t change Avery’s value a lot.  He’ll continue to get major penalty minutes, but his main fantasy asset is the fact that he does light a few goal lamps.  Expect much of the same but a mild increase in plus minus rating, as Dallas is an emerging powerhouse team in the Western Conference.

Jose Theodore G sings with the Washington Capitals

The Capitals took a big step forward grabbing the enigmatic former Colorado Avalanche goaltender.  Theodore was once a Hart trophy winner as the MVP of the league, so he certainly has it in him to perform at a high level. Jose finished the season strong getting the Avalanche into the playoffs. He should see a ton of wins given the Capitals are a team on the rise.

Mats Sundin C to ???

One of the biggest off-season questions is where will Mats Sundin land?  August 1st we should have our answer.  The rumours are swirling that Vancouver will be his most likely destination but Sundin’s heart still remains in Toronto.  The Leafs may sign him if they can get him for a reasonable price.  From what I’ve read, Sundin would like to retire a Leaf, but seems kind of ridiculous when Vancouver has offered him at least 10 million per year. As this question has yet to be answered, its hard to predict what his fortunes will be in 2009.  Stay tuned.

Jaromir Jagr RW to Russia

For those of you in keeper leagues, you likely lost one of your better players.  Don’t be too disappointed, as Jagr’s skills were starting to fade anyway.  Jagr made a blatant money grab with this move, not that I blame him, as he would not have gotten close to $13 million in a year from any NHL team.  He’ll finish his career playing in Siberia.  Just typing that makes me laugh just a little.

Next time we’ll look at some other player’s whose fortune may change due to their new team.