Kaberle...Fantasy Stud?
Posted 1:04 PM ET | Comments 2
I have taken some time over the past week to sit back and wait to see how the Kaberle and potentially the Kovalchuk situation would play out before writing my next blog. Well one of the shoes dropped on the weekend with Kaberle remaining a Leaf. I know this has set off a firestorm in Leaf Nation as to whether this move was correct. At this point it is irrelevant because he is not going anywhere anytime soon and if our main man Burkie sticks to his guns he will not ask him to waive the NTC, so as a Nation get over it and focus on how Mr. Kaberle will impact the Leafs fantasy wise.
As we all know fantasy hockey is fast approaching and we all need to start thinking about the possibilities. Kaberle remaining a Leaf does wonders for his fantasy value. In standard Yahoo leagues Kaberle is a very high commodity. Players like him are hard to find, because not only does he get you points he will also get you a number of Power Play Points. Now granted last year his +/- was not very good. Consider this, the Leafs now have one of the better defense corps in the NHL. There are not a lot of teams 1-6 that can match up with the Leafs. Add to the fact that Vesa Toskola is NOT the starting goalie, the +/- of not only Kaberle but many of the Leafs will take a positive hit upward. Had Kaberle went to another team as rumoured here on HockeyBuzz like San Jose or Washington, yes he would have been on a better team, but those teams already have a Dan Boyle and Mike Green, so he would have become another player on the power play.
In Toronto Kaberle is still the trigger man on a much improved power play. With a full season with Phaneuf, and a healthy Kessel the power play is already better. If the likes of Kadri and Bozak can continue to develop, this power play has the potential to be top 10 in the NHL (I know, I know pie in the sky) with improved special teams, the Leafs are a better team.
Bottom line is heading into draft day, Kaberle will be rated fairly low on the Yahoo Rankings, in my eyes he is going to be steal, and considering he rarely gets hurt could be the difference come playoff time in March.
As we all know fantasy hockey is fast approaching and we all need to start thinking about the possibilities. Kaberle remaining a Leaf does wonders for his fantasy value. In standard Yahoo leagues Kaberle is a very high commodity. Players like him are hard to find, because not only does he get you points he will also get you a number of Power Play Points. Now granted last year his +/- was not very good. Consider this, the Leafs now have one of the better defense corps in the NHL. There are not a lot of teams 1-6 that can match up with the Leafs. Add to the fact that Vesa Toskola is NOT the starting goalie, the +/- of not only Kaberle but many of the Leafs will take a positive hit upward. Had Kaberle went to another team as rumoured here on HockeyBuzz like San Jose or Washington, yes he would have been on a better team, but those teams already have a Dan Boyle and Mike Green, so he would have become another player on the power play.
In Toronto Kaberle is still the trigger man on a much improved power play. With a full season with Phaneuf, and a healthy Kessel the power play is already better. If the likes of Kadri and Bozak can continue to develop, this power play has the potential to be top 10 in the NHL (I know, I know pie in the sky) with improved special teams, the Leafs are a better team.
Bottom line is heading into draft day, Kaberle will be rated fairly low on the Yahoo Rankings, in my eyes he is going to be steal, and considering he rarely gets hurt could be the difference come playoff time in March.
He is not a trigger man so much as a setup man. Expect Phaneuf to do the trigger work on th PP.Top 10 PP is not even first quartile, not exactly pie in the sky...
Its not unrealistic at all for the PP to be in the top 10. Remember for a while last season it was hovering around very high in the top ten.