Buy, Sell, and What the Hell? August Edition

Buy, Sell, and What the Hell?

by

The Arrogant Puck

Hey --Listen up Hosers! Sorry for the long period between columns. The summer caught me off guard and the monkey and llama had a huge fight. Whatever they tell you, don't throw water on them!

BUY

Bobby Ryan (RW) - it appears that someone might have uncovered his grave! Is it possible he is no longer buried alive and will breakout? Hard to say, but he's got the opportunity now with Selanne likely to retire and Penner heading to EDM for big bucks. Grab him early if you are in a keeper league, or trade for him quick.

Josh Harding (G) - I know, I know - two buried alive candidates are becoming buys - such is the life in the new NHL. Josh has a one-way contract, that means it is NHL or bust baby! And with Manny the Head Case traded to Boston, Josh becomes a super buy in keeper leagues. In standard leagues, you must handcuff him to Backstrom - he's possibly the better goaltender. Of course, if someone else drafts Backstrom ahead of you, you can wait and grab Harding later - it is an evil move, and one I endorse fully.

Todd White (C) - Reunited with Marian Hossa? It could easily happen with the lack of talent at this position in ATL. So, White is certainly worth a gamble. Don't pay much for him, since he has shown a history of injuries, but he is worth a late flier gamble.

Eric Belanger (C) - He could end up sandwiched between high end talent like Gaborik and Demitra, however, he's only worth a late flier - don't overpay for him. Lemaire's system is different than most, and the center position is mostly defensive one. However, with wings like that, you have to think there's a decent chance his stats will fly.

Alexander Radulov (RW) - this kid's got goal scorer with PIM tattooed on his biceps, or so I've heard. With the departure of Kariya and others, his time to shine is now. Make a trade for him now if you can.

Sell

Scott Gomez (C) - Paired with Jagr? Yeah! The Rangers are all pumped up. Take advantage of this now and trade Gomez for the most you can. Ride the hype baby! You can do better, all he does is post assists - I'd rather take a late flier on White or Belanger (see above) than take Gomez early in a draft.

Michael Nylander (C) - If some guy in your league loves Semin and/or Ovechkin, then target this guy for a sell high kind of trade. Nylander's stats aren't going to get much better from here and his +/- is going to suffer horribly. I'd sell him for anything you can get at this point.

Sean Avery (C,RW,LW) - sure, this guy is brilliant in NY. However, he had a messy arbitration case and it sounds like he might bolt for greener pastures after this year. He had it so great in NY, and now this. Anyway, keep an ear open on his contract negotions in January. He's worth quite a bit when he's focused and appreciated like he was in NY. But if things sour or he moves on to another team - it is time to sell him for pretty much anything in return.

Chris Mason (G) - Sure, he's the starter in Nashville now. But the team lost a lot of talent and is on skaky ground. If you can get decent value for him, now is the time to move him.

What the Hell?

Phoenix - Using the shotgun approach at filling up their net, they now have Tellqvist, Aebischer, and Auld all competing for the number one spot. This isn't even including the once-promising and now skaky LeNevenue or their new draftee this year Joel Gistedt (who I think will eventually be the #1 unless they trade for Montoya). So, unless you are in an extremely deep keeper league with an extensive farm system, stay away, stay very far away. If you happen to be enough geek to be in a league like that, then you might take Gistedt late. Phoenix is going to stink for a while, so best to stay away from their net unless you have huge injury problems later in the season and you need some starts in net.

Peter Forsberg (C) - At this point in the summer, he's been rumored to be joining every team. What the Hell? Even the great Forsberg can't exist in more than one point in time can he? Unless that's a magically time warping foot they implanted. It makes an interesting story, but in all likelihood he'll make a late season addition for playoff run but won't have much of a fantasy impact this year.

That's it folks, I'm outta here!

The Arrogant Puck has left the arena.