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Day three saw the
first premium winger go. The others can't be far behind:
Bill Guerin
– winger
–
signs with Dallas Stars
Even though Stars owner Tom Hicks personally visited Guerin at his home,
with a DVD in hand of how great it is to live in Dallas, it wasn't until the
Stars flashed the big money on the table that Guerin agreed to head for Big
'D'. Singing a reported 5 year, $45 million dollar deal (about $4.5 of that
deferred until he retires) Guerin will have the pleasure of patrolling the
right side for either
Pierre Turgeon or
Mike Modano. What Guerin brings to the Stars is a younger, quicker and
tougher version of
Brett Hull. He has a nose for the net, a quick release and the size not
to be intimidated in front of the opposition's goal. Guerin will see prime
ice time, lots of PP time and be expected to score - which is something that
was almost discouraged under former head coach Hitchcock's regime. The Stars
will expect another 40 + goal performance, and under new Stars coach,
Dave Tippett, that seems to be a strong possibility. With Guerin's
signing, expect the other big wingers to go quickly as well.
Fantasy Impact: Guerin has bagged 40 goals in each of his last two
seasons. Expect that again, as he will play with some premiere players in
either
Mike Modano or
Pierre Turgeon. Guerin's arrival should see a dramatic increase in
Turgeon's stats as well. The odd man out may be
Jason Arnott, who will have to play either the left side with Modano or
the right side with Hwhatever center Guerin doesn't play with. Of course,
the Stars may just move Turgeon too, and free up the #2 pivot for Arnott as
well. There is likely to be a period of adjustment for Guerin, but 40 goals
and 75 points is not out of the question.
Randy McKay
–
winger –
signs with Montreal
Looking to address a need for added size and grit, the Montreal Canadiens
went out and signed
Randy McKay to a two year deal. McKay had only 18 points last season,
after tallying at least 40 points in the previous 4 seasons with the New
Jersey Devils and briefly, the Dallas Stars. The Montreal native will be
expected to supply a little more offense than he did last year, but his grit
and determination are what the Habs are really hoping he'll add to the team.
He'll likely play the left wing on one of the top two lines in Montreal, or
the right side on likely the third line behind
Donald Audette and newly acquired
Mariusz Czerkawski.
Fantasy Impact: McKay should return to better form this year, but
remember that he is 35 years old and there are a lot of miles on the McKay
machine. We think 15 goals and 30 points is a decent expectation - but much
depends on how he adjusts to playing on the left side for the first time in
years. He won't see much PP time if he stays on the right wing which will
affect his points. For owners of
Oleg Petrov beware - McKay's arrival may force Petrov to the left side
as well.
Philippe Boucher
– defense
–
signs with Dallas
After setting career highs in goals (7) and points (30), Philippe Boucher
has signed a four year deal with the Dallas Stars for a reported $9.5
million. Boucher, has grown into a steady, reliable defenseman with some
offensive upside. New coach,
Dave Tippett, is very familiar with Boucher's skills and development -
having been his assistant coach for the past three years in L.A.
Fantasy Impact: Boucher brings another hard, right-handed shot to the
Stars now very potent PP. He'll share ice time with Zubov and Sydor in front
of him, but should produce another 9 goals and 30 points with a big increase
in +/-. He may be a sleeper d-man in your pool.
Luke Richardson
– defense
–
signs with Columbus
Signing a 4 year, $11 million dollar deal for
Luke Richardson gives the Columbus Blue Jackets the rugged defenseman to
replace the void of traded-at-the-deadline-last-year,
Lyle Odelein. Richardson will get lots of icetime with the Blue Jackets
and likely got the best monetary deal from the Blue Jackets as most other
larger teams would not commit to that term or those dollars for an older
defensive defenseman .
Fantasy Impact: Not a lot - 7 points and likely a -3 for the still
improving Blue Jackets.
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