By Ray Flowers
July 27, 2009 4:13pm CDT

Afinogenov Unwanted?
In 2005 the Sabres shifty Russian born winger Maxim Afinogenov was producing the best numbers of his NHL career with 51 assists and 73 points. He then followed up that effort with a career best 23 goals the next season on his way to 61 points in just 56 games. Alas, his work the past two seasons has made him look like a completely different player as he has scored 16 goals and handed out 32 assists over his last 104 games. With his stock at an all time low he is still looking for a place to skate in the coming season. He could return to the 20-goal level and offer plenty of points if he is healthy, provided he can convince someone to give him 15 minutes of ice-time a game. Don't forget his name - in the right situation he becomes a nice sleeper.


Morris to Bruins
Shoring up their blue line, the Bruins signed veteran Derek Morris to a 1-year deal for about $3.3 million. This move was needed after the Bruins sent Aaron Ward to the Carolina in exchange for forward Patrick Eaves. "We are very excited to have him on board," GM Peter Chiarelli said. Morris is a "right shot defenseman who has considerable offensive skills." It can't be argued that (a) Morris doesn't have offensive skills, or (b) that a move to Boston isn't a huge boost for him, but does that make him fantasy relevant? The easy answer is yes, it certainly does. However, it should also be pointed out that Morris has produced 45 points the last two seasons, hardly enough to draw much excitement. Still, he figures to make a passable 5th defensemen in most fantasy leagues, especially if the Bruins can get their forward group healthy to score off the passes fed to them by Morris.


Lehtonen Has Surgery
The Thrashers' Kari Lehtonen had surgery to fix a herniated disc in his back. The club anticipates him recovering fully, and quickly, from the procedure. "We expect him back on the ice by the start of training camp or shortly after," Thrashers spokesman Rob Koch said. Lehtonen signed a one year deal in the offseason to return to the club, and at this point it is far from clear that he will end up as the club's top option in net. Youngster Ondrej Pavelec (6-10, .890 save percentage in 19 career games) is believed to be in position to contend with Lehtonen for work in net, and if Kari has even a minor setback in his recovery that could open the door just far enough for Pavelec, the club's second round selection in 2005, to receive ample work in net.


Predators Thinking Offense
With Steve Sullivan finally over his back woes, the Preds are heading into the upcoming season hoping to have a fully healthy top line of Jason Arnott, J.P. Dumont and Sullivan. "At forward, we're going to be much improved,'' general manager David Poile said. "The reason is that we're going to have our first line intact for the whole season … and that's something we didn't have last year."

None of the three really have the cache that they deserve, but that doesn't mean they should be overlooked on draft day.

Arnott has scored at least 21 goals in each of the past 10 campaigns and is coming off a season of 33 goals and 57 points in just 65 games. After the All-Star break last year he recorded 18 goals and 10 assists in just 25 games on the ice as one of the hottest scorers in the league.

Dumont has recorded at least 65 points in each of his three years in Nashville, and even though he is coming off three year lows in goals (16) and plus/minus (+1), he was very consistent last season with 34 points before the All-Star break and 31 after it. Given that he played 10 fewer games after the break it's clear that his scoring rate picked up toward the end of the year, a fact that bodes well heading into 2009.

Sullivan's case is one of him finally being healthy enough to play (his back has been a huge issue). With 32 points in 41 games last season Sullivan provided a nice waiver-wire boost, and he pretty dynamic the last month and a half of the year with seven goals and 12 assists in 19 games. Dating back even further, to the start of his run with the Predators, Sullivan has 190 points (73g, 117a) in 191 games with the club. Yeah, that's a point-per-game pace folks.

These three might not top your fantasy draft board on draft day, but each fully deserve to be drafted, and counted on, in the coming season.


Jason Spezza Married
Just an indication of how slow the news is on Monday.


Wheeler - Buffed
Blake Wheeler's agent claims that his client has added about seven lbs of muscle to his 210 lbs frame, or about half of what punters claim to add in the offseason in the NFL. Whether the extra weight will do him much good is debatable (it shouldn't hurt), but after a rookie season that included 21 goals, 46 points and a +36 mark, it's great news to hear that Wheeler is so dedicated to continue his ascent at the NHL level. Even if the club re-signs Phil Kessel they will need Wheeler to step up given the fact that Kessel is likely out of action, possibly until December, after shoulder surgery. Also, don't forget that David Krejci is also coming back from hip surgery meaning that Wheeler will likely get major minutes, at least early on, as the Bruins attempt to get all their weapons back on the ice.

A late note. P.J. Axelsson will play in Sweden the next four seasons as the Boston Globe is reporting that he has signed a 4-year deal to return to play in his homeland. A defensive specialist, he recorded 30 points in 75 games last season.


Williams Looking for a Home?
It appears that Jason Williams will not be back with the Blue Jackets since the club is being really tight with their money. Williams wasn't great last season with 18 goals and 47 points, but his play did improve substantially when he joined the Jackets with 12 goals and 29 points in just 39 games on the ice. Wherever he ends up it would be wise to count against him picking up at that scoring pace this season since whichever team he joins likely won't given him the type of quality of ice-time that he registered in Columbus.

In other Jackets news, the rumor that is gaining steam is that Sergei Zubov might join the club to be reunited with former coach Ken Hitchcock. Given that the team had only one defender who recorded more than 25 points last season (Fedor Tyutin had 34), the match seems like a nice fit. If Zubov is willing to take an incentive laden deal, something he must do after appearing in only 10 games last season and 46 the year before, the deal could get worked out. Even if Zubov doesn't sign with Columbus don't overlook him late on draft day because the man would likely be able to run a power-play from a wheelchair. He clearly isn't someone you should count on, but even a modicum of health should allow him to be effective enough to produce points at a fairly solid clip for a blue liner.


Did You Know?

With 528 shots on goal last season that Alexander Ovechkin became just the second man in league history to fire more than 500 pucks on a goalie in a single season? The all-time single season record was set by Phil Esposito with 550 during his career year of 1970-71. Espo scored 76 times on his way to 152 points, and though it was a different era those scoring totals actually dwarf the numbers posted last year by Ovechkin (56 goals and 110 points).