Posted by Tim Kavanagh
Although another loss on Sunday keeps the
Atlanta Thrashers in the thick of the "John Tavares Sweepstakes" -- i.e. the race for the league's worst record heading into next summer's draft -- Philips Arena is also home to one of the league's hottest lines at the moment. And, as you already know if you've been following the Thrashers' box scores, it's not the trio that includes
Ilya Kovalchuk.
Aptly enough given their location, Atlanta has a TBS line in Todd White, Bryan Little and Slava Kozlov, and in this case it's not just a destination for "Family Guy" reruns and playoff baseball. In spite of the team going 2-4 in its past six games, the TBS linemates have a combined 23 points: White has three goals and three assists, Little has seven goals and one assist, and Kozlov has one goal and eight assists.
Little, who was the No. 12 overall pick in the 2006 draft, has added the "Tomas Holmstrom" power-play role to his repertoire, and by fighting in front of the net he's been able to score on rebounds and tap-ins by being a step quicker than the defense. "It's not so much his size, but his slinkiness to get away from the boxing-out of the D," coach John Anderson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and this furtiveness has yielded four power-play goals in the past six games. Given Little's pace of one point for every three games as a rookie last season, expectations were very low for the Edmonton native; but he's already nearly doubled last season's 16 points with 30 in just 36 games, and his current goal-scoring streak has put him at No. 14 on the ESPN Player Rater for the last 15 days. The OHL's former runner-up for "Smartest Player" and "Hardest Worker" is owned in slightly more than half of ESPN leagues now, and for those who need some scoring help -- especially on the power play -- Little can fill that big role.
As for the two veterans on the line, both are easily out-pacing anyone's preseason projections. Kozlov, who has more than 1,000 NHL games under his belt, saw his production drop from a career-high 80 points in 2006-07 to just 41 in 2007-08, in spite of playing one more game during the latter season. For most fantasy clairvoyants, this signified the beginning of the end, and another disappointing season was expected; however, last season looks more like the aberration now, as Kozlov's recent four-assist night has helped to bring him back to the verge of a point-per-game pace with 34 points in 35 contests. If you can afford to punt the plus-minus category a bit, a point per game can help out any team's left wing corps. Last but not least, given his recent eight-game scoring streak, is White. His current pace of 32 points through 36 games extrapolates to a 73-point season, which would smash his career-best of 60 that he earned playing for the powerhouse 2002-03 Sens team that came within one game of the Stanley Cup finals. It'd be foolish to expect that kind of output, given White's scoring history and the durability issues that have arisen with him since 2003-04, but if this line continues to produce I suppose anything's possible. White is more available as a free agent than the other members of the TBS line, and all three can be valuable in fantasy even as the Thrashers continue to get thrashed by the rest of the league.
Ice Chips
AP Photo/Gregory Smith
Manny Fernandez started his 16th game Sunday, only five fewer than the Bruins' No. 1 goalie, Tim Thomas.
The latest team to down the Thrashers was Boston, and Phil Kessel continues his mastery of hockey as he picked up goal No. 22 on the season, good for fourth in the league. It was Manny Fernandez looking strong in goal again for the Bs -- the lone goal against was credited to Mr. Little, but in fact deflected in off of Bruins defenseman Matt Hunwick -- and that sound you hear is the groan of thousands of Tim Thomas fantasy owners realizing that a 50-50 timeshare continues to be a reality, not some dystopian vision of the future. … While the Thrashers are at least showing a little life on the ice, the Senators continue their pointless parade. Curtis Sanford was the latest benefactor of the Senators' ineptitude, putting aside the 18 shots he faced to notch his first shutout of the season. With Cory Schneider clearly not yet ready for the big leagues, Sanford remains Vancouver's strongest option in goal and his ratios rank within the teens of the overall league. Given that, he's almost laughably under-owned in ESPN fantasy leagues, available in over 90 percent. … Including the contest against Edmonton during which Teemu Selanne was injured, Bobby Ryan now has eight points in the past six games after tallying the game-winner against St. Louis on Sunday. Ryan also had five shots on goal, and in case you haven't heard any of the other fantasy writers here on ESPN say it within the past week, pick him up now. … For the leagues that count hits, rookie Cal Clutterbuck -- also a member of the NHL All-Names team -- should definitely be on your radar. Although he hasn't been able to make much of a dent in the scoring race -- his goal Sunday against Chicago gives him just four in 29 games played -- he sits in fifth place in the league with 119 registered hits, including four against the Blackhawks. Again, expect to punt away points and ice-time value, but for one-category dominance, there's not many better than Clutterbuck. … Fellow rookie Kris Versteeg added a goal and two assists against Minnesota, pushing him to 29 points in 32 games played and giving him some breathing room in the rookie scoring race ahead of Patrick Berglund and the red-hot Blake Wheeler. Teammate Dustin Byfuglien bested him with two goals and two assists during the game, but Byfuglien is really only valuable in leagues in which he still has eligibility as a defenseman. … Dwayne Roloson -- who might be a separated-at-birth twin to Jeff from "Top Chef" -- backstopped his third straight victory on Sunday as the Oilers turned the Predators into prey. Putting aside the legendary game when he and Mathieu Garon gave up nine goals to Chicago, Roloson has just 11 goals against in his past six starts. Although the hapless Senators come to town Tuesday, the Oilers will then face Calgary and Dallas, both of whom are amongst the top 10 in team scoring. As such, use Roloson or any Oilers goalie with caution during this time. … Is Erik Cole finally done being a drain on the collective psyche of his fantasy ownership? Likely not, but a goal and two assists against Nashville helped anyone that had him active in fantasy. He'll have to be point-per-game for the team's remaining 48 contests to finish near his career-best 61 from 2006-07, but at his current pace will end up with a disappointing 29 points, which begs the question: How is it possible that his ownership percentage is 68.3?
