Sleeper Watch

Last week, the NHL’s worst team, the St. Louis Blues, unloaded their top two scorers before the Olympic roster freeze. Team captain Doug Weight was sent packing to the scorching Hurricanes, who ironically were projected to be the third-worst team in the NHL by Sports Illustrated this preseason. (What do Americans know about hockey anyway?) Another surprisingly strong team, the Nashville Predators, received Mike Sillinger from St. Louis for forward Timofei Shishkanov.

Doug Weight is too well known and on too many fantasy teams right now to qualify as a sleeper, but if he’s not, he would make a good addition to your roster. This article, however, is about Sillinger, the Blues’ second-leading scorer at the time of the trade. The thirty-four-year-old right wing has 188 goals and 439 points in 877 games played for ten different teams over his career, certainly not staggering numbers, but his 42 points this season are by no means shabby. Add to that the fact that he played for a team with virtually no talent, and one begins to become impressed with the statistics.

Now that he is playing for a talent-laden Predator team that loves speed and puck possession, two attributes possessed by Sillinger, it is fair to deduce that his numbers will get even better. In particular, the -18 rating he accumulated in St. Louis should improve rapidly on his new team. He also has the bonus of center/right-wing dual eligibility, and for you face-offs-won fantasy owners, he’s definitely one of the league’s best in that categoy. In his first game as a Predator he chipped in a goal to complement a pair by Scott Walker (another sleeper) and Steve Sullivan’s OT beauty to propel Nashville to a 4-3 win over a solid Avalanche team.

In my opinion, Nashville is going to be the team to beat come playoff time. Tomas Vokoun has been incredible in goal this year, and the additions of Sullivan and Paul Kariya up front have made this offence extremely potent. Walker’s return from injury along with solid defense by Marek Zidlicky and Kimmo Timonen have made Nashville one of the league’s top squads. The addition of Mike Sillinger should further increase the Predators’ overall production as well as the veteran forward’s fantasy value.

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• Mock Entry Draft by Eric Nantel-Smith (posted on 06/14/2006 in Rankings)
• Michel Ouellet by Ryan Moorman (posted on 01/17/2006 in Sleepers)