Fantasy Impact: The Nashville Predators added their best player today. Alexander Radulov, out of the league for three seasons for the greener pastures of the KHL, has been released from his contract by his KHL club. He will now join the Preds for the stretch run - and the postseason.

The Predators get: a player who is probably a Top 20 forward in the world. It's tough to translate KHL success to the NHL, but we've seen Radulov's growing skillset at the NHL level before he left - and he was on track to becoming a Top 20 guy. One can only assume that he's reached that point. But potentially he could be as good as a Top 10 superstar, or a 'bust' that would rank him as low as, say, a Martin Erat-type (that is to say - serviceable, reasonably productive, but not great).

Fantasy Players Impacted: Two forwards are going to see a nice little boost. Which two? That's where the guesswork comes in. I would imagine that Coach Barry Trotz keeps the line of Sergei Kostitsyn, Mike Fisher and Martin Erat together. That would imply that David Legwand and Andrei Kostitsyn are the Lucky 2. At least, those two would get first crack. Craig Smith and Patric Hornqvist are also candidates. Or Radulov could replace Erat, which would make Sergei Kostitsyn and Mike Fisher the Lucky 2. But at this point my money is on Legwand and A.K.

Two players who will definitely see an uptick are defensemen Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. The added goals should notch each of them an extra couple of assists down the stretch.

At this point, the Radulov addition would probably remove Smith from the power play. But he was losing time there anyway. Hornqvist and the Kostitsyn brothers will also see a small reduction in PP time, but I think that would be counteracted by the added PP goals.

Radulov prediction (he is expected to play Thursday against Pittsburgh): 9-6-4-10

A bold prediction to be sure, but Radulov tends to make a splash when an big early impression is needed.

Playoff impact: Playoff pools around the world have just been transformed. Personally, I was targetting Predators regardless. Their trade deadline moves I thought were fantastic, and last year's experience (winning a round) also helps. Now they inject a 40-goal scorer into the mix and that's precisely what they were lacking. Be serious - would you be as quick to take Detroit Red Wings in your playoff pool now? The Red Wings and Predators are on a collision course and the pendulum just swung the other way.

Possible line combos:

Andrei Kostitsyn - David Legwand - Alexander Radulov

Sergei Kostitsyn - Mike Fisher - Martin Erat

Colin Wilson - Paul Gaustad/Craig Smith - Patric Hornqvist

G. Bourque/M. Halischuk - Nick Spaling/Smith - Jordin Tootoo

Brandon Yip

The Healthy Scratch Rotation:

In order of scratch likelihood - Brian MacGrattan, Jack MacLellan, Brandon Yip, Matt Halischuk, Gabriel Bourque, Colin Wilson, Craig Smith

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

1. Radulov

2. Legwand

3. Weber/Suter

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

1. Wilson (depending on scratch situation)

2. Smith (depending on scratch situation)

Comments (15)

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mick said:

	re Bender I agree with Bender. It just sounds so wrong to put a Nashville player into a top ten forward spot.
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March 21, 2012
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Massimo Cinelli said:

re: Bender I don't agree with your list of "top players"... guys like Sharp, Benn, Eberle, Staal, Selanne (at this point in his career), Iginla (again, at this point) are all nice players, but I wouldn't consider them "top players". To answer your question, there are only 6 players who I 100% would want above Radulov right now (Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, Giroux, Stamkos, and Tavares). Maybe 7 (Kovalchuk). So, yes, I see the argument for him as a top 10 player, and certainly as a top 20 guy. But then that's the beauty of fantasy sports - everyone values players differently.

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March 21, 2012
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Mabus said:

	... ...reason #95 to never use Yahoo to manage your pools.
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March 19, 2012
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Bender said:

re: Massimo I look at it this way. Here are 30 names who off and on could be considered the top players: Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, Stamkos, Kovalchuk, Perry, St. Louis, Hossa, Toews, Kane, Datsyuk, H Sedin, D Sedin, Tavaras, Thornton, E Staal, Kopitar, Iginla, Eberle, Benn, Giroux, Selanne, Sharp, Kessel, Neal, Zetterburg, Ryan, Getzlaf, Parise, Spezza. Do you trade any of these guys straight up for Radulov? Now pick your 10 favorites and ask yourself if you every see Radulov getting there after playing in a second rate league for 3 years.

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March 19, 2012
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mick said:

	... I think a better comparison might be Jagr? maybe. Except Radulov is young and shouldn't have as many days on IR. Nothing wrong with being conservative though, it is a different league, and it is Nashville. I would think its safe bet he breaks the 50 point mark and leads Nashville in scoring.
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March 19, 2012
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Massimo Cinelli said:

re: Bender I understand why some would take the conservative approach, but I definitely don't think it's fair to call Dobber's projections as ludicrous. Hudler is not a good comparable player to use when judging Radulov. They are similar only in situation. Talent-wise, though, Rads is leaps and bounds above Hudler. I think a better comparable is Alexei Yashin, who put up 88 points (40 goals, 48 assists) in 2000-01, his first year back after 1 year in Russia. This guy oozes with skill, and is truly one of the most exciting players to watch in the world. Before he left Nashville, I think Dobber had his upside pegged at 120 points. Again, I can understand why someone would take a more conservative approach when projecting Radulov's production given the situation, but I personally think that failing to acknowledge is formidable upside will leave you sleeping at the wheel.

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March 19, 2012
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Bender said:

Optimistic Call me skeptical, but I'm not putting any eggs in the Radulov basket. A player that's been out of the league this long has got to have some sort of re-adjustment period, even if the adrenelin carries him for the next couple weeks (see: Jiri Hudler). Granted, Radulov seems more skilled than Hudler but to automatically grant him a top 20 status is a HUGE stretch and to suggest a top 10 superstar is ludicrous. I would peg his as a 30 goal scorer but definitely not 40 goals. Next year I'd draft him in the 65 point range.

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March 19, 2012
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mick said:

	agreed Nashville will be scary and a solid pick to make the conference finals. Speaking of playoff pools, has anyone checked out the new officepools draft room?
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March 19, 2012
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Thomas Wall said:

Yahoo message regarding Radulov From Yahoo! We appreciate your inquiry with regard to adding Alexander Radulov into the Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey player pool. Due to NHLPA rules, no rookie or player rejoining the league can be added to Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey until after he joins the players union. All players added to the game will be introduced to the player pool via waivers. Rookies and veterans who are not in the game will be added to the available player pool as soon as possible during the season. There is no set timeframe for the addition of new players, so you may not see player additions on the day following their NHL debut. However, the majority of players are added Note: You can find the list of players that have been added to the game by clicking "Players" then " NHL Roster Changes" to navigate to the Added players tab.

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March 19, 2012
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pull the goalie said:

	... I play on CBS and I picked him up in 2 keepers a few weeks to a month ago, thinking a marginal player is worth dropping for Radulov on the chance he returns. That sucks he isnt even available on yahoo so those that could have planned ahead just have to wait in line.
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March 19, 2012
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Ryan said:

	... The Preds play the Oilers on Tuesday, not Thursday. Their opponent on Thursday is the Penguins.
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March 19, 2012
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Username said:

	Paul Gaustad Dobber, It looks as if you forgot to put Gaustad in the lineup. No big deal, though.
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March 19, 2012
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Chris Bieniek said:

	... He shall be on waivers in yahoo when he gets added. I highly doubt that he shall make it to free agent for anyone to snag. So unless you have the top waiver priority or your other GMs are in the dark, you probably won't get him.
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March 19, 2012
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Jeff Sabatine said:

	... Hopefully sometime today.
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March 19, 2012 | url
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jacques oeuf said:

	... anybody got a guess as to when yahoo will make him eligible for pick-up?
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March 19, 2012
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