I'd say that one of Merrill/Gelinas has as good of a chance at getting first PP honors in NJ over Larsson as Barberio does of getting that in TB over Hedman. The wild card is Matt Carle of course, but overall I think that TB will score way more goals than NJ for the foreseeable future (especially with Parise gone) so I go with Hedman. It is close though.

Wouldn't say Larsson has any less of competition for icetime in NJ, be it PP or ES, then Hedman in TB. Beyond the over priced Carle, who is Hedman competing with? Hedman is very young and has 3 NHL seasons under his belt. Yzerman & company are still very high and very confident in Hedmans talent/projection and he will be given plenty of opportunities to continue to evole his offensive abilities.

Remember, dmen take a little while to mature...especially big bodied dmen. I expect Larsson to take an almost identical path as Hedman has so far. Fantasy wise, Hedman should have more value in virtually all league formats, seeing as he has chances of becoming a decent fantasy contributor sooner than Larsson will. Both players project similar paths, as no. 1 dmen, with Hedman having an edge in size and skating and Larsson having the better shot.

Also like to add that Barberio has a long ways to go before he would take away any of Hedmans icetime. Barberio is a decent prospect, one I am excited about, but w/ tempered expectations. Wouldnt worry about Gelinas or Merrill taking Larssons icetime either, not realistic, especially anywhere in the near future.

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Stamkos was asked today in Tampa how he can top last season:
"Well, get into the playoffs. That's the big key and that's our goal here."

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