Is this dude healthy?

Or is his ankle/foot too chronic to even consider him anymore?

I keep wondering who the blueline beneficiaries of playing with RNH, Eberle, Hall, and Yak will be... other than Schultz... and won't Schultz experience some rookie-like issues his first year or two?

Anyone remember Karlsson's first full hyped up season? -30 ish, and a two month stretch of no offensive production smack in the middle of the season...

Does anyone smell a 58 point season from Whitney IF he's healthy?

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10 Team H2H Points (Keep 1C, 1W, 1D, 1G, & 1 non-goalie):
G,A,+/-, PIM, PPG, SHG, GWG, OTG, FOWs, Hits, Blks, Maj, Mis, (bonus scoring for D-men makes them comparable to Wing)
Wins, Saves, GA, Shutouts

Daily Start: 2C, 4W, 4D, 2G

C: Toews, Kopitar, Bergeron
W: Parise, Neal, E. Kane, Iginla, Hartnell, Jagr
D: Karlsson (IR), S. Weber, Markov, Ehrhoff, Wideman, Souray, Pitkanen
G: Halak, Niemi, Lehner

He's in the last year of his contract, and considering they won't play more than 48 games this year, I don't see a 58 point season coming.

I don't see him getting re-signed by Edmonton either. He'd need to stay healthy and put up some serious numbers in a shortened season -- and even then, he'd be due for a significant pay cut.

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Points-only, Full Keeper Dynasty League
Active roster (no starts, just total points): 12 FW, 6 D, 1 Goalie

Forwards: Ovechkin, D. Sedin, Stastny, Nash, Kesler, Ribeiro, B. Richards, Selanne, Hossa, Fleischmann, Whitney, Lecavalier, Alfredsson, Okposo, Plekanec, Doan, S. Kostitsyn

Defense: Goligoski, Campbell, Gonchar, Bergeron, Liles, McBain, Vatanen, Timonen, Visnovsky, Giordano, Wideman

Goal: Luongo, Holtby

I think he's done. He still has good size and a good mind for the game but he's really lost his mobility. When he came back last season he was seriously limited in what he can do. The passing, the vision, the shot, it was all there but he was often a liability because he just couldn't move like he used to.

Maybe all this time off is the best thing that could happen to him and he really recovers but I'm sceptical and now that the Oilers are starting to add dynamic offensive defenseman Justin Schultz I don't see where Whitney fits in. He will still get second unit power play time and that second unit could feature Yakupov, Gagner, Hemsky and Smyth so it could still be fantastic but he's not going to be a top unit guy so it'll be tough for him to produce like one.

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I think I'd keep a close eye on him if we do have a season... see if he has some of that old gittyup again.

My guess is he'd be the first pairing partner for the kid... PP or not, top minutes on this squad should produce points for all on ice.

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10 Team H2H Points (Keep 1C, 1W, 1D, 1G, & 1 non-goalie):
G,A,+/-, PIM, PPG, SHG, GWG, OTG, FOWs, Hits, Blks, Maj, Mis, (bonus scoring for D-men makes them comparable to Wing)
Wins, Saves, GA, Shutouts

Daily Start: 2C, 4W, 4D, 2G

C: Toews, Kopitar, Bergeron
W: Parise, Neal, E. Kane, Iginla, Hartnell, Jagr
D: Karlsson (IR), S. Weber, Markov, Ehrhoff, Wideman, Souray, Pitkanen
G: Halak, Niemi, Lehner

I think you are talking about a player whose only maybe 75-80 percent of what he was a few years ago. He's going to play regularly and be somewhat productive when healthy, but he'll probably miss a bit of time and be forced to overcome reduced mobility. However, that doesn't make him an undesirable option. He looked good when paired with Nick Schultz late in the season last year. But if you are looking for Whitney to return to fantasy prominence, you'll likely be disappointed. I think he'll be an effective but replaceable fantasy d-man meant for deep leagues only.

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Mike Schmidt
Follow me on Twitter: @MikeTSchmidt
Check out my fantasy hockey musings: http://soicyhockey.com/

If I could acquire him really cheaply, without having to move or drop anything substantial, I definitely would.

Everyone is assuming that Schultz is going to adjust to the NHL and be productive right away. While I don't disagree with that, there are never any guarantees. If he was to struggle, Whitney (if healthy) would get solid PP1 time which in Edmonton, should be golden.

It is a risk, but with very little ventured, the reward could help land a championship.

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Ultimate Dynasty League
16 Team Dynasty League H2H: G, A, P, PPP, SHP, +/-, PIM, SOG, W, L, GAA, SvPct, SHO

C: Stamkos, Getzlaf, Carter
LW: Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Brown
RW: Iginla, Pavelski, Horton
D: Byfuglien, J.Johnson, Goligoski, Hedman, Hamonic
U: Mueller
G: Schneider, Hiller,
B: E. Johnson, S.Kostitsyn, Neil, Biron, Giguere
IR:
Prospect: Nail Yakupov, Tangradi

__________________________________________________ ___________________________
UHL Dynasty St. Louis Blues
...a bad team trying to rebuild...

Schultz won't be first pairing. He'll probably be third pairing, but first power play. The Corey Potter treatment. That way he gets his feet wet without being able to hurt the team too much but also being able to provide good offense. No doubt they'll use him more as they require more of a spark from the back end and as he gets more comfortable but I suspect Schultz starts third line.

Whitney will be playing in the top four guaranteed but won't be on the top power play so you aren't wrong that he'll get the minutes such that he could produce if the Oilers lineup is truly that explosive.

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In a one year league, if he's on the cheap? All day long.

I like Whitney this year: Zero pressure to return early, lots of offensive weapons to work with, and a contract year. Whitney could surprise...

Don't really see a place for Whitney on your team. But if you could swing a deal with the Whitney owner trading one of your bottom three dmen, while upgrading on the wing or at forward, in a 2 for 2 deal, I would defiantly try for that.

If Whitney is a free agent at the time being, I'd look to swing a 2 for 1 deal, and scoop him up; if no one bites I'd just keep an eye on him and determine whether or not when to pick him up or not to.

I agree with the others in that if you can get him cheap, either via draft or trade it certainly could pay off.

It's a risk and I don't expect too much from him, but could he put up maybe between 30 and 40 points? Definitely possible with all the talent he's around in Edmonton.

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macv@dobberbaseball.com
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Detroit Red Wings coverage
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