An absoloute monster but yet still not in the NHL and hes not getting any younger, last year I took a huge gamble and used my late first round pick and chose him over Bryan Little thinking maybe he will pan out and be great for Edmonton. I am starting to regret this bigtime now and am not sure if I can still salvage something from that pick. Dont think he has that much value in my keeper pool so I\'m asking is there anything to look forward to with this guy?

By the way before some of you go crazy and think I wasted my only first round pick on a guy like Mikhnov Id just like to say last year I bombed my pool and stocked up big on first round picks and ended up with Niklas Backstrom,Jonathan Toews and Erik Johnson.

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12 Team Keeper Pts Only
F-Backstrom,Getzlaf,E.Staal,St-Louis,B.Richards,Burrows,Semin
Whitney,Giroux,Hartnell,Ju.Williams,Ruutu,Malone,D ubinsky,Hudler,Jagr
D-Edler,Boyle,Byfuglien,Daley,Foster
G-Luongo,Brodeur,Vokoun,Rask,Hedberg

F- Crosby,Malkin,Marleau,Krejci,Neal,Tavares,Fillipul a,Stafford.Stepan
Giroux,Fleischmann,Versteeg,Burrows,Ruutu,Jagr,Ber geron,Berglund
D- Keith,Lidstrom,Goligoski,Letang,Phaneuf,Carlson,Ty tuin
G- Luongo,Crawford,Backstrom,Lehtonen

Mikhnov was a perfectly logical pick where you got him, don\'t worry. As you said, you\'d already loaded up, and to take a flyer is completely natural. Mikhnov had the advantage over other guys of actually being pro-ready, and pre-season talk suggested he would be given a lot of ice-time.

However, the problem was that the Oilers didn\'t actually talk to \'MacT\' about it. Mikhnov was instead given a rough ride, playing literally seconds... when he was allowed to play. He was not happy about this, having been promised an opportunity. He went down the AHL, sulked, and then went back home.

Rumours persists that the big man may get a shot next year, and that he\'d be willing to come back to try it. But ultimately, Mikhnov will likely flounder here unless MacTavish is fired- he\'s simply not his kind of player.

Yeah I think he got the raw end of the deal in Edmonton. That being said he wasn\'t exactly the best player on the ice in the AHL either. I\'m hoping to see him get some more ice time next year with the Oilers, though as our Buggy friend said, he just doesn\'t seem to be a Mactavish player (skilled but perhaps some defensive liabilities) and so will likely not get much of a crack.

Man, so true, no wonder Schremp has seen so little ice.

I bet Nilsson\'s preseason ice time is all with Schremp, and it\'ll be make-it or break-it for 2nd line (or Buffalo-style 3rd line), and MacT would be told to manage around it if they showed well. Don\'t ignore the potential value of Pouliot on that line, given his history, but I figure they end up with a different MacT choice if they stick.

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19 tm x 30 plyr, 12F+6D+2G active weekly
8 Rotocats: F-G, F-A, D-G, D-A, Tm PIM, Tm +/-, G-Pts, GAA
0 to 15 keepers (LTC options), auction to 20, draft 10 more
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F: Malkin M.Koivu Ribeiro Benn A.McDonald Hornqvist C.Stewart Gallagher Matthias Beleskey Frolik Zuccarello Loktionov Hendricks Burmistrov Atkinson Sheppard Nyquist Bjugstad
D: Byfuglien Chara Ju.Schultz Josi Myers Brodin Dillon Postma Orlov
G: Price Dubnyk

Don\'t be surprised to see Mikhnov moved over the summer. Lowe is going to do some wheelin\' and dealin\' and if he can\'t sign any UFA\'s then he will trade and an NHL ready guy with Mik\'s hands would be good trade bait.

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GWNHL Fantasy Cup Champs 06-07