ASK SLAM!

By CHRIS NICHOLS -- SLAM! Sports

Hi again, you've given me pretty good advice before so I would just like to see what your take is on this. I'm in a keeper league where we are only aloud to keep three players. 2 from the first 5 draft spots a year ago and anything below that you have to draft that player at a +3 spot. I have I have Iginla and Heatley, which would be my first two picks next year and then I have Spezza that was drafted in the 13th round last year so I can take him in the 10th round. My questions are do you think Spezza will turn into a 90 point player? Also do you think keeping Heatley and Iginla in those top two rounds is worth it? I'm thinking more than only one year ahead also. Thanks.
Adam, Pittsburgh

I can't say for sure without knowing who else your other choices will be, but Iginla and Heatley are each ranked highly on my list. Spezza has delivered in a huge way as a sleeper pick this year and yes, I think he has 90-point potential. That could be a few years away though. Next season we could be looking at 70-75 from him if all goes well and maybe the year after he breaks 80. His talent is for real though and chances are that he'll spend most of his time with Hossa next season.

Hi Chris: I check your site everyday, and am so impressed with your knowledge and insight. What are your thoughts on whether I should grab Alexander Mogilny? Any idea on his potential return date?
Many thanx...

Aw, come on now. Mogilny should be back within the week and the rumor mill has him targeting Saturday. He may not produce right away, but he's absolutely worth grabbing up in most cases.

Hey Chris: The guy in 1st place of my standard Yahoo! H2H league is offering Burke, DiPietro or Nabokov for a "big time scorer" and I have plenty of them and need a goalie (My goalies are Vokoun, Turek, Anderson, and Hedberg). My team consists of Weight, Jokinen, Armstrong, Francis, Scatchard, Arnason at C, Naslund, Tanguay, Maltby, Turgeon at LW and Jagr, Alfredsson, Fedotenko, Kotalik at RW. Which G should I try to get and who do you think would be a fair return? Thanks, and keep up the good work!

I would not be looking to help out the guy in first place. Vokoun is good, but not worth a stud forward. Burke will lose out to Esche in a few weeks. Nabokov has been excellent, but I don't see a lot of depth at your forward positions past the top two at each. So... I'd have a hard time dealing one to get the goalie that may or may not make a difference for your team. My advice: if you want a goalie, trade with a team lower down in the standings.

Hi Chris, you were bang on with the Kipper advice. He just took weekly honors. I like the team I have now but with only so many games left I need players that are producing now. Aucoin has been off the radar. I'm looking at getting Kim Johnsson. I would do a one for one but I know the guy won't do it. His other D are Woolley, Staios, and Malik. He's weak in goal. His goalies are Marc Denis and Tommy Salo. He's heavy on LW with Nagy and Stillman and even Slava Kozlov. So I was thinking of offering him DiPietro. Here's my lineup. What do you think? Your insight, as always, is the best!
Lecavalier, Vincent (C-TB)
Zetterberg, Henrik (LW-Det)
Aucoin, Adrian (D-NYI)
Gonchar, Sergei (D-Was)
Konowalchuk, Steve (LW-Col)
Lang, Robert (C-Was)
Bertuzzi, Todd (RW-Van) RW
Richards, Brad (C-TB)
DiPietro, Rick (G-NYI)
Kiprusoff, Miikka (G-Cgy)
Grahame, John (G-TB)
Esche, Roberts IR (G-Phi)

I'd shop DiPietro around the league to see who needs a goalie. He's been on fire and you can afford to deal him. Kipper and Grahame will be fine for you until Esche gets healthy. I think you should be able to get more than Johnsson for DiPietro, but let's see what's available in your league first.

Chris: I'm really getting killed in the SHP column in my yahoo league. Draper is available as a FA. I have O'Neill, Bondra, Samsonov, and Prospal that I could consider dropping. What should I do?
JL

That's a tough category to target. Given the upside that O'Neill and Bondra have with a possible trade and the fact that Draper is Draper... I'd stand pat.

Chris: A guy offered me Nabokov and Draper for my Amonte and Zhamnov... Should I take it? My league counts Wins and Loses and Saves for goalies, and G,A,P,SOG, FW, PIM for players.

That's a deal I'd take. Nabby is the best player in the deal.

Hi Chris: Your advice has been amazing so far and is helping me make a run in the 2nd half of the season. Having said that, I have Heatley on my roster currently and was wondering if I should drop him for Mogilny. Rumor has it, that Mogilny is returning next week sometime. I could also drop down to 3 defenseman and grab Mogilny (I'd drop Berard). What do you think?
Greg

I would not drop Heatley for Mogilny. Heater has done well lately, but you'll have to endure the +/- for awhile probably. Actually, I'm really surprised his +/- is as bad as it is right now.

Anyway, Berard is still scoring... so you have to gauge your team needs. Mogilny should be up to point-per-game status within a few weeks and should return this weekend.

Hey Chris: You do an awesome job. I have Guerin and Morrison, and there's a guy who wants either one for Modano. I think Modano will rebound, but I'm not willing to bet Guerin on it. But I think Morrison is worth the gamble. But if I trade Morrison I will have two Dallas players which isn't the greatest thing considering we just have 6 forwards able to play instead of LW RW and Centre. But I think I could easily trade Guerin and get another offensive stud in return. What would you do? Thanks

Morrison for Modano is probably an equal gamble. Morrison will get points playing between Naslund and Bertuzzi and Modano is Modano. It's a toss-up for me, so go with your favorite player between the two.

Hey Chris , before I start I should thank you for telling me to be patient with Vinnie ... he's single handedly saving my team right now ... I'm in a big money points only pool and I'm curious on your opinion if I can gain 19 pts on the first place team with the one I have now? mine (Hejduk, Lecavalier, Shanny, Schneider, Lang, Walker, Chara, Koivu, Rucchin, Foote, Kapanen, Perreault, de Vries, Dumont, Donovan and daze on the IR) his (Bertuzzi, Morrison, Kovalchuk , Oates, St. Louis, Mellanby, Sopel, Markov, Holik, Zednik, Bergeron, Zidlicky, Chistov, Fata and Visnovsky on IR) if you think his team is better where do you think my weakness is on my team ... thanks again,
Ken, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Rucchin, Kapanen, Perreault are guys I'd look to replace, but it depends on what is available in your league. You could certainly catch him, but it all depends on who you could grab via free agency.

Chris: Thanks a lot buddy; I'm now in first place after a torrid campaign. However, in a desperate attempt to pick up a RW, I traded Lecavalier for Bondra. Good decision? Lecavalier's stud stats lately indicate the answer to that is no. But, now I guess RW Mogilny will be available this weekend to play. Would you suggest that I pick him up from free agents in exchange for Bondra? Or my other RW's, Dumont or Satan?

Ouch. That was a horrible trade. You wuz robbed there. I'd drop Bondra for Mogilny for sure.

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