Bryzgalov Back, Stamkos Out

Because Ilya Bryzgalov happened to sign in Edmonton, you may have seen this clip dragged from the archives about his thoughts on the snow and cold there by now.

But it's a coincidence that on the same weekend that I took my son to the space centre, Ilya Bryzgalov has finally found a team, since I think this clip is actually his greatest hit and thanks to 24/7, what put him on the map as the league's flakiest goalie.

The past two seasons, however, Flyers fans and Bryzgalov owners haven't had anything to laugh about, as Bryzgalov failed to meet the pressure cooker expectations of his nine-year, $51 million contract. Speaking of contracts, those in a salary cap or auction format would have probably issued contracts relative to the one that the Flyers issued. For example, one league member paid $10 million on a four-year contract for Bryzgalov's services back in 2010 (which I am assuming was bought out - I couldn't find the information on that, though). When news of his Edmonton signing broke, I bid (and won) Bryzgalov for $750,000 on a one-year contract. There's a major difference in expectations between paying $10 million for something and paying $750,000 for something.

With that in mind, fantasy owners should take a flyer on Bryzgalov because there is not much to lose by doing so. At worst, he will be a timeshare option for the Oilers alongside the struggling Devan Dubnyk (3.92 GAA, .876 SV%). I am not naïve enough to suggest that Bryzgalov will save the Oilers' season. In fact, he could struggle even more than he did in Philly, given the Oilers' "junior hockey style of play" (according to Lars Eller). But also remember that he is not far off from some successful years in Phoenix; in fact, he averaged a 2.40 GAA and a .920 SV% in his last two seasons there. In other words, when making fantasy hockey roster decisions, look at the entire picture, not just what happened recently.

Switching gears, Steven Stamkos' broken leg on Monday will be a devastating blow for Lightning fans, his fantasy owners, and even possibly Team Canada. Can a broken tibia heal in three months, which is when the Olympics will start? If you take the word of Tampa Bay Rays orthopedist Koco Eaton, Stamkos won't be ready for the Olympics and could even be out for the season.

Rays team orthopedist Koco Eaton says, generally, rehab from surgery to repair a broken tibia can be as long as 6 to 9 months.
— Damian Cristodero (@LightningTimes) November 11, 2013

With that in mind, I'm going to provide my two cents' worth. In Grade 9 (ninth grade to my American readers), I fractured the exact same bone as Stamkos (on the same leg too!) in gym class playing soccer (a sport that I never played much nor was ever particularly good at). I had surgery that day, was in a cast for nearly two months, and was advised not to participate in gym class for three months (yay, got to miss square dancing!) Unless Stamkos' fractured tibia is worse than mine (or unless this uberfit NHLer is a slower healer than a skinny teenager), then in my estimation he would be back on skates within three months, given the medical technologies that an NHL team would possess in order to fast track their star player back into the lineup. Of course, I'm no doctor and my name is not Will Carroll, but I hope my experience will give us an idea on what Stamkos will face. For the NHL's sake, let's hope he is back on the ice soon.

In the meantime, his owners will have to make do somehow. The bad news is that there is no one on the waiver wire that will replicate Stamkos' production. The good news is that the center position is the deepest in all of fantasy hockey, so there's a good chance there's at least a player or two on your waiver wire that are fantasy roster ready. One such center who should benefit from Stamkos' absence is Valtteri Filppula, who is owned in less than half of Yahoo leagues (but owned in about two-thirds of CBS leagues). With 23 minutes of icetime in Monday's game against Boston, Filppula has already proven that he stands to receive the top-line minutes with Martin St. Louis. With 12 points in 17 games, Filppula should already be owned in most leagues, but you'll want to grab him right away if he isn't owned in yours.