Fantasy Watch: Buy/Sell

BUY

F Matt Cullen, Carolina Hurricanes
It may be too late to acquire the former New York Ranger, but there may be a slim chance of getting the forward for nothing if he is available on your league's waiver wire. Cullen had fallen off many fantasy boards this past season, as his performance with New York last year was one to forget. Scoring only 41 points in 81 games, Cullen never lived up to his potential last year, but has re-earned a position on fantasy rosters with an impressive start to this season. Scoring 17 points in 14 games, Cullen has established himself as a reliable forward and even with Carolina's surplus of talent, the winger should be able to score 65+ points this year.

F Marian Hossa, Atlanta Thrashers
Hossa has been a huge disappointment this year, scoring only six points in 12 games. Although it's unlikely that owners will give up on Hossa so early in the season, they're some who may want to cut their losses and move on. If you can obtain the former Ottawa Senator then do so now, as his value will probably not get any lower. Hossa is more than likely to get hot again and put up all-star numbers. Also, his value is bound to skyrocket if Atlanta trades him to a contender. Look for Hossa to finish the season strong.

F Milan Michalek, San Jose Sharks
Michalek enjoyed a career year last season, scoring 66 points in 78 games. Playing with Joe Thornton made Michalek a coveted player this year, but his stats have not reached expectations so far. Scoring only eight points this year, Michalek is off to a rather slow start and has probably been benched in most leagues. Although it might not look wise to pick up the struggling forward, it should be noted that Thornton too, is a slow starter. Once Thornton gets things going, expect Michalek's points to increase, making him a coveted player once again.

SELL

F Nik Antropov, Toronto Maple Leafs
Antropov has had a fantastic year thus far, scoring 16 points in 16 games. Although it looks as if the forward is in store for a career year, this may not be the case. Antropov had a similar start to last year's season, scoring 10 points in his first 16 games. Regrettably, Antropov hit a bit of bad luck and went down with an injury. Although he came back later on in the season, Antropov was never able to put up points at a high pace and only finished the year with 18 goals and 33 assists. Owners of the fragile forward may want to ship him off sooner than later, as his stock is the highest its ever been.

F Jeff Hamilton, Carolina Hurricanes
Hamilton has started off this season on fire, scoring four goals and 12 points in 15 games. He has been a pleasant surprise to the Carolina squad early on, but should return to his normal second/third line forward as the season goes on. Although Hamilton has produced, Carolina has several other talented players who can easily take the spotlight away from him. Those who capitalized on Hamilton's fast start should trade him immediately and try and obtain a proven scorer.

F Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings
Brown was probably the top waiver wire pick up in the first week of the season, as he scored four points in his first three games. Since then, Brown has signed a multi-year contract with Los Angeles, but hasn't had the same success, as he has only six points in his last 12 games. Those who pounced early on the fourth year player, may want to trade him sooner rather than later, as his stock is most likely going downward.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis

EURO CURVE

Euro Curve takes a look at the latest international hockey headlines.

EURO NIGHT IN CANADA?

- Tonight's feature game between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. ET on Hockey Night in Canada on CBC, showcases a myriad of international talent.
Forget the fact that both captains are Scandinavian (Saku Koivu-Finland, Mats Sundin-Sweden)- or that both No.1 goalies are European (Vesa Toskala-Finland, Cristobal Huet-France), the drama lies in the young international talent. Nik Antropov, Andrei Kostitsyn, Mikhail Grabovski, Tomas Plekanec, Alexander Steen, Alexei Ponikarovsky.
Perhaps the most intriguing of all players in this game is Jiri Tlusty, the 2006 1st rounder (13th overall) who has three points in four games with the Maple Leafs. He has looked extremely confident since being recalled due to a rash of injuries to the Toronto foward corps. Enjoy the game, as the end result will undoubtedly have a Euro Curve.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Ezra Ginsburg.

Morning Musings

Here are the national mornings papers:

• With the whole Rick Tocchet issue coming to a close yesterday, Eric Duhatschek says that Gary Bettman has avoided a nightmare.
• Stephen Brunt of the Globe & Mail believes Rick Tocchet did the NHL a favor by pleading out and not taking his case to court.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today believes that Don Waddell may be the best choice to coach the Thrashers.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Thrashers had a furious third period rally but their play in the first two periods put them in too deep of a hole and they were defeated by Ottawa 6-4. While all the talk surrounding the Thrashers concerns Marian Hossa's contract coming up on free agency, no one is talking about captain Bobby Holik also hitting free agency this summer.
• Claude Julien wants the Bruins to play to win, not to play not to lose and that strategy paid off last night in the Bruins 4-3 overtime victory over Buffalo. With Patrice Bergeron out of the lineup, the Bruins are attempting to replace their best all-around player by committee.
• Ryan Miller was outplayed by Tim Thomas and the Sabres were defeated by the Bruins in Boston 4-3.
• The NHL will be reviewing a couple of diving calls that went against the Hurricanes in their game Wednesday at Florida writes Lorenzo Perez.
• Olli Jokinen isn't sure why he plays better at home than on the road but the Panthers need him to make sure he brings his game up a notch away from home as they have the majority of their games on the road in November. In other Panthers' news, Richard Zednik is looking more like his former self writes Mike Phillips of the Miami Herald.
• The Habs had a dominating effort last night over the Flyers defeating them 5-2 writes Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette. After seeing the Flyers resort to violent play late in last night's contest, Hickey wonders if the team's recent violent acts are maybe a product of the way they always play.
• The Devils have been very happy with the play of rookie David Clarkson writes Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger. Mark Everson of the NY Post wonders if Brent Sutter's attempts to motivate his star forward Patrik Elias may turn out to be quite risky.
• The Capitals were snakebitten in New York last night, but all the credit has to go to Henrik Lundqvist who was brilliant in shutting out the Caps 2-0.
• The Rangers have played shutdown defensive hockey pretty much all season now points out John Dellapina in this morning's NY Daily News. Larry Brooks of the NY Post thinks everyone is foolish if they try and decide who the leader of the Rangers is and leave Lundqvist out of the equation.
• The Senators completely dominated the Thrashers for the first two periods and hung on to win 6-4 on the back of Daniel Alfredsson's four point night. Bruch Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun believes whomever loses out on the Peter Forsberg sweepstakes will make an attempt to obtain Marian Hossa from the Thrashers.
• Ed Moran of the Philadelphia Inquirer has the details of a recent meeting between Flyers' GM Paul Holmgren and Peter Forsberg.
• The Penguins blew a 2-0 lead on the road last night in Colorado, falling to the Avalanche 3-2. Former Penguins' defenseman Paul Coffey has been voted into the team's Hall of Fame.
• Ruslan Fedotenko made his former squad regret letting him leave via free agency as he had one of the four tallies in the Islanders' 4-0 victory over the Lightning.
• With Bryan McCabe on the shelf, the Leafs' have made Nik Antropov one of their alternate captains. Both Kyle Wellwood and Mark Bell will accompany the Leafs on their upcoming road trip. Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun is reporting that the Leafs looks like they will finally be getting the go-ahead to build their new practice rink.

The Western Conference morning papers are soon to follow...

• Last night's 3-0 loss to the Predators marks the first time the Canucks have been three games under .500 since the 2001/02 season writes Brad Zeimer of the Vancouver Sun. Not only did the Canucks lose the game but they lost both Sami Salo and Kevin Bieksa to injuries.
• Derek Boogard only served the motivate the Blues last night as they defeated the Wild 3-2 in St. Paul. Brad Boyes is continuing his terrific play for the Blues and is showing no signs of letting up. It looks like rookie defenseman Erik Johnson will be ready to return to the St. Louis lineup this weekend.
• It has not taken Sharks' rookie Devon Setoguchi long to make an impact for the Sharks up front.
• Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic has the details behind Rick Tocchet's eligibilty to return from league suspension.
• Predators' netminder Dan Ellis shutout the Canucks 3-0 last night and looks to be making a hard charge after Chris Mason's job.
• Jacques Lemaire said the top line of Koivu-Gaborik-Demitra was the team's best by a country mile in their 3-2 loss to the Blues; however, the rest of the team can play a lot better. According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, expect rookie James Sheppard to see his ice-time increase.
• Kyle Calder will be out of the Kings lineup indefinitely with a fractured thumb.
• The Oilers' brass is talking about Fernando Pisani's return in weeks and months as opposed to if he'll come back at all writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun. In other Oilers' news, Robert Nilsson is going to try his best to stay up with the big-club this go-around. Defenseman Matt Greene will be out of the lineup for three months but says the injury could have been a lot worse.
• The Wings swept through their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 record, marking the first time they have done that since the Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary. Wings' forward Johan Franzen is okay after taking a shot to the head from teammate Brett Lebda.
• In Dallas, Dave Tippett is challenging Dallas' stars to be better writes J.J. Taylor of the Dallas Morning News.
• The Blue Jackets were defeated by the Ducks in arguably the most physical hockey game played in the 2007/08 season.
• The Chicago Tribune's Chris Kuc gets the inside look at the mundane non-hockey life of rooke Patrick Kane.
• The return of Mathieu Schneider not only solidified the Ducks defense, but also gave them the shootout victory as Schneider was the lone player from either side to convert his shootout attempt.
• Jarome Iginla thinks the Flames "over-respected" the Wings last night in his team's 4-1 loss. "We tried to beat the Detroit Red Wings by playing like the Red Wings," said Flames' defenseman Robyn Regehr.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Fantasy Watch: Scouring the Waiver Wire

Every year, several 'no name' players breakout and finish the year among the league's best. Taking a look at who those breakout stars could be, here are four players that are probably available on your league's waiver wire:


F Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals

Brought in this past year by the Capitals, Kozlov has registered a point in each of Washington's three games, scoring two goals and one assist. Playing on the top line with Alexander Ovechkin boosts Kozlov's fantasy value significantly, as Ovechkin can make any player into a fantasy stud (see Chris Clark 06-07' season). A proven goal scorer (Kozlov netted 25 goals with the Islanders last year), Kozlov may reach the 60 point plateau, but only if he can stick around on
Washington's #1 scoring line for the remainder of the year.

F Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings

After scoring only 28 points in his second year in the league, Brown made a huge leap last year, increasing his point total by 18. Entering his fourth year in the league, Brown has been given more ice time, as well as better linemates. Playing on a line with Anze Kopitar, Brown has already tallied two goals and two assists (both goals were assisted by Kopitar). Looking to make the playoffs this year, L.A. will need another strong season from Brown, who should eclipse the 20 goal mark for the first time in his young career.


F Nik Antropov, Toronto Maple Leafs

Since he was drafted in 1998, Antropov has always been a legitimate goal scorer, but has had a reoccurring problem with staying healthy. Never completing a full 80 game season in his career, Antropov appeared in 54 games last season, scoring 18 goals and 33 points. Off to a hot start this season, Antropv may be able to surpass his career high of 45 points, as he has scored three points in three games while playing alongside Mats Sundin. If he can stay off the IR, expect Antropov to record around 55 points.

F Ruslan Fedotenko, New York Islanders

Playing with a new team this year, Fedotenko has scored one goal and four assists in his first three games. After spending several years in Tampa Bay playing on the second and third lines, Fedotenko has been featured on New York's top line, playing alongside Mike Comrie. Although Fedotenko's fast start won't hold up, the forward should be good for at least 40 points.


For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis