Most underrated player by team (Western Conference)

[yave1964]

Except for Arizona who I mind numbingly cramped up and put in the East.

 

ANAHEIM: hampus Lindholm is silky smooth on the back end and always in the top five or so in plus minus, never makes a mistake in his own zone with the puck. Honest to god I think he looks like a young Lidstrom but nobody notices.

 

CALGARY: Kris Russell. A shot blocker unparalleled, when Giordano went down he saved Calgary's season by showing he had offensive skills as well that had never been tapped.

 

CHICAGO Ryan Garbutt is a gutsy hard hitting forward who plays the pest role to perfection, after toiling in Dallas now that he is in Chicago his game will make him well known.

 

COLORADO: JohnMitchell. Solid two way forward, plays the gritty minutes, faceoffs in his own zone against teams top lines and more than holds his own.

 

DALLAS: Cody Eakin. Set career highs with 19 goals and 40 points and is one of the few Dallas forwards that when you mention backchecking who doesnt have to grab a dictionary to look up what it means.

 

EDMONTON: Anton Lander. Nearly written off as a non prospect he worked his tail off and now is a solid middle six center with upside.

 

LOS ANGELES: Alec Martinez. No flash to his game, the finess d-man simply clears the puck from his zone with a crisp first pass and is seldom out of position.

 

MINNESOTA: Marco Scandella. Hard hitting d-man who has a surprisingly hard and accurate shot, absolutely fearless on the ice and makes you keep your head on a swivel.

 

NASHVILLE: Craig Smith. Consistent with 24 and 23 goals over the past two years, a natural goal scorer who may push 30 goals this season.

 

SAN JOSE: Justin Braun. Gets absolutely zero press out in San Jose but is a very nice puck moving guy on the back end whois still growing into his role.

 

St. LOUIS: Dmitrij Jaskin. I watched this kid a few times last year, in a limited role his offensive potential seemed to be ready to burst forth, he is taking Oshie's spot this year and 25 to 30 goals seem a lock. a breakway a night player.

 

VANCOUVER: Bo Horvat. Brought along slowly last season, like Jaskin in St. Louis look for him to burst onto the scene as a force this season, Horvat gets no pub playing out West but is a top tier center just waiting to happen.

 

WINNIPEG: Mathieu Perreault. Line him up at center, put him on the wing, 4th line, top line anywhere in between, kill penalties, put him on the power play. He does anything they ask of him and most importantly he does it well.

 

 

 

 

 

[jammer2]

@yave1964  As far as the Jets go, I have a dead heat tie between Perreault and Drew Stafford....Drew just exudes class and leads by example, a great teammate if there ever was one.

[yave1964]

@yave1964  As far as the Jets go, I have a dead heat tie between Perreault and Drew Stafford....Drew just exudes class and leads by example, a great teammate if there ever was one.

I mentioned to our resident Jet fan that he would love Stafford, his teammates seem to respect him, he is good copy in the papers and in interviews he does not come across like a slug, he is insightful and funny and looks like he cares about the game. Love the guy. Perreault has taken forever to get established, kind of the Tony Phillips of Hockey, I know you will get that one. Coaches always seemed to tinker with Perreault and he finally found one who quit trying to find a role for him and just plugs him in wherever there is a need knowing he will do a great job.

[jammer2]

@yave1964  I had Perreault in fantasy hockey for most of the past season. When he went down, my secondary scoring really suffered, never really found a suitable replacement.

[jammer2]

@yave1964  Another guy who never gets mentioned, but just plays his heart out is Lance Bouma of the Flames. That guy hits everything that moves....ditto for Tommy Wingles on the Sharks, love his never say die attitude.