I'm not going to get into the All-Star Fantasy Draft analysis cause the whole weekend is a joke, I don't really have any interest in it. Watched the draft, cause I want to see some of the player's personalities (see: rare) and stupid stuff that happens (see: here) but I couldn't give a cat's ass about who gets picked where. I mean Alfredsson & Chara left my boy Logan Couture till the last pick???... who does that???... not cool.

This post over at PPP got me thinking about James Reimer and how you'd be getting in on the ground floor if you picked him up right now as his value is as low as it goes. He's started just once in the Leafs last 11 games and has seen his gaa creep up to 3.01 & his sv% sink to .899. Sure he hasn't seemed the same since the concussion but overall on the season (12 of his 18 games have come post-concussion) his underlying numbers are very solid. His ES sv% is .931 (league average is around .920) and this has been shown to be a better predictor of future performances than overall sv%. His SH sv% is a horrid .771 (league average is around .870) and the reason why his numbers look so bad but that tends to fluctuate a lot and the Leafs PK has really improved over the last month. For comparison sakes, Reimer had a .933 ES sv% last year (.855 SH sv%) whereas Jonas Gustavsson is .916 at ES this year and .910 last year.

Apparently the Blackhawks are looking for a 2nd pairing dman before the trade deadline, not convinced that Nick Leddy is ready to fill that role in the playoffs. Leddy has been having a great season, on pace for 41 points while averaging 22:26 of TOI/gm (2:06 on the PP). He's hot lately as well with 5A over his last six games but beware that he could be in for a demotion if the Hawks find a trade partner. [Adam Jahns - Chicago Sun-Times]

Minor league deal yesterday as FLA traded Tim Kennedy to the Sharks for Sean Sullivan. The Sharks do their homework and Kennedy has shown some promise in the NHL when he was with the Sabres but he's been pretty piss-poor even in the AHL this year (3+6=9 in 18 games), so keep your expectations low. Sullivan is a good point producing AHL dman that is 27 and has never played in an NHL game. Theoretically he could see some time on the Panthers blueline but I'd say it's a longshot.

No takers for Antero Niittymaki on waivers so he'll remain with the Sharks for the time being but could be headed to Europe eventually. Perhaps they'll put him on re-entry waivers and see if there is more interest at a 50% discount.

Oh my lord... Mark Dekanich is back on the shelf with an ankle injury. The hard-luck CBJs goalie has played just five AHL games this year and is now out after injuring the same ankle that he hurt in the preseason. This has been a colossal disaster for those of us that were expecting big things from him this year.

Jonathan Toews mysterious hand/wrist injury is better and while he'll skip the ASG this weekend, it sounds like he'll be good to go for the Hawks next game on Tuesday.

Jamie Benn (appendectomy) was activated from the IR and will appear in the All Star Game this weekend.

Travis Zajac (achilles) came back for eight games before missing the last 10 and it doesn't sound like he is making any progress as he hasn't been working out or skating lately... I'd drop him like he's hot.

This seems like odd timing... Nicklas Lidstrom missed his first game in three seasons last night due to the flu.

Just one game last night and man, I think the Red Wings missed the memo about the AS Break not starting until today as they stunk up the joint last night...

Let's get the only highlight for the Wings out of the way... Jiri Hudler scored two goals and if you dissect his season in (almost) half then you see that he's really come on lately with 13+7=20 over his last 25 following a start where he had just 2+10=12 in his first 24 games.

Well there goes my plans for a sneak-attack trade... I've been noticing the fine production from David Desharnais this year and he has quietly assumed the #1C role in Montreal. His cover is surely blown now after 2+1=3 last night and 4+10=14 & plus-9 over his last 12 games. He is on pace for nearly 60 points in what is becoming a very nice breakout season.

Erik Cole enters the break on a high with three points last night and 2+7=9 & plus-8 over his last five games. This guy is have a fantastic season and I'm quite surprised as we haven't seen production like this out of him in the last five years.

Max Pacioretty joins Desharnais & Cole on the top line and after another strong game he has 5+2=7, plus-6, 13 PIMs & 21 shots over his last six games.

Tomas Kaberle with 2A last night and his production has doubled since he joined the Habs from Carolina (.65 vs.31 ppg).

P.K. Subban was benched for the 2nd period and finished with a season low 14 minutes of ice-time. There is a lot of talk about him lately, so now is the time to buy low as this guy is a fantasy stud. He's on pace for 32 points this year which is down from the 38 he had last year but still isn't too shabby and that's essentially due to the fact that his PPPs have dropped from 18 last year to just five so far this year. I don't think it is entirely his fault that the Habs PP has gone from 7th in the league last year to 30th this season, so that can only get better. Oh, and he's also on pace for close to 100 PIMs & 200+ shots, so that's a nice bonus.

Rene Bourque with goals in back-to-back games after starting his Habs career with nothing in his first three.

The Sharks have placed Antero Niittymaki on waivers, let's wait and see if anyone takes the bait before we discuss his chances.

The Leafs gave John-Michael Liles a four-year extension yesterday, seems like bad timing for a guy who is 31 and currently out with his second concussion in the last 12 months... but what do I know?

You can go ahead and assume that any guys that were recently called up from the AHL are heading back down to get in some game action while the NHL goes dark... that includes: Eric Tangradi, Cody Eakin, Magnus Paajarvi, Brandon Pirri & Matt Fraser.

Crushing news for our top dman breakout pick in The Bible, Dmitry Kulikov, as he's out 6-8 weeks following knee surgery.

Good news for fans of Brent Burns as his suspected knee injury is just a charley horse and he should be ok after resting for the next few days.

Alexander Burmistrov couldn't go last night as he has a UBI but he's just day-to-day.

Sad news here as Jochen Hecht has been diagnosed with another concussion. He's had a lot of head injuries over the past few years.

Ryan O`Reilly was ill last night and couldn't play.

Victor Hedman has missed the last 13 with a concussion but is back skating and hopes to make a return shortly after the break.

Returning to action from the injured list last night: Alex Tanguay, Ryan Wilson, Sami Salo, Ryan McDonagh, Mike Ribeiro, Ryan Whitney, Al Montoya & Christian Ehrhoff.

Fantasy line of the night for the Caps Mathieu Perreault with a hat-trick, GWG, plus-2, four PIMs, five shots, three hits & two blocks... not too shabby. Too bad he can barely stay in the lineup let alone keep this up. He does have 4+2=6 over his last four games, so we'll let him enjoy this for now.

4-point night for Mikhail Grabovski against the Islanders... he started the year slow (8+7=15 in his first 28 games) but has come on strong with 8+9=17 over his last 15.

Devan Dubnyk has started four of the last six for the Oilers and is 2-1-1, 1.77 & .939 in five appearances over that span. This guy is the superior goalie in Edmonton and as the season winds down he should be given the bulk of the starts... I'm hoping for a strong finish.

Waiver wire find (and I'm not talking the fantasy waiver wire), Gilbert Brule, scored again last night for PHX and has 3+1=4 over his last five games.

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This would hurt a lot more if he didn't suck... Brent Burns left last night's game after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Ales Hemsky. He was reportedly in a lot of discomfort as he left the arena, so stay tuned.

Brenden Morrow was placed on the IR due to a neck injury but he may not be out long. Mike Ribeiro (knee) came off the IR and should take his place in the lineup tonight.

Dmitry Kulikov picked up an undisclosed injury on Saturday night and he's doubtful for tonight's game.

Sounds like Patrick Sharp (wrist) will be ready to return right after the All-Star break.

I'm stealing this one from Harrison Mooney... Jonathan Toews' hand injury is not as serious as he is... so he's out for tonight's game and may miss the ASG but should be ready to roll once the real games start back up.

Nicklas Backstrom (concussion) skated for the first time in two weeks yesterday, but he was only on the ice for five minutes, so he looks a ways off.

Sami Salo (concussion) is expected to return tonight. Christian Ehrhoff is also expected to return tonight after missing the last 11 with a UBI.

Returning to action from the injured list last night: R.J. Umberger & Ryan Suter.

The dynamic duo of Mike Fisher & Martin Erat strikes again!!! (there is a great animal joke in there somewhere) Fisher scored twice and has 4+7=11 over his last nine and Erat set up two goals and has 3+9=12 over the same nine games.

Pekka Rinne stopped 25 of 26 for another win and he hasn't allowed more than two goals in any of his last eight games... and in what has to be a total coincidence, he has won his last eight games as well.

Jonas Gustavsson has started nine of the last 10 for the Leafs and has six wins & three shutouts during that stretch after a 25 save shutout of the red-hot Islanders (that just sounded wrong) last night. Here are the digits, 6-3-0, 1.79, .934 & three shutouts over his last nine.

Jeff Petry has played 23+ minutes (in all situations) in each of his last five games and has put together a modest little run with 4A over those five games.

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