Talk » congratulate Fulmer.Morneau won

Voting for the four captains of the NHL All-Star teams is now open, as fans will help determine the players to lead their divisional groups in the three-on-three tournament in Los Angeles.In the spirit of the competition, we thought wed pick the fantasy value all-star captains from each division. Fantasy value isnt necessarily equated with best overall value, as well be comparing ESPN Player Rater value for standard leagues against average draft position (ADP) to find our fantasy value all-star captains:Metropolitan Division: Nick Foligno, LW/RW, Columbus Blue JacketsAlready an actual NHL All-Star captain in 2015, Foligno earns a fantasy value captaincy nod for his huge bounce-back season so far. Following his huge 2014-15 as a duo with Ryan Johansen, the latters trade to the Nashville Predators last season appeared to spell the end for Folignos fantasy contributions. He played 72 games last season, but finished ranked No. 210 on the ESPN Player Rater for skaters -- just after Olli Maatta and ahead of Jason Chimera. Johansen wasnt going to magically reappear, and the Blue Jackets didnt look like they had any centermen ready to act as a true No. 1 for this season, so Foligno was drafted as an afterthought, with an ADP of 143.8.Enter Alexander Wennberg as a true playmaker, and Foligno is looking more like the version of himself from 2014-15. In fact, his current pace prorated to 82 games would exactly match his career-high 31 goals and would be one point higher than his 73 points from 2014-15. The power-play production might fade from the Blue Jackets current pace, but we cant punch too many holes in the theory that Foligno can keep this up again.Runners-up: Jeff Skinner, LW, Carolina Hurricanes; Alexander Wennberg, C, Columbus Blue Jackets; J.T. Miller, C/LW/RW, New York Rangers.Atlantic Division: Nazem Kadri, C, Toronto Maple LeafsOn pace for 61 points this season, you might think this kind of point production is a first for Kadri during a full season. Youd be wrong. In the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign, Kadri produced 44 points in 48 games. That, unfortunately, set us up for a bit of a disappointment during the next few campaigns. Kadri followed that season with 20 goals and 50 points, but in a full season that was a far cry from his 2012-13 numbers. His shots on goal had a huge spike last season, but the points didnt really flow from the additional attempts and ice time. Entering the current season, where Kadri was forgotten in all the excitement surrounding Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner, he was the sixth Maple Leaf off the draft board on average, with an ADP of 201.1.Now, 23 games into the 2016-17 season, Kadri ranks 15th among skaters on the ESPN Player Rater. He has 10 goals and 64 shots on goal, all while playing almost three minutes less ice time per game than he did last season. Thats right, hes doing this while dropping from playing 18:16 per game last season to just 15:46 this season. Even more curious, Kadri has never exceeded 73 penalty minutes for a season in his career. He currently has 53 PIM, and is on pace for a goon-like 189. Whether any of these wacky stats can be sustained for a full season, allowing Kadri to surprise as the fantasy all-star from the Leafs, who knows? But theres no question hes been the teams fantasy value all-star to date.Runners-up: Alex Galchenyuk, LW/C, Montreal Canadiens; David Pastrnak, LW/RW, Boston Bruins; Jonathan Marchessault, C/LW, Florida Panthers. Central Division: Ryan Suter, D, Minnesota WildThe 15th defenseman off the board in fantasy drafts, with an ADP of 84.3, Suter is currently the fourth-best defenseman on the ESPN Player Rater this season. To be fair to Suter, some of the blame for his low ADP rests on everyones groupthink underrating of him. He was, after all, the ninth-best fantasy defenseman on the Rater last season. Suters numbers are completely in line with last season, virtually assuring another finish as a No. 1-caliber fantasy defenseman, even though he wasnt drafted as one.Runners-up: Artem Anisimov, C, Chicago Blackhawks; Antoine Roussel, LW, Dallas Stars; Marian Hossa, RW, Chicago Blackhawks.Pacific Division: Ryan Kesler, C, Anaheim DucksHes not just shocking us as the most valuable Duck in fantasy hockey this season, Kesler is the sixth-best skater in the NHL on the Rater so far this season, behind only Shea Weber, Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, Evgeni Malkin and Vladimir Tarasenko. There is one clear culprit here for Keslers resurgence -- coach Randy Carlyles decision to use him on the power play. Kesler has already matched his power-play goal total from last season and the season prior, with five so far this season. He is on pace for 18 power-play goals this season, and that total isnt completely insane. Hes scored 15 before as a member of the Vancouver Canucks. Keslers average ice time is also back up to his Herculean totals from his days with the Canucks.The thing is, we all thought Kesler had settled into a lesser role with the Ducks. His ADP of 65.8 means that most of his owners waited until the fifth or sixth round of their drafts to take a chance on him, which was completely fair given that he finished as the 59th-best skater on the Rater last season. Hes a prime example of how just one role change can have a huge and lasting effect on a players fantasy outlook -- so long as said player grabs that chance when they have it.Runners-up: Cam Fowler, D, Anaheim Ducks; Peter Budaj, G, Los Angeles Kings; Chad Johnson, G, Calgary Flames. Fantasy Forecaster: Dec. 5-11Download the forecaster chart PDF hereFor those new to the Forecaster chart, here are some explanations: O (offense) and D (defense) matchup ratings are based upon a scale from 1 (poor matchup) to 10 (excellent matchup) and are calculated using a formula that evaluates the teams season-to-date statistics, their performance in home/road games depending on where the game is to be played, as well as their opponents numbers in those categories. The Ratings column lists the cumulative rating from 1-10 of that weeks offensive (O) and defensive (D) matchups.Team notesWashington Capitals: The Caps particular four-game schedule has them at home for three games and up against some softer defenses, including the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres (who could be without a day-to-day Robin Lehner for at least one of two contests). The call-up of rookie Jakub Vrana gives the Capitals another top-six forward to toy with. Following nine goals and 16 points in 18 games for the AHLs Hershey Bears, Vrana made his NHL debut Thursday on a line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky. The trio didnt factor into the Capitals 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders, though Vrana managed a respectable four shots on goal in just 10 minutes of ice time. Depending on his continued usage in the top six, he could be an interesting deep-league gamble next week. The better option for shallow leagues would be Marcus Johansson, who is available in 37 percent of ESPN leagues and is spending his time at even strength with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.Philadelphia Flyers: We arent always big on recommending Michael Raffl for fantasy owners, as its hard to find an example of a winger playing so much time alongside true fantasy stars with so little to show for it. However, Sean Couturiers continued absence has forced the Flyers to reconfigure their scoring lines. The latest lineup includes Raffl on the top line with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek, and the combination has helped the Flyers to three straight victories. In those three games, Giroux and Voracek have a combined nine points. In typical Raffl fashion, the third member of the line has ... one. That said, hes in a good spot headed into a week where the Flyers play three of four games at home, including a date with the porous Dallas Stars. The second recommendation for possible one-week use here would be Travis Konecny, who remains on the second line with Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn. The points have been few and far between, but he gets enough chances to warrant consideration when the schedule is good.Goalie notesChad Johnson rebounded from his first poor outing in a while to post his third shutout of the season. Hes still a great fantasy pickup as the starter for the Calgary Flames, and remains available in a majority of ESPN leagues -- but the number is shrinking quickly.We said at the start of November here that Cam Ward would start posting better starts and he had a superb month behind his possession-friendly teammates. That said, they still cant score enough to make him a No. 1 fantasy goaltender. His numbers are good enough to be a No. 2, though.The Islanders are still getting slaughtered on a nightly basis in the shot attempts (Corsi) department. It means we probably shouldnt get too excited by recent positive performances by both Thomas Greiss and Jaroslav Halak. Goalies can do well under tough shot attempts circumstances, but neither of these guys proved they could through the first quarter of the season, so we arent so sure anything has changed that.John Gibson make a strong statement this week with a pair of stellar performances against the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks. It doesnt take away from what Jonathan Bernier is doing to battle him for more time, but it helps Gibsons individual case to coach Randy Carlyle. The Ducks are home for three games next week and we expect Gibson to play two of them.Dropped in more than just a few leagues following his poor start to the campaign, Petr Mrazek is responding to the pressure of Jimmy Howard being sidelined. His four consecutive starts since Howard was hurt have been his four best starts in a row this season. Mrazek was one of the best fantasy goaltenders in the NHL for several months last season, and is worthy of stashing if you see him available.Posting a sub.-900 save percentage for six consecutive starts, its time to let Cory Schneider ride the pine if you have some flexibility. Something clearly isnt right with the usually exceptional New Jersey Devils goaltender. Hes still worth owning in 100 percent of leagues, but shift him to the bench for now, if you can.Player notesJack Eichels triumphant return instantly provides fantasy relevance for Sabres teammates Sam Reinhart and Evander Kane. Reinhart should get your first look, as he is playing with Eichel at even strength and on the power play. Kane is the third member of the line at even strength, but is not on the top power-play unit for now.Taylor Hall was back with the Devils on Thursday in an earlier-than-expected return from injury. He played with Adam Henrique and P.A. Parenteau, but the line of Michael Cammalleri, Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri continued to steal the show, with Zajac scoring a hat trick.Ottawa Senators coach Guy Boucher has gone to a two-defenseman power play, which should help boost Dion Phaneufs confidence and statistics enough to make him fantasy-relevant again. He has four points, including one on the power play, in the past five games.The Islanders have finally tried Brock Nelson on the top line with John Tavares and Josh Bailey. In typical Nelson fashion, he pounded home a loose rebound for a goal on Thursday against the Capitals. Heres hoping this combination gets a chance to shine, as we could see some fantasy value emerge from either Nelson or Bailey.Could Alexander Steen be primed for a huge finish to the regular season for the St. Louis Blues? His shoulder surgery in June originally had a prognosis for a recovery of between four and six months. He returned to the team after just four months, slumped through most of October and finally hit the injured reserve a couple of weeks ago with an undisclosed upper-body injury. In his first game back on Thursday, Steen notched three power-play points and played most of his minutes with Vladimir Tarasenko, who scored a hat trick. Remember, Steens original prognosis was six months on the high end, which would have been the start of December. On Dec. 1, he returned healthy and played his best game of the season. Coincidence? Maybe. Slump over and Steen a fantasy star again? Likely.Leon Jenkins Jersey Sale . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys . Bryzgalov stopped 25 shots on Saturday in the Oklahoma City Barons 4-1 victory over the Abbotsford Heat. The Oilers signed Bryzgalov to a one-year $2 million contract last Friday after shedding payroll by dealing defenceman Ladislav Smid to the Flames. https://www.cheapsoccerjerseysjustwholesale.com/lu-gambino-jersey-sale/ . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Grenny Lansdell Jersey Sale .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. Soccer Jerseys Online . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors.The Chicago White Sox have activated first baseman Justin Morneau from the disabled list and promoted top pitching prospect Carson Fulmer from the minor leagues.The White Sox, who are seven games behind the first-place Cleveland Indians in the AL Central, added Morneau and Fulmer as part of a series of roster moves before Fridays game against the Los Angeles Angels.Morneau, a former American League MVP, signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the White Sox last month after undergoing offseason elbow surgery. He batted .174 in eight games during his minor league rehab assignment over the past 11 days.Getting back here was difficult, Morneau said. And now its the beginning of hopefully the good stuff.Fulmer was the No. 8 pick in last years draft and appeared in the All-Star Futures Game this past weekend in San Diego. The right-hander has pitched exclusively as a starter in the minors, but the White Sox reportedly are considering using him out of the bullpen.White Sox manager Robin Ventura hinted last week that the organization could add Fulmer as a reliever, similar to the way Carlos Rodon and Chris Sale broke into the majors.Youre trying to see if a kid can do it, and we did it with Carlos a little bit, and Chris has done it, Ventura told the Chicago Tribune. You bring em up here andd you bring em through out of the bullpen and see if you can lighten their load a little bit and then see how they handle it.dddddddddddd.Atlanta Braves top prospect Dansby Swanson, Fulmers college teammate at Vanderbilt, tweeted Friday morning to congratulate Fulmer.Morneau won the 2014 NL batting title when he hit .319 for Colorado. He was the MVP in 2006 with Minnesota when the Twins fought the White Sox for supremacy in the AL Central.Morneau also batted .310 in only 49 games with the Rockies last season. Hes had concussion issues and has been slow to recover from surgery to repair the primary flexor in his elbow.Fulmer, 22, is 4-9 with a 4.76 ERA in 17 starts this season at Double-A Birmingham. But he has pitched better over his past three starts, allowing just two runs over 19 innings.Im just getting ahead, Fulmer told MiLB.com over the weekend. I felt like I fell behind a lot of guys and I paid for it. Im just coming out with a strike-one mentality and just pounding the strike zone.In a corresponding roster move Friday, the White Sox optioned outfielder Jason Coats to Triple-A Charlotte.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. ' ' '