Rotisserie by the Numbers

Yzerman's return may not have major fantasy impact

By Craig Rondinone, SportsTicker

Don't you love when hockey players return from major injuries, they just pop up unannounced instead of making their comeback a month-long soap opera of daily updates?

Shaquille O'Neal gets hurt and you have to put up with nightly reports about what type of treatment he is getting on his toe or how he is walking with a limp or what his thoughts are on Yao Ming and Joe Millionaire. And then you have to deal with the dreaded "projected return date."

Steve Yzerman missed more than half the hockey season and you barely heard a whisper about him every three weeks. Then, this past Monday night, he miraculously materialized on the ice like he just hyperspaced from a foreign planet and it was like he nonchalantly said to the fantasy hockey world, "Oh, I'm back." (Gary Roberts and Brian Leetch pulled the same surprise trick when they recently returned, too).

"Stevie Y" could have at least had the common decency to e-mail each of his fantasy owners to let them in on the secret that he was returning so they could put him in their starting lineups this week. No matter. He is back. All is forgiven.

So what happens now that Yzerman is back in the fold in Detroit? What line will he play on? What will his role be? Is he worth picking up on your league's waiver wire? And which Wings might lose some fantasy value because of his return? Let me take these one at a time:

What line will he play on? Yzerman played with Luc Robitaille and Boyd Devereaux in his first game back. This could be great news for "Lucky Luc," who has been so unlucky this season that he could not score if the goalie was Mini-Me.

Detroit loves changing its lines, so this unit is guaranteed not to stay intact for too long.

The Wings have a logjam at center. With Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Pavel Datsyuk and Kris Draper, they have five for four lines. Someone is going to have to switch to wing, something Yzerman and Fedorov have experience doing.

In fact, there have been times they have played with each other on the same line with one playing a flank. Do not be surprised if this happens again. The Red Wings have had success in the past with an Yzerman-Fedorov-Brendan Shanahan superline.

What will Yzerman's role be? For now, Yzerman will be worked back into the lineup slowly. The Red Wings have to see how much stress his knee can take, and his conditioning is probably not 100 percent yet after such a long layoff. He should average about 15 minutes of ice time in the early going. Detroit does not need him to play more because of its depth at center and how well is has adjusted to life without him.

Yzerman will have more of a checking role right now. Gradually, Detroit will integrate him back into playing key minutes on the power play and the penalty kill. No need to rush him and risk re-injuring himself.

Is Yzerman worth picking up on your league's waiver wire? Do not look for him to light the lamp like a Christmas tree just yet. He has to shake off the rink rust and get re-acclimated to playing in the NHL. He will have worth down the road, though, if his knee holds up.

Judging by how well he played in the playoffs on one leg and the 48 points he scored in 52 regular-season games last season, Yzerman still has some juice. And once he is in tip-top shape physically, he should start playing 20 minutes per game and score a little below a point per game. There cannot be many more viable options at center on your league's free-agent list.

Which Wings will lose some fantasy value because of Yzerman's return? Fedorov has been seeing more ice time this season because of Yzerman's void. Look for his time to get sliced down a minute or two per game. Larionov might be scratched a couple times down the stretch to rest him for the playoffs since Detroit has a full team to work with again, something it did with Old Man Igor last year.

Young guns Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg could get hurt because they would probably be the ones Yzerman would take valuable power-play time away from, unless the plan is to put him at the point and limit Jason Woolley's action.

Yzerman's return ultimately will help more Red Wings' fantasy values than hurt. His presence will ignite the team emotionally, and whoever plays on his line should get ignited offensively. Judging by how the Wings scored five goals against Los Angeles in his first game back, it seems as if Yzerman already is having a positive fantasy impact.

Penalty Shots

Both backliners are going to be out for a long time after getting hit in the face with errant pucks. Karpovtsev has a cracked eye socket and a broken cheekbone. Reports are that he will miss up to six weeks, but knowing his checkered injury history, do not hold your breath. We probably will not see him again until next season.

Bouchard, who was getting a chance to play big-time minutes with Pittsburgh after being acquired in the deal involving Alexei Kovalev, has a broken jaw and probably is finished for the season, a shame since he was finally making his mark after toiling in the minors for years.

 

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