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Well congratulations to Nick Lidstrom who signed a 1 year, 6.2 million dollar deal to stay with the Detroit Red Wings. Lidstrom came off a 16 goal, 46 assist year which features a whopping 39 points on the man advantage (7 G 32 A). The concern may have been the -2 last year which included a -10 over the last 20 games of the season. At that juncture it could be said that Detroit was dealing with some significant injuries and Lidstrom was carrying some increased minutes.
If Lidstrom can be kept within say 19-20 minutes, he will be more effective in the long run and as the season goes on. That may be the most crucial key to the fortunes of the fantasy fan. As a 40+ year old player, maybe you do not expect the 60 point projection but the Detroit Red Wings can score with the best of them. This means that Lidstrom can still more than excel on the man advantage which inflates his totals unlike it does for any other team. When over 60% of your production comes from said man advantage situations, that number generally does not regress.
His points per minute is amongst the top 5 perenially amongst defensemen and it is tough to see that number falling much if at all. Here is a bit of a bonus. Nick Lidstrom also can still fire out 170-180 shots a season and that is an important number that aids fantasy hockey owners. What also has to be considered very impressive is that Lidstrom played all 82 games last season as well. Talk about durability ladies and gentlemen.
Here is officially his numbers from the last three years (thanks to TSN).
| Yr | Tm | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PG | PA | GW | PM | S | % | Hts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-11 | Dt | 82 | 16 | 46 | 62 | -2 | 7 | 32 | 1 | 20 | 175 | 9.1 | 49 | |||
| 09-10 | Dt | 82 | 9 | 40 | 49 | 22 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 24 | 194 | 4.6 | 56 | |||
| 08-09 | Dt | 78 | 16 | 43 | 59 | 31 | 10 | 23 | 4 | 30 | 180 | 8.9 | 43 |
So here is his three year average of about 57 points per year along with 43 assists per and just about 14 goals a year. Even with the numbers slowing a bit, the power play assists were about 23 a year and nearly 8 power play goals. What does that tell you. He literally is a 60% guy like we mentioned previously.
What do we project him at this year? Early on, we have pegged Lidstrom right around 60 points with about 35 power points on the season. Expect nearly 180 shots and a bit of a bounce back on the +/- to about a +15 or +20.
Now what do the fans think? Hey we may not be right here so let us have it. Lend us your comments, projections, and more. Of course, thanks again in advance.
