Lacking game-breaking scorers, the Nashville Predators dont have the greatest fantasy appeal, though they do have a top-end defe

Lacking game-breaking scorers, the Nashville Predators dont have the greatest fantasy appeal, though they do have a top-end defenceman and goaltender to lead those that might provide value later in drafts. Matt Calvert Jersey . Top Picks: Over the last five seasons, D Shea Weber has scored 83 goals, leading all defencemen (Washingtons Mike Green is the only other one with more than 60), and Webers 1081 shots on goal lead all defencemen in that time, so the production comes naturally through the Predators dependence on their franchise player. Hes not going to put up as many points as Ottawas Erik Karlsson, but Weber could be the next defencemen off the board. Over the last five seasons, G Pekka Rinne has posted a .919 save percentage, ranking fifth (among goalies with at least 150 games played), but last seasons .910 save percentage was a career-low and he had hip surgery in the offseason. Rinne plays a lot -- 116 of a possible 130 games in the last two seasons -- so if hes recovered from his hip woes then hes a quality fantasy starter. If not, then there is some risk because his heavy workload can play havoc with the percentages if isnt better than last season. Value Plays: Mike Fisher 33-year-old C Mike Fisher played 19:28 per game for the Predators last season, the second-highest average ice time of his career, but there is a definite ceiling on his offensive production as hes topped 50 points twice and 20 goals five times in his career. With decent peripheral stats, Fisher is a safe option as a No. 4 fantasy centre, but generally one that will go very late in drafts, if at all, because he doesnt possess the same kind of scoring potential as other, younger, centres. Sleepers/Breakthrough: It figures that one of Nashvilles most useful fantasy forwards is a winger who tallied four goals last season. RW Patric Hornqvist is a three-time 20-goal scorer who generates lots of shots -- 3.31 per game over the last four seasons, ranking 17th -- but he scored on just 4.6% of his shots in 2013, half of his career rate. He also played only 24 games due to a variety of injuries, so hes a player who could provide value simply by returning to good health and previous form. Coming over from Chicago, where he scored 31 goals in the last two seasons, LW Viktor Stalberg is looking for more ice time than the 14 minutes per game he received with the Blackhawks, perhaps even some time on the power play. His 31 even-strength goals over the last two seasons ranks 37th, ahead of Marian Hossa, Patrick Marleau, Jeff Carter, Ilya Kovalchuk and Daniel Sedin, some qaulity socring wingers, so Stalberg is worth a look based on the potential opportunity he has in Nashville. Last year looked to be LW Colin Wilsons breakout campaign, as he put up 19 points in 25 games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. One concern about Wilson is that he genrates so few shots on goal. Last year, it was 1.04 per game -- Calgarys Matt Stajan was the only player to finish with more points with fewer shots per game and Stajan played 43 games. Given the Predators offensive needs, though, Wilson will get chances to produce this season, so he could be worth a late-round flier. After scoring 36 points in 72 games as a rookie in 2011-2012, RW Craig Smith flopped to just 12 points in 44 games last season. Smith has skill, but is also minus-20 through 116 career NHL games, so hes not a finished product and may not have enough potential to be anything more than waiver wire material in most leagues. D Roman Josi moved into a more prominent role on the Predators blueline last season, playing 23:32 per game and scoring 18 points, so he has some offensive upside, but he also spent last season paired with Weber and could lost that spot to top pick Seth Jones. How the minutes get allocated, particularly on the power play, will determine if Josi still has fantasy appeal. Rookies: Taylor Beck, Seth Jones, Filip Forsberg As justifiably excited as the Predators may be about landing D Seth Jones with the fourth pick in the draft, it would be asking a lot for him to step in and produce enough to generate fantasy interest. Jones did score 56 points in 61 WHL games last year, but it wont be easy for him to generate offence on a team that lacks goal-scorers. A couple of young Predators wingers might be able to help in that regard. RW Taylor Beck had 41 points in 50 AHL games last season before adding seven points in 16 games with the Predators. If he wins a spot in the top six, he could score enough to help in deep leagues. Acquired from Washington in the Martin Erat trade, LW Filip Forsberg is a talented prospect, and he had one point in five late-season games with Nashville last season, but it would be asking a lot for the 19-year-old to move from the Allsvenskan, which is the league below the Elite League in Sweden, to having an immediate impact in the NHL. Its possible, but seems like a wait-and-see situation. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Colin Wilson Jersey . Old times for a defence that has looked just plain old recently? "No," safety Ryan Clark said. "We used to be much better than that. Samuel Girard Avalanche Jersey . Crawford hit his slam off Pirates starter Edinson Volquez to give San Francisco a four run lead in the fourth and they never looked back. Brandon Belt had three runs batted in as well. Bumgarner pitched all nine innings and allowed just four hits. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/authentic-adam-foote-avalanche-jersey/ . -- The Atlanta Braves added to their extensive wave of long-term deals with their young stars on Sunday by agreeing to a $42 million, four-year contract with All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss the Americas Cup, a Canadian Tennis leader, Glen Grunwalds unceremonious exit and Tigers big year-end bonus. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to Team Oracle, which retained the Americas Cup by winning eight consecutive must-win races in San Francisco Bay. After falling behind 8-1, they repeatedly out-sailed New Zealand, and the glory is theirs. All it took was 11 victories in a best-of-17, since Oracle had been penalized two races for being caught in the biggest cheating scandal in the events 162-year history; one dead sailor, who perished back in May when one of the insane 130-foot-high catamarans that Oracle CEO Larry Ellision decreed be used for this version of the race tipped over; and boats so mind-bogglingly expensive that only four teams could afford to enter. But Americas win-at-all-cost billionaires beat New Zealands, and thats the bottom line. Congratulations, everyone. Well, not everyone. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to James Dolan and the New York Knicks for the unceremonious and unnecessary firing of general manager Glen Grunwald. The removal of Grunwald comes after a season in which the Knicks won more games - 54 - than they have in the past 16 years. And then they went two rounds in the playoffs, something they hadnt done in 12 years. Grunwald operated the franchise with an un-New York-like calm, hiring Mike Woodson to coach, finding a certain peace between Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudamire, trading awayy Jeremy Lin. Patrick Roy Jersey. Rather than fire him, Dolan should done the opposite and given Grunwald a contract extension. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is up to Michael Downey, the Tennis Canada CEO who is leaving to run the Lawn Tennis Association in Great Britain. Think of him as Mark Carney - the Canadian who heads the Bank of England - only with a chair umpire. This is a significant loss for Canadian tennis, which benefitted from Downeys organizational skills. Of course Id be a little more worried for the immediate future of the sport in this country if Milos Raonic bolted with Downey - like Greg Rusedski did 18 years ago. There are dozens of talented sports administrators. There are far fewer people who can thump a 135 mile-per-hour serve. This morning, Raonic won the Thailand Open, beating top seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets. Dave Hodge, TSN: My thumb is up to the PGA Tour for making Tiger Woods its Player of the Year when nobody - maybe not even Tiger Woods - would have objected strenuously if the choice had been Adam Scott. Because so much emphasis is placed on major titles, and Tigers the biggest reason for that, it might seem strange that Scott wasnt chosen for his masters win and two other top-five finishes at majors, and that tiger was chosen in a year that saw him shut out at majors - again, for the fifth straight time. But Tiger won five other tournaments, he won the most money and he is – officially - the Number One player in the world. He had the best year… he just didnt have it in the best places. ' ' '