Talk Hockey

After having back to back seasons riddled with injuries, it looks like many people forgot who Evgeni Malkin really is. They forgot that he's already had two 100 point seasons under his belt and is one of the top talents in hockey. The center has been ranked way too low in various fantasy hockey drafts and has gotten extremely underrated. On ESPN he's at 18th and on Yahoo Fantasy Hockey he's ranked at 16th. Malkin is easily a top ten pick for me and that's where I got him with my 10th pick in my hockey pool. I think it was a steal!

Geno looked good yesterday during his pre-season debut against the Red Wings. He had a nifty goal along with an assist which helped the Crosby-less Penguins edge the Wings 3-2.

"He was at a dominant level," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "His skating looked good. He was strong and powerful on the puck. To get your fans out of their seats in an exhibition game three or four times by playing the right way, driving to the net, good with the puck, hunting down the puck, it was a pretty good first game back from an injury."

The Russian sniper worked really hard this summer to improve his skills. He's had some bad luck the last two years but I'm confident that he'll have a big season in 2011-12.

My Projection: 96 Points