50MC's 2009-2010 Fearless Fantasy Forecast: Valtteri Filppula

A lot of buzz this off season has been around the Philadelphia Flyers and where they are going to replace the 52 goals that Mike Knuble and Joffrey Lupul left behind. There is a similar, and possibly more enticing situation for fantasy in Detroit, where the Red Wings lost Marian Hossa, Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson. Between those three players, there is a total of 82 goals that have to be made up. Eighty-two goals. Who in the world is going to score enough goals in Detroit to supplement that huge loss? Enter a fantasy stud, who has been buried on a deep Red Wings roster for three years: Valtteri Filppula. On any other team, Filppula would have been a regular contributor for the last two seasons. Due to Detroit’s depth, Filppula is simply a skilled centerman who has the potential to be a top six forward, but is more concentrated on taking care of his own end. As mentioned, Hossa jetted to Chicago, Samuelsson joined Team Sweden in Vancouver and Hudler has finally made it to...