Changes behind the bench and on defence in Winnipeg, rookies raising their game in Columbus and Colorado, Clowe rebounding, quality opportunities for Shaw and King and more in Scott Cullens latest blog. 1. The Winnipeg Jets sent head coach Claude Noel packing, replacing him with Paul Maurice, which is not out of the realm of possibility for a coach with a record of 80-79-18, including five straight losses preceding the fall of the proverbial axe. No matter who is behind the bench, however, hes going to have to figure out how to win games despite what has been subpar goaltending. Its not as though goaltending is the only problem with the Jets, considering that their puck possession numbers are in the lower third of the league too, but consider what the Jets situation could be with even mediocre goaltending. When the Jets let Noel go, they had allowed 18 more goals than they had scored to this point in the season. Among 38 goaltenders to play at least 20 games this season, Jets G Ondrej Pavelec ranks 36th with an .899 save percentage (and that includes Mondays 5-1 home win against Phoenix).. If Pavelec provided even a .913 save percentage, which would put him on the edge of the Top 20, that extra .015 in save percentage applied to Pavelecs 1037-shot workload, would have saved the Jets between 15 and 16 goals against. If backup G Al Montoya would still play at his high level (.921 save percentage), that would bring the Jets to a goal differential of minus-2 or minus-3. That doesnt guarantee a playoff team, by any means, but it would put the Jets in that conversation. As it is now, they are 10 points back of Minnesota and thats a huge deficit to overcome without making drastic changes. 2. Among the changes that the Jets are trying is returning Dustin Byfuglien to forward. Byfuglien played primarily forward for the Blackhawks, after playing defence in junior, then returned to the blueline when he was moved to the Atlanta Thrashers. Byfuglien is something of a lightning rod on the blueline, drawing criticism for turnovers and poor positional play (its almost like hes a forward!), yet the Jets have been undeniably better with Byfuglien on the ice as, over the past three seasons, he ranks 14th (or 72) in Corsi percentage among defenceman that played at least 3000 minutes and Byfuglien has been the runaway leader among defencemen in shots on goal, both overall and per 60 minutes. Whether Byfuglien remains up front will depend on Maurices preference, since the move was made in Claude Noels final game with the Jets, but Maurice has said that Byfuglien will stay at forward until Maurice sees a need to change. With Byfuglien up front, the Jets have some talent. LW Andrew Ladd, C Bryan Little, RW Blake Wheeler and LW Evander Kane are quality top-six forwards and then rookie C Mark Scheifele and veterans including C Olli Jokinen, LW Michael Frolik and RW Devin Setoguchi can all contribute. Throw those nine forwards in a blender and the Jets have decent skill from which to choose. However, with Byfuglien at forward, the Jets need to fill more than 25 minutes of ice time per night on the blueline. (Well, not exactly, because Byfuglien can man the point on the power play, but still, there are big minutes available). Tobias Enstrom, Zach Bogosian and Jacob Trouba can handle lots of ice time, but what about Mark Stuart? Hes next in line, leaving Keaton Ellerby and Adam Pardy on the third pair. Hard to look at that group and be confident that they will ease the workload on Winnipeg goaltenders, but if the Jets forward lines are consistently more dangerous, maybe thats a trade-off that is worth making; at least its the kind of move that a desperate team makes in the hopes of changing what, to this point, have been subpar results. 3. Bruins RW Loui Eriksson has returned to action following his second concussion of the season. Eriksson didnt immediately resume his previous spot alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Rather, the Bruins left Reilly Smith in that spot and moved Eriksson to the third line with LW Carl Soderberg and C Ryan Spooner. Even aside from his concussions, its been a bit of a rough start to Erikssons Boston tenure. While he has strong puck possession stats, Eriksson has played 16:24 per game this season, after five years of 19-21 minutes per game in Dallas, and his 1.72 shots on goal per game is his lowest since his rookie year, 2006-2007. Leaving out the game against Pittsburgh, when he suffered a concussion on the first shift, Eriksson has registered zero or one shot on goal in nine of his past 11 games. Tough to be a scorer at that rate. 4. Blue Jackets rookie Boone Jenner is turning into a nice asset for Columbus, definitely more than just a hard-working rookie learning the ropes on the fourth line. Most recently, Jenner has been skating on a line with Artem Anisimov and Nathan Horton, who has played six games since coming off injured reserve, and Jenner has five goals and two assists in the past 11 games. Hes not playing enough to generate huge expectations (12:07 ATOI in January), but Jenner is a physical player who can earn regular work on a physical line. If that line produces some secondary offence, all the better. 5. Andrew Shaw has moved up to Blackhawks second line, between Brandon Saad and Patrick Kane, a terrific opportunity for Shaw to contribute offensively. While he has 12 goals and 22 points in 46 games this season, Shaw has two goals and no assists in his past 14 games. A slightly encouraging sign, recently, is that hes generated 17 shots on goal in the past four games, the highest four-game shot total of his young career. With Shaw climbing the depth chart, Michal Handzus and Marcus Kruger are handling the third and fourth-line centre roles, respectively. 5. Avalanche rookie C Nathan MacKinnon appears to be hitting his stride, scoring eight goals (and one assist) in the past 10 games. MacKinnon has been spending much of that time on right wing. Most recently, its been with C Matt Duchene and LW Jamie McGinn, but MacKinnon has also spent time with Gabriel Landeskog and Max Talbot, Duchene and Ryan OReilly, John Mitchell and Cody McLeod. MacKinnon now leads rookies, with 29 points in 45 games, but the encouraging part about immediate production is that hes using his tremendous speed to generate shots on goal, -- 2.87 per game for the season, 3.6 per game in five games this month. 6. While the Los Angeles Kings have talked about trying to acquire more scoring, they have been been giving power forward Dwight King a pretty sweet opportunity to skate with Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter. With 10 points in his past 15 games, King has tallied a career-high 21 points in 47 games for the season. Nice, but not exactly first-line material, either. King is clearly made better by linemates of that calibre, but hes holding his own. Until a proven scorer comes along, its worth keeping an eye on King. 7. The popular notion, especially after he scored three goals in 40 games last season, was that Devils LW Ryane Clowe was done. Hes battled concussions the last couple years and, as a power forward on the north side of 30, its not unreasonable to think that Clowe could be slowing down. While this could be merely a small sample blip, there may be evidence to suggest that Clowe isnt done yet. Playing mostly with Adam Henrique and Michael Ryder, Clowe has five points (1 G, 4 A) in the past four games, registering 13 shots on goal in those four games, which stands out as notable improvement after Clowe had nine shots on goal in his first 11 games of the season. Considering that Clowe is under contract for four more seasons, the Devils need him to stay healthy and fill both a physical and scoring role. 8. While this may only count as keeping a spot warm for RW Alex Burrows, as he nears a return from injury, Canucks forwad Zac Dalpe has been getting a chance to play with Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin on Vancouvers top line. Dalpe has seven goals and 14 points in 71 career games, so lets not go overboard on expectations, but hes played tough minutes against the Blues and Kings the past two games. 9. Senators GM Bryan Murray has acknowledged that that Senators are open for business when it comes to trades, which immediately starts the wheels churning -- who might the Senators be willing to move? First off, recently improved play gives the Senators a much more favourable outlook for the playoffs, which makes it very difficult to move core pieces, yet there have been concerns about the Senators financial situation this year, so whether they will be able to take on money remains to be seen. But, looking through the roster, there are some players that might hold some appeal to other teams if the Senators are dealing for more immediate help. Defencemen Patrick Wiercioch has played twice since December 18 and is under contract for two more years, at a $2-million cap hit. LW Colin Greening, a big winger who has nine points in 46 games, has a contract extension kicking in next season at $2.65-million per, which is more than is warranted by his production. Pending restricted free agents, LW Cory Conacher and D Eric Gryba, as well as any number of prospects could also have some appeal. Do any of those assets bring a significant upgrade in return? FIRST NHL GAMES Justin Florek, RW, Boston - A fifth-round pick in 2010, out of Northern Michigan University, the 6-foor-4 winger has 53 points in 114 AHL games since he turned pro. He scored a goal in his third NHL game, at Los Angeles, and was a useful contributor on the fourth line while Shawn Thornton finished serving his suspension. Karl Stollery, D, Colorado - The 26-year-old rookie was an undrafted free agent out of Merrimack college, and has put up 53 points in 111 AHL games. Hes on the small side, but Stollery managed to get the call ahead of Stefan Elliott or Matt Hunwick for one game before returning to the AHL. Alexey Marchenko, D, Detroit - Taken in the seventh round, out of CSKA Moscow, in 2011, Marchenko is off to a solid start in North America this year, scoring 16 points and posting a plus-15 rating in 33 AHL games. With injuries hitting the Red Wings all over, Marchenko has filled in for one game and the 22-year-old with good size figures to remain on the prospect radar if needed. Brad Hunt, D, Edmonton - Desperate for change on the blueline, the Oilers gave 25-year-old Hunt his shot. An undersized, undrafted defenceman out of Bemidji State University, Hunt had 55 points in 109 AHL games to earn a look, but was dominated, in terms of puck possession, during his three-game audition. Conor Allen, D, N.Y. Rangers - An undrafted free agent signed out of UMass-Amherst, Allen has 14 points and a minus-11 rating in 33 AHL games since he was signed last spring. He got into three games with the Blueshirts, and was decent enough to figure that the 23-year-old could get recalled again in the event of injuries. Eriah Hayes, RW, San Jose - A 25-year-old, 6-foot-4 winger who was signed out of Minnesota State-Mankato last spring, Hayes had a modest 12 points and minus-5 rating in 36 AHL games before the injury-riddled Sharks gave him a call. Hayes hasnt play a lot in four games, but hes mostly held his own in that limited role. 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. Garrett Stubbs Jersey . -- Kenneth Faried made a turnaround hook shot over Draymond Green with a half-second remaining, and the Denver Nuggets made Golden State wait at least one more game to secure a playoff berth with a stunning 100-99 win over the Warriors on Thursday night. Lance Mccullers Jr. Astros Jersey .com) - His team lost in the round of 16 of the FCS playoffs, yet Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley says his team has made a strong case to be voted to the top 5 in the final rankings. https://www.cheapastros.com/2453o-gerrit-cole-jersey-astros.html . Jets head coach Paul Maurice made the announcement Saturday following the morning skate and confirmed Al Montoya will start in goal against the Dallas Stars on Sunday. Bob Watson Jersey . Braves reliever David Carpenter was also fined for throwing at Rockies outfielder Corey Dickerson in the same game, which featured several ejections, including Colorado manager Walt Weiss. Carlos Correa Astros Jersey . The team announced that it exercised the options on 15 players including goalkeepers Evan Bush, Maxime Crepeau and Troy Perkins, defenders Matteo Ferrari, Karl W.Each week, TSN.ca Fantasy Editor Scott Cullen and NFL Editors Ben Fisher and Mitch Ward discuss three hot fantasy football topics. 1) Which player will come from nowhere to have a huge season like Alfred Morris last year? Cullen: While there arent any late-round rookie runners, Patriots wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins was undrafted and has been getting a lot of positive publicity in training camp, so maybe Tom Brady could drag Thompkins into being a productive first-year receiver. A better look for players coming from nowhere might be for running backs that are moving into starting roles for the first time. Miamis Lamar Miller, the Jets Bilal Powell, Denvers Ronnie Hillman and St. Louis Daryl Richardson arent necessarily household names -- none of them having rushed for even 500 yards in a season -- but they are at the top of their respective teams depth charts entering the season and if they are productive early, like Morris last season (he had 96 rushing yards and two touchdowns in Week One), that could solidify their role and any back that starts 16 games is going to have a very good chance to rush for 1,000 yards over the course of the entire season. From that group, I prefer Richardson ever-so-slightly over Miller. Fisher: I like Green Bay Packers RB Eddie Lacy. Lacy was arguably a first round talent in the draft this year and joins an explosive offence. The Packers threw pretty much all the time last year, including in the red zone, but preseason reports say with Lacy they should be more inclined to stay on the ground close to the end zone. At 230 pounds he gives the team a legitimate goal line threat. With DuJuan Harris on injured reserve and Johnathan Franklin struggling in the preseason, Lacy will get his touches and get his yards. The question is how much hell score, but hell definitely get more than two (how many Harris and Brandon Jackson, the team co-leaders in rushing TDs, had last year.) Ward: Giovani Bernard. He enters the season behind BenJarvus Green-Ellis on the Bengals depth chart, but Bernard is more skilled than the Law Firm in almost every facet of the game. Gio has great speed, excellent lateral agility and is already building up his goal-line resume with three one-yard touchdowns in the preseason. Bernard likely wont put up Alfred Morris type numbers this season, but behind a very good offensive line in Cincinnati, theres a chance he could explode. I expect him to take over the Bengals backfield sooner than later and be a high-end RB2 by seasons end. 2) Who will have the better sophomore season among Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck, and Russell Wilson? Cullen: Any of the three should be a viable fantasy starter this season, but the most upside rests with Luck, who has an improved supporting cast, including RB Ahmad Bradshaw and WR Darrius Heyward-Bey and some new faces on the offensive line. That stands in contrast to Wilson, whose big offseason addition, WR Percy Harvin, is injured and Griffin, who is his own injury risk, having not touched the field in the preseason as he recovers from knee surgery. Its low risk to take the No. 1 pick in the 2012 Draft to have the best sophomore year in 2013, but Luck threw for 4,374 yards as a rookie and its not out of the question that he has a chance at 5,000 yards this season. Fisher: The trend for picking quarterbacks in fantasy has been leaning towards the athletic read-option types. But the best fantasy QBs are still the top pure passers like Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and yes, Andrew Luck. Everyone agrees that Luck will at some point in his career join that group of elite passers; I think hhe does it this year.dddddddddddd Reports out of Indianapolis say hes looked great and ready to take the next step; Luck should flirt with 5,000 yards passing this year and 30+ touchdowns. Griffin III and Wilson are unlikely to hit those lofty numbers through the air, and while their ability to gain yards on the ground will make up much of the difference, Luck is too much of a pure passing talent to go against, not to mention a lessened injury risk. Ward: You cant really go wrong here as I think all three guys are primed for very good sophomore seasons, but Im feeling Lucky too. Last season Luck threw for 4,374 yards and 23 touchdowns but completed only 54.1 percent of his passes and was intercepted 18 times. With a year of experience under his belt and new OC Pep Hamiltons more conservative, QB friendly system, I expect the completion percentage to go way up and the interceptions to go down. During his last two seasons at Stanford under Hamilton, Luck completed more than 70 percent of his passes. Im expecting numbers in the neighbourhood of 4,500 yards, 30 pass TDs, 12 INTs, 250 rush yards and 4 rush TDs. I just dont see Griffin III with his knee injury, lack of preseason action and weird dynamic with Mike Shanahan or Wilson without Percy Harvin for a big chunk of the year being able to match those stats. 3) What type of season do you expect from Steven Jackson in Atlanta this season? Cullen: For a 30-year-old running back -- a time when production generally starts to fade -- this is a really good situation for Jackson. Hes been cranking out 1,000-yard seasons in each of the last eight years for St. Louis, but has scored six touchdowns or fewer in each of the last four seasons because the Rams havent had much of a team supporting him. In Atlanta, Jackson is the supporting cast for one of the leagues best passing offences and a past-his-prime Michael Turner rushed for 11 touchdowns with the Falcons last year, so its not unreasonable to think that Jackson could roll to 1,000 rushing yards and maybe push double digit touchdowns this year. Fisher: As part of the Atlanta Falcons high-powered offence, I think Steven Jackson could be a top 10 fantasy RB this season, or very close to it. The move from St. Louis offence to Atlanta should outweigh the extra year of wear and tear on the now nine-year veteran. Michael Turner, who we can all agree was running on fumes last year with the Falcons, still managed a double-digit touchdown season. Jackson, a far superior runner, should have enough tread left on his tires to exceed that number and then some. All the warning lights go off with Jackson. Hes 30-years-old now and long ago passed 1,500 career carries. But he still looked good with the Rams most of the time last year (it was the rest of the offence that didnt) and even if he completely falls off a cliff skill-wise, youre still getting an RB2 (Turner finished 17th among running backs last season.) Ward: A very good one. Sure, Jackson is getting up there in age and has some of his explosiveness, but hes still coming off his eighth consecutive 1,000 yard season and Id be surprised if he didnt make it nine in row. Im not expecting huge rushing numbers in the Falcons pass-heavy offence but something in the 1,100 yards range with maybe a slight uptick in his receiving yards from last year sounds about right. Where I really expect more out of Jackson this year is in the touchdown department. The Falcons get into the red zone far more often than the Rams so he will have substantially more opportunities to score. Michael Turner, who looked awful last year, hit paydirt 11 times so double-digit touchdowns are definitely not out of the question for Jackson. ' ' '