Sheppard not having breakout season: The Sports Xchange reports twenty-three games now and Wild center James Sheppard has yet to score a goal during a season he was supposed to break out under a new offensive-minded coach. This is why left wing Colton Gillies, who played 45 games last season as a 19-year-old, is in the minors. The Wild doesn't want Gillies to follow in Sheppard's footsteps. "I told him after camp, 'Don't sit by the phone whenever there's an injury and wait for a call-up,'" Wild GM Chuck Fletcher said. "We don't want to just bring him up for a game here or two games there and send him down. We think mentally that would be even harder on him. The goal has been for him to go down there, get a lot of ice time, play special teams and play in a lot more situations than he could here at this stage of his career. When he comes back, we want him to have a real good chance to be here for the rest of his career." (Updated 11/29/2009).
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 12/2/09).
Fantasy Analysis
Sheppard, the ninth overall pick in 2006, arrived in the NHL in 2007 at age 19. The Wild felt he'd develop better under Jacques Lemaire than in Cape Breton, and because he wasn't 20, he couldn't be sent to Houston (AHL). But he could have been sent there last season, and the Wild opted against it. Now he requires waivers to be sent down. This means that unlike Gillies, who's playing 20 minutes a night in every situation, Sheppard hasn't gotten big responsibilities since 2006-07 in juniors. Sheppard is definitely a big-time bust at this point in his career and has little to no Fantasy appeal. (Updated 11/29/2009).
No information available at this time.
No information available at this time.
Sheppard not having breakout season: The Sports Xchange reports twenty-three games now and Wild center James Sheppard has yet to score a goal during a season he was supposed to break out under a new offensive-minded coach. This is why left wing Colton Gillies, who played 45 games last season as a 19-year-old, is in the minors. The Wild doesn't want Gillies to follow in Sheppard's footsteps. "I told him after camp, 'Don't sit by the phone whenever there's an injury and wait for a call-up,'" Wild GM Chuck Fletcher said. "We don't want to just bring him up for a game here or two games there and send him down. We think mentally that would be even harder on him. The goal has been for him to go down there, get a lot of ice time, play special teams and play in a lot more situations than he could here at this stage of his career. When he comes back, we want him to have a real good chance to be here for the rest of his career." (Updated 11/29/2009).
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 12/2/09).
Fantasy Analysis
Sheppard, the ninth overall pick in 2006, arrived in the NHL in 2007 at age 19. The Wild felt he'd develop better under Jacques Lemaire than in Cape Breton, and because he wasn't 20, he couldn't be sent to Houston (AHL). But he could have been sent there last season, and the Wild opted against it. Now he requires waivers to be sent down. This means that unlike Gillies, who's playing 20 minutes a night in every situation, Sheppard hasn't gotten big responsibilities since 2006-07 in juniors. Sheppard is definitely a big-time bust at this point in his career and has little to no Fantasy appeal. (Updated 11/29/2009).
Owen Nolan's goal with 67 seconds remaining, his second of the game, sent the struggling Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday.
