Acquired from the Atlanta Thrashers in 2010, the 37-year-old White will be hard-pressed to earn himself a roster spot with the Blueshirts and will likely spend the season with the Connecticut Whale of the AHL.
After putting up an impressive 73 points, a career high, in the 2008-09 season, White had his fair share of struggles in Atlanta last year and only managed to pick up 26 points over the course of 65 games. While fantasy owners were licking their chops to see what he would be capable of doing, the acquisition of Nik Antropov moved him down the depth chart and he was never quite able to recover. The recent trade to New York makes it easy for fantasy team owners to get excited over White’s potential once again; however there is no real reason to expect him to receive anything more than third- or even fourth-line minutes. He will consistently sit behind the likes of Brandon Dubinsky, Chris Drury, Artem Ansimov, and possibly even Erik Christensen on the depth chart, which clearly hurts his fantasy value. Unless there is movement via trade or White has a surprisingly positive preseason, he should not be considered anything more than a late-round pickup within deep leagues. However, keep an eye on his progression as his 73-point season just two years ago showed that he has the ability to put the puck in the net -- he just needs to find the minutes on a Rangers team that is stacked down the middle.
White had his breakout season last year with the Thrashers netting 22 goals and 51 helpers. On a line with Slava Kozlov and Bryan Little most of the season, he thrived in a big way. This line did a considerable amount of damage down the stretch and this line will more than likely stick together after the chemistry they showed. White showed he has great ability to pass the puck and seems to get the biscuit where it needs to be for his fellow line mates. White is 33 years of age and we don’t see him doing any better than that. But, he’s worth a flier late in the draft.
Todd White had a descent campaign in 2008-09 with 14 goals and 37 points in 74 games last season. He could possibly center the Kovalchuk and Jason Williams line. He is competing with Erik Christensen for the job. If White gets it, his value will rise for obvious reasons. He should at least find the second line and second power play unit. 45 points should be a reasonable expectation from the young center.
White should be lining up between Slava Kozlov and Marian Hossa -- more because he’s the best centerman the Thrashers have rather than him having 1st line center talent. But don’t let that scare you away from White on draft day. The Thrashers have pretty much nobody to challenge him for one of the two scoring center jobs. White did score 60 points in 80 games with the Sens back in 2002-03 and he had 44 points as a 3rd line center on the Wild last year -- there is some scoring potential here. 60+ points is a possibility if White can click with his new line mates.
White was the Wild's third-leading scorer before he suffered a season-ending broken leg in March. However, on the low-scoring Wild, that didn't make him a big fantasy option. He'll likely center the third line with the upgrade to offensive talent and another 40 point season seems likely.
Watch carefully to see which line White plays on. If he's centering Gaborik's line, he has the potential to rack up a lot of points. He played hurt often in 2003-04, with shoulder and foot injuries. Don't be too concerned about the resulting drop in production from that season.
