Last year, Mayers did the job that he was asked to do when he was signed as a free agent -- throw his weight around. He came close to a 100-100 season (PIMS and hits), but he'll be hard-pressed to duplicate those numbers this time around. The Hawks have Bryan Bickell and Daniel Carcillo as its so-called heavyweights, so Mayers' ice time (and games played) could take a hit this year.
Mayers' job as an enforcer will open up some opportunities for the likes of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews with his muscle that was lacking on the Blackhawks in 2010-11. This season will be the 14th for Mayers in the NHL. In 2010-11 he registered 124 penalty minutes along with 105 hits. Mayers should be in the mix for minutes on the ice.
The Sharks have ranked in the top-five in penalty killing percentage for three consecutive seasons. Mayers, who signed a one-year with Team Teal in August 2010, should help keep that streak going. He's physical, aggressive, and likely to help out the Sharks' lower lines in 2010-11.
Mayers won't have to be the heavy in Toronto by himself any more; there are a loads of heavyweight defencemen around now to spread the wealth. As such, his value in PIM leagues may be less than in previous years -- there's only so much room in the sin bin.
Mayers is a team-first guy who'll win faceoffs and puck battles, and change the leadership quotient in the dressing room. He won't, however, deliver much by way of fantasy output unless you count PIMs. Even then, watch his abysmal plus-minus -- he's not typically better than about minus-19. Yep, you read that right.
Mayers plays more of a physical game as a checking-line winger and has never scored more than 26 points in a season. He is not worthy of any fantasy consideration, especially if your league awards points for plus-minus: his ratings the last three seasons have been -19, -22, -19.
As usual, not much is expected from Mayers this season other than giving the Blues a strong physical presence. Will get you a decent amount of PIM's, but not much in the scoring department.
Mayers is a good pick up, if and only if, your leagues gives points to penalty minutes -- he'll get about 100. Though, there is no reason to get him if penalty minutes aren't counted, cause he will only put up about 10 points.
