Fantasy Hockey Forum

[Steve]

I just did my first every fantasy hockey league - yahoo, standard scoring rules I think. 10 team league - I had the #10 pick, and I missed the first two rounds, Kessel & Staal were autopicked:

C: Eric Staal, Anze Kopitar

LW: James Neal, Evander Kane

RW: Phil Kessel, Johan Franzen

D: Drew Doughty, Niklas Kronwall, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, James Wisniewski

G: Jonas Hiller, Niklas Backstrom

Utility: Patrick Sharp

Bench: Paul Stastny, Tyson Barrie, David Clarkson, Jonathan Bernier

[MRandall25]

My dad is doing his first fantasy hockey league (with my help) with the guys we normally do fantasy baseball with. This was the result from the draft (the entire league was auto draft, as was the fantasy baseball draft. I think it's for "parity"):

Erik Karlsson D - OTT
Patrick Kane RW - CHI
James Neal LW - PIT
Taylor Hall LW - EDM
Jason Spezza C - OTT
Jimmy Howard G - DET
Marc-Andre Fleury G - PIT
Jordan Eberle RW - EDM
Mikko Koivu C - MIN
Joe Pavelski RW - SJ
Blake Wheeler RW - WIN
Derick Brassard C - NYR
Jonathan Huberdeau LW - FLA
Dennis Wideman D - CGY
Michael Del Zotto D - NYR
Kyle Turris C - OTT
Paul Martin D - PIT
Bryan Little C - WIN
Tyson Barrie D - COL
Jussi Jokinen LW - PIT
Jake Muzzin D - LAK
Cory Conacher LW - TB

[meecrofilm]

That's pretty darn solid for an auto-draft. How many teams?

[MRandall25]

10 teams. That is also the order in which the players were drafted, so thank you ESPN for having Jussi Jokinen so far down.

Also forgot Conacher was traded to Ottawa

[meecrofilm]

I just did my first every fantasy hockey league - yahoo, standard scoring rules I think. 10 team league - I had the #10 pick, and I missed the first two rounds, Kessel & Staal were autopicked:

C: Eric Staal, Anze Kopitar

LW: James Neal, Evander Kane

RW: Phil Kessel, Johan Franzen

D: Drew Doughty, Niklas Kronwall, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, James Wisniewski

G: Jonas Hiller, Niklas Backstrom

Utility: Patrick Sharp

Bench: Paul Stastny, Tyson Barrie, David Clarkson, Jonathan Bernier

Those are two tough rounds to miss. As a result you don't have stud goaltender to offset the lack of a stud forward. But if Staal has a bounce back year and Kessel lights it up, and if Minnesota is strong this year, and if Hiller or Bernier maintains a chokehold on the #1 job... just a lot of ifs.

[meecrofilm]

10 teams. That is also the order in which the players were drafted, so thank you ESPN for having Jussi Jokinen so far down.

Also forgot Conacher was traded to Ottawa

Yeah, I wanted to hop on the Juice train late in the rounds, but someone snatched him up before me.

But yeah, you can't ask for much better from an auto-draft. The wingers are the clear strength, the goaltending -should- be solid... only things that stand out is the D is a little questionable after Karlsson (could go either way with some of those players), and you don't really have a stud centerman, though Spezza could have a big year if he stays healthy and he and Ryan click (I'm counting on that too, haha).

[mikey287]

so thank you ESPN for having Jussi Jokinen so far down.

Didn't ESPN project Dwayne Roloson to get 38 starts this season? I thought I saw that somewhere...ESPN is not exactly a trusted source for hockey anything...Burnside picked the Coyotes to win the Cup this year too...

EDIT: close enough



For those that don't know, he's a goalie coach now...

[MRandall25]

10 teams. That is also the order in which the players were drafted, so thank you ESPN for having Jussi Jokinen so far down.

Also forgot Conacher was traded to Ottawa

Yeah, I wanted to hop on the Juice train late in the rounds, but someone snatched him up before me.

But yeah, you can't ask for much better from an auto-draft. The wingers are the clear strength, the goaltending -should- be solid... only things that stand out is the D is a little questionable after Karlsson (could go either way with some of those players), and you don't really have a stud centerman, though Spezza could have a big year if he stays healthy and he and Ryan click (I'm counting on that too, haha).

I told my dad to put Hall or someone else on the block and see what the offers are like.

[meecrofilm]

so thank you ESPN for having Jussi Jokinen so far down.

Didn't ESPN project Dwayne Roloson to get 38 starts this season? I thought I saw that somewhere...ESPN is not exactly a trusted source for hockey anything...Burnside picked the Coyotes to win the Cup this year too...

EDIT: close enough



For those that don't know, he's a goalie coach now...

Hahah.

And really Burnside? Flerp.

[meecrofilm]

I told my dad to put Hall or someone else on the block and see what the offers are like.

I'd see if someone (especially a wing-starved team) would be willing to overpay for Eberle before putting Hall up.

[MRandall25]

I'm kinda disappointed no one ended up with Roloson.

But Beau Bennett wasn't in the auto draft. Told my dad to drop Conacher and see if he gets Beau off waivers.

[pcm]

I enjoy Burnside and Lebrun, as they generally take a more human approach to their coverage. But that Phoenix pick is mystifying. I guess he wanted to go off the board... He really went off the board.

Lots of people picking Detroit to make noise in the postseason, I guess thinking they'll feast on the teams in the East? Definitely possible, but not to the degree that folks have jumped on their wagon. I like the Weiss addition, but that D is lite.

[mikey287]

The D has a lot of players that can't play two-ways very well. Since you guys will get to watch them more this year, watch Brendan Smith for Detroit, he's #2 I think, he might be the most fully functional turnover machine I've seen in a while...the machine has two switches: [ON] and [AUTO] and he's definitely set to [AUTO].

Zetterberg and Pasha are getting up there in years. They'll probably play together much more this year, but because Babcock loves Cleary and Abdelkader so much, they'll undoubtedly be saddled with one of those two as a winger which should slow them down just enough. Abdelkader is like us putting Kennedy on the top line with Crosby...he has a decent shot, but you still don't want him out there with your star player(s).

It's a good team though, and once those prospects get acclimated (Xavier Ouellet, Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyquist, etc.) they'll continue to carry on after Pasha and Zetterberg fade in mediocrity...

[meecrofilm]

I really like that team. I can't imagine how you landed Tavares, Quick, and Luongo. Although I guess the breakdown of stats could be 9:4 skaters, which could explain how there was a delay on goalies going.

I love Ryan this year. Really high on him, especially in hit/ppp leagues. His PPPs are going to blow up, even if his overall production doesn't go crazy. I wasn't able to get him in any of my 3 leagues, but I think he's in for a big year.

You also were able to find guys who score more than they assist for your skater positions. Huge with that scoring format. To think that you got Neal in the 4th round in that format is insane.

I haven't ever played a FW league, but from what I understand, you'll want to have a couple more centers. I'd probably drop Bennett for the best faceoff winning center out there (within reason in terms of other production). I think with all the multiple position eligibility out there this year, you'll want to have at least two guys in your wing slots taking draws regularly.

Thanks, appreciate the insight. You are correct re: scoring breakdown. I was surprised Tavares was still there at 5th overall. And I actually jumped on Neal in the 3rd, but lucked out with Luongo still around in the 4th -- And Lundqvist, Rask, Niemi, and Howard all went before Quick in the 2nd, so again, lucked out a bit there.

I actually looked over the teams as far as their center situations go, and it looks like only 1 team has one more center than I do, even with Ott unfortunately starting the season on Ennis' left wing, and no team has more than 2 wing-eligible centers, so I think I should be good there.

I'm just a bit hesitant with Bennett. Like you said, a real lineup strength is goal-scoring, so he could actually help balance that out a bit in the assist department, plus he throws the body around from time to time. It's an investment pick -- as long as it's not really hurting my team right now to have him, if he ends up eventually taking over the LW spot next to Geno as the season progresses, it could be a huge advantage once the playoffs roll around and the matchups really matter -- not bad, value-wise, for a final round pick.

The only available option that intrigued me was Charlie Coyle, as he's listed as a C/RW, and will centering Minny's 2nd/3rd line (I mean, they have two 3rd lines basically). He's not exactly a faceoff ace right now though, and there is the whole Minny vs. Pitt offense factor as well. All that coupled with the potential Bennett payoff down the line makes me inclined to hang on to Beau for the time being.

Edit: Some dude actually just dropped Dubinsky (C/LW). If he's still available on the 3rd, which is when I can pick him up, I'm gonna bite the bullet and drop Beau for him.

[Steve]

I just did my first every fantasy hockey league - yahoo, standard scoring rules I think. 10 team league - I had the #10 pick, and I missed the first two rounds, Kessel & Staal were autopicked:

C: Eric Staal, Anze Kopitar

LW: James Neal, Evander Kane

RW: Phil Kessel, Johan Franzen

D: Drew Doughty, Niklas Kronwall, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, James Wisniewski

G: Jonas Hiller, Niklas Backstrom

Utility: Patrick Sharp

Bench: Paul Stastny, Tyson Barrie, David Clarkson, Jonathan Bernier

Those are two tough rounds to miss. As a result you don't have stud goaltender to offset the lack of a stud forward. But if Staal has a bounce back year and Kessel lights it up, and if Minnesota is strong this year, and if Hiller or Bernier maintains a chokehold on the #1 job... just a lot of ifs.

Yeah, definately - there were 9 goalies taken already, when I picked in round 3. This is the first time i've done a fantasy league - it's a mostly a bragging rights league, should be fun. I have some west coast players, maybe I'll be staying up a little later during the season haha...

[Kraftster]

Dubi for Beau is definitely an easy swap.

[meecrofilm]

Indeed.

It's a moot point though right now with RNH just put on my IR, so I have a little bit of a grace period.

[PghSkins]

Sharks hung 9 on the Rags last night, bet Jumbo Joe and Burns piled up points for my fantasy team, right?

Wrong, 1 assist between them. I hate this game.

[MRandall25]

My team (not the one posted here) is really good at winning face offs, hitting people, and blocking shots.

Otherwise, they're pretty bad. Only lead in SHGs because Ryan McDonaugh is a lucky SOB

[mikey287]

Sharks hung 9 on the Rags last night, bet Jumbo Joe and Burns piled up points for my fantasy team, right?

Wrong, 1 assist between them. I hate this game.

It's worse when you realize that Tomas Hertl plays on the LW of a line with Joe Thornton and Brent Burns.

[meecrofilm]

My team (not the one posted here) is really good at winning face offs, hitting people, and blocking shots.

Otherwise, they're pretty bad. Only lead in SHGs because Ryan McDonaugh is a lucky SOB

So your fantasy team is Dan Bylsma's dream team?

[Letang Is The Truth]

lol

[MRandall25]

My team (not the one posted here) is really good at winning face offs, hitting people, and blocking shots.

Otherwise, they're pretty bad. Only lead in SHGs because Ryan McDonaugh is a lucky SOB

So your fantasy team is Dan Bylsma's dream team?

I would also have to be leading in goals.

[meecrofilm]

My team (not the one posted here) is really good at winning face offs, hitting people, and blocking shots.

Otherwise, they're pretty bad. Only lead in SHGs because Ryan McDonaugh is a lucky SOB

So your fantasy team is Dan Bylsma's dream team?

I would also have to be leading in goals.

Come on. I think we all know he'd gladly trade Crosby and Malkin for two cloned versions of prime Tanner Glass.

[Chefpatrick871]

Picked up Hertl on Monday because of Clarkson being suspended. The only reason he even showed up on my radar is is because of the 16 people league and the slim pickings on waivers.