Dispersal Draft Game - Discussion Thread

[Avyran]

Hoping that my other two choices for this pick fall through to me in the next two rounds. Was a little worried about Marleau's age, but then I saw that he has played all 82 games in 4 of the last 5 seasons. Also scored 30 or more goals those same 4 seasons. Forgot how important he was to San Jose's penalty-killing and power-play as well.

Only knock on him is the fact that many claim he chokes in the playoffs, and I'm gonna work through that.

Marleau was the guy I was mentioning standing out to me. If this weren't listed as a redraft league, maybe not, but I think he and Thornton should ahve gone a lot earlier. I've also never bought the playoff choking thing. He's streaky in general, which is why some years he isn't there in the playoffs. But looking at him from a production standpoint, you're looking at basically the same production rate in the playoffs as you see in the regular season. Last I checked, I'm pretty sure the point rate drops slightly with the goal rate going up slightly. He was 3+4 against the Kings this year in the playoffs. Of course if you look at the distribution of those points throughout the series, maybe that feeds into the choking narrative. Thats still a point a game against the Kings though.

I definitely agree; I would actually put Thornton as a top 10 pure center in the league. However, the problem is that everyone remembers their playoffs failures, and no one has better flameouts in the playoffs than the Sharks too. It really skews how good they can be; they have possibly the most talented top 9 on paper, with Couture, Pavelski, Thornton, Marleau, and Burns (though Chicago & Colorado'd definitely want a word in that debate, and I'd say they're more talented in actuality).

Marleau actually wasn't my choice for that pick leading up to it. However, after looking over all of the different stats, I felt that Marleau was a can't-pass pick, like how Chara was in my 4th pick. I think that having a more physical team around him (as I am currently trying to build, in case people couldn't tell, haha) would open up more space for Marleau & kick him back up into that 40-goal zone, although his age might keep him from attaining that.

[Letang Is The Truth]

I appreciate the drunk pick

[pcm]

Yeah thanks, hope you dont regret it in the morning.

[Idoit40fans]

Im pretty sure st louis pairing with stamkos isnt something that hes going to regret.

[columbia]

That depends on whether team loyalty and the duty of captaincy are factors in the voting.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Ugh, I was gonna take Sane Loueeee.


Unfortunately, I'm drunk too.

[mikey287]

Like the Jeff Carter pick. Player is tracking up big time.

[SolidSnake]

Like the Jeff Carter pick. Player is tracking up big time.

Thanks. He's like wine, getting better with age. I completely forgot about him. I needed another C, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

[Pavel Bure]

Love the Jeff Carter pick this late. IMO he's found the maturity he's needed to be a dominant goal scorer and just plain dominant at times. He's really blossomed the last 2-3 years... I don't know quite how to put it because him a a center piece I don't think is dominant, but as a compliment has stretches of absolute dominance.

[Kovy27]

Damn you Staggy...damn you.

[SolidSnake]

Love the Jeff Carter pick this late. IMO he's found the maturity he's needed to be a dominant goal scorer and just plain dominant at times. He's really blossomed the last 2-3 years... I don't know quite how to put it because him a a center piece I don't think is dominant, but as a compliment has stretches of absolute dominance.

If I could only draft his line mates and recreate that's 70's line.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Had to go with who I thought was the top player on the board. Kronwall brings phiscality, leadership and experience and leads my second pairing.

[pcm]

Damn you Staggy...damn you.

[pcm]

Was hoping kronwall would fill out my top 4. Oh well. Needed to pick a winger this round anyways.

[pcm]

Like the Jeff Carter pick. Player is tracking up big time.

He's like whine

Fxt

[JS©]

oh ****, I pciked MSL?

[meow]

Hahaha. No big deal

[count2infinity]

I thought about MSL at my next pick. The age thing is a bit of a problem, but the dude is a great hockey player. I would imagine next year he'll have a bit of a drop off from his past production, but we'll see.

[Avyran]

Was waiting to see when Koivu would be chosen. Like Thornton, I was really surprised to see how far he had slipped down the draft. So many good centers in the league at the moment. Carter & Kronwall are also two quality picks, especially with how good Carter has become offensively for the Kings. My only knock toward Carter is he's injury-prone; Kronwall, meanwhile, can take stupid penalties. But both're very, very good depth.

Have had my eye on Kesler for a while. He's played on the wing multiple times now, first with the Sedins & more recently under Tortorella. Former Selke winner, lots of intangibles, but has also shown that he can score when asked - scored 40 a few years ago & an average of 25 the past seven years (two years ago taken out; he only played 17 games that year). Also injury-prone like Carter, I think, but can do a whole lot. Gives me a 2nd front-man presence for power plays, and another great shutdown forward. Averaged over 110 hits & about 70 blocked shots per year (again, 2012-13 taken out). Lots of big-game experience, both in the playoffs & internationally. I guessed that he would probably slip down pretty far in the draft due to the utter wealth of centers, and thankfully, I was right. The plan (for now) is to play him on the wing with Bergeron, but I'll look at it again when I'm done drafting.

[Letang Is The Truth]

more centers!

[Letang Is The Truth]

i blame crankshaft for that pick

[count2infinity]

i blame crankshaft for that pick

you can if you want. I was just as mad when I saw him post that as I was planning on taking him here and there were still 11 picks until I was up.

[Gaucho]

Kovalchuk is the guy I had in mind earlier. I understand why people shied away from him, but whatever. I'd just move my imaginary team to his imaginary hometown. Based on on-ice ability alone he's surely a 3rd round pick at worst, no?

[Letang Is The Truth]

i blame crankshaft for that pick

you can if you want. I was just as mad when I saw him post that as I was planning on taking him here and there were still 11 picks until I was up.

i call bs. if you think no one else was thinking about it, you let it slide. but whats done is done. nice ipck

[mikey287]

Kovalchuk is the guy I had in mind earlier. I understand why people shied away from him, but whatever. I'd just move my imaginary team to his imaginary hometown. Based on on-ice ability alone he's surely a 3rd round pick at worst, no?

Going forward, it's unclear. Last year he was not particularly strong. Has a bad back and almost certainly wasn't one of the five best forwards in the KHL last season...a league, which based on his NHL dominance, should be a cakewalk for him...

On pure talent, you can make the claim he's a top-20 player in the world. But, that introduces a lot of interesting characters to the mix...in a situation where Alexander Ovechkin fell out of the 10, it's hard to fathom that Kovalchuk could be viewed too highly...

I'm a big Kovalchuk fan...but this isn't theft, nor is it a reach really...it's an NHL proven track record who is doing well - not great - in a second-tier league...it's really up to interpretation...

Crankshaft, as it were, had nothing to do with that selection, I know that much.