Preparing yourself for round one is important to me as you have no idea where you may fall in the drafting order for your fantasy pool(s). Get yourself setup for wherever you may end up by making your own top ten list of players. This way you don’t need to worry about who you are going to pick in the first round in the draft; you are already setup to take the best player available in your list.
Note: if you have more or less than ten people in your pool, increase or decrease the length of your list accordingly.
Here are my top 10 players with predictions:
1. Sidney Crosby – 31 goals, 66 assists, 97 points, +11, 52 PIM, 36 PPP, 0 SHP, 6 GWG
2. Alexander Ovechkin – 51 goals, 29 assists, 80 points, +9, 64 PIM, 32 PPP, 0 SHP, 10 GWG
3. Steven Stamkos – 45 goals, 35 assists, 80 points, +5, 41 PIM, 27 PPP, 0 SHP, 8 GWG
4. John Tavares – 36 goals, 43 assists, 79 points, +1, 38 PIM, 28 PPP, 2 SHP, 6 GWG
5. Jamie Benn – 34 goals, 45 assists, 79 points, +3, 59 PIM, 27 PPP, 4 SHP, 4 GWG
6. Tyler Seguin – 40 goals, 38 assists, 78 points, +3, 30 PIM, 30 PPP, 0 SHP, 7 GWG
7. Evgeni Malkin – 33 goals, 41 assists, 74 points, +3, 80 PIM, 28 PPP, 0 SHP, 5 GWG
8. Claude Giroux – 28 goals, 46 assists, , 74 points, -2, 40 PIM, 33 PPP, 0 SHP, 4 GWG
9. Corey Perry – 40 goals, 30 assists, 70 points, +15, 90 PIM, 25 PPP, 0 SHP, 8 GWG
10. Patrick Kane – 33 goals, 40 asissts, 73 points, +9, 24 PIM, 30 PPP, 0 SHP, 6 GWG
It’s favorable to predetermine the order of players that I would draft in the first round, that way I won’t be fumbling to make my first/most important pick at draft time and I can plan/build my team around this player. You will notice that I didn’t have a goalie or defenseman picked in the first round, which is because I feel that there are such a limited number of all-stars that will consistently put up dazzling stats season after season that it is important to get one of these top 10 players in the first round. You may be able to draft an 80+ point breakout player in the second or third round, but selecting one of my top 10 players above in the first round is a must in my opinion. Saying that, a goalie pick in the first round COULD work out great, because let’s face it, having one of the best goalies in the league will likely pay large fantasy dividends (depending on how many stats categories are allocated to goalies). But in my opinion, a goalie can be hit or miss from season to season, or week to week. Consistency is huge, which is why I feel taking a goalie in the second or third round is a key to having a successful season in your pool. With that being said, you have to be careful, if you notice a trend of people drafting goalies in the first round or early in the second…it’s important to at least snag one of the top 5-10 goalies while you still can.
This is important because you want to make sure you are very confident in at least one of the goaltenders on your Fantasy team. If it’s a pool that you have to play a minimum number of goalie games per week, or a pool that you average out the goalies stats for the week. You want to be certain that your 1st goalie pick is going to get you a low goal against average, a high save percentage and will give you a chance to put up some good shutout numbers.
Some starting goalies will play more games than other tenders who have more competent/experienced backups behind them, so that is important to note as well. I suggest taking a look at the last 2-3 seasons of the top goalies in the league. See where each of these goalies lineups versus one another and that will help you determine which goalies to have on your radar. Now you can make yourself a top 10 goalies list and figure out who you want to hold the fort for your fantasy roster.
Here are my top 10 goaltenders with predictions:
1. Carey Price – 42 wins, .927 save %, 2.11 GAA, 9 shutouts
2. Hendrik Lundqvist – 41 wins, .923 save %, 2.31 GAA, 7 shutouts
3. Braden Holtby – 38 wins, .923 save %, 2.28 GAA, 9 shutouts
4. Pekka Rinne – 40 wins, .921 save %, 2.19 GAA, 6 shutouts
5. Marc-Andre Fleury – 36 wins, .919 save %, 2.31 GAA, 9 shutouts
6. Tukka Rask – 37 wins, .920 save %, 2.33 GAA, 6 shutouts
7. Ben Bishop – 41 wins, .915 save %, 2.35 GAA, 5 shutouts
8. Jonathan Quick – 38 wins, .919 save %, 2.28 GAA, 5 shutouts
9. Devan Dubnyk – 36 wins, .922 save %, 2.29 GAA, 4 shutouts
10. Corey Crawford - 36 wins, .920 save %, 2.32 GAA, 4 shutouts
If you have it set in your mind that you want a goalie of this caliber, you will likely have to draft one in the second or third round. Be sure to keep an eye out for when goalies start to be picked; sometimes you can wait longer than the second round, and other times you better take an elite goalie quickly as they can disappear in no time. It’s totally up to you to decide when to pick a goalie, but I highly recommend scooping one up in the second or third round in most types of fantasy hockey pools.
It all depends on how each specific fantasy draft goes whether or not you can wait until the third round to select your goalie. It’s very rare I won’t scoop up a goalie in the first three rounds. Last year was the only time I ever was able to wait until the fourth round of a fantasy draft before picking my number one. Rinne who was coming off injury was still available and I was able to have one of the steals of the draft as my go to goalie; it’s all about having a keen eye for the ‘gems in the rough’ or guys who have been passed up on by others. Perhaps they were a bit weery since he was coming off an injury and Nashville was still somewhat of a question mark at the beginning of the season.
This is just an example, but a good one; because it happens every year where a number of players or goalies can slip through the cracks into the later rounds of the draft. This is yet another reason why having your predetermined lists can pay off huge in the end.
I’m confident that if you have a predetermined draft plan in place for your top player, top goalie and another high end player in mind that you take in the early rounds your roster will be off to a glorious start. Getting the best out of each of your picks is the key to thriving in all fantasy categories that your pool has to offer.
Any comments about my top 10 lists, feel free to have at it in the comments section!
Thanks for reading; hopefully you are starting to get amped up for this upcoming NHL fantasy hockey season.