As everyone knows the 2015 Draft is just around the corner and any keeper pools include drafting players. There are deep pools that will do seven rounds of draft picks, but those are rare so I won’t be going that far into depth. Looking at players who will be drafted in this year’s first round who will likely be high impact Fantasy players, which is the key. Remember, a lot of players drafted will take years to come into their own, if they make the big show of course.
There are a number of players picked in the first round who could end up being primarily American Hockey League (AHL) players. Not everyone in the first round is a guaranteed National Hockey League player, mind you; you’d like to think those picked in the top five will have success at the NHL level. Which doesn’t always mean they will be a homerun in Fantasy either, considering some of them could be a second pairing defenseman with minimal time on the power play. Take these things into consideration when drafting in your keeper pool.
Another key towards picking the hot commodity will be what team they end up on and how long you predict it will be before they crack the lineup. Players like McDavid and Eichel you’d have to think will have immediate impacts with their respected clubs. Potential phenoms like Strome or Marner may require more patience and therefore more time developing; which in turn means another season or two of your Fantasy team looking for players to fill much needed voids.
There is plenty of time before the draft takes place, but it’s certainly creeping up. Take some time to go over the top 50 players in the draft. As I mentioned there may be some quality defenseman that are not worth picking in your keeper pool. Make sure you are thinking with your ‘Fantasy Head’, if you get my drift. Look at point per game totals and look at the league and line-mates of these prospects, ones that stand out to you be sure to keep note of their name.
If your Fantasy league allows you to trade your draft picks, and you feel your team is very strong; it’s really not that bad of an idea. You can go ‘fishing’ and talk with others in your league that may have interest in trading one of their players for your first pick. Perhaps their team is nowhere close to contending next season and a first would benefit them more in the long run. You on the other hand stack up your roster and give away a pick that may not even come into play for a couple more seasons. Of course there is always the risk that pick turns into a high performing fantasy player and you regret it. But, if you win the pool, I assure you; there are no regrets!
As the 2015 Draft approaches I will be going into a much more in depth analysis on some high quality prospects who I feel could help bolster your Fantasy rosters.
Do you have any front runners outside of the top 5 prospects that you could see being dominant force in the Fantasy future?
Thanks for reading.