Drafting: Who? When? Why?
Now it’s time to highlight your lists of the top projected players or at least write down the players you’re considering to be worthy of your 2014-15 Fantasy roster(s). Sometimes it can be difficult in the first round because you have no idea where you will land in the draft placement order, but here is what you should do…
Make a list of your top ten fantasy players and rank them in order (assuming you are in a pool where you have 10 people in the pool). Now you are already set for round one, it’s that easy. Here are my top 10 players with predictions:
1. S. Crosby – 38 goals, 76 assists, 114 points, +14, 56 penalty minutes, 37 power play points, 0 shorthanded points and 6 game winning goals.
2. S. Stamkos – 52 goals, 47 assists, 99 points, +6, 48 penalty minutes, 29 power play points, shorthanded points and 9 game winning goals.
3. E. Malkin – 41 goals, 56 assists, 97 points, +9, 80 penalty minutes, 35 power play points, 0 shorthanded points and 6 game winning goals.
4. C. Perry – 38 goals, 44 assists, 82 points, +26, 95 penalty minutes, 20 power play points, 2 shorthanded points and 8 game winning goals.
5. A. Ovechkin – 47 goals, 36 assists, 83 points, -14, 52 penalty minutes, 41 power play points, 0 shorthanded points and 9 game winning goals.
6. R. Getzlaf – 27 goals, 60 assists, 87 points, +24, 46 penalty minutes, 20 power play points, 1 shorthanded point and 4 game winning goals.
7. C. Giroux – 32 goals, 51 assists, 83 points, +10, 38 penalty minutes, 37 power play points, 2 shorthanded points and 5 game winning goals.
8. J. Tavares – 33 goals, 50 assists, 83 points, -2, 44 penalty minutes, 30 power play points, 0 shorthanded points and 4 game winning goals.
9. J. Toews – 30 goals, 45 assists, 75 points, +26, 36 penalty minutes, 20 power play points, 4 shorthanded points and 6 game winning goals.
10. P. Kane – 30 goals, 47 assists, 77 points, +6, 32 penalty minutes, 25 power play points, 0 shorthanded goals and 5 game winning goals.
I find it quite 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 lineup 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. T. Rask – 39 wins, .928 save %, 2.11 goals against average and 6 shutouts. 2. H. Lundqvist – 37 wins, .922 save %, 2.29 goals against average and 6 shutouts. 3. J. Quick – 36 wins, .920 save %, 2.21 goals against average and 6 shutouts. 4. C. Price – 33 wins, .924 save %, 2.32 goals against average and 5 shutouts. 5. B. Bishop – 37 wins, .921 save %, 2.36 goals against average and 4 shutouts. 6. M.A. Fleury – 36 wins, .919 save %, 2.35 goals against average and 5 shutouts. 7. S. Varlamov – 38 wins, .917 save %, 2.40 goals against average and 5 shutouts. 8. S. Bobrovsky – 33 wins, .920 save %, 2.40 goals against average and 4 shutouts. 9. C. Crawford – 37 wins, .919 save %, 2.35 goals against average and 3 shutouts. 10. K. Lehtonen – 36 wins, .917 save %, 2.42 goals against average and 4 shutouts.
If you already have it set in your mind that you want to take a goalie in the second round, you most certainly will land one of my top 10 goalies listed above. It’s completely up to you when you want to use your first goalie pick, but again it’s wise to pay attention to where other goalies are being drafted in case you want to try and wait until the third round or later. Don’t hesitate to take a goalie in the second round of the draft, I highly recommend it for most types of Fantasy Hockey pools.
I recommend that you look to select another high end forward with your 3rd round pick. There may have been a player or two you had ranked higher in the first or second round that has slipped through into the third round. Now is the time to pick them up, if not, at least you will have a few players in the top 20-30 range that you have researched and have considered selecting. I tend to try and draft high end goal scorers in the early rounds as they can produce for you in various different columns in Fantasy Hockey such as G, PTS, PPP, SHP, +/-, GWG. I’m confident that if you have a predetermined draft plan in place for your top player, top goalie and a high end 3rd round pick that your roster will be off to a solid start. Getting the best out of each of your picks is the key to thriving in all scoring categories that your pool has to offer.
Thank you again for reading and I hope you are starting to get in the zone for the upcoming NHL Fantasy Hockey Season.