With only one sleep left before the regular season starts, I would imagine most of you have your fantasy rosters picked or submitted in preparation for week one. In detail here is the setup of the league; so you can see why I chose who I did, when I did. I will also list my draft picks after and a short tidbit on each player and how I feel they will do for me in this fantasy pool.
Draft 1: This was an in person draft at my friend’s house where nine of us got together and selected names out of a hat to decide who gets picks from 1-9. The way the pool is setup is to have 9 forwards, 5 defensemen, 2 goalies, 1 utility slot and 5 bench players. How it works is you have 82 games player per slot; so you can’t just put all your players in each night…you have to pay attention to who is hot and who is cold and make your best judgement on when to play each of your players and when not. Seems like a lot of work, well; it is! The draft was done as a snake draft, so 1 through 9, then 9 through 1 and repeat. The pool is set as a rotisserie; so you total all of the points at the end to give a winner. Any free agent transactions take 24 hours to take effect.
How points are scored: Goals = 3 points Assists = 1 point +- = 1 point per (you can get negative points) Hat tricks = 1 point Shorthanded point = 1 point Game winning goal = 1 point Power play point = 1 point Goalie win = 5 points Goalie shutout = 10 points
I got first overall selection; here is how my drafting went:
Crosby – no brainer, Sidney is the kidney of the NHL.
Kopitar – LA’s best forward overall, I am hoping for a 30 goal season from Kopitar and about 75 points.
Lundqvist – King Henrik – easily one of the most consistent goalies in the NHL, also one who can get a lot of shutouts which are huge in this fantasy pool setup.
St Louis – Sure Marty had a temper tantrum last season with the Olypmics debacle and asking to be traded from Tampa Bay; but he should produce around 70 points for me with some shorthanded points as well as the powerplay.
Bishop – Last year Bishop showed his worth, he was a dominant force for Tampa Bay, I feel the Lightening will be near the top of the East this season; so who better to take than Bishop…I was thrilled he was still available as my 5th pick.
Thornton – Jumbo Joe is what I refer to as the assist king. I hope he keeps a big role on San Jose setting up many goals for many of their skilled forwards; a high +- for all of my first picks was something I felt would be good for this pool.
Steen – As long as Steen stays healthy he will score a ton of goals; I’m hoping to cash in on a lot of game winners, short handers and game winners with Alexander. Again, another player, on another good team…working that +- stat the best I can.
Skinner (IR) – A total bummer Skinner got hit and has another concussion…this kid sure is injury prone; maybe a mistake…but with the way this pool is setup, I have to bench guys regardless. So, in this case he can sit on the bench until he is ready, not a chance I am going to drop Skinner.
Pominville – Under rated? I think so…Jason should be good for 30 goals and 30+ assists this season; he is very consistent and rarely misses any games.
Ekman-Larsson – OEL was my first D pick, I feel he and Yandle will be very productive as per usual. A huge benefit would be if he can stay in the + category this season; not a ton of defensemen who could produce 50 points…I think Ekman-Larsson is one of them.
Moulson – Someone has to score some greasy goals for Buffalo…Matt seems to have that touch around the net. Playing likely on the top line in Buffalo, I can only hope that line does well and puts the puck in the net more than it goes in against them; a bit of a risk in terms of +-, but Moulson can put up points.
Kadri – “The Dream… will flourish this season, I have no doubt he steps it up and hits the 60 point mark for the first time in his career; it is a contract season after all! Kadri should get some decent powerplay time and hopefully with the improved defense on the Leafs he can keep that +- up in the positive.
D. Boyle – The Rangers will enjoy having Boyle on the blue line this season, he can put the puck in the net and is pretty sound defensively. Another D man who can garnish around 20 points on the power play and Boyle is a veteran – I expect he has a fantastic season for New York just shy of 50 points.
Wisniewski – Another great defenseman who I thought would be scooped earlier, especially in a league that has 5 defensive slots. Crazy that James could get 30 power play points quarterbacking the power play for the Blue Jackets. Wisniewski is an assist machine for Columbus, I am happy to have picked him up in the 14th round.
J. Williams – With a fresh Stanley cup ring on his finger, I think Williams will continue where he left off last season and hopefully add a few more points than he got last season. He is a good 5 on 5 player and should serve will for spot play when and if some of my higher ranked players get cold or hurt.
Ribeiro – With James Neal by his side I could see Ribeiro being a huge pickup for me this late in the drafting rounds. He has had a lot of success in his career; another 50 point player on my roster I feel. I also think his +- will improve a lot on Nashville as they have a great goaltender who is healthy this season in Rinne, and a very solid and competitive defensive core.
Phaneuf – Just keep adding up those #1 defensemen on my roster…I can’t believe big Dion himself was still here, in a pool full of leaf fans! Sure, il scoop Dion up…he is worth more in pools where penalty minutes are included, but with Robidas as his partner, I predict Phaneuf has his best season since becoming a Toronto Maple Leaf.
Schneider – With 82 games per goalie slot, I knew I needed a third goalie…I was waiting patiently as the rounds went on, and I knew Schneider would get a lot of starts for New Jersey. They may not be the most offensive team and best team in the league, but they have a very good defense, so when I start Schneider vs some of the easier teams I can only hope he pulls through with a shutout. Amazing for the 18th round…
T. Johnson – Who is going to play with Stamkos? I hope Johnson gets some time with him, if not he will still flourish on the second pairing as Tampa has some high octane offense! He is also an excellent player for the penalty kill and can get me a lot of shorthanded points (6 last year). It would be great if he repeated last season; which was 24 goals and 26 assists with a whopping +23.
Tanguay – What I consider to be a 20th round gem. Tanguay-Duchene-Iginla…not only is that a great line, but back in the day Iggy and Tanguay played together, and was dynamite!! I am thinking this may be one of the best 20th round picks of the draft, time will tell!
Granlund – Top line with Parise and Pominville…don’t mind if I do! This is a total sleeper pick, I don’t even think anyone had Granlund on their radar. I will have absolutely no problem putting him into my lineup and expecting production. He took over the first line position from veteran Mikko Koivu last season and there is a reason for that, he is a great player.
Carlson – My last pick of the draft…I had to pick a defenseman because I needed to draft 5. I figured Carlson was a good choice for a last pick as Washington does tend to score a lot of goals…and a ton of powerplay goals at that…last season Carlson got 22 powerplay points, that’s huge for a last draft picked defenseman.
Be sure to check in for tomorrow’s blog on my main fantasy pool that I have placed extremely well in each and every year. Thanks for reading and be sure to ask any questions in the comments section.