Keep 3, need advice.
 

Hey everyone longtime dobber reader first time poster.

I'm in 14 team league, keep 3, h2h league. We count goals, assists, +/-, ppp, sog, FOW, hits and blocked shots. We ice 2 centres, 2 lw, and 2 rw. Finished our draft about 2 weeks ago and I've been racking my brain on who to keep since I've come to the conclusion that its unlikely there will be a season this year.

I'm debating between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Parise, Eric Staal and Nail Yakupov. I know I know, proven before potential. I won last season and I run my teams with an eye towards the future while being a competitor in the current season. Always been that way so please keep that in mind. Giroux is already one of my keepers so I need to pick 2 of those 4.

Trading is a possibility. I originally wanted to keep Giroux, Parise and Yakupov, but keep mulling between all 4 trying to come to the best decision as possible. I'm hoping for some much needed insights and opinions. Much appreciated!

Does Giroux have RW eligibility? I'd say you definitely don't want to keep 2 C, so that's kind of important. I'd try trading Yakupov and RNH (their trade values are probably the most inflated right now) and keeping Giroux, Parise, Staal (RW-LW-C).

Welcome to the boards

I do like what was said above because you have such limited starters. maybe try and see if you can package Yakupov with someone for another elite player like Malkin.

I don't think I'd be able to get Malkin from his owner, actually I'm sure of it since he's such a devout penguins' fan.

Originally my plan was to go with Giroux, Parise and E. Staal, but Yakupov is so enticing that I'd be more than willing to not keep E. Staal lol maybe I'm crazy o.o

How much of a loss would it be to keep Yakupov over Staal over the course of say, 3 years?

*oh and Giroux does have rw eligibility ATM

I'm a big fan of proven vs. potential...

With Parise and Staal you essentially know what you're going to get with them. Yak and RNH you don't... Also Parise and Staal are still young enough that by the time Yak and RNH get into optimal fantasy production, Parise and Staal will still be productive. It's not like you're keeping 36-year olds...

For all you know RNH might regress and his value might not be as high as it is now and next season you could get him even cheaper. Yakupov might end up as a bust, who knows? With Parise and Staal you know what you're going to get and it's still high quality, there's much more security keeping them than prospects who may not pan out.

I, too, prefer proven over potential. With that said, i'd definitely move RNH. He and Yak havethe hype, so you should be able to capitalize there. If you can't find a worthy partner, I'd go with Parise and Yak to sure up your wingers, incase Giroux loses his W eligibility. Staal would be my last keeper over RNH. He has too much grit to his game not to keep. He and Parise, when not scoring goals, will add to your other cats. Even Giroux can be chippy. Yak has a better frame than RNH, so he'll likely contribute more elsewhere.
IMO, last thing you want to do is have Giroux end up being a Center and you let Yak or Parise go while keeping RNH. You would have too many Cs. Even if Giroux was a winger only, i'd rather have more wingers than a C. If this ends up being the case, I guarantee someone would seek you out in a trade for a winger.

Giroux
Parise
Staal
Yak

First off, welcome to the boards, Vann!

Secondly, One87 gives a terrific explanation here and I totally agree with him.

Best of luck.

I actually think Staal is your most valuable keeper closely followed by Giroux then some distance to Parise.

If you can package Parise with either RHN or Yak to get Ovechkin, I think I would do it based on your league cats.

For me...
1. Giroux (C/RW)
2. Parise (LW)
3. Yakupov (RW)

In keeper leagues, Giroux should be a C.
The fantasy hockey sites are still awarding him RW-eligibility but he hasn't played there in either of the last two years.

So... long-term, you have to start thinking about positions if you only roster 2C.
1. You obviously shouldn't keep three centers... so Giroux-E.Staal-RNH is not an option.
That essentially cuts RNH.
2. While I like Eric Staal, Eric Staal might be the 9th/10th best center in the NHL. It's the deepest (most redraftable) position in fantasy hockey. I think Yakupov could be a top 5 RWer.

Anyways, I'm assuming you have until next year to designate keepers... but if Yakupov is all he's cracked up to be (and, since this is a no PIM pool), I'm really thinking the difference between Yakupov to a redraftable RW will be a bigger relative difference than E.Staal to a redraftable C. Relative difference is key in fantasy hockey.

Giroux (C), Parise (LW), Yakupov (RW)... for me, in this format.

[ps. DO hold Eric Staal... there is a chance he slides to wing on Carolina's top line if his brother Jordan takes the center position. If this happens, it's good & bad. Good because Eric Staal as a winger is more valuable than Eric Staal as a center. Bad because if Eric Staal becomes a winger, he's not taking faceoffs... and you can't have a center who doesn't rake big FOW.]

agree. these guys are not old and you know what your getting.