Fantasy Mailbag - April 18

[GoalieGuild]

Here you go, folks!

For my first "off-season" piece, I've gone back to the "old-school" pieces. You will learn about the more intricate dynamics of goalie analysis.

At the same time, I am adding a "Goalies to Know" section where I'll drop a handful of names that willl end up on your fantasy radar sooner or later. This week's prospects:

AARON DELL
MAGNUS HELLBERG
MARK OWUYA
DAVID HONZIK

[dyzfunctioned]

How would you rank your top 3 (Bernier, Markstrom, Schneider) in terms of long-term upside, likelihood to reach it, and closest to starting gig? Same as on your top 100? Ie: 1) Schneider, 2) Bernier, 3) Markstrom.

Which of theses goalies would you have the most confidence in next season? Can you rank them?:

Elliott, Roloson, Ellis, Budaj, Boucher, Garon, Hedberg, C Mason, Clemmensen, Smith, Niitty, Karlsson

[swamp_mule]

Which 3 of these goalies would you hold (league details in Sig):

Brodeur
Lehtonen
Elliot
Neuvirth
Lehner

Thanks!

[blackaces]

I have a chance to pick up Stalock or Holtby in the off season.

My Dynasty league only counts Wins & Shutouts. Who would you prefer.

[blackaces]

I have a chance to pick up Stalock or Holtby in the off season.

My Dynasty league only counts Wins & Shutouts. Who would you prefer.

Sorry I meant to say Salak or Holtby.

[GoalieGuild]

How would you rank your top 3 (Bernier, Markstrom, Schneider) in terms of long-term upside, likelihood to reach it, and closest to starting gig? Same as on your top 100? Ie: 1) Schneider, 2) Bernier, 3) Markstrom.

Which of theses goalies would you have the most confidence in next season? Can you rank them?:

Elliott, Roloson, Ellis, Budaj, Boucher, Garon, Hedberg, C Mason, Clemmensen, Smith, Niitty, Karlsson

You are correct, they are ranked the same as in my Top-100. But beware, Bernier could get traded sooner than Schneider and end up being a "starter" first. But I never take trades into consideration, so straightforward I would rank it Schneider, Bernier, Markstrom. Markstrom is clearly spending another full year in the AHL after his injury.

As terms of my confidence in the list of goalies in regards to sheer one-year fantasy value? This is a tough list of a bunch of "maybe" goalies for next season, but I'll take a stab at it.

Roloson, Garon, Smith, Boucher, Elliott, Hedberg, Ellis, Niitty, Karlsson, Clemmensen, CMase, Budaj.

Really tough to know where these guys end up (Budaj, Smith, Karlsson, Roloson all UFAS) but I will stick to my guns saying Roloson and Desjardins is TB's next tandem. Smith deserves an NHL gig, but I dunno if it comes with TB. He would make a great starter in Colorado!!!!!!!

[GoalieGuild]

Which 3 of these goalies would you hold (league details in Sig):

Brodeur
Lehtonen
Elliot
Neuvirth
Lehner

Thanks!

Brodeur, Lehtonen and Neuvirth for sure! Lehner is at least 2 years out now that Anderson is signed to a 4-year deal and Elliott won't play or win much in Colorado, at least not past one season. Pretty easy to go with one veteran, one mid-range stud (Lehts) and one young elite goalie (Neuvy).

[newper114]

Markstrom is clearly spending another full year in the AHL after his injury.

this question is actually based on your response to someoneelses question. if markstrom is spending another year in the AHL whats florida's situation next yr? is clemmenson the starter than or are they going to bring someone else in?

also has markstrom;s another year in the AHL been confirmed or is this your speculation?

[GoHabsGo]

It's protection time and I have 4 goalies right now, Neuvirth, Varlamov, Bachman and Lehner. I'm thinking I will be protecting Neuvirth, Varlamov and Lehner and leaving Bachman open for picking. FYI - if Varlamov gets moved during the off season, then I've been thinking of moving him and protecting the other three goalies.

However, I have the feeling that Bachman will be playing NHL next season. with Raycroft not doing well last year and Lehtonen having a history of injuries. What's the chance that Bachman will be playing next season as backup?

What's your thoughts?

[AFlyers66]

Thanks Goldie for opening up the Block mailbag once more. Gold, Jerry...

Saw your note about Aaron Dell possibly signing with the Habs. I can pick him up and put him on my roto keeper farm team, but need to drop someone. (I can keep a goalie on my farm til he plays NHL game #200) Which farm goalie would you drop to add Dell, considering all long-term NHL starter/backup expectations:

Bobrovsky
Reimer
Greiss
BElliott
Dekanich
Rynnas
Engren
Thiessen
Frazee
Jeremy Smith
JPAnderson
Beskorowany

I could also drop a lower-expectation farm forward or d-man too, if you like my farm goalies too much .

[GoalieGuild]

Here is an update on Aaron Dell:

http://www.grandforksherald.com/even...roup/homepage/

It looks like he is staying at North Dakota for another year.

[nyihater4life]

What type of forward could I land with Jacob Markstrom now and as a starter in the NHL?

[GoalieGuild]

I have a chance to pick up Stalock or Holtby in the off season.

My Dynasty league only counts Wins & Shutouts. Who would you prefer.

Definitely Holtby. He has a better chance at getting wins and shutouts on a much more dominant team in Washington. Salak isn't going to excel overnight in North America in a Blackhawks uniform...although I do think he's going to impress a lot of people.

[GoalieGuild]

this question is actually based on your response to someoneelses question. if markstrom is spending another year in the AHL whats florida's situation next yr? is clemmenson the starter than or are they going to bring someone else in?

also has markstrom;s another year in the AHL been confirmed or is this your speculation?

I am not sure what happens with Vokoun, but there is a chance he could re-sign with the Panthers now that DeBoer is no longer the coach there. If I were FLA's GM, I would re-sign Vokoun for one more year and go with the same tandem again. If Vokoun walks, there's no way they will roll with Clemmensen and another "backup" goalie. They need a durable workhorse starter...or a legit young stud like Varlamov. But they won't do that because they are preparing for Markstrom to take over.

Markstrom playing in the AHL for another year is my speculation. But he suffered a knee injury a few months back and didn't play after that. So I don't think he had the type of successful season he needed to prove he's ready for the NHL. He needs another full-blown season in the AHL. It would be clearly rushing him if he came up to play for the Panthers. And it makes no sense to make him the backup, because he needs to play as much as humanly possible. So it hasn't been confirmed at all, but it's my educated guess Markstrom spends another year in the AHL.

[GoalieGuild]

It's protection time and I have 4 goalies right now, Neuvirth, Varlamov, Bachman and Lehner. I'm thinking I will be protecting Neuvirth, Varlamov and Lehner and leaving Bachman open for picking. FYI - if Varlamov gets moved during the off season, then I've been thinking of moving him and protecting the other three goalies.

However, I have the feeling that Bachman will be playing NHL next season. with Raycroft not doing well last year and Lehtonen having a history of injuries. What's the chance that Bachman will be playing next season as backup?

What's your thoughts?

I would say the odds that Bachman actually graduates full-time to the NHL isn't very high. I think Dallas is in no rush to promote Bachman. They might even look at pushing Brent Krahn up to the NHL behind Lehtonen because he's older, more experienced and much bigger. That allows Bachman to spend another year in the AHL playing game in and game out.

Dallas is in a situation where they need an experienced vet behind Lehtonen that will be able to come off the bench, or a goalie that is used to coming off the bench and is really ready to push for a starting NHL role. I think Bachman kind of falls in the middle. He's clearly got some NHL upside, but I think does better in the AHL for one more year.

I definitely don't see Raycroft in a Stars uniform next year. He's simply not good enough. So there are some DECENT odds it could be Bachman, but I personally don't see it happening.