First rd, who do you take

[Chili con Carne]

I think the position is that even with 11 or 12 player picks, there are only 6 actual teams doing the picking (i.e. two each), and that each will only take one goalie at most. As such, even with a goalie run, there will be 6 more elite skaters (probably wingers) taken which does not help the guy picking 6th in his quest for an elite winger if he takes a goalie with his first pick.

Blades - is this right?

It's an interesting point. In my league, however, there are probably 2 or 3 managers who will take goalies back to back in opening rounds so I would say in depends on your league to some extent. Regardless, I will take Blades' comment to heart during my draft.

[BladesOfSteel]

You are correct, Chili con Carne. I'll put it this way, I have 9 goalies entering next season that all are worthy of being selected 1st overall, and I can't say for certain how they will finish in terms of fantasy production by the end of the season. Those goalies are:

Lundqvist, Rinne, Luongo, Thomas, Price, Bryzgalov, Miller, Niemi and Quick.

If you think all 9 of them will be taken between 6 teams, then take one of them in the first round, if not (which to me is a much more likely scenario), then take the elite winger in the 1st and grab an elite goalie in the 2nd round. This doesn't even include Brodeur, Howard, Fleury, Kiprusoff, Ward and Crawford, any of whom could finish as a top 5 goalie next season.

In a nutshell, for this upcoming season in particular, I see a large group of very good goalies who will all perform at a similar level, unlike fantasy hockey of a few years ago. I see no reason to take one in the first round when a goalie of the same production will be available in the 2nd round, and the same cannot be said about elite wingers. If you have the chance to grab D. Sedin in the first round, who at worst is a lock for 35 goals and 95 points from the LW, you take him and select a goalie in round 2. Lest we forget Sedin put up Ovechkin type numbers this past season and there is no reason to believe he can't repeat this performance for the upcoming season.

This is just the way I look at it. Good luck this season!

[pmorrow]

Niemi - 35w, 2.38, .920, 6 SO last season.
Quick - 35w, 2.24, .918, 6 SO last season.
Those are elite numbers.

I worry about Niemi. Good team and he ended up with great stats, but he was soooo bad in the first half.

[pbhockey4]

I worry about Niemi. Good team and he ended up with great stats, but he was soooo bad in the first half.

Reasons to not worry: the Sharks have added Burns and C. White to the d-core, which should give them an even better defense than last year. In addition to this, Niemi comes in this season as the clear #1 over Nittymaki, which was not the case at the beginning of last season. It was only until Niemi got consistent playing time and was able to get into a groove that he did so well, and it's likely he can continue this success next year as long as he doesn't get hurt and Nitty doesn't steal too many starts.

Reasons to worry: Niemi was widly inconsistent in the playoffs and posted pretty poor overall playoff stats. However, he wasn't incredibly consistent when he won the cup with the Hawks a couple years ago, so it's a red flag with an asterisk. Another concern is the work load...he played 60 games last year, which was a career high, and before that he had only played 38 games for the Hawks the season before. Can he handle a heavy work load for in an even higher pressure environment thank last year? IMO the Sharks will lean on him heavily to be as good, if not better, than last year's regular season, and he cannot afford consistent nights off--Niemi is not a spectacular goalie, but he has a great ability to make timely saves when he's on. If he for some reason is not given the confidence and consistent playing time (i.e. Nitty steals starts instead of relieving Niemi every so often), Niemi will likely struggle like he did at the beginning of last season.

My take: if you expect Niemi to be great next season and pick him as your #1 goalie next season, you could be sorely disappointed. That's not to say that he won't flourish, but he his inconsistency factor is something to be a little wary about. I personally won't be taking Niemi unless I have a proven goalie at my #1 spot like Miller, Lundqvist, etc. I'd rather let someone gamble on his upside and gladly scoop up someone like Hiller, Ward, or MA Fleury who are more likely to fall to later rounds and who are way more reliable options IMO.

[BladesOfSteel]

14 team, H2H, G, A, P, +/-, PPP, SHP, GWG
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 1util, 5 BN


Who do you select 1st overall, Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin?

[Sin Bin]

I'm taking Lundqvist/Rinne at #6, hope I spook a goalie run and hence leaving a really good LW available when the draft comes back to me at pick 19.

I'm 100% with Shoeless here....

[hofforr]

Although it depends on the drafting personalities in your league a little bit, the sixth spot is definitely a spot to take a stud forward. I always like Blades of Steel's and Shoeless' takes so its interesting to see them on exact opposite sides here.

Hank Sedin is nowhere near the conversation by the way. Hockey Pool Geek would set you straight I'm sure. The top six (and my order) is:

AO
DSedin
Malkin (assuming he gets LW and I'm expecting a big season)
Perry
Crosby (I expect to move Crosby ahead of Perry but not Malkin and DSedin just too much injury risk)
Stamkos (I'm not a big Stamkos fan it mostly relates to being a targeted guy next year and St.Loo will probably play less on his line at regular strength)

My next forward is Bobby Ryan unless Dats is a LW this year in Yahoo, and you can easily take a goalie ahead of both of those guys. In fact, depending on your league, both will probably be there in round 2.

Goalies are incredibly interesting this year. My top tier is 11 goalies deep! That means almost EVERY team in a twelve-teamer will have a good #1. That being said, in a twelve-teamer I would probably take goalie in round 2 and my second one in round 4 latest.

Miller: he's going to be great this year and plenty of GP
Lundqvist: just so safe and finally some upside
Rinne: I'm just a little concerned that the core-turmoil will throw this team off a little. If you project the same season as last year then you should take him #1.
Niemi: so many wins this year. The fact that he isn't a great goalie is irrelevant.
Price: I get the feeling he is a guy that will be awesome in a contract year. I probably have him too low on this list and that will change by draft-time
Fleury: a bit of a sleeper in the top-tier I could see him being amazing this year
Thomas: I know he is too low but besides Niemi it is because I like 65+ game goalies and the Rask factor and injury risk are both relevant
Bryzgalov: probably too low to land him but I like the guys above him better
Luongo: just absolutely hate this guy in real life and can see Vancouver experiencing a Stanley Cup hangover. Maybe not in wins (horrible division) but in terms of periphery stats for Luongo and also the GP hit with showcasing Schneider
Quick: might end the season with the best goalie #s of all of this tier. I would be ecstatic to get him at the back end of Round 2. DSedin, Quick, Howard is a dream start to a goalie-heavy draft
Vokoun: the last of my top-tier and remember that he is a slow-starter. Not a guy to rely on in H2H to start a season. A great guy to target by trade in November

Second tier: Howard, Crawford, Halak, Ward, Backstrom, Hiller, Brodeur, Kipper, Roloson

Third tier: Riemer, Rask, Mason, Smith, Pavelec, Lehtonen