Keep 0 goalies?

[Joey7500]

League Details:
14 team league, 5 keepers, 20 players
Offensive: G,A, +/-, PPP, SHP, GWG, HITS, FO, PIMS, SOG
Goalie: Save %, GAA, Wins, Shutouts, Total saves

Current Keepers are Benn, Tavares, Ovechkin, Hall

Best players available to keep would be either Anderson, Holtby, Steve Ott or Mikko Koivu

I know Steve Ott sounds weird here but he is a monster in this league given his HITS/PIMS/FW plus misc other stats.

Is it suicide to keep 0 goalies and hope for the best. Would give me a real offensive edge over all the other teams.

[metaldude26]

What kind of feel do you have for the keepers everyone else will make in this league? The thing about keeping no goalies is that it basically puts you in a position where you will have to take a goalie in the first round to ensure you don't get shut out. This is of particular concern because of how many teams are in your league. If you know there will be other goalies not kept and especially goalies that are better than your own then you can safely drop them. If not then you might have to bite the bullet and keep one around. Plus with solid multi-cat keepers like Benn, Ovechkin and Hall you may not absolutely NEED a multi-cat monster like Ott. I'd like to see you keep Ott too but you have to have goaltending.

[Joey7500]

My team has the worst goalie keepers. I had Vokoun as my #1....

By the time my first pick comes I might get 1 of either Anderson, Lindback, Holtby, Crawford or Theodore. I'd say there is a 50% chance I get one of those. That would be my number 1 goalie.

The draft does undervalue backups like Vokoun though. So in the mid rounds I could snag a few valuable backups.

[metaldude26]

You might want to consider trading for a true #1 even if you have to overpay. It beats having to overcommit to drafting multiple mediocre goalies year after year, though I'm sure you've been considering this option.

Basically, you can either keep Holtby or try to draft him in round one but with no guarantees. Where do you see the rest of your league valuing Ott because maybe he could slip further in the draft than these goalies might.

[Essej]

I wouldn't. 14 team league heading into the draft without a goalie, while every other team will probably have one, maybe two, there isn't going to be much else there.

I don't doubt that Steve Ott is a monster in your league, but he probably isn't perceivied as such heading into the draft, putting you in a good position to snag him back, and if you lose him in the draft, you have the comfort of knowing you kept one of your goalies instead. I'd rather have Koivu over Ott, not knowing how the categories are weighted; Koivu probably goes higher in the draft than Ott does, that said I still keep a goalie.

Finally I'd take Anderson over Holtby, because with your current keepers you will be heading into the draft as a favourite, and Anderson probably holds the greater win now chance.

[Shoeless]

What kind of league is this? H2H, roto, points? Is there are minimum number of goalie starts in a week to qualify for goalie stats if it is H2H?

[Shoeless]

Alright I have given this a lot more thought because I think it is a very interesting problem.

In both H2H and Roto - Ott is a dominant contributor to several cats and he definitely gives you a huge jump on skater cats when combined with your other keepers. You have 10 skater cats and 5 goalie cats so you can win H2H matches without winning a single goalie cat. As far as roto is concerned Holtby is the only legitimate consideration for a keeper - small sample size for sure but a 2.02 GAA, .929 SV% and a winning percentage of 66% in the games he has played will certainly be positives in a 14 team roto league even if he gets 1/2 the starts for the Caps.

Anderson isn't going to contribute enough of anything in a given week to assure you of winning any goalie cats - he may, but his numbers just aren't that good. In roto, I would rather have a good backup giving me points in SV% and GAA than Anderson giving me slime across all the cats. And in H2H if you don't have min starts, a couple of good backups giving you a nice game each week gives you leverage out of the goalie position.

Anyway, I think it comes down to keeping Ott or Holtby - if Holtby grabs the #1 in Washington which we don't know, then I think he is definitely a strong contender for that last keeper slot - however, what that would mean then is that you want to further chase goalie cats early in the draft so you are competitive across the board there, hence you back off skaters early if there is another starting goalie available. At least that would be my thinking - if I am investing in goal tending with my keepers then I need to ensure I extend that investment to the draft.

If Ott is kept then I think you haven't made that investment and your thoughts on going after good back-ups takes effect and you can further put the hammer down on offense cats early in the draft - 10 is a lot of cats when you have figured out how to own them in any kind of league.

Personally, I think Holtby is still a pig in a poke even if the pig has a silk ear. I would keep Ott and whale on offense early in the draft and keep my eye out for the likes of Elliott, Khudobin, Hedberg, Griess, JS Gigs, etc. Take what the league gives you - without a surefire keeper goalie they are only going to give you shots at GAA and SV%.

[yougo]

Alright I have given this a lot more thought because I think it is a very interesting problem.

In both H2H and Roto - Ott is a dominant contributor to several cats and he definitely gives you a huge jump on skater cats when combined with your other keepers. You have 10 skater cats and 5 goalie cats so you can win H2H matches without winning a single goalie cat. As far as roto is concerned Holtby is the only legitimate consideration for a keeper - small sample size for sure but a 2.02 GAA, .929 SV% and a winning percentage of 66% in the games he has played will certainly be positives in a 14 team roto league even if he gets 1/2 the starts for the Caps.

Anderson isn't going to contribute enough of anything in a given week to assure you of winning any goalie cats - he may, but his numbers just aren't that good. In roto, I would rather have a good backup giving me points in SV% and GAA than Anderson giving me slime across all the cats. And in H2H if you don't have min starts, a couple of good backups giving you a nice game each week gives you leverage out of the goalie position.

Anyway, I think it comes down to keeping Ott or Holtby - if Holtby grabs the #1 in Washington which we don't know, then I think he is definitely a strong contender for that last keeper slot - however, what that would mean then is that you want to further chase goalie cats early in the draft so you are competitive across the board there, hence you back off skaters early if there is another starting goalie available. At least that would be my thinking - if I am investing in goal tending with my keepers then I need to ensure I extend that investment to the draft.

If Ott is kept then I think you haven't made that investment and your thoughts on going after good back-ups takes affect and you can further put the hammer down on offense cats early in the draft - 10 is a lot of cats when you have figured out how to own them in any kind of league.

Personally, I think Holtby is still a pig in a poke even if the pig has a silk ear. I would keep Ott and whale on offense early in the draft and keep my eye out for the likes of Elliott, Khudobin, Hedberg, Griess, JS Gigs, etc. Take what the league gives you - without a surefire keeper goalie they are only going to give you shots at GAA and SV%.

Amen. Can we just give this guy a shrine already. Jeesus, quality post.

[Pengwin7]

I'd keep Craig Anderson.
With SV being a category, he's a solid goalie.
In a 14-team league, goalies are going to disappear quickly.