Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Advice needed for drafting

  1. #1
    Sens85's Avatar
    Sens85 is offline
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    438
    Rep Power
    14

    Dobber Sports Blue-Chipper

    Default Advice needed for drafting

    Hello guys,

    Its great to have hockey again!! I need some advice on drafting my team, its my first time doing the drafting myself, last year it was done automatically and had such horrible offence i hated it, especially because my first pick went to Bryzgalov and he sucked hard for most of the year. I placed the league categories in my signature. I was wondering in general if theres any particular drafting strategy I should follow? Im not sure what to select first, should I go for a forward in first two rounds and then a goalie and then defence, or should I pick an elite goalie with my first pick and work my way to forwards and D?

    We only get to keep one player at the end of season, and this is our first year in the keeper pool, so all players are available..

    One thing i was thinking of was take a risk on the goalie, and hope Halak slips the first few rounds and pick him up (maybe 3rd pick?) with Elliott later on. Would that be a good strategy if it actually pans out? thanks in advance
    Yahoo Limited Keeper (Keep 4), 2nd Year, Weekly H2H, daily starts, 12 teams
    G, A, P, +/-, PPP, PIM, SOG // W, GAA, SV%, SHO,

    2C/2LW/2RW/2F/4D/2G/3BENCH/2IR

    Likely keepers in BOLD

    C: Tavares, Backstrom
    W: Neal
    D:
    G: Lundqvist
    IR:


  2. #2
    Location
    Prairies
    Rep Power
    40

    Dobber Sports Demi-God

    Default

    Your league is an 8/4 category split.
    In H2H, you have to always look towards the playoffs and say "what will it take for me to win a H2H match-up"?

    Answer: Offense.
    If you draft a supremely talented skater-group, you can pretty much lock up G,A,P,+/-,PPP,SOG. That's 6/12 categories... which means you just need to get lucky on one more. Draft a goon or a few hitters and you've got PIM/Hits.

    Honestly, I'm drafting my goalies late in this format... maybe 5th or 6th round.
    I'd draft skaters in my first 5 rounds, get 1 solid D-anchor, and draft several defensemen late to ENSURE (ensure!) that I win Hits every week. HITS is my 7th category to win, and it is very consistent. Last year I played in some Hits leagues and I win HITS every week, I don't get beat in HITS, you just have to draft that.

    As an example, I'm in a 12-team league that counts all of these categories (+FOW) and this is who I drafted.

    1. (6) John Tavares C
    2. (19) Rick Nash LW
    3. (30) David Backes C,RW
    4. (43) Kris Letang D
    5. (54) Jamie Benn C,LW
    6. (67) Ryan Getzlaf C
    7. (78) Antti Niemi G
    8. (91) Roberto Luongo G
    9. (102) Ondrej Pavelec G
    10. (115) Steve Ott C,LW
    11. (126) Mark Streit D
    12. (139) Anders Lindback G
    13. (150) Vincent Lecavalier C
    14. (163) Tomas Plekanec C
    15. (174) Jakub Voracek RW
    16. (187) Dmitry Kulikov D
    17. (198) Brandon Dubinsky C,LW
    18. (211) Derek Dorsett RW
    19. (222) Derek Roy C
    20. (235) Mikael Samuelsson RW
    21. (246) Kyle Quincey D
    22. (259) R.J. Umberger LW
    23. (270) Maxim Lapierre C,RW
    24. (283) Tomas Vokoun G
    25. (294) Josh Gorges D
    26. (307) Mark Stuart D

  3. #3
    Rep Power
    0

    Dobber Sports Novice

    Default

    There are many valid strategies so it's hard to say. If you're in a 12 team league, then the third round would mean picks 25-36, in that case Halak is not slipping but right where he should be. If you can get Halak, Rask, Schneider, Miller, Price in the 4th round, that would be great. But to a certain degree you have to adjust to how the draft is proceeding, if everyone is picking up the elite goalies early then you have to follow suit or settle for riskier prospects. For example, Niemi, Varlamov, Dubnyk, Lindback, Backstrom can be had for cheap and would make good #2 goalies. Also, if saves or games started is a cat then guys like Price/Miller/Niemi/Hiller go up in value and Halak/Schneider go down.

  4. #4
    cdubb's Avatar
    cdubb is offline
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    1,320
    Rep Power
    27

    Dobber Sports Ace

    Default

    Heres my strategy which i have used to win 4/7 seasons never drafting higher than middle of round.

    Agree with drafting forwards early with those categories to load up on offense.

    I sometimes draft a top goalie (Brodeur way back when and now Lundqvist/Quick) in first few rounds, then not again until way later. In H2H since you count Save% not total saves, if you have a reliable goalie that wil get the odd SHO (random stat) you can bench your second goalie at mod/end of week if you are winning goalie stats and have reached minimum starts. That way usually win 3-1-0 or 2-1-1 or 3-0-1 (win GAA & save%, maybe tie or lose W, tie or win SHO)

    Also every season there are random goalies that do well but picked in later rounds (Elliot and Smith last year, Niemi, Thomas, Quick, Bryzgalov, Halak previous years).

    I occasionally draft a single dmen in the first 5 rounds, then at the end. I know some teams load up on D, and I've only tried it for the first time this year because it counted hits/bs. Can get away playing 3 dmen and leaving 1 empty to pick up extra forward who may contribute more.

    I am quick to target other teams weaknesses by offering overachievers for underachievers. If you can do 2 for 1 deals, or ask for their worst player in a 2 for 2 trade, as long as you get best player (harder to do that now that I have a rep for winning deals)

    I have won choosing a goalie flameout like Raycroft in Rd 3 by trading extra Offense for Brodeur and Lundqvist. I had traded for Big Joe right before he was traded to SJ and got 92 pts in 58 games, last year I picked Karlsson last round and traded for Spezza and won.

    Pays to be lucky drafting, and persistent in trading. I may be a crappy drafter, but I usually have a high roster turnover at the end compared to my drafted roster.
    Last edited by cdubb; January 9, 2013 at 11:53 AM.
    Semi-retired

  5. #5
    Sens85's Avatar
    Sens85 is offline
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    438
    Rep Power
    14

    Dobber Sports Blue-Chipper

    Default

    ok so i suppose what Ill do is draft 2 forwards with my first 2 picks, then decide on my 3rd pick whether there are still alot of decent goalies left to chose from or not. If there is still a few left ill risk it and decide to draft an elite D-man, and then a goalie in my 4th pick. If goalies are being snatched up quick ill flip that around. After that ill keep on drafting skaters for the next few rounds. Ill pick the rest of the D later on to fill up peripheral stats like PIM and Hits, and a second backup goalie.

    How does that sound?
    Yahoo Limited Keeper (Keep 4), 2nd Year, Weekly H2H, daily starts, 12 teams
    G, A, P, +/-, PPP, PIM, SOG // W, GAA, SV%, SHO,

    2C/2LW/2RW/2F/4D/2G/3BENCH/2IR

    Likely keepers in BOLD

    C: Tavares, Backstrom
    W: Neal
    D:
    G: Lundqvist
    IR:


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •