Playoff help

[4horsemen]

I'd love a little input from you guys on my playoff pool selections.

I get the first 5 picks and the team will be made up of: 6 forwards, 3 defencemen and 1 goalie. The winner of each round moves on and re-drafts starting in the next round so there's no need to worry about which teams might go deep, just which players will put up points.

My locks for my first 5 picks are:

1) Malkin
2) Karlsson

I'm leaning towards:

Towes
Kane
Letang
PK Subban
Neal

Part of me says to stay away from Washington players....am I nuts?

What about Crosby?

[blayze]

How did you manage to get the first 5 picks lol

I'd go all-in on Toews+Kane and Malkin+Neal+Letang. That's as sure a bet as it gets.

[4horsemen]

How did you manage to get the first 5 picks lol

I won the pool so I get the first 5 picks in my playoff matchup

[Bass56]

Plain and simple, get as many Penguins as you can

[Bass56]

What about Crosby?

He should be your 1st pick

[Pengwin7]

Malkin (PIT)
Letang (PIT) -get that D
Karlsson (OTT) -get that D
Ovechkin (WAS)
Nash (NYR)

I see the WAS/NYR series going 6 or 7... so good points there.

The Western Conference series could all be very low scoring. I'm not sure I'd touch the players in any first round match-ups.

[To be honest, I have no idea what Sid's condition is. I would think he'll play for sure if they lose 2... but does he need to play prior to that?]

[Bass56]

How did you manage to get the first 5 picks lol

I'd go all-in on Toews+Kane and Malkin+Neal+Letang. That's as sure a bet as it gets.

I agree here too. As I said, max out your Pens players and try to snag some Hawks along the way as well. I still feel the Penguins are going to steamroll all that is in their way, but the difference between the Pens and Hawks might be the games played by both teams (so a possibility of more points for the Hawks players)

[4horsemen]

He should be your 1st pick

Yeah? You're not concerned he won't play the first few games?

I get to redraft after the 1st round so it's not about who finishes with the most playoff points overall, just who gets the most in the 1st round.

[blayze]

Malkin (PIT)
Letang (PIT) -get that D
Karlsson (OTT) -get that D
Ovechkin (WAS)
Nash (NYR)

I see the WAS/NYR series going 6 or 7... so good points there.

The Western Conference series could all be very low scoring. I'm not sure I'd touch the players in any first round match-ups.

[To be honest, I have no idea what Sid's condition is. I would think he'll play for sure if they lose 2... but does he need to play prior to that?]

Why should he cannibalize his own team by going with all picks from opposing teams within the same conference?

Edit: Doh, just noticed the redraft rule - my bad

[Bass56]

Why should he cannibalize his own team by going with all picks from opposing teams within the same conference?

That's why I tend to grab most of the guys on a given team with an ''all-in'' approach in playoff pools. If 2 superstars are facing each other, I will never ever grab both of them as I know I am automatically losing a guy come the next round. I prefer a 3rd line player on a team that can potentially go far as opposed to having 2 stars facing each other in the first round. Most of the time it tends to work; even when that team doesn't win it all (I remember getting a buch of Detroit and Canucks players when they made it to the finals a few years back respectively and it paid off).

This year's Pittsburgh team makes it even more interesting as so many guys could (and will) contribute to the team's scoring.

[niconasr]

That's why I tend to grab most of the guys on a given team with an ''all-in'' approach in playoff pools. If 2 superstars are facing each other, I will never ever grab both of them as I know I am automatically losing a guy come the next round. I prefer a 3rd line player on a team that can potentially go far as opposed to having 2 stars facing each other in the first round. Most of the time it tends to work; even when that team doesn't win it all (I remember getting a buch of Detroit and Canucks players when they made it to the finals a few years back respectively and it paid off).

This year's Pittsburgh team makes it even more interesting as so many guys could (and will) contribute to the team's scoring.

You're not reading the original post correctly. He gets to re-draft after round one so it doesn't matter if he chooses players from opposite teams in the same series.

Personally, I'd go:

- Toews
- Malkin
- Karlsson
- Letang
- Ovechkin

I'd draft the goalie late. There's plenty to go around, especially since you're facing only one opponent.

[4horsemen]

You're not reading the original post correctly. He gets to re-draft after round one so it doesn't matter if he chooses players from opposite teams in the same series.

Personally, I'd go:

- Toews
- Malkin
- Karlsson
- Letang
- Ovechkin

I'd draft the goalie late. There's plenty to go around, especially since you're facing only one opponent.

Exactly! Thank you. I really like your list and completely agree on goalies, they're usually the last pick. My only hesitation is Ovechkin but maybe I'm just over-thinking it.

[blayze]

I'd be all over Ovie except for the fact that it's the rangers.

I think the Hawks will absolutely dismantle the Wild, so even with less games there's some potential for huge points.

[Bass56]

You're not reading the original post correctly. He gets to re-draft after round one so it doesn't matter if he chooses players from opposite teams in the same series.

Personally, I'd go:

- Toews
- Malkin
- Karlsson
- Letang
- Ovechkin

I'd draft the goalie late. There's plenty to go around, especially since you're facing only one opponent.

I got that, I just meant, if I have Crosby, I will get Malkin over Ovie after, Neal over Nash, Kunitz over Perry. During his redraft for rounds 2 and beyond, you will not have players like Kunitz and even Iginla that are still available.

My argument here was to gamble on 1 team, and I feel it's safe to say that this year's Pens are a very special group. By getting a guy like Nash instead of a Kunitz for example (the diff in pts in the first round should be minimal), yes you get to redraft after if the Rangers lose, but the player you will be getting should have an inferior production to the Pens top 6 (unless someone really flies under the radar prior to the initial draft). Worst case scenario, if the Pens are eliminated early on, you have that extra security to be able to redraft a player that is still available, but the gamble here is that you won't need to. I prefer to get a player that should be around for the longest time from the get go in a playoff pool. That's my opinon...

[4horsemen]

I got that, I just meant, if I have Crosby, I will get Malkin over Ovie after, Neal over Nash, Kunitz over Perry. During his redraft for rounds 2 and beyond, you will not have players like Kunitz and even Iginla that are still available.

My argument here was to gamble on 1 team, and I feel it's safe to say that this year's Pens are a very special group. By getting a guy like Nash instead of a Kunitz for example (the diff in pts in the first round should be minimal), yes you get to redraft after if the Rangers lose, but the player you will be getting should have an inferior production to the Pens top 6 (unless someone really flies under the radar prior to the initial draft). Worst case scenario, if the Pens are eliminated early on, you have that extra security to be able to redraft a player that is still available, but the gamble here is that you won't need to. I prefer to get a player that should be around for the longest time from the get go in a playoff pool. That's my opinon...

Yeah, fair enough and I get your point. Guess I should have explained it further. After each round we essentially start from scratch (not really a big fan of the process) so every player is available at the beginning of every round.

Here's who I went with:

Malkin
Toews
Ovechkin
Kane
Datsyuk
Backstrom (Figured I'd go all in after taking Ovechkin)

Letang
Karlsson
Pietrangelo (gut pick in the spur of the moment)

Crawford