D Keepers

[Ron Burgundy]

Similar to my post in the fwds forum, I've got some cuts to make on D for the league in my sig.

Keeping:

Keith, Weber, J-Schultz

Considering:
Morrow
Ellis
Gormley
Orlov
Pouliot
Klefbom
Hedman
Dillon

I can keep 4 or maybe 5 of those 8. How would you rank them in the absence of their salaries, and focussing on the 2014/15 season and beyond? Hedman costs too much but maybe we can have a separate discussion about that later if he cracks your top 4.

[MXHockey]

Wow, with the exception of Hedman, that list is a whole lot of the same guy.

Not sure if you can bother with Hedman at the salary in your sig, that's an outrageous cost.


I would lean towards Morrow, Orlov, Gormley, Pouliot, and Klefbom.

Don't see Dillon carrying much value, and not really sold on Ellis.

[Brady19]

Similar to my post in the fwds forum, I've got some cuts to make on D for the league in my sig.

Keeping:

Keith, Weber, J-Schultz

Considering:
Morrow
Ellis
Gormley
Orlov
Pouliot
Klefbom
Hedman
Dillon

I can keep 4 or maybe 5 of those 8. How would you rank them in the absence of their salaries, and focussing on the 2014/15 season and beyond? Hedman costs too much but maybe we can have a separate discussion about that later if he cracks your top 4.

I think I'd go with Ellis #3 almost for sure... And after that either Orlov or Pouliot. Pouliot has offensive upside, but also gets solid PIMs, at least in the WHL. Orlov is more NHL ready and has similar upside, but extremely low PIMs.

[bizzl]

Hedman is easily the best defenseman of the lot, but that salary is pure insanity. I'd be interested to hear how these salaries get assigned. None of it makes sense to me. My league would probably look the same to someone on the outside as well, though.

With Hedman out of the mix I'd go with Morrow, Orlov, Ellis and Gormley. I cut Pouliot because I think it'll be quite a while before he makes the team, and then more time after that before he's making an impact. Gormley is much closer, even if there are a bunch of other defensemen on the depth chart.

[Bass56]

Here's my ranking of them:

Ellis (best from the list... has crazy offensive talent, not to mention his defensive game)

Morrow (he would have been closer to Ellis on my list if he had stayed in Pitts, but he's a complete D)
Gormley (great 2 way D with good offensive upside... alot of D depth in PHX could hold him back a little)
Orlov (most NHL ready D, could be a future Markov)
Pouliot (most upside but still very raw)

Klefbom (good potential on a good young team; could crack the roster sooner than later)
Hedman (in a cap league, he's not worth it at the moment)

Dillon (more valuable on the ice than fantasy-wise)

[Ron Burgundy]

Thanks for all the great responses.

The league is a bit crazy - how it works is we have an auction to fill any empty starter slots (you can keep up to the maxes below but you don't have to). Back when Hedman came out we didn't have a rookie draft, so some of these bigger named guys got bid up considerably (Hall was another). Then each player's salary gets escalated each year. It's weird but it does lead to some good turnover, particularly as league stars get older. It has also led to some of the better owners getting really good at scouting, as if you draft a guy he comes in the league at 10 bucks (we do our draft after the auction to fill out the bench slots), or if you do a mid-season add/drop of someone they are 20. Now we also have a rookie draft where the new guys get assigned a salary of 55. It's complicated and super-frustrating at times, but its my favorite league by far. Now if we could just get hits added as a category...