Keepers - pick 10

[Fighting moose]

Hi everybody, I need some advice. I am in a 16 team H2H fantasy hockey keeper league and I need to keep 10 of these players for next year. My deadline is a few months away but I thought i'd start to think about it. The categories are the following: G, A, +/-, PIMS, ATOI, SOG, HITS, Blocked Shots (BS), Special Teams Point (STP) as well as Wins (W), Shutouts (SHO), Goals Against (GA), Goals against average (GAA), and Save Percentage (SV%). There is a minimum of 3 goalie starts per week. There are daily roster spots for - 3 forwards, 2 centers, 2 left wings, 2 right wings, 6 defense, 1 Utility, and 2 goalies. There are 6 bench spots and 2 IR spots. We can keep up to 4 goalies on our roster (which I often do). I may have an offer for Datsyuk and or Doughty on the table for draft picks but that isn't a done deal yet. The players/goalies are:

C - Carl Soderberg (BOS)
C - Mikhail Grigorenko (BUF)
C/LW- Steve Ott (BUF)
C- Pavel Datsyuk (DET)
C/(LW)- Alexander Steen (STL)
C - Paul Stastny (COL)
LW - Evander Kane (WPG)
RW/LW - Wayne Simmonds (PHI)
RW - Troy Brouwer (WASH)
RW - Kris Versteeg (FLA)
RW - David Clarkson (NJ)
D- Drew Doughty (LA)
D - Alex Pietrangelo (STL)
D - Ryan Suter (MIN)
D - Mark Streit (NYI)
D - Justin Schultz (EDM)
D - Justin Faulk (CAR)
D - T.J. Brodie (CAL)
D - Luke Schenn (PHI)
D - Mark Giordano (CGY)
G- Jonathan Quick (LA)
G - Antii Niemi (SJ)
G - Cory Schneider (VAN)
G - Cam Ward (CAR)

MY gut tells me to keep all 4 goalies unless I get a solid offer for one before the keeper deadline (since the good ones are so hard to come by and therefore are very valuable in a trade). That leaves 6 more players to choose and again, my gut tells me to keep Datsyuk, Doughty, Suter, Clarkson, Kane, and Pietrangelo. IF I do end up getting rid of one or two of those 10, my replacement would be either Simmonds or Bouwer. Thoughts?? Can Brouwer repeat what he did last year or even improve or was this an anomoly? Can Justin Schultz take a big step in his development and be a huge point producer in the near future? After his amazingly fast start, am I crazy keeping Clarkson after the abysmal 2nd half he had or was that more of a team scoring problem? Sounds like he may want to sign with the Leafs? That should be an upgrade.
Which of the 4 goalies would you consider trading first? I kind of like the fact that I have 3 west coast goalies that play later games when it comes to start/bench decisions late in the day as can be important in H2H especially later in the week (just a little thing but it is a small advantage).

Thank you for reading my post. I anxiously await any feedback.

[Bass56]

In a 16 team league where goalie stats count for more than 35% of your scoring cats, I would definitely keep all 4 if your guys, not to mention they are all fantasy studs. You can easily trade one for an upgrade elsewhere IMO.

Here's my 10:

Datsyuk
Kane
Doughty
AP
Suter
Schultz/Simmonds/Clarkson
Quick
Niemi
Schneider
Ward

[Bass56]

I would move Ward or Niemi (if the return is worth it)

[RangerFan]

I think your easy choices are Datsyuk, Kane, Quick, Pieterangelo, Suter, Niemi, and Schneider. After that it gets a little more interesting. I think you have to keep Ward. Young capable starting goalies are not easy to find. And with your cats I think you have to keep Clarkson.
You have great D. If I were you I would trade Ward and one of your D to upgrade at forward. I hate that you are not keeping Schultz or Streit either. Try to consolidate keepers by doing 2 for 1 deals or getting prospect picks. This way you have a good replacement for another keeper.

[Stewpaloop]

C - Carl Soderberg (BOS)
C - Mikhail Grigorenko (BUF)
C/LW- Steve Ott (BUF)
C- Pavel Datsyuk (DET)
C/(LW)- Alexander Steen (STL)
C - Paul Stastny (COL)
LW - Evander Kane (WPG)
RW/LW - Wayne Simmonds (PHI)
RW - Troy Brouwer (WASH)
RW - Kris Versteeg (FLA)
RW - David Clarkson (NJ)
D- Drew Doughty (LA)
D - Alex Pietrangelo (STL)
D - Ryan Suter (MIN)
D - Mark Streit (NYI)
D - Justin Schultz (EDM)
D - Justin Faulk (CAR)
D - T.J. Brodie (CAL)
D - Luke Schenn (PHI)
D - Mark Giordano (CGY)
G- Jonathan Quick (LA)
G - Antii Niemi (SJ)
G - Cory Schneider (VAN)
G - Cam Ward (CAR)

[Bass56]

C - Carl Soderberg (BOS)
C - Mikhail Grigorenko (BUF)
C/LW- Steve Ott (BUF)
C- Pavel Datsyuk (DET)
C/(LW)- Alexander Steen (STL)
C - Paul Stastny (COL)
LW - Evander Kane (WPG)
RW/LW - Wayne Simmonds (PHI)
RW - Troy Brouwer (WASH)
RW - Kris Versteeg (FLA)
RW - David Clarkson (NJ)
D- Drew Doughty (LA)
D - Alex Pietrangelo (STL)
D - Ryan Suter (MIN)
D - Mark Streit (NYI)
D - Justin Schultz (EDM)
D - Justin Faulk (CAR)
D - T.J. Brodie (CAL)
D - Luke Schenn (PHI)
D - Mark Giordano (CGY)
G- Jonathan Quick (LA)
G - Antii Niemi (SJ)
G - Cory Schneider (VAN)
G - Cam Ward (CAR)

No Suter?!?

Edit: ok just saw your EDIT

[Fighting moose]

Thanks for the advice guys! Keep the opinions coming!

[CT-Chill]

C - Carl Soderberg (BOS)
C - Mikhail Grigorenko (BUF)
C/LW- Steve Ott (BUF)
C- Pavel Datsyuk (DET)
C/(LW)- Alexander Steen (STL)
C - Paul Stastny (COL)
LW - Evander Kane (WPG)
RW/LW - Wayne Simmonds (PHI)
RW - Troy Brouwer (WASH)
RW - Kris Versteeg (FLA)
RW - David Clarkson (NJ)
D- Drew Doughty (LA)
D - Alex Pietrangelo (STL)
D - Ryan Suter (MIN)
D - Mark Streit (NYI)
D - Justin Schultz (EDM)
D - Justin Faulk (CAR)
D - T.J. Brodie (CAL)
D - Luke Schenn (PHI)
D - Mark Giordano (CGY)
G- Jonathan Quick (LA)
G - Antii Niemi (SJ)
G - Cory Schneider (VAN)
G - Cam Ward (CAR)

You've got great depth at D and it's not always the easiest to replace them, not to mention the average age of your d-men is lower than probably any other potential 4 d keepers any other team might be contemplating.

You are weak up front with only keeping Datsyuk and E.Kane, but I honestly cant legitimize keeping any of the other forwards over any of your d-men.

You have great depth at tender and I would try shopping either Ward or Schneider, I'm a huge anti-canucks fan but I have no problem denying talent when it's seen, and Schneider doesn't have what any of the other tenders have -- he sometimes actually looks lost out there, and the team in front of him isn't getting any better. Ward is great and could actually be a huge fantasy tender next season with a healthy squad in-front of him.

I would start shopping Schneider once Luongo gets the boot and try to land yourself a nice keeper forward from a team in search of a tender. Certain players I would probably be targeting for Schneider would fall in line with your Perry, Parise, Eberle, Nash, Duchene, Kopitar, Staal, etc. It really all depends on which player you're aiming at getting (position, team, etc) and how badly that team is going to need a tender. That's your biggest chip on the table, going after the team who needs a goalie the most.

Good luck.

Edit: the fact that you count ATOI, trading a d-man could be a huge chip too since you have 3 of the top 12 players in the league in that category. It might be worth your time to chase a great C who spends a lot of time on ice, Getzlaf, Kopitar, Staal, Zetts, etc.

[MarmotKing]

C- Pavel Datsyuk (DET)
LW - Evander Kane (WPG)
RW/LW - Wayne Simmonds (PHI)
D- Drew Doughty (LA)
D - Alex Pietrangelo (STL)
D - Ryan Suter (MIN)
G- Jonathan Quick (LA)
G - Antii Niemi (SJ)
G - Cory Schneider (VAN)
G - Cam Ward (CAR)

I would keep these players.
4 goalies is a lot, but they're some of your best players.
I would also try to trade 2 of them for some help up front.

[Pengwin7]

LOCKS(5)
C: Datsyuk (DET)
LW: E.Kane (WPG)
G: Schneider (VAN)
G: Niemi (SJ)
G: Quick (LA)

Then... NOTES:
1. Cam Ward is no lock here. Carolina's new division includes PIT/PHI/NYR/NYI/NJ/WAS/CBJ. That's a lot of scoring. Cam Ward is a good goalie in league's that count "saves" and he becomes a bad goalie if the league counts GA and does NOT count saves. This is your league. Cam Ward is NOT a good goalie in this set up. Move him. You should look to move Ward for a soiled jock strap or just straight dump him.

2. In a HITS league, you have to give strong consideration to keeping David Clarkson, Wayne Simmonds, and Steve Ott. These are excellent players in these leagues and their contributions are REAL. HITS & PIM are dependable categories. You draft the stats, you win the category EVERY week. I rarely lose the HITS category in any league and I never finish in the bottom half of leagues with categories like HITS/BLKS/FOW because all you have to do is draft those players and you will consistently win those categories.

3. You have several defense that all will have similar value: Doughty, AP, Suter, Streit, Schultz. That's too many to keep... especially since you only start 4. (Your UTIL should be a forward, always).

AP & Schultz are HUGELY OVERRATED in Hits/Blocks league. Schultz doesn't HIT or BLK. AP doesn't HIT. Just go to NHL.com realtime stats. You want to move both of these guys. Also, now that Streit is signing with PHI, he has an increase in "perceived value".

You can often get a good return on your players by offering to teams with their key teammates.
Offer Streit (PHI) to the Giroux (PHI) owner.
Offer Schultz (EDM) to the Eberle or Hall owner.
Offer AP (STL) to the Shattenkirk (STL) owner.


3. My advice:
Put Cam Ward and ALL FIVE of your good defensemen on the trade block.
Ideally, IMO, you want to turn those SIX players (if you can) into PK Subban + Erik Karlsson.
These two are the BEST two defensemen in multi-cat.
Then you late-draft two other defensemen that are massive for your HIT/BLK/PIM. Guys like Beauchemin, Smid, Robidas... very, very easy to get these guys late.


Final keepers (if possible)
*The Five I listed above
+Clarkson, Simmonds, Ott, PK Subban, and Karlsson.

Work towards that.

(If you can't makes any trades, my bottom five for you are: Clarkson, Simmonds, Suter, Doughty, and Streit. Yes... I'm dropping Pietrangelo & J.Schultz.)

[wendelclark17]

You know it is somewhat emasculating posting after Pengwin7 ...... anyways .... I do agree with most of what he has said above.

I would definitely try and cash in on Ward in the off-season, he should command a fair price given the size of your league and with 2 G spots there must be a premiuim on actual starters. I also agree that AP isnt a stud in this league and you should try and cash in on name value there, same goes for Schultz and the hype he got this year he isnt great in this setup. I love Ott in this setup and I would actually be keeping him over Clarkson or Simmonds but thats my personal choice, the three of them are relatively close in value without FOW. You really need to try and improve your forwards using your depth in D and goal. See if there is any interest in Ward and your Dmen ..... If you cant make any moves or changes then I would protect:

Datsyuk
Kane
Ott
Simmonds
Clarkson
Doughty
Suter
Schneider
Niemi
Quick

[Pengwin7]

You know it is somewhat emasculating posting after Pengwin7 ...... anyways .... I do agree with most of what he has said above.

LOL.
Thanks... but for all my fantasy wisdom, I would trade some if I knew how to properly use a word like emasculating. Good golly that's a big word!

[wendelclark17]

LOL.
Thanks... but for all my fantasy wisdom, I would trade some if I knew how to properly use a word like emasculating. Good golly that's a big word!

Hahaha ...... oh I see what you did there P7, nice work

[TheZamboniGuy]

Hi everybody, I need some advice. I am in a 16 team H2H fantasy hockey keeper league and I need to keep 10 of these players for next year. My deadline is a few months away but I thought i'd start to think about it. The categories are the following: G, A, +/-, PIMS, ATOI, SOG, HITS, Blocked Shots (BS), Special Teams Point (STP) as well as Wins (W), Shutouts (SHO), Goals Against (GA), Goals against average (GAA), and Save Percentage (SV%). There is a minimum of 3 goalie starts per week. There are daily roster spots for - 3 forwards, 2 centers, 2 left wings, 2 right wings, 6 defense, 1 Utility, and 2 goalies. There are 6 bench spots and 2 IR spots. We can keep up to 4 goalies on our roster (which I often do). I may have an offer for Datsyuk and or Doughty on the table for draft picks but that isn't a done deal yet. The players/goalies are:

C - Carl Soderberg (BOS)
C - Mikhail Grigorenko (BUF)
C/LW- Steve Ott (BUF)
C- Pavel Datsyuk (DET)
C/(LW)- Alexander Steen (STL)
C - Paul Stastny (COL)
LW - Evander Kane (WPG)
RW/LW - Wayne Simmonds (PHI)
RW - Troy Brouwer (WASH)
RW - Kris Versteeg (FLA)
RW - David Clarkson (NJ)
D- Drew Doughty (LA)
D - Alex Pietrangelo (STL)
D - Ryan Suter (MIN)
D - Mark Streit (NYI)
D - Justin Schultz (EDM)
D - Justin Faulk (CAR)
D - T.J. Brodie (CAL)
D - Luke Schenn (PHI)
D - Mark Giordano (CGY)
G- Jonathan Quick (LA)
G - Antii Niemi (SJ)
G - Cory Schneider (VAN)
G - Cam Ward (CAR)

MY gut tells me to keep all 4 goalies unless I get a solid offer for one before the keeper deadline (since the good ones are so hard to come by and therefore are very valuable in a trade). That leaves 6 more players to choose and again, my gut tells me to keep Datsyuk, Doughty, Suter, Clarkson, Kane, and Pietrangelo. IF I do end up getting rid of one or two of those 10, my replacement would be either Simmonds or Bouwer. Thoughts?? Can Brouwer repeat what he did last year or even improve or was this an anomoly? Can Justin Schultz take a big step in his development and be a huge point producer in the near future? After his amazingly fast start, am I crazy keeping Clarkson after the abysmal 2nd half he had or was that more of a team scoring problem? Sounds like he may want to sign with the Leafs? That should be an upgrade.
Which of the 4 goalies would you consider trading first? I kind of like the fact that I have 3 west coast goalies that play later games when it comes to start/bench decisions late in the day as can be important in H2H especially later in the week (just a little thing but it is a small advantage).

Thank you for reading my post. I anxiously await any feedback.

This is my win now selection !! If it's for the future then keep another goalie and trade him for better. Keep Shultz over Ott ... enjoy

[wendelclark17]

Oh, I see what you did there P7, nice work