Ben Bishop: 15th ranked in top-50

[mounD]

Just read the latest Top-50 Goalies release, and I noticed that my #2 goalie in my dynasty league, none other than Ben Bishop, is ranked 15th overall among the top fantasy goalies to own in a keeper.

Is this ranking justified? Or is this a case of wishful thinking from Dobber?

Thoughts appreciated, as I'm pretty high on Bishop -- at least 'til Vasilevski is on board with the Bolts.

[Shake]

Seems to me that's a bit of a scary ranking. If he falters there is Lindback to steal starts and also as you mention Vasilevski is the future of th Bolts crease. I am not sure 15th is a favorable spot for a dynasty league. He can be solid and should do well but....there is some grey area here for the reasons mentioned.

[mounD]

Seems to me that's a bit of a scary ranking. If he falters there is Lindback to steal starts and also as you mention Vasilevski is the future of th Bolts crease. I am not sure 15th is a favorable spot for a dynasty league. He can be solid and should do well but....there is some grey area here for the reasons mentioned.

I know all the concerns with Bishop, but I guess my question is: if he puts it all together can he justify that ranking?

[Pengwin7]

No.
I love this website, but Dobber's goalie rankings have always been (IMO) the poorest, least accurate projections.

[GretzkysMullet]

I certainly hope so! I own him one of my league as well.

TBH I'm not sure how it can be justified though, waaaay too many question marks.

[mounD]

Fair enough, and admittedly I was REALLY surprised to see Bishop that high. I like the guy, and he could be a legit starter this year with the Lightning; I just don't think he's a top-tier starter -- at least not yet.

He's big and skilled, but not there yet.

[Dobber]

No.
I love this website, but Dobber's goalie rankings have always been (IMO) the poorest, least accurate projections.

No way. My d-man rankings suck far more. Serious

[mounD]

No way. My d-man rankings suck far more. Serious

Dman and Goalie rankings are, by their very nature, difficult to project with all the positional volatility on a year-to-year basis.

Care to shed some light on the Bishop ranking, Dobbs?

[Pengwin7]

No way. My d-man rankings suck far more. Serious

Uh oh, the man is here!!!
Do you have a special ap that buzzes your pager when somebody writes the word "Dobber"?
(That was a quick reply). I'll have to start using the term "Dawbber" or "father" or "theman" so it doesn't buzz you.

FWIW, the forward rankings are incredible... I've always thought they were the strong-suit of the rankings 10/10. I'd call the defense rankings very, very good as well 8.5/10.

The goalie rankings are just horrible though, at least... my opinion.

[yougo]

Pavelec at 13 also is up to debate. I know Dobber is high on him because of the schedule and the change to the Western Conference (Read that in the guide), but Pavelec is just so inconsistent.

[Axeman33]

I think Bishop and Lindback will share the net and you will see Cooper giving both ample starts. Lindback was really just getting his first taste of starting last year and had a very up and down season (an ankle injury never helps). I think Stevie Y brought him in to be the starter there and only brought in Bishop to stabilize the ship a bit after Lindback struggled down the stretch.

Theres no doubting Bishop is a solid goalie but I dont think he gets enough starts to justify ranking him 15th. Who knows, Lindback could end up stealing the starting job from him all together. It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

[tgraveline]

Wait wait wait. Dobber you're trying to give me acid reflux again! I had it pegged as Pavelec and Hiller as my keepers in my local league. Now you're telling me I should keep Bishop over Hiller? Oh boy, I think I'm gonna have to do some fantasy soul searching again.

[kevinsrangers]

my money would be on lindback getting the starting gig. they will both get a fair share of games though and a short leash.

[als_revenge]

Pavelec at 13 also is up to debate. I know Dobber is high on him because of the schedule and the change to the Western Conference (Read that in the guide), but Pavelec is just so inconsistent.

I couldn't disagree more. As a former Pavelec owner, I'd say he's very consistently mediocre.

As for Bishop at 15:

I don't know many people that would trade Anderson (16), Schneider (19), Lehtonen (23) or Mike Smith (26) for Bishop.

And Lehner at 32? Yes, he's behind Craig Anderson for two years, but 32nd in a keeper league?

Bishop was traded because he couldn't make the top two in ST.L, then traded again because he couldn't make the top 2 in Ottawa.

And in a few years, Vasilevski could make Bishop irrelevant.

[Dobber]

The D rankings get the least time, because I basically just pull them from the overall rankings and then I review numbers 80 to 120 to move out some losers manually, and put in some winners. That's it.

The goalie rankings I love. I think I do a good job and put a lot of time in it. Goalies are the biggest movers because they go boom to bust and back to boom again so easily.

This particular rankings I did something a little different - I imported my projections from the Guide into them. It really shed light on things. The Bishop one was the big one. But either I believe in my Guide or I don't.

In the case of Bishop, in keeping with my standard logic of using +/- 5.0 rating points, Bishop is actually rated between 90.0 and 100.0. So his ranking is actually between 9th and 22nd, depending on your mood, situation, needs and risk. I'm pretty happy with that range.

But Bishop is by no means a secure ranking. While a Lundquist could sit in the Top 5 even if he starts the season 0-12...Bishop could be 30th by the end of training camp. The unproven guys are more volatile. I try to measure that within the rankings, but it's tough.