Rocky Horror Roto Show 2013/14

[4T2]

Well, looks like I will make the draft after all, but I can't lie, I've been so busy, my prep has been minimal. Plan to spend a good chunk of the day cramming as much fantasy hockey advice down my gullet as possible though.

Tweaked my team name this year. How did I ever think "Orpiks" was a better fit than "House of 1000 Corvos"? Tried to go with "Korpikoskis" but it was to long.

[NoWayOut]

I've got my strategy for the first three rounds, after that it's pretty much flying by the seat of my pants.

I'm not sure about keeping the Drag Me To Hellberg name though. Maybe, maybe not. Superstition dictates that I had to change after last year's dismal performance. I used a variation on Magnus Hellberg last year in The Classic, so that's the source of my indecision over whether to keep the name. I like to be more creative with names and not repeat too soon.

Anyway....is it 6:00 yet!....is it 6:00 yet!....is it 6:00 yet!....

[horrorfan]

T-minus 2 hours!

[horrorfan]

Not too long before the draft opens. I'll be joining it shortly thereafter if anyone is around early. See you soon.

[Shake]

Good luck boys!

Post results

[Pengwin7]

ROTO league.
3C/3LW/3RW/5D/2G. 82 max games.
Skater Cats (9): G,A,+-,PIM,PPP,SOG,FOW,HIT,BLK
Goalie Cats (4): W,SV,GAA,SV%

Round 1
1. Sidney Crosby (Pit - C) Pavelnormal ...(Pengwin7)
2. Alex Ovechkin (Was - RW) Recchident Evil (temek)
3. Evgeni Malkin (Pit - C,RW) A.Niityville... (Shoeless)
4. Steven Stamkos (TB - C) Nightmare on... (Nehithaw)
5. Henrik Lundqvist (NYR - G) Skinner & Si... (smack)
6. Tuukka Rask (Bos - G) Phaneufenstein (kluu)
7. Claude Giroux (Phi - C,RW) Dead & Fleuried (dooley89)
8. John Tavares (NYI - C) Drag Me To H... (NoWayOut)
9. Jonathan Quick (LA - G) Ogie Ogre-th...(Chili Con Carne) - DEFENDING CHAMP
10. Pekka Rinne (Nsh - G) Silence of t... (dyzfunctioned)
11. Patrick Kane (Chi - C,RW) House of 100... (4T2)
12. Antti Niemi (SJ - G) I Smid On Yo... (horrorfan)
13. Erik Karlsson (Ott - D) Nosferatuuka (Fast Tony DeNiro)
14. Phil Kessel (Tor - RW) Army of Subbans (Jammin1390)

Round 2
1. Henrik Sedin (Van - C) Army of Subbans
2. Nicklas Backstrom (Was - C) Nosferatuuka
3. Jimmy Howard (Det - G) I Smid On Yo...
4. Corey Crawford (Chi - G) House of 100...
5. David Backes (StL - C,RW) Silence of t...
6. Jonathan Toews (Chi - C) Ogie Ogre-th...
7. Carey Price (Mon - G) Drag Me To H...
8. Roberto Luongo (Van - G) Dead & Fleuried
9. Corey Perry (Anh - RW) Phaneufenstein
10. Sergei Bobrovsky (Cls - G) Skinner & Si...
11. Craig Anderson (Ott - G) Nightmare on...
12. Henrik Zetterberg (Det - C,LW) A.Niityville...
13. Kari Lehtonen (Dal - G) Recchident Evil
14. P.K. Subban (Mon - D) Pavelnormal ...

Round 3
1. Pavel Datsyuk (Det - C,LW) Pavelnormal ...
2. Jaroslav Halak (StL - G) Recchident Evil
3. James Neal (Pit - LW,RW) A.Niityville...
4. Taylor Hall (Edm - LW) Nightmare on...
5. Eric Staal (Car - C) Skinner & Si...
6. Mike Smith (Pho - G) Phaneufenstein
7. Shea Weber (Nsh - D) Dead & Fleuried
8. Matt Duchene (Col - C,LW) Drag Me To H...
9. Rick Nash (NYR - LW,RW) Ogie Ogre-th...
10. Anze Kopitar (LA - C) Silence of t...
11. Marc-Andre Fleury (Pit - G) House of 100...
12. Kris Letang (Pit - D) I Smid On Yo...
13. Braden Holtby (Was - G) Nosferatuuka
14. Martin St. Louis (TB - RW) Army of Subbans

Round 4
1. Daniel Sedin (Van - LW) Army of Subbans
2. Bobby Ryan (Ott - LW,RW) Nosferatuuka
3. Ryan Getzlaf (Anh - C) I Smid On Yo...
4. Tyler Seguin (Dal - C,RW) House of 100...
5. Cam Ward (Car - G) Silence of t...
6. Logan Couture (SJ - C,LW) Ogie Ogre-th...
7. Jamie Benn (Dal - LW) Drag Me To H...
8. Steve Ott (Buf - C,LW) Dead & Fleuried
9. Evander Kane (Wpg - LW) Phaneufenstein
10. Zach Parise (Min - LW) Skinner & Si...
11. Chris Kunitz (Pit - LW) Nightmare on...
12. Cory Schneider (NJ - G) A.Niityville...
13. Max Pacioretty (Mon - LW) Recchident Evil
14. Zdeno Chara (Bos - D) Pavelnormal ...

Round 5
1. Dustin Byfuglien (Wpg - RW,D) Pavelnormal ...
2. Joe Pavelski (SJ - C,RW) Recchident Evil
3. Dion Phaneuf (Tor - D) A.Niityville...
4. Ray Emery (Phi - G) Nightmare on...
5. Jordan Eberle (Edm - RW) Skinner & Si...
6. Brent Burns (SJ - RW,D) Phaneufenstein
7. Drew Doughty (LA - D) Dead & Fleuried
8. Niklas Backstrom (Min - G) Drag Me To H...
9. Dustin Brown (LA - LW,RW) Ogie Ogre-th...
10. Patrice Bergeron (Bos - C) Silence of t...
11. Ryan Callahan (NYR - RW) House of 100...
12. Mike Green (Was - D) I Smid On Yo...
13. Nazem Kadri (Tor - C) Nosferatuuka
14. Jason Spezza (Ott - C) Army of Subbans

Round 6
1. Thomas Vanek (Buf - LW,RW) Army of Subbans
2. Jordan Staal (Car - C,LW) Nosferatuuka
3. Scott Hartnell (Phi - LW) I Smid On Yo...
4. Alex Pietrangelo (StL - D) House of 100...
5. Milan Lucic (Bos - LW) Silence of t...
6. Jonas Hiller (Anh - G) Ogie Ogre-th...
7. Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Pho - D) Drag Me To H...
8. Mike Richards (LA - C,LW) Dead & Fleuried
9. Alexander Semin (Car - LW,RW) Phaneufenstein
10. Patrick Sharp (Chi - C,LW) Skinner & Si...
11. Ryan Suter (Min - D) Nightmare on...
12. Semyon Varlamov (Col - G) A.Niityville...
13. Ryan Kesler (Van - C) Recchident Evil
14. Joffrey Lupul (Tor - LW,RW) Pavelnormal ...

Round 7
1. Gabriel Landeskog (Col - LW) Pavelnormal ...
2. Alexander Edler (Van - D) Recchident Evil
3. Jeff Carter (LA - C,LW,RW) A.Niityville...
4. Duncan Keith (Chi - D) Nightmare on...
5. Loui Eriksson (Bos - LW,RW) Skinner & Si...
6. Keith Yandle (Pho - D) Phaneufenstein
7. Ondrej Pavelec (Wpg - G) Dead & Fleuried
8. Blake Wheeler (Wpg - RW) Drag Me To H...
9. Matt Moulson (NYI - LW) Ogie Ogre-th...
10. Joe Thornton (SJ - C) Silence of t...
11. Devan Dubnyk (Edm - G) House of 100...
12. Mikko Koivu (Min - C) I Smid On Yo...
13. Ryan Miller (Buf - G) Nosferatuuka
14. Nail Yakupov (Edm - RW) Army of Subbans

Round 8
1. Mike Ribeiro (Pho - C) Army of Subbans
2. Jakub Voracek (Phi - RW) Nosferatuuka
3. Jarome Iginla (Bos - RW) I Smid On Yo...
4. Brad Richards (NYR - C) House of 100...
5. Dan Boyle (SJ - D) Silence of t...
6. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edm - C) Ogie Ogre-th...
7. Marian Hossa (Chi - RW) Drag Me To H...
8. Marian Gaborik (Cls - RW) Dead & Fleuried
9. Wayne Simmonds (Phi - RW) Phaneufenstein
10. David Krejci (Bos - C) Skinner & Si...
11. Pascal Dupuis (Pit - LW,RW) Nightmare on...
12. Brandon Dubinsky (Cls - C,LW) A.Niityville...
13. Tim Thomas (Fla - G) Recchident Evil
14. Sam Gagner (Edm - C,RW) Pavelnormal ...

Round 9
1. Justin Williams (LA - RW) Pavelnormal ...
2. Patrick Marleau (SJ - C,LW) Recchident Evil
3. Viktor Fasth (Anh - G) A.Niityville...
4. Derek Stepan (NYR - C) Nightmare on...
5. James van Riemsdyk (Tor - LW) Skinner & Si...
6. Evgeni Nabokov (NYI - G) Phaneufenstein
7. Jonathan Bernier (Tor - G) Dead & Fleuried
8. Jonathan Huberdeau (Fla - C,LW) Drag Me To H...
9. Jason Pominville (Min - RW) Ogie Ogre-th...
10. Kevin Shattenkirk (StL - D) Silence of t...
11. Johan Franzen (Det - LW,RW) House of 100...
12. Cody Hodgson (Buf - C,RW) I Smid On Yo...
13. P.A. Parenteau (Col - RW) Nosferatuuka
14. Mark Streit (Phi - D) Army of Subbans

Round 10
1. Justin Schultz (Edm - D) Army of Subbans
2. Andrew Ladd (Wpg - LW) Nosferatuuka
3. Bryan Little (Wpg - C,RW) I Smid On Yo...
4. Niklas Kronwall (Det - D) House of 100...
5. Brent Seabrook (Chi - D) Silence of t...
6. Troy Brouwer (Was - RW) Ogie Ogre-th...
7. Slava Voynov (LA - D) Drag Me To H...
8. Jack Johnson (Cls - D) Dead & Fleuried
9. Stephen Weiss (Det - C) Phaneufenstein
10. Jeff Skinner (Car - C,RW) Skinner & Si...
11. Andrei Markov (Mon - D) Nightmare on...
12. Michael Del Zotto (NYR - D) A.Niityville...
13. Alexandre Burrows (Van - LW,RW) Recchident Evil
14. Brian Elliott (StL - G) Pavelnormal ...

Round 11
1. Tomas Vokoun (Pit - G) Pavelnormal ...
2. Ryan O'Reilly (Col - C,LW) Recchident Evil
3. T.J. Oshie (StL - C,RW) A.Niityville...
4. Brad Marchand (Bos - LW) Nightmare on...
5. Tobias Enstrom (Wpg - D) Skinner & Si...
6. David Clarkson (Tor - RW) Phaneufenstein
7. Brayden Schenn (Phi - C,LW) Dead & Fleuried
8. Tomas Plekanec (Mon - C) Drag Me To H...
9. Paul Stastny (Col - C) Ogie Ogre-th...
10. Patrik Elias (NJ - C,LW) Silence of t...
11. Vincent Lecavalier (Phi - C) House of 100...
12. Shane Doan (Pho - LW,RW) I Smid On Yo...
13. Jiri Tlusty (Car - LW) Nosferatuuka
14. Martin Brodeur (NJ - G) Army of Subbans

Round 12
1. Alex Galchenyuk (Mon - C,LW) Army of Subbans
2. Michael Cammalleri (Cgy - C,LW) Nosferatuuka
3. Ryan McDonagh (NYR - D) I Smid On Yo...
4. Jonathan Drouin (TB - LW) House of 100...
5. Francois Beauchemin (Anh - D) Silence of t...
6. Robin Lehner (Ott - G) Ogie Ogre-th...
7. John Carlson (Was - D) Drag Me To H...
8. Dan Girardi (NYR - D) Dead & Fleuried
9. Kyle Turris (Ott - C) Phaneufenstein
10. Brian Campbell (Fla - D) Skinner & Si...
11. Nathan MacKinnon (Col - C) Nightmare on...
12. Mark Giordano (Cgy - D) A.Niityville...
13. Travis Hamonic (NYI - D) Recchident Evil
14. James Reimer (Tor - G) Pavelnormal ...

[Pengwin7]

Round 13
1. Radim Vrbata (Pho - RW) Pavelnormal ...
2. Kimmo Timonen (Phi - D) Recchident Evil
3. Mikhail Grabovski (Was - C) A.Niityville...
4. Ben Bishop (TB - G) Nightmare on...
5. Tyler Ennis (Buf - C,LW) Skinner & Si...
6. Mikkel Boedker (Pho - LW) Phaneufenstein
7. Matt Martin (NYI - LW) Dead & Fleuried
8. Valeri Nichushkin (Dal - RW) Drag Me To H...
9. Alex Goligoski (Dal - D) Ogie Ogre-th...
10. Dennis Seidenberg (Bos - D) Silence of t...
11. Dennis Wideman (Cgy - D) House of 100...
12. Karri Ramo (Cgy - G) I Smid On Yo...
13. Michael Ryder (NJ - RW) Nosferatuuka
14. Sergei Gonchar (Dal - D) Army of Subbans

Round 14
1. Victor Hedman (TB - D) Army of Subbans
2. Ray Whitney (Dal - LW) Nosferatuuka
3. Milan Michalek (Ott - LW,RW) I Smid On Yo...
4. Steve Downie (Col - LW,RW) House of 100...
5. Chris Neil (Ott - RW) Silence of t...
6. Christian Ehrhoff (Buf - D) Ogie Ogre-th...
7. Brandon Saad (Chi - LW) Drag Me To H...
8. Mark Fraser (Tor - D) Dead & Fleuried
9. Dougie Hamilton (Bos - D) Phaneufenstein
10. Lubomir Visnovsky (NYI - D) Skinner & Si...
11. Bryan Bickell (Chi - LW) Nightmare on...
12. James Wisniewski (Cls - D) A.Niityville...
13. Radko Gudas (TB - D) Recchident Evil
14. Derick Brassard (NYR - C) Pavelnormal ...

Round 15
1. Chris Stewart (StL - RW) Pavelnormal ...
2. Martin Hanzal (Pho - C) Recchident Evil
3. Nathan Horton (Cls - RW) A.Niityville...
4. Vladimir Tarasenko (StL - RW) Nightmare on...
5. Jason Garrison (Van - D) Skinner & Si...
6. Daniel Alfredsson (Det - RW) Phaneufenstein
7. Ryane Clowe (NJ - LW,RW) Dead & Fleuried
8. Jonas Brodin (Min - D) Drag Me To H...
9. Teddy Purcell (TB - RW) Ogie Ogre-th...
10. Nick Foligno (Cls - LW) Silence of t...
11. Travis Zajac (NJ - C) House of 100...
12. Derek Roy (StL - C) I Smid On Yo...
13. Luke Schenn (Phi - D) Nosferatuuka
14. Cody Franson (Tor - D) Army of Subbans

Round 16
1. Jacob Markstrom (Fla - G) Army of Subbans
2. Tyler Bozak (Tor - C) Nosferatuuka
3. Stephane Robidas (Dal - D) I Smid On Yo...
4. Valtteri Filppula (TB - C,LW) House of 100...
5. Martin Erat (Was - LW,RW) Silence of t...
6. Matt Carle (TB - D) Ogie Ogre-th...
7. Brenden Dillon (Dal - D) Drag Me To H...
8. Ladislav Smid (Edm - D) Dead & Fleuried
9. Jay Bouwmeester (StL - D) Phaneufenstein
10. Nick Leddy (Chi - D) Skinner & Si...
11. Anders Lindback (TB - G) Nightmare on...
12. Anton Khudobin (Car - G) A.Niityville...
13. Josh Harding (Min - G) Recchident Evil
14. Steve Mason (Phi - G) Pavelnormal ...

Round 17
1. Antoine Vermette (Pho - C,LW) Pavelnormal ...
2. Dmitry Kulikov (Fla - D) Recchident Evil
3. Dany Heatley (Min - LW,RW) A.Niityville...
4. Marcus Johansson (Was - C) Nightmare on...
5. Matt Read (Phi - RW) Skinner & Si...
6. Justin Faulk (Car - D) Phaneufenstein
7. Alexander Steen (StL - C,LW) Dead & Fleuried
8. David Desharnais (Mon - C) Drag Me To H...
9. Dan Hamhuis (Van - D) Ogie Ogre-th...
10. Mike Fisher (Nsh - C) Silence of t...
11. Andy Greene (NJ - D) House of 100...
12. Kevin Bieksa (Van - D) I Smid On Yo...
13. Derek Dorsett (NYR - RW) Nosferatuuka
14. Tomas Fleischmann (Fla - LW) Army of Subbans

Round 18
1. Tyson Barrie (Col - D) Army of Subbans
2. Zach Bogosian (Wpg - D) Nosferatuuka
3. Michal Neuvirth (Was - G) I Smid On Yo...
4. Fedor Tyutin (Cls - D) House of 100...
5. Marc Staal (NYR - D) Silence of t...
6. David Perron (Edm - LW) Ogie Ogre-th...
7. Antoine Roussel (Dal - LW) Drag Me To H...
8. Dustin Penner (Anh - LW) Dead & Fleuried
9. Jussi Jokinen (Pit - C,LW) Phaneufenstein
10. Jakob Silfverberg (Anh - LW,RW) Skinner & Si...
11. Seth Jones (Nsh - D) Nightmare on...
12. Marek Zidlicky (NJ - D) A.Niityville...
13. Mika Zibanejad (Ott - C) Recchident Evil
14. Nikolai Khabibulin (Chi - G) Pavelnormal ...

Round 19
1. Brooks Orpik (Pit - D) Pavelnormal ...
2. Eddie Lack (Van - G) Recchident Evil
3. Kyle Okposo (NYI - RW) A.Niityville...
4. Zack Kassian (Van - RW) Nightmare on...
5. Patrik Berglund (StL - C) Skinner & Si...
6. Justin Abdelkader (Det - LW,RW) Phaneufenstein
7. Beau Bennett (Pit - RW) Dead & Fleuried
8. Aleksander Barkov (Fla - C) Drag Me To H...
9. Thomas Greiss (Pho - G) Ogie Ogre-th...
10. Brandon Prust (Mon - LW) Silence of t...
11. Tyler Myers (Buf - D) House of 100...
12. Tuomo Ruutu (Car - C,LW) I Smid On Yo...
13. Marc Methot (Ott - D) Nosferatuuka
14. Lars Eller (Mon - C) Army of Subbans

Round 20
1. Brendan Gallagher (Mon - RW) Army of Subbans
2. Mike Weber (Buf - D) Nosferatuuka
3. Pierre-Marc Bouchard (NYI - RW) I Smid On Yo...
4. Patric Hornqvist (Nsh - RW) House of 100...
5. Erik Cole (Dal - RW) Silence of t...
6. Jake Muzzin (LA - D) Ogie Ogre-th...
7. Richard Clune (Nsh - LW) Drag Me To H...
8. Peter Budaj (Mon - G) Dead & Fleuried
9. Patrick Wiercioch (Ott - D) Phaneufenstein
10. Nikita Nikitin (Cls - D) Skinner & Si...
11. Andrej Meszaros (Phi - D) Nightmare on...
12. Artem Anisimov (Cls - C,LW) A.Niityville...
13. Ben Scrivens (LA - G) Recchident Evil
14. Chad Johnson (Bos - G) Pavelnormal ...

Round 21
1. Martin Biron (NYR - G) Pavelnormal ...
2. Jacob Trouba (Wpg - D) Recchident Evil
3. Danny Briere (Mon - C,RW) A.Niityville...
4. Paul Martin (Pit - D) Nightmare on...
5. Jose Theodore (Fla - G) Skinner & Si...
6. Cory Conacher (Ott - C) Phaneufenstein
7. Teemu Selanne (Anh - RW) Dead & Fleuried
8. Darcy Kuemper (Min - G) Drag Me To H...
9. David Legwand (Nsh - C) Ogie Ogre-th...
10. Jason LaBarbera (Edm - G) Silence of t...
11. Ryan Strome (NYI - C) House of 100...
12. Mikael Backlund (Cgy - C) I Smid On Yo...
13. Cam Atkinson (Cls - RW) Nosferatuuka
14. Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Col - G) Army of Subbans

[Pengwin7]

My team, Pavelnormal Activity.

Pavelnormal Activity
1. (1) Sidney Crosby (Pit - C)
2. (28) P.K. Subban (Mon - D)
3. (29) Pavel Datsyuk (Det - C,LW)
4. (56) Zdeno Chara (Bos - D)
5. (57) Dustin Byfuglien (Wpg - RW,D)

First five round strategy.
Well, with the #1 overall pick... I had to go Crosby. Best value per game, especially in a league counting FOW. I could NOT pass by Subban at the end of the 2nd round, as he was the #3 overall fantasy player last year. Datsyuk takes the lion's share of FOW for the Wings and even with his low PIM/HIT count, it is absolutely critical to take at least two wing-eligible players that take FOW in this league. At the end of round 4/start 5 I took two of the elite SIX multi-cat defensmen (Chara/Byfuglien). I've preached late-drafting defensemen, but many teams seem to be running 4F/1D powerplay, which make PPP rare for defensemen and I've decided to load up this year. I believe that if you DO take a PP-QB defensemen, they need to HIT & BLK as well... so I had to jump on these guys before the light-weight Ds like Campbell, Schultz, Pietrangelo, and Yandle started to come.

6. (84) Joffrey Lupul (Tor - LW,RW)
7. (85) Gabriel Landeskog (Col - LW)
8. (112) Sam Gagner (Edm - C,RW)
9. (113) Justin Williams (LA - RW)

At round 6/7 I took a couple guys that have top 20 fantasy potential, especially in multi-cat leagues. If they can stay healthy, they'll both be top 50 for sure. At round 8/9, I liked Gagner, especially as my 2nd wing-eligible center and with RNH down, he should get top opps. J-Williams is just Mr.Steady and underrated in fantasy hockey. Had him last year.

10. (140) Brian Elliott (StL - G)
11. (141) Tomas Vokoun (Pit - G)
12. (168) James Reimer (Tor - G)

That's right... I was the absolute last "live" team to take goalies... waiting to the 10th/11th/12th round in a 14-team league. Crazy, right? Well, with 164 starts, I'm hoping that one of my seven goalies turns into a starter. Even with 7 back-ups, I made sure they were on good teams to maximize my WIN% per game. This is actually a strategy I learned from watching temek manage his team in The Classic last year. If I can get 164 starts, I should finish top five in wins just by TEAM QUALITY. This was one of my strategies for this league. Also, 6/7 goalies had SV% over .916 last year. That's damn good.

13. (169) Radim Vrbata (Pho - RW)
14. (196) Derick Brassard (NYR - C)
15. (197) Chris Stewart (StL - RW)

Vrbata was a top 100 fantasy player last year playing only 2/3rds of the season. He simply gets better every year. Brassard provides quality hits on a good team and with Stepan potentially holding out, some value up. Chris Stewart just fell/fell/fell... I had to take him. Another potentially top 50 fantasy player.

16. (224) Steve Mason (Phi - G)
17. (225) Antoine Vermette (Pho - C,LW)
18. (252) Nikolai Khabibulin (Chi - G)

Two more back-ups here on good teams.
+Vermette, my third wing-eligible face-off man.

19. (253) Brooks Orpik (Pit - D)
I actually only drafted 4/5 defense slots. I don't mind falling behind the GP pace in this league, so I can see how many Hits/Blocks I need and stream in big-pylon Ds to try to match the pace of the top teams.

20. (280) Chad Johnson (Bos - G)
21. (281) Martin Biron (NYR - G)

You won't see these guys taken in most leagues, but hey... they'll still probably win 50% of the games they play... and with a GP max at all positions, it's not like I needed extra forwards.


Overall:
A-
I had expected to nab one big hitting power forward (Brown, Callahan, Backes) but they were all snapped up. I settled on Landeskog, which should be OK... especially with the firepower in COL this year. I thought having three ELITE D fall to me was amazing and did not expect that to happen. Especially, the goalie run that happened in the 2nd round helped Subban fall to me. Overall, I should be top of the standings in all scoring, +/-, SOG categories. I've got +one extra forward... and I'll pace above GP since one will eventually get injured (Crosby, Lupul... most likely). My PIM/Hit/Blk will be below average, but I know how to chase those later. If I can get an average of 20 games per goalie, I'm looking at 140/164 games. If just one or two gets a chance to be #1, even for a while, I should be in good pace for per-game value. One of my best drafts, I think I've got a top five place locked in (barring Crosby injury). Hopefully, if the stars align, I can improve on last year's disappointing 2nd place finish.

[Pengwin7]

Oh... and I'm just now finding out that I apparently have the first bad draft pick of the year.
My 11th rounder, Tomas Vokoun, out indefinitely with blood clot problems.

Awesome, and I was just trying to be a good dad by not surfing hockey for one 24-hour period of time (6pm FRI - 6pm SAT)... guh-reat.

[Shoeless]

Oh... and I'm just now finding out that I apparently have the first bad draft pick of the year.
My 11th rounder, Tomas Vokoun, out indefinitely with blood clot problems.

Awesome, and I was just trying to be a good dad by not surfing hockey for one 24-hour period of time (6pm FRI - 6pm SAT)... guh-reat.

Yeah that sucks - Vokoun was my star goalie when it happened the last time. Sucks for him, too - scary stuff.

Nice write up on your draft. pal. I really like your Landeskog and Vermette picks, by the way. You sniped them off the top of my queue, you bastard.

So hazard a guess as to who the Pens will find to backup the flower? Smack will be laughing if it's Theodore.

[Shoeless]

A.Niityville Horrors

C; Grabovski, Oshie, Anisimov, Briere
RW: Malkin, Neal, Okposo, Horton,
LW: Zetterberg, Dubinsky, Carter, Heatlley
D: Phaneuf, Wisniewski, Del Zotto, Giordano, Zidlicky
G: Schneider, Varlamov, Fasth, Khudobin

Rd.1 (3) Malkin (Pit - C, RW)
Rd.2 (26) Zetterberg (Det – C, LW)
Rd.3 (31) James Neal (Pit – LW, RW)

Tough call for me to take Malkin over Lundqvist - finally decided I could draft goalies later for GAA and SV% particularly and so decided to focus on offense first. Hence the Zetts and Neal picks – could have gone Dats but thought I might get a little more offense from Zetts. Neal was easy.

Rd.4 (54) Cory Schneider (NJ - G)

17 goalies gone already – time to get in the goalie market.

Rd.5 (59) Dion Phaneuf (Tor - D)

Very happy to have Phanuef available when it was time to take a D guy, he brings a truckload of value in this league.

Rd.6 (82) Semyon Varlamov (Col - G)

Still some starters on the board but figured I had better get another goalie – I’m not sure if I like my pick with Dubnyk, Miller, Pavelec on the board – think I rushed this pick although a bit of an Avs fan so that might have swayed me. Hoping Roy can tune him in and put some D in front of him.

Rd.7 (87) Jeff Carter (LA - C,LW,RW)

Straight value pick for a goal scorer with multiple position eligibility. Might have gone for him a round too early – seems like feast or famine with Carter but I like the goals and shots and FOW from the wing.

Rd.8 (110) Brandon Dubinsky (Cls - C,LW)

I like this pick a lot. I think I got a real deal on him.

Rd.9 (115) Viktor Fasth (Anh - G)

Ogie is waiting to handcuff Fasth with Hiller and I am still wanting good GAA and SV% - let’s do it now because he has two intervening picks and he might use Rd 10 to take him.

Rd.10 (138) Michael Del Zotto (NYR - D)

Good multi-tool D guy for my second. For this league, I think I got a good deal.

Rd.11 (143) T.J. Oshie (StL - C,RW)

I am not sure if I like this pick. I thought about taking Doan or Stastny here. He has some grit. Dunno – probably want a redo.

Rd.12 (166) Mark Giordano (Cgy - D)

I really like getting Giordano this late in the draft – actually think he carries more value than Del Zotto

Rd.13 (171) Mikhail Grabovski (Was - C)

Needed a C not a lot out there but some guys like Eller, Fisher, Vermette might have been better calls. But in a new system he might just really shine offensively.

Rd.14 (194) James Wisniewski (Cls - D)

Well if I get over 60 games out of Wiz then this was a steal.

Rd.15 (199) Nathan Horton (Cls - RW)

An IR pick – probably could have waited but he might be a nice resource for a stretch drive.

Rd.16 (222) Anton Khudobin (Car - G)

Another goalie projected to deliver good peripherals.

Rd.17 (227) Dany Heatley (Min - LW,RW)

Maybe ….

Rd.18 (250) Marek Zidlicky (NJ - D)

Don’t like this pick particularly, could have done better.

Rd.19 (255. Kyle Okposo (NYI - RW)

I like how he is trending, so who knows – it’s sleeper time in the draft. Ditto for picks in the last two rounds.

Rd.20 (278) Artem Anisimov (Cls - C,LW)
Rd.21 (283) Danny Briere (Mon - C,RW)

Overall I give myself a B+ - like my wingers and D, weak at C and Goalies still an unknown – could work but could not. Not many freebies in this draft methinks even the few auto-drafters were crafty. I had targeted Malkin, Zetts, Neal, Schneider, Phaneuf, Dubinsky, Wisniewski, Del Zotto, Giordano, Carter, Grabovski and Khudobin specifically in my draft prep, 12/21 isn't too bad, don't you think? New Jersey have 22 B2B's and Carolina 20 to lead the league - league average is 14.7 b2b's.

This team will finish 3rd.

[horrorfan]

Thanks for posting the results, Pengwin.

I Smid On Your Grave

C: Getzlaf, M. Koivu, Roy, Backlund
L: Hartnell, Doan, Michalek, Ruutu
R: Iginla, Hodgson, Little, Boyes
D: Letang, Green, McDonagh, Robidas, Bieksa
G: Niemi, Howard, Ramo, Neuvirth

It was an interesting draft for sure. Some guys I wanted went a bit before I wanted to take them. That forced me to change my strategy a bit. I knew going in that I was going goalie-goalie to start due to my 12th position and the likelihood of a lot of goalies taken by my late third round pick. I'm relying on Niemi and Howard to at least produce similar to last season, though not expecting an improvement. Steady workhorses on good teams is all I want.

At that point, I totally changed my strategy as I expected to go winger but the guys I wanted were taken and those who hadn't I felt I could wait a bit. So Letang was sitting there and went for it. As the draft went I tried to focus on category balance so as it looks I'm lacking in top end offense but I should have some good steady production across the board.

Hopefully, though, as there is some risk in there as well. There are a few guys who've been prone to the injury bug a bit so hopefully they stay relatively healthy this season. A couple late picks in PMB and Backlund could produce nice results if they take advantage of opportunity, so won't hesitate to start them if they get going early.

Overall, not bad and could work out well.

[4T2]

Well, I didn't have near as much time to prepare for my draft this year as I usually do, so I pretty much went with the best player available strategy. This league is always super competitive, but overall, I'm pretty happy with the way my draft went.

1. (11) Patrick Kane C,RW
I had no doubt who my top 10 players were and I figured one would fall to me at 11th. NOPE! So I had a really tough time choosing between Kane, Niemi and Kessel. Decided to go with Kane as there were a few goalies I was eyeing that I could take at pick 18.

2. (18) Corey Crawford G
With Niemi gone, Crawford seemed like the best remaining goalie available. Should rack up the Ws with the defending Cup champs. Hate starting off with two Blackhawks though. It just feels dirty.

3. (39) Marc-Andre Fleury G
I watched my queue dwindle as my third pick was coming up. With Marty St Louis still on the board, it seemed like the obvious choice. Then someone name dropped Fleury who I had pegged for my 4th round pick. So I bumped him up and of course Marty was snatched two picks later.

4. (46) Tyler Seguin C,RW
My breakout pick for the year. Having him on my team will ease the pain of watching him light it up in Dallas green rather than Black and Gold.

5. (67) Ryan Callahan RW
Coming off shoulder surgery scares me a bit, but his value was too good to pass up at this point. Top multi-cat guys like Evander Kane, Brown and Backes were gone and you absolutely need producers like these guys to succeed in this format.

6. (74) Alex Pietrangelo D
A mini run on D had started last round with Phaneuf, Burns, Doughty and Green all going. Figured it was time and AP seemed like the best D remaining.

7. (95) Devan Dubnyk G
With the number of goalies gone and the number of teams with only one (or even none) starters, I figured Dubnyk was huge value at this point. He's a clear-cut starter on a young Edmonton team that has to start showing signs of improvement someday. I think Edmonton sneaks into the playoffs this year.

8. (102) Brad Richards C
Should have a bounce back year under Vigneault.

9. (123) Johan Franzen LW,RW
Ranked 25th on the Roto Top 100 rankings and I had yet to draft a LW eligible player. Plus Garrett had sniped Shattenkirk out from under me.

10. (130) Niklas Kronwall D
D-men were going fast and furious at this point.

11. (151) Vincent Lecavalier C
Lecavalier should have some good quality linemates in Philly and I really needed to start addressing FOWs.

12. (158) Jonathan Drouin LW
Can't decide if this is too early or not. He's my pick for the Calder this year. I think he gets a shot lining up with Stamkos/St Louis in the regular season.

13. (179) Dennis Wideman D
My queue was emptied just prior to this pick with Seidenberg being sniped from me too. Not really happy with this one but should at least provide a few PPP.

14. (186) Steve Downie LW,RW
May have jumped on him a little early, but Downie could be huge this year if he can find his way into the top 6 in Colorado.

15. (207) Travis Zajac C
A first line center in round 15? I'll take it.

16. (214) Valtteri Filppula C,LW
Still playing catchup on FOWs and he'll contribute from the LW.

17. (235) Andy Greene D
18. (242) Fedor Tyutin D
19. (263) Tyler Myers D

Had to fill out my D-men spots at this point. Grabbing Myers could end up being a steal if the Tallinder effect turns out to be true.

20. (270) Patric Hornqvist RW
25-30 goals from a pick in the second-last round of the draft? Not-too-shabby.

21. (291) Ryan Strome C
If he finally makes the team, could surprise everyone and contend for the Calder. If not, he's an easy drop for a hot waiver pickup.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my draft. I think the value in Dubnyk, Franzen, Zajac and Hornqvist helps to make up for the guys I may have grabbed a little early.

[Chili con Carne]

Team: Ogie Ogre-thorpe

C: Toews, RNH, Stastny
LW: Couture, D. Brown, Moulson
RW: Nash, Brouwer, Pominville
D: Goligoski, Ehrhoff, Carle, Hamhuis, Muzzin
G: Quick, Hiller
B: Perron, Legwand, Purcell, Lehner, Greiss


Rd. 1-4
Quick
Toews
Nash
Couture

These four rounds went as planned - with the 9th pick overall I knew I was getting Quick. I wanted a top-notch C-man (Toews), a scoring winger (Nash) and a good dual eligibility C (Couture). I was thrilled with the draft to this point. Overall my strategy was to lock down one solid goalies and then go for G, SOG, and PPP.

Rd. 5
Dustin Brown

In multi-cats Brown does not usually last past the 5th so I was thrilled to have him. I definitely wanted to draft someone with elite HITS.

Rd. 6
Hiller

Goalies were going and I thought I should grab a second goalie. I was more concerned with good peripherals than the number of starts as my general strategy was to grab a few backups and hope for my 150-160 goalie games instead of having a full-time mediocre starter in the second slot. Hiller may get a lot of starts but I am only counting on 40-50. Plus Anaheim has a lot of Sunday games so having Hiller helps avoid conflicts with other goalies.

So far so good!

Rd. 7
Moulson

I couldn't leave a 30 goal scorer on the board at this point. I know his peripherals aren't great (PIM, HITS) but he scores, gets PPP and shoots.

Rd. 8
RNH

This is a bit of a gamble but I am a believer. Also, I can't take advantage of Couture's dual eligibility unless I get some legitimate starting C to fill my actual C slots. I am not too concerned with the potential November start date. I am starting to realize that my team is a short on grit though.

Rd. 9
Pominville

I think he will have a good (not great) year playing top line in Minny. Again though, I am not helping myself in the sandpaper department.

Rd. 10
Brouwer

Likely a reach unless he repeats his performance from last year. This helps me a lot in the HITS department though which I desperately need (although my PIM is still atrocious).

Rd. 11
Stastny

This pick was made with a lot of concern. He obviously has talent but where has it gone? Regardless, I slept on taking C-men and now am stuck with what I am stuck with. At a minimum I am hoping for PPP.

Rd. 12
Lehner

Back-ups were moving off the board and Lehner was my second favourite (after Vokoun). Feeling pretty good about my goalies. I would have picked Fasth a bit earlier to handcuff the ANA duo but Rick scooped me. This may come back to haunt me - live and learn.

Rd. 13
Gologoski

Time to start taking some D-men. My research on D was probably the worst part of my prep. Overall my plan was to take forwards who shoot and score and/or who get top PP time. I thought I could leave my D to the end. Probably not a bad strategy but as you will see I was not quite prepared (did not use my D slots to balance out my team very well).

Rd. 14
Ehrhoff

Liked this pick - I think he is largely underrated.

Rd. 15
Purcell

Was happy with Purcell as he is a decent player, but am not helping my grit situation. Regardless, I wanted some depth on forward.

Rd. 16
Matt Carle

I am gambling that he gets PP1 time. I also like his Blocked Shots. Not much grit

Rd. 17
Hamhuis

Again, like the individual but where's the sandpaper I so desperately need?

Rd. 18
Perron

Thrilled with this pick - on an individual level he brings some grit and I am hoping he gets the top line LW spot as long as RNH is out (if Hall moves to C). Good depth pick. May be able to use him in a trade.

Rd. 19
Greiss

Needed one more back-up G. Phoenix goalies see a lot of rubber so in a league with Saves I like this pick. Hoping for 20 starts (will settle for 15).

Rd. 20
Muzzin

Needed a final D-man.

Rd. 21
Legwand

I needed another C to fill in while RNH is out. I figure he can hold the fort on FOW for a month if needed and then I can use his spot to rotate in some PIM d-men (if there are any left!). I wanted Anisimov here but Rick scooped me (again).


Overall I think I can only give myself a B-/C+. I have some great pieces but as is I am likely to finish last in PIM and very low in Blocked Shots. I can't give myself a good grade having completely whiffed on a category. If I make some savvy trades and a couple of things pan out (ahem Hiller, RNH) I could make top 5 I think.

[temek]

Recchident Evil

C Kesler, Hanzal, Zibanejad
LW Pacioretty, Marleau, O'Reilly
RW Ovechkin, Pavelski, Burrows
D Edler, Hamonic, Timonen, Gudas, Kulikov
G Lehtonen, Halak
BN Thomas, Harding, Lack, Scrivens, Trouba

1. (2) Alex Ovechkin (Was - RW)
Considered picking up Lundqvist or Malkin(FOW from the wings is extremely valuable in this league), but felt Ovechkin is just too good fit with our categories so went with him.

2. (27) Kari Lehtonen (Dal - G)
3. (30) Jaroslav Halak (StL - G)
Planned to go back-to-back G in rounds 2-3 and picked the 2 I liked most. Other options considered were Schneider, Ward and Holtby. Not that happy about goalie picks, but that's what available when 10+ goalies have already been taken. I might have been better off waiting until rounds 5-7 and pick up 2 goalies like Miller, Hiller, Varlamov and Backstrom, but remains to be seen if that would have worked. Had Subban and Couture as top choices if I hadn't gone for the goalies at this point. We'll see whether going something like Subban, Couture, Varlamov and Miller would have turned out to be better choice instead of going with Lehtonen, Halak, Pavelski, Edler.

4. (55) Max Pacioretty (Mon - LW)
5. (58) Joe Pavelski (SJ - C,RW)
Was just about to draft Schneider as I felt he was too good to pass even this far, but had to change plans as Shoeless snatched him up under my nose. I was choosing between Byfuglien, Chara and Pacioretty and thought I'd have better chance of getting one of Byfuglien or Chara with my next pick so went with Pacioretty. I was quite surprised Pengwin7 decided to back-to-back D(excellent picks by the way) considering previous season's strategy in regard to D which left me with a hard choice. I didn't particularly like anything available at this point and was considering between Pavelski and Callahan, but decided to go with Pavelski as you need 2 faceoff-taking wingers to finish anywhere near top in FOW so went with Pavelski.

6. (83) Ryan Kesler (Van - C)
Kesler was by far the highest ranked C left on my board so decided to go with him. Kesler might have slided even lower, but felt he was excellent value even at this point and decided to not risk losing him especially given that players just don't slide often like that in this league.

7. (86) Alexander Edler (Van - D)
Really wanted to have at least one Top5 D in this league, but those were not available where I wanted to pick them so I waited until 7th round and picked the next best on my list in Edler.

8. (111) Tim Thomas (Fla - G)
Quite risky pick considering Thomas doesn't have even contract yet and at age 39 is far from sure bet to return anywhere near the previous level of play. Felt Thomas was the last decent starter goalie available and wanted to get 3rd goalie at this point so went with Thomas. Remains to be seen how this pick ends up looking and could end up anywhere from a steal to a complete waste of pick.

9. (114) Patrick Marleau (SJ - C,LW)
Took the best winger available. Considered picking Skinner as well, but decided to pick Marleau to keep wingers balanced at 2 RW, 2LW.

10. (139) Alexandre Burrows (Van - LW,RW)
Skinner went few picks earlier so took the best winger available.

11. (142) Ryan O'Reilly (Col - C,LW)
You need 2 faceoff takers from the wings if you want to finish any high in FOW category so time to pick one of the few remaining such players. It was pretty much O'Reilly now or pick Vermette later at this point and decided to pick up O'Reilly now. Might start on the wing, but I don't expect that to last as I think O'Reilly is just too good at C to keep him on the wing for too long.

12. (167) Travis Hamonic (NYI - D)
Might be a bit of reach for Hamonic considering last season's poor results. Hamonic is already monster in PIM/Hits/Blocks and it seems likely that Hamonic will get chance in the 1st PP unit in NYI with Streit leaving so even low 30s production would make Hamonic extremely valuable with league's categories.

13. (170) Kimmo Timonen (Phi - D)
Another consistent steady performer who tends to slide in every draft. Also considered Ehrhoff and Wisniewski.

14. (195) Radko Gudas (TB - D)
Somewhat risky pick considering Gudas might not necessarily even play as NHL regular, but could post absolutely ridiculous totals in PIM/Hits/Blocks. Unlike the most this type of dmen (M.Weber/Fraser for example) Gudas seems to have some offensive ability as well so I think Gudas could be as high as Top20 D in this league even with just 20 points or so.

15. (198) Martin Hanzal (Pho - C)
Had only 1 C so really needed another. Hanzal doesn't particularly score much, but is a good contributor in PIM/Hits/FOW which was pretty much what I needed at this point anyway.

16. (223) Josh Harding (Min - G)
17. (226) Dmitry Kulikov (Fla - D)
1 was still 1 C and 1 D short of full lineup, but wanted to pick some extra G depth as it seemed like goalies with any fantasy value were starting to get scarce so went with Harding. I wanted Vermette with the 17th pick and probably should taken him first considering that I could really have used him even as C and good options at C were getting very thin. That would also have denied other teams probably the only remaining faceoff-taking winger worth taking at this point of the draft. Pengwin7 picked Vermette up though so decided to go with D and selected Kulikov.

18. (251) Mika Zibanejad (Ott - C)
I needed a center to fill the starting roster and was hoping Fisher would be available, but had no such luck. I didn't particularly like any of the centers available at this point though so decided to see what Zibanejad can do. If it doesn't work I can always dump him and pick up some available C who takes decent amount of faceoffs.

19. (254) Eddie Lack (Van - G)
My teams in last 2 seasons of RHRS haven't reached the G max GPs and that has pretty much put me out of the running for the win both seasons. I don't want that to happen again so picked up extra backup G playing for a good team as even 10-15 games might make the difference in reaching max GP if something goes wrong.

20. (279) Ben Scrivens (LA - G)
Another extra backup playing for a good team.

21. (282) Jacob Trouba (Wpg - D)
Probably comes out as a complete waste of a pick, but it's last round so why not. Everything from scouting reports to NCAA results suggests Trouba will be stud with league's categories sooner or later, but still probably 1-2 years too soon for Trouba.


I am fairly happy with the team and feel I drafted well balanced team across pretty much every skater category. I am not too high on the goalies, but we'll see how that goes. I feel my skaters and especially wingers are very strong though so I think I can compete for the win even with average goaltending. I made some fairly risky picks as well so remains to be seen if they pay off.

It will also be interesting to see how Pengwin7's goalie strategy works and props for him trying a risky strategy like that in rotisserie league. I am not so sure if it will pay off though as reaching max GPs will be quite hard considering the amount of inevitable goalie conflicts with 7 goalies. If his team only reaches 140 GP or so, it pretty much means guaranteed bottom5 finish in SVS and W. Also not so confident in many of his goalie picks like Elliott, Mason and Khabibulin and losing Vokoun was a big hit as Vokoun pretty much was the most important G in the team considering the strategy(would probably have posted comparable numbers to Rask/Lundqvist on per game basis). Strategy means though that his skaters should be one of the best(if not the best) in the league due to leaving goalie picks so late so even average goaltending should give him a good chance to win. If he gets lucky and even one of his backups produces Bobrovsky-like season, his team could be very hard to beat.