I would make a move now, especially with your league format.
13 teams: top 8F, 4D and 2G count. 1pt G/A, 2pt W/SO. (I put the players I feel will not count towards your stats in brackets)
Protect b/w 375 - 400 points in a full season
F: P Kane, Spezza, RNH, E Kane, Hodgson, Little, Brown, Burns, (Weiss), (Drouin), (Nichushkin)
D: Suter, Campbell, Markov, Goligoski, (Leddy), (MacDonough)
G: Rask, Pavelec, (Thomas), (Lindback)
Hertl is the best player from the list, but with only 26 total moves (13 teams x2 moves =26), your league's managers have to be sure who to target.
I think you are more than OK on D, even if you stumble on a couple of injuries. Your goalies are more than fine as well, unless you have anyone available that is worth a pickup (I figure you don't cause you own Lindback )
If you are going to select anyone, it's gotta be a forward (especially if Burns can be considered a D). That being said, I do not see any guys coming out of nowhere this year (like Kadri last year), at least, not anyone that could be a free agent. Therefore, I think it is safe to say that using one of your 2 picks on a promising forward early on is a risky move, but it is also a CALCULATED move. As I said, your league has 26 moves, but there are not (and will not have) 26 quality players available throughout the year based on the Free Agents you've listed.
I would gamble on Hertl here to help you out (if Burns can count as a D) since he will most likely outpoint Weiss, Nichushkin and Drouin. Worst case scenario, you keep Burns as an F, but at least you know you have a top 6 player on your bench ready to fill in whenever.
You can use your last pick later on as a safety net, baring multiple injuries, but I think it's important to nab the hot players with potential early on as they won't be there later.
EDIT: this is coming from a Brunner and Chiasson owner
Last edited by Bass56; October 7, 2013 at 9:55 AM.
Keeper league 14 teams (H2H, 20 active players keep 16 NHLers, 16 minors)
Scoring Cats: G-A-PTS-PPG-PPA-(+/-)-HITS-BLK-SHP-SOG-FOW-GWG / W-L-SVS-SV%-GAA-SO
C- Crosby, Barzal, Bennett, Schmaltz, Novak
W- Forsberg, Batherson, Nichuskin, Tuch, Konecny, Maccelli, Sharangovich, Bertuzzi, Kaliyev, Neighbours, Reichel
D- Carlson, Rielly, Klingberg
G- Hellebuyck, Demko, Merzlikins, Vejmelka
Minors:
F: Fantilli, Cooley, Bourgault, Perreault, Cowan, Ohgren, N. Foote, Goyette, Iskhakov, Denisenko, Tracey
D: Simashev, Willander, Lambos
G: Schmidt, Rodrigue, DiPietro, Gaudreau, McKay