How beatable are single-year leagues?

[SteveMa]

Sincere congrats to you winners out there! I'm relatively new to this and was wondering what people felt about the 1-year leagues versus keeper leagues in terms of how beatable they are. It would seem to me that it would be easier for a good manager to build a strong team and have continued success year after year in a keeper league. But how easy is it to "repeat" (or win/cash every year) if you have to re-draft your team every time? I felt like in H2H standard leagues your standings at the end of the season were pretty much based on skill, but then the H2H playoff battles required some short-term luck to win. But maybe I am wrong - do you winners out there pretty much expect to win every league?

If you had, say, 10 years of keeper league and 10 years of single-season league teams, which one would earn you more money? How many times do you guess you'd cash? How many wins? Personally, I'd feel pretty comfortable in a keeper league (cash like 8/10 and win a bit more than my share like 2-3/10?) but don't know what's reasonable to expect from the single-season leagues.

Thanks in advance!

[metaldude26]

Sincere congrats to you winners out there! I'm relatively new to this and was wondering what people felt about the 1-year leagues versus keeper leagues in terms of how beatable they are. It would seem to me that it would be easier for a good manager to build a strong team and have continued success year after year in a keeper league. But how easy is it to "repeat" (or win/cash every year) if you have to re-draft your team every time? I felt like in H2H standard leagues your standings at the end of the season were pretty much based on skill, but then the H2H playoff battles required some short-term luck to win. But maybe I am wrong - do you winners out there pretty much expect to win every league?

If you had, say, 10 years of keeper league and 10 years of single-season league teams, which one would earn you more money? How many times do you guess you'd cash? How many wins? Personally, I'd feel pretty comfortable in a keeper league (cash like 8/10 and win a bit more than my share like 2-3/10?) but don't know what's reasonable to expect from the single-season leagues.

Thanks in advance!

It all depends on how each league is structured. Some keeper leagues make it very difficult to repeat by limiting the number of players kept and the like. I would tend to think it would be easier to grab cash in a keeper league early though because of the number of GMs who build for the long haul only to realize that the league is doomed to fold after two or three years. Taking advantage of the "rebuilders" in such a scenario would make winning early easy.

One-year leagues come with their own challenge but it's not hard to finish in and around the top every year but again, it depends on how the league is structured. I have one friend who competes in a one-year league but it allows for trading of the next year's picks. That means it's easy to load up for one year but tank the next. There are also big differences between H2H and rotisserie, which need to be adjusted for. I figure that if you follow this site daily it shouldn't be too hard to be competitive in one-year leagues though. And picking up the guides will certainly help at draft time so you'll have a leg up going in.

[maya has the knife]

Sincere congrats to you winners out there! I'm relatively new to this and was wondering what people felt about the 1-year leagues versus keeper leagues in terms of how beatable they are. It would seem to me that it would be easier for a good manager to build a strong team and have continued success year after year in a keeper league. But how easy is it to "repeat" (or win/cash every year) if you have to re-draft your team every time? I felt like in H2H standard leagues your standings at the end of the season were pretty much based on skill, but then the H2H playoff battles required some short-term luck to win. But maybe I am wrong - do you winners out there pretty much expect to win every league?

If you had, say, 10 years of keeper league and 10 years of single-season league teams, which one would earn you more money? How many times do you guess you'd cash? How many wins? Personally, I'd feel pretty comfortable in a keeper league (cash like 8/10 and win a bit more than my share like 2-3/10?) but don't know what's reasonable to expect from the single-season leagues.

Thanks in advance!

I think 1 year leagues are a lot easier to win as they're simply less competitive. I drafted two 1 year leagues this season and placed first in both for the regular season (2nd counting playoffs, lost both in the finals). I showed up to the draft and dominated, did not need to make any major moves over the course of the season save for injury replacements. However, if you're factoring money into the equation both types of leagues had better be competitive. In free leagues I feel like a lot of people sign up, skip the draft, and disappear. I've never done a money league but know for a fact that a keeper league take a lot of dedication to win every single year, you cannot stand pat and do nothing. It's difficult to draft a winner and maintain it year in and year out. Keeper leagues are a lot of fun though. If you know your hockey and are an active owner, there's no reason you can't compete on a yearly basis.

[Jorge]

For me, my keeper league (in sig) is for fun and I'm usually in 3-5 one year $$$ pools annually. Generally, I do quite well in my one year leagues. Costs are anywhere from $20-$75 per league and all pay out to 3rd place. I finish in the black most years and some years are better than others. This is also my first keeper pool and I did a total rebuild of the team this year with only 4 players remaining from the original roster so I can't really comment on the longevity aspect of winning in this type of league, but I hope to find that out over the next few seasons.

I guess what I'm saying is, it doesn't really matter what type of league you are in, do your homework. Find 4 or 5 recent articles on any player you have interest in and you should get a good sense of whether or not he will be a valuable contributor. There are a lot of resources out there (Dobber being one of the best) that will provide you with all of the information you need to make an educated decision at the draft and when you're considering trade options. Trust your decision making process and make sure you're comfortable with every draft pick or trade offer you make and you should come out ahead.

[Stringer]

And picking up the guides will certainly help at draft time so you'll have a leg up going in.

Yup, Loads of help!
I made the mistake of basing my selections this year on Sportsnet's guide.... never again.

[jcairns]

Yup, Loads of help!
I made the mistake of basing my selections this year on Sportsnet's guide.... never again.

Ha.. ha.. ha..

Yikes. I'm sure they are almost as good as ESPN's projections.