Letang’s Value

[2014olympicgold]

Where do you think Letang sits for point’s wise next yr? I would like to acquire him in the offseason to boost my 6^th keeper value. As of right now I’m torn between St Louis, Voracek, and E.Kane for my final keeper spot. His keepers look like Malkin, Quick, Suter, Neal, Letang, and split between Parise, Nyquist, and Ryan Johansen for his final spot. I was thinking of trading St Louis and Voracek for Letang. However due to not a lot of people keeping Defensemen in my league, I want to hear some feedback on Letang if it is worth losing a solid forward for this Band-Aid. For a point of reference on D men available, I drafted Kronwall last in the 9^th round (3^rd after 6 keepers)

[letangerang58]

I wouldn't trade for Letang. He just has way too much injury risk.

[Pengwin7]

I would definitely go after Letang.
I think he is a serious rebound candidate. He has the ability to get back to 100%... and the production/play is more of confidence... in his head, IMO.

This is not Mike Green, though I think most people are treating him as such.

I think Letang can hit 50pts if he plays 82 games next year.
More realistically, I'll call him for 45pts in 70 games.

[2014olympicgold]

he hasnt played more than 50 games since 2010-11 season, which scares me

[newfcollins]

I would go after Letang, but I think you're giving up too much for him.

St Louis and Voracek for Letang is too much though. Especially if you're already keeping Karlsson as a d keeper.

If you keep six, and you're keeping Karlsson, and a goalie, I think you're better off keeping four forwards instead of three forwards and another defenceman. I'd rather St. Louis/Voraeck as my sixth keeper rather than Letang.

[HockeyProphet]

I would go after Letang, but I think you're giving up too much for him.

St Louis and Voracek for Letang is too much though. Especially if you're already keeping Karlsson as a d keeper.

If you keep six, and you're keeping Karlsson, and a goalie, I think you're better off keeping four forwards instead of three forwards and another defenceman. I'd rather St. Louis/Voraeck as my sixth keeper rather than Letang.

1+.. I agree..

[2014olympicgold]

My 6 keepers are Rask, Karlsson, Stamkos, Backstrom, JvR, and one of the following:
-Voracek
-St Louis
-E. Kane
-Letang if i get him

so is Letang worth more than Voracek, St Louis, or E. Kane?

[Pengwin7]

In 6F/4D/2G leagues... the defense becomes increasingly valuable.
With 12 teams, you are looking at 72F in play, 48D in play.

The #72F is still going to be a household name.
But the #48D is not going to be a common player of value.

This year, the #72F in multi-cat was the R.Kesler/B.Richards/C.Smith/D.Sedin/J.Williams/T.Johnson crowd.
This year, the #48D in multi-cat was the ME Vlasic/J.Demers/D.Hamilton/E.Gelinas crowd.


So... what's more valuable (this is my thinking)
a) The increase MSL might give me over Kesler/B.Rich type guys.
or
b) The increase Letang might give me over Vlasic/Demers type guys.


This is a good keeper group... but not great in enough to win in a 12-team league.
I think you'll need a player to really over-perform to win.
Thy player's name... be Kris Letang.

[2014olympicgold]

I was thinking with the addition of TOI category for next yr these stud D-men have a higher value than what people think (as of now). And Letang has put up 20-26 minutes since returning, which is crazy considering his injury. I do believe he is a 60-65pt D-man if he plays 80 games. Before getting hurt last yr he was like 38pts in 33 games, and he is also not reliant on Crosby (I remember some stat on how Letang was 0.6ppg with Crosby but 0.75ppg without Crosby). So the games he plays hes a rockstar, but his health is my biggest concern.

The people I have also have some decent TOI too, considering theyre forwards.
E. Kane – 20mins
Voracek – 17mins
St Louis – 22mins (Tampa)/ 18mins (NYR)

[newfcollins]

I do believe he is a 60-65pt D-man if he plays 80 games.

I have Letang on my roster too, and I'm a big fan of the guy. But here's the thing. Letang has only been above 40 points twice in his career. That's it. He has a 42-point season and a 50-point season. Yes, injuries play a key role. But realistically, you have to treat Letang as a max 40-point player until he proves he can be more.

There's a lot of ifs to count on for Letang to hit 60 points. If he stays healthy, and if he doesn't lose ice time to young player and if he can continue at a crazy pace he had for 38 games two seasons ago and if Malkin and Crosby can stay healthy, etc.

Until he hits that 60-point mark, don't value him as one.

[dillingerdis]

I have Letang on my roster too, and I'm a big fan of the guy. But here's the thing. Letang has only been above 40 points twice in his career. That's it. He has a 42-point season and a 50-point season. Yes, injuries play a key role. But realistically, you have to treat Letang as a max 40-point player until he proves he can be more.

There's a lot of ifs to count on for Letang to hit 60 points. If he stays healthy, and if he doesn't lose ice time to young player and if he can continue at a crazy pace he had for 38 games two seasons ago and if Malkin and Crosby can stay healthy, etc.

Until he hits that 60-point mark, don't value him as one.

This. Hit it right on the mark. He is WAY too much of an injury risk in my opinion as well. I traded for him this year early so I was able to follow all of his issues. Beginning our keeper league with carrying over 3 players and I have ZERO regrets about dropping him a month ago. I will not be looking for him next year in any manner unless im in first and can take the hit of relying on someone who will probably spend a lot of time not playing. Hard to agree to trade anyone that actually produces for someone who spends a lot of time not playing at all.

[Shiva Blaster]

Letang is the definition of a boom or bust player. A lot of people just avoid him completely (for good reason), but he can still be extremely useful in the right formats. For example, in a H2H Yahoo league where your team has multiple IR/IR+ spots (where you could afford to stash him when he inevitably goes down), he could still be very valuable. He puts up elite per-game stats when he is in the line-up, and can be a major weapon to deploy, so he definitely has value in formats where you can just stash him and grab someone else when he is hurt. That said, I wouldn't invest heavily, but at the right price and format there is still a lot of value there.

[mounD]

In 6F/4D/2G leagues... the defense becomes increasingly valuable.
With 12 teams, you are looking at 72F in play, 48D in play.

The #72F is still going to be a household name.
But the #48D is not going to be a common player of value.

This year, the #72F in multi-cat was the R.Kesler/B.Richards/C.Smith/D.Sedin/J.Williams/T.Johnson crowd.
This year, the #48D in multi-cat was the ME Vlasic/J.Demers/D.Hamilton/E.Gelinas crowd.


So... what's more valuable (this is my thinking)
a) The increase MSL might give me over Kesler/B.Rich type guys.
or
b) The increase Letang might give me over Vlasic/Demers type guys.


This is a good keeper group... but not great in enough to win in a 12-team league.
I think you'll need a player to really over-perform to win.
Thy player's name... be Kris Letang.

This is really the way you need to be looking at things when you're talking about comparing the value of Dmen and Forwards. It's really the only way to get an accurate sense of what each player's value is relative to others at their position, and therefore their value when compared to each other. It's not logical to compare apples to apples, simply because we're comparing production from two drastically different positions -- affected heavily in this case by the roster requirements (6F/4D). Elite Dmen like Karlsson are, for this reason, arguably more valuable than elite forwards in certain formats. If the difference between Letang and the "replacement level" player at his position is greater than the difference between MSL and replacement player at his position, then in my opinion Letang's value is greater and he should be kept.

Good stuff, Pengwin.

[sammynos]

In 6F/4D/2G leagues... the defense becomes increasingly valuable.
With 12 teams, you are looking at 72F in play, 48D in play.

The #72F is still going to be a household name.
But the #48D is not going to be a common player of value.

This year, the #72F in multi-cat was the R.Kesler/B.Richards/C.Smith/D.Sedin/J.Williams/T.Johnson crowd.
This year, the #48D in multi-cat was the ME Vlasic/J.Demers/D.Hamilton/E.Gelinas crowd.


So... what's more valuable (this is my thinking)
a) The increase MSL might give me over Kesler/B.Rich type guys.
or
b) The increase Letang might give me over Vlasic/Demers type guys.


This is a good keeper group... but not great in enough to win in a 12-team league.
I think you'll need a player to really over-perform to win.
Thy player's name... be Kris Letang.

holy good analysis batman!

[Doug Glatt]

I hated Letang until he came back during the week of the Finals and scored well for me, both teams I owned him on won league titles. However, if goes on a good run early next year and I get a good offer for him, I wont hesitate to pull the trigger.