Were the buyouts necessary? It just feels like some sort of sell-low decision that you shouldn't have had to make.
I recently joined a dynasty salary cap league (team in my signature) for the first time and am slowly starting to learn the rules and regs of the new league, but am a greenhorn when it comes to knowing prospects who have yet to crack their NHL rosters on a regular basis.
The previous owner did not leave me much to work with in terms of the "varsity" roster (he also finished 13 out of 14), but I feel as though I have a bright future just based on the names I see and the things I have read here and various other future watch sites. I would love to hear some opinions on if I am on the right track or totally off my rocker!
Scoring categories are:
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPG, PPA, SHP, GWG, SOG, Faceoff Wins, Hits
Wins, GAA, Save%, SHO
Made a few moves already which included buying out Henrik Sedin and Craig Anderson then demoting a few players for salary cap relief. Also traded my Maroon, Pavelski, Palat, and 3rd Rd Amateur for Bobby Ryan, Niskanen, Jake Allen, Oscar Klefbom, and 1st Rd Amateur which will give me the 2nd and 6th pick in the amateur draft this season.
I aleady know that goaltending is major concern and I hope that I can find a way to solve those issues through FA or even re-draft. Any thoughts and opinions are welcome...just be (somewhat) nice
Were the buyouts necessary? It just feels like some sort of sell-low decision that you shouldn't have had to make.
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Think the buyouts were a mistake, those guys must have had some trade value even if it was minimal. Draft picks, prospect, ets. Learn from that. Also not really a fan of the trade. This wasn't the draft to stock up on picks for. I prefer Pavs to Ryan and Maroon/Palat to Allen/Niskanen/Klefbom/1st. Allen is a nice building block on your goaltending, Niskanen/Klefbom are kinda throwaways IMO (Niskanen's next contract is going to really kill his value in cap leagues).
Your goaltending actually looks pretty solid. Hackett, Allen, Andersen are all solid, I'm assuming Gibsen isn't available? What categories do you have? I can't see Bortuzzo worth having on your roster at all. I would see what you could get for Boyle and dump him, he wont be of much use to you.
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You should add a little bit about your dynasty salary cap league numbers: the $$$.
What is your "cap"?
If you are rostering 14 players and you have the NHL cap ($64.3m), assumed... should have been no trouble finding room for H.Sedin & Anderson.
Big miss on the trade. Pavelski, Palat, Maroon... gosh, those are some good, good pieces.
Seems like two big mistakes to start off your club.
Niskanen is about to get $5m per year... no big value there.
Allen will be a back-up for 3-4 seasons if Miller signs (likely) and Klefbom is nothing in a start 56D league.
Gosh... this team looks bad, bad, bad.
Good timing though for a rebuild.
Change your mindset.
Learn the league rules.
And do whatever it takes to land the top 1 or 2 picks in next year's amateur draft.
If you can get McDavid... and hopefully Eichel too... you will have the corner stones for a quick, quick rebuild.
You want to get the 2015 first round draft pick for whoever looks to be the worst team in your league.
If you have a draft lottery, you need to collect a lot of 1st round picks from all the bottom teams in your league.
Hopefully they are not hip to the forecoming "McDavid" draft. At least 2-3 teams in every league are... in some leagues (like my Dynasty)... it's EVERY owner.
If there is another team in "Rebuild"... you may even see if they want your 2nd overall pick for their first round pick in next year's amateur draft.
BTW. What IS your league rules on amateur draft position?
Is there a lottery?
That's your direction here.
Look to move Boyle & Niskanen & Subban & Ryan... if there are any takers.
Completely empty the cupboards and do what it takes to land that McDavid pick.
Reminds me of Star Wars IV:
Except this time you are looking into the hologram recorder saying:
Help me McDavid, you're my only hope.
Cap is 83.5 starting next year. That includes player salary cap, 50% of dropped player cap, compensatory bonus, buyout cost (40% of remaining contract), promotion cost (250k per promotion), cap space trade, signing bonus (500k per UFA, whatever RFA bid ends up being), and other fees.
Varisty roster must carry 21 during the season with a maximum of 10 D and G.
Knew I needed to rebuild, guess it was worse than I thought.
The high picks will help tremendously but don't rely on just the youth you're grabbing to be what your team relies on to sink or swim. The Oilers made that mistake by adding their high picks and not much else. You need to do more than that. Be opportunistic on the trade market and try to make all of your picks count. You are going to have to work your tail off to make it work. You are behind most of your rivals so you will have to do a better job than them over the next couple years to get up to their level.
The biggest issue with rebuilds is that fantasy hockey timeline is not the same as NHL timeline. Fantasy leagues open and close all the time. You don't want your rebuild taking up too many (or all) of the available years. The good news is that there are a lot of trigger-happy guys in fantasy land. This can be turned around a lot quicker than you think. One move at a time... and don't be scared of proven producers!
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$83.5m for 21 players. ($4m/slot)
Hmmm.
My salary dynasty league this past season was:
$89.3m for 25 players. ($3.6m/slot)
My roster includes BOTH Henrik & Daniel Sedin.
AND... I actually traded FOR them. (traded away Ovechkin & Kreider. Needed FOW. And my league does include SOG/Hits, but I was loaded in Hits.)
Here's how you are most likely to build a championship roster quickly:
*HIGH - LOW theory.
1. Move out all your players so your team is crap.
2. For 2-3 years, you are loading up on high-upside prospects. I'm talking #1, #2, or #3 overall draft picks. Mostly, you NEED McDavid to turn around this team... it's really, really bad looking.
3. Once you roster 4-5 of these kids, you are on your way.
4. You'll supplement your team with overpaid players that are FREE because people are cutting them. Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Brad Richards... I bet these guys might even be dropped in your league.
These players ain't worth their salary.
But you are going to pair them.
At $4m per slot.
You are looking to go LOW-LOW-HIGH for $12m. You get one prospect (at $1m-$2m), one scrub (at $1m-$2m), and one overpriced superstar (at $8m-$10m).
You will be amazed how awesome your team looks.
But... there is absolutely no point in having those middling contracts for guys like Tanguay or Plekanec or Kesler or Niskanen... even Subban... awesome player, but he should be looking at $8m per year... and you should trade him for a high pick or highly picked prospect before his salary goes BOOM.
HIGH-LOW.
Make it your best friend in planning.
Start by accumulating all the low-value players you can.
Ericdaoust writes some really incredible "cap" articles for DobberHockey.
If you are serious about this league, I'd find them all and read the last 6-months worth.
Grab a bunch of those guys... I call them "scrubs". LOW.
You sell your middling value assets that I mentioned... to get "prospects". LOW.
Then you find out what's left of your 3 players for $12m... and you spend that on over-priced talent that nobody wants. HIGH.
Easy, peasy....
But do give it two years of sucking tailpipe.
And do find a way to get McDavid.
Awesome advice Pengwin. I appreciate it.
Rebuild here we come.
For your first salary dynasty league, you just picked up a complicated sounding one!!
I don't have any experience in a league quite like yours, but my suggestion would be to really try and limit the "extra" salary cap hits. You should want your team salary to be mainly made up of players that are actually helping you. Cap space lost to dropped players, buyouts, signings, etc can really cut into cap space used on productive players. So make sure to do your research and study the full implications of any move you make because chances are it'll be penalizing you in some capacity.
There is not much I can add! You've come to the right place looking for advice. Welcome to Dobber Hockey!
14 Team Roto; Keep 25; 12 F, 6 D, 2 G; 10 Farm; 5 Bench; 5 IR;
Salary Cap - 102.5 Mil
Scoring Cats: G, A, Pts, PIM, Hits, BS, SOG, F Points, D Points; Win+Ties+SO, GAA, SV%
Keepers
F: Aho, Larkin, DeBrincat, Vrana, Bennett, Scheifele, Kakko,Tolvanen, McBain,
D: Heiskanen, Fox, Toews, Lundqvist
G: Swayman, Andersen, Copley
Drops
F: Gaudreau, Terravainen, Puljujarvi, Kravstov, Zary
D: Brannstrom, Cernak, Alexeyev
G: Korpisalo, Merzlikins
FARM: Rossi, Berggren, Holtz, Savoie, Clarke, Tarasov, Wolf