Re: 2014/2015 Dobber PRO (Tier II) Campbell League
Originally Posted by Chinny
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My round-by-round draft synopsis:
Round 1: Ryan Getzlaf
I drafted out of the 11 spot. I hate drafting 7-12 range. Put me a the turn or top half. But, you can't always get your way.
I really wanted Claude Giroux here, but that was simply wishful thinking. Getzlaf is one of the few hitting AND shooting centers in the NHL and I have him ranked 4th overall in this format for skaters.
Round 2: Semyon Varlamov - Goalie #1
Two years ago Varly burned me bad with my From Russia with 'Ov team that included Bryzgalov & Markov. Then last year he want off with an incredible year.
This was a frustrating round as I had four guys queued with four picks until my turn. Seguin (taken), Benn (taken), Crawford (taken), Schneider (taken). It was either Varly or Lehtonen and I took the goalie on the better team, IMO.
Round 3: Patrick Sharp
Sharp has been a top 10 Yahoo! player in two of the past three years. 2nd in the league in SOG and on a good Hawks team, yes please.
Round 4: Patrice Bergeron
Just before my pick Chinny took the guy I really wanted here, Gabriel Landeskog. I went with Bergeron who, like Getzlaf, is the rare center that shoots.
Round 5: Patric Hornqvist
I reached... but I expect big things and I wasn't thrilled by many other options (Skinner, E.Kane, D.Brown, Kesler, Nash went next among forwards). He's another high SOG guy on a PLUS team.
Round 6: Thomas Vanek
In case you hadn't noticed the trend, here it is. HIGH SOG, PLUS TEAM forward playing on PP1.
Of interesting note here, the 2nd pick in the 6th round was Darcy Kuemper by Ott Man Out. Remember this.
Round 7: Mark Giordano
Despite him being my UNDER LOCK in my 12 o/u picks, I love Gio in multi-cat with Hits and defensemen were starting to thin out McD, Krug, Shatty had flown off the board this round.
Round 8: James Wisniewski
Wiz is just not a sexy name, but the stats are there... and I have to thank Shoeless who seems to bring this up anytime somebody says "Wiz or Inferior D-man".
Round 9: Ondrej Palat
I like Palat on a 10th/11th round level. But two things happened pre-draft: 1. The Comish was pumping the shit out of him (and I trust the Comish) and 2. Cooper basically said he loves Palat with Stammer. Done. Deal.
Oh... PLUS forward that shoots, with some added hits this time.
Round 10: Jaromir Jagr
Including watching both Tier III drafts, I've done/seen about 6-7 drafts this year and Jagr falls... every time. He was a top 30 skater last year in Yahoo!
He's old last year, he's old this year. Jersey should be a PLUS team, Jagr shoots. Trend continued.
Round 11: Brayden Schenn
I forced myself to not get swayed by hits through 10 rounds. Then the 10 were over and I went with a homer pick: Schenn. Oh, those Hits... and a shot to ride with G & Voracek, yes, please (again!)
Round 12: Nicklas Backstrom - Goalie #2
Remember what I said about Darcy Kuemper going in round 6... well, lookee here... round 12 and I got the real #1 goalie (at least until the wheels value off). Value, yes.
I gave myself a pat on the back because I checked EVERY team in the league knowing most owners do NOT select a 3rd goalie until around 13th round when they've got plenty of D/F.
Cam Ward and Eddie Lack went not too far after, I felt really good.
Picking Backstrom was part of my Master Plan for goalies... but there was one more part of that plan left...
Round 13: Kevin Bieksa
This one was a bit tough as I had my queue set for Andrej Sekera who was nabbed by Savages. Bieksa was best SOG option left... and he actually scored relatively low compared to his SOG output. Hoping for normalization here.
Round 14: Tyler Ennis
One thing I know about Yahoo! is that players with extreme MINUS stats from next year were way low. I'm hoping that Ennis centering line #1 can keep the minus reasonable, because his PPP & SOG at this point are incredible value.
Round 15: Matt Irwin
This was the first pick I didn't like since round 2.... what a run... 12 great rounds. I just couldn't find anything I liked and went with stats... but am reading that Irwin may not even crack the Sharks opening line-up. Yeesh.
Round 16: Nick Holden
I think Avs fans can tell you what a super player he can be. Good grit and will join a rush and provide offense. Yahoo! only shows full-season stats in the draft, so Holden with 54 GP last year doesn't show up for the cat-clickers.
Round 17: Charlie Coyle
Coyle is a guy I just love and I've been calling for him as RW2 instead of Nino all off-season. I'm a bit dejected to hear he'll be C3 to start the season, but he should still make a big leap offensively and may get PP2 time.
Round 18: Calvin de Haan
No, the Isles recent D-acquisitions don't bother me. I think CdH steps it up this year. Had him up for my sleeper picks, but I'm taking him now.
Round 19: Trevor Daley
This was the most nervous I was all draft as I started realizing that my coveted super-sleeper, Daley, had been gettin' too much Dobber forum talk recently. Thankfully, he fell to me.
Round 20: Jhonas Enroth
There's a chance NikBack breaks. If that's the case, you need a Plan B on your bench. Buffalo might suck, but I do believe Enroth will get bulk of starts. In past year, Bob & Steve Mason have emerged... SV count, at least SV count.
This was my contingency round and regardless of how bad... a #1 starter in Round 20 is still worth one solid category: SV.
Round 21: Niklas Svedberg
Plan C. It may be 2 months into the season when NikBack breaks. If my team GAA is good, I may decide I can take the hit in SV to protect those GAA points... and just take spot Wins.
Best case, Rask gets injured and my team is an instant-frontrunner.
Round 22: Sean Couturier
I actually spent a few of the last rounds looking for guys that play 3 times in the first week. PHI plays a quick 3, so I'll take the offense and dump Couturier if his linemates stink, but right now he is C2, which could be great.
Round 23: Brock Nelson
I'm actually thrilled with the recent Anders Lee (Round 14) hype because it means Brock is an after-thought... a Round 23 C2 with Strome after-thought. Not bad.
Round 24: Matt Bartkowski
I cursed two or three times this draft, most drafts. But the loudest was when Leo Komarov was drafted by The 'Eh" Team. A guy that could challenge Matt Martin for the HITS crown and has no stats from last year.
Ah, well. On the Boychuk news, I knew Bartkowski would get a better shot to play. He's a good HIT guy if he can play almost every day. And a PLUS on that BOS blueline, with 7 games in 11 nights to open the season.
Round 25: Reto Berra
Standard last-round pick: #1 goalie insurance.
Draft Grade: A
I don't love my top two round choices, but I don't regret them... just the sadness of not getting the guy I wanted because he was taken.
Other than the Round 15 Irwin pick, I really love my choices.
My team is light on HITS, but I can chase those once the front-runners establish themselves... it's the one cat I'm 100% confident I can micro-manage simply using the wire.
Expected finished: 2nd (+/- 2 spots)
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