So, my league ended up in a semi-redraft that very nearly broke up the entire league. The commish (who is a friend) has gone out of his way to point out that this will not be happening again, and so I'm willing to stick with the league under that proviso. My team has fallen off in the last couple of years (finished 1st and 2nd in the league's first two years). In both of the last two years my team has finished in the top 3 during the regular season and basically crapped the bed in the playoffs (in each case, breaking a 10+ week long H2H winning streak to do so), so I'm reasonably sure my instincts have been right regarding putting the team together, and I've been the victim of some poor luck.

Nonetheless, I'd like to get back into the Top 3.

The thought behind my team-building strategy in a very deep keeper league (lots of teams, each team is quite large) is to identify and lock up a minimum of a dozen players out of the fifteen keepers we're hereafter allotted. Each of these players needs to be reasonably counted on to produce in a fantasy-relevant manner for at least 5 years. Other players outside of those dozen can come and go as needed.

So here's what I've ended up with (players are listed in the position I intend for them to primarily fill, though MANY are dual-eligibility). The abbrievated team - along with scoring categories - are in my signature. Astrisks denote keeper players from last year.


Center:
Steven Stamkos* - No-brainer keeper choice. Obvious as to why he's here.
Jason Spezza - Highest-ranked player by the time I came up after keepers were allotted, and I like the upside in Dallas.
Antoine Vermette - our league counts Faceoff Wins and Losses. Vermette is elite in that category, and has a reasonable offensive upside as #1 center for Arizona.
Filip Forsberg - Pure risk from this year's fantasy perspective. If he develops well, though, I've locked him up early. Alternate choices at this draft position were Artem Anisimov and Vinnie Lecavalier, so it's not like I had a lot of other useful options.

Left Wing:
Jon Drouin* - I wasted a bench spot on him last year. I don't expect 70+ points, but over that 5 year window I mentioned...
Brandon Dubinsky* - We count Hits, and he can produce offensively.
Thomas Hertl - he was still available in Round 12, and the upside playing on Thorton's wing is enough to warrant the choice.
Antonie Roussel - This guy sliped under everyone else's rader last year, and so I made sure to grab in in Round 14 when he was there. PIMs, Hits, and he's playing on a line with Spezza.

Right Wing:
Claude Giroux* - No-brainer keeper choice. Obvious as to why he's here.
Nathan MacKinnon* - No-brainer keeper choice. Obvious as to why he's here.
Blake Wheeler* - Surprisingly solid multi-cat player.
Cam Atkinson - Purely a hometown choice (CBJ is my closest team). I'm expecting him to play on a line with Hartnell and Johansen, so it's worth the risk of a Round 18 pick.

Defense:
David Weber* - No-brainer keeper choice. Obvious as to why he's here.
Christian Erhoff - Possibly a screwup. Could have had Wiznewski, but I was salivating over what Ehrhoff might do on a Pens powerplay.
Seth Jones - Fell to Round 16(!). Everyone said they were scared about his +/-. I think Rinne's return will aid that somewhat, plus I'm looking at what he's good for 2 years from now...
Jason Garrison - Again, possibly a screwup. I had him penciled in as a powerplay quarterback for TB, but I've been seeing him as a 5th d-man a lot during the preseason.
Dougie Hamilton - Round 14 pick. Worth the risk given that he's looking like the Bruins's main puck-moving defenseman as Chara slows down.

Goalies:
Henrik Lundqvist* - No-brainer keeper choice. Obvious as to why he's here.
Fred Andersen - Somehow Andersen was still on the board for the 20th and final round.
John Gibson - The idea here is that having both Gibson and Andersen means I'm covered for a Tier-1 goalie once/if Lundqvist starts to slow down in a few years. I'm not expecting either one to be a lights-out goalie right away but I AM expecting one of them to become a lights-out goalie over the next few years, and having both gives better odds of ONE of them doing it.


Any serious screwups that I'm not seeing? How's the analysis? Looking at it 48 hours after the draft, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to compete for the title this year (Top 5 finish most likely), but I'm going to be in the mix for sure starting next year and for at least 2-4 years thereafter.