My team is good on paper but bad on ice.

[sporttime]

1 year, 10 teams, H2H, no trades, unlimited daily moves. G, A, PPG, PPP, +/-, PiM, GWG, W, SV%, GAA, SO. Start 2 LW, 2 C, 2 RW, 4 D, 2 G, 1 U with 6 Bench & 2 IR.

L - Couture (also C), Kucherov (also R), Gaudreau, Palat
C - Nyquist (also R), Stepan, Galchenyuk (also L), Lehtera
R - Hornqvist, Simmonds, Backes (also C), Perry
D - Karlsson, Byfuglien, Hedman
G - Andersen, Holtby, Gibson, Lehtonen

I just dropped my 4th D (Ekblad) to activate Perry from IR but I’ll pick up a D closer to the end of the season. Lehtonen was killing me so I haven’t used him lately but hesitant to drop a usually decent starting goalie. Also burning a spot on Gibson since I figure he’ll be back up soon and if I drop him and then Andersen gets hurt I’m down to just Holtby with a 3 goalie starts/week minimum.

FAs:
F - Tanguay, Zuccarello, Burrows, Johansson, Brassard, Smith, Santorelli, Bjugstad, Scheifele, Koivu, Perreault, O’Reilly
D - Markov, Depres, Sekera, Josi
G - Hutchinson, Jones, Raanta, Talbot

Any suggestions? Thanks for reading and happy holidays!

[Shoeless]

Drop Gibson for Hutchinson and Lehtonen for Raanta.

[Referee3083]

Here's where I'm confused. You've got 6 forward spots and 12 rostered forwards. You've got 4 defense spots and only 3 rostered defensemen. With a guy like Josi around as an FA, I think you're way better off dropping one of your lowest performing forwards, who's likely riding the pine for most / all of each week, and picking up Josi (and maybe even pick up Ekblad for your 2nd worst forward), who you could play in every game they have each week.

I agree with Shoeless about Gibson -> Hutchinson. I'm not sure if I'd pull the plug on Lethonen for a backup. But my opinion is completely biased as a fellow Lethonen owner that's waiting (praying) for a hail mary turnaround in Dallas.

[sporttime]

Many thanks for your suggestions.
Shoeless - you feel the main problem is in goal and no FA would improve my F or D?
Referee - we make daily, not weekly, changes, so even though I have 12 forwards for 7 daily spots (6 + 1 Utility), not all players have games each day so I move players in and out of the lineup based on their schedule so I don't have anyone riding the pine for most/all of each week. I could add Josi on D, but then even with 4 defense spots and 4 rostered defensemen, not every D would have a game every day. I guess I'm trading off an extra forward who I feel would be more valuable than another D, and I'm not even sure who my weakest forward is since they all seem to be fairly strong. Then again, if my team was as good as I thought it would be I'd be in first place and wouldn't have needed to post in the first place. Does this make sense? Thanks again for taking the time to assist!

[Shoeless]

Well as I look at your goalie categories, two categories jump out 0 GAA and SV% and Gibson contributes nothing and will spend the season in the AHL barring injury to Andersen and Lehtonen takes you down - Raanta may not get you a lot of starts but they should be quality when he does. Shutouts are a crapshoot at best but goalies who give good ratios are more likely to give shutouts.


Referee is correct that you should likely carry at least one more D guy who can contribute with 7 slots only for forwards daily, getting all 12 of your forwards in play each week is unlikely. Josi or Ekblad for me over a guy like Backes who is producing very little offense especially of the PP variety. Frankly with your stats I would methodically go through each forward you hold and those available and calculate the most productive and hold those guys. I could do that for you but not so inclined.

Best of the season and good luck with your team.

[Referee3083]

Yes, that does make sense. I missed that you mentioned it was daily not weekly. I still think you're better off with at least 4 D on your team. You're 4 deep at each forward position, and since you can only play 2 at a spot each night, there has to be nights where you're sitting extra forwards (I concede that it may not be most / all nights, but I'd have a difficult time believing that you're able to play 100% of every one of your forwards' games). Take Shoeless' advice and calculate who's the most productive. Also use Dobber's site or Fantasy Hockey 911 to see which of your forwards are getting PP1, PP2 or no PP time. Cut bait with the bottom one or two and pick up at least 1 Dman, who you know you'll be able to play for 100% of his games.

[sporttime]

All points well taken, thank you! I get that Gibson is doing nothing for me now, I'm just worried that if I drop him I'll lose him for good and with half a season to go and Bryz not doing anything so far, odds are Gibson gets called up and takes starts away from my top goalie. But yes, Gibson and Lehtonen are definitely hurting more than helping right now.

I see that I should carry at least one more D, but I am confused about someone like Backes. You say he is not helping on the PP, but when I rank my team, he has the 2nd most PP goals and 6th most PP points whereas Palat is last with no PP goals and 1 PP point. Backes also has the 2nd most PiMs on my team, so I would think that makes him more valuable as a multi-cat guy. Are there other metrics in play that I'm missing? When you look at productivity, do you look at season stats, who's been hot for the past 2 weeks, etc.?

There are indeed nights when I have to bench active forwards while a D spot goes empty, so I see I am wasting possible points there. When I rank my forwards, the lowest ones for the season are Stepan, Backes, Palat and Nyquist. But Stepan was hurt for awhile and is at a point per game clip now, Palat is on a killer line in TB and Nyquist gets PP time with the Detroit studs. Lehtera also ranks low for recent productivity, and his sole C position doesn't help, but he seems to be tied to Tarasenko and his stunning production. Decisions, decisions....

[Shoeless]

Well one of the ways to decide is to use the same night tool to see which of those forwards has the best off night schedule and keep them so that you get more forward games played. http://forums.dobbersports.com/showt...ght=night+tool

[Jordyr77]

you absolutely need to pick up another D. Your reluctance to do so may be why the team is bad on the ice and good on paper. I know your hesitant but I think every single person here so far has suggested this. Josi and Ekblad are super valuable. I'd take Josi for the better team (=better +/-). I'd cut bait on Gibson but keep Lehtonen. Dallas is too stacked to continue sucking. I would almost pick up both Ekblad (or Markov) and Josi and drop Galchenyuk and either Palat or Gaudreau (and I loveeee Gaudreau). Then drop Gibson once Perry returns. I understand since there's no D bonus, you may not want to pick up two D. But I think at least 4 is a necessity.