Keeper Decisions

[blade816]

Hi everyone, I'm in a 10 team keeper league. I have to keep 4 forwards, 1 defenseman, and 1 goalie in a league with the following categories: G, A, Pts, +/-, PIM, GWG, Shots, W, GAA, SV%, Shutouts.

I am keeping PK Subban as my D, and Corey Crawford as my G.

I am having a tougher time deciding which forwards to keep. I have narrowed it down to the following group:

Ovechkin
Stamkos
Voracek
Pacioretty
Mackinnon

I have to pick 4 from that group (obtained Ovechkin by giving up Toews and my first rounder this year). I'm leaning towards OV, Stamkos, Voracek, and Mackinnon because of Pacioretty's back problems, and Mackinnons potential upside.

Your opinions are greatly appreciated!

[The Comish]

Welcome blade816!

Man, that's a real Sophie's Choice you have here. When you can only keep 4 forwards, MacKinnon's potential has to be let go. Obviously, if you can trade, then open it up to any of those five forwards except Ovechkin. My $0.02. Good luck making your decision, it's not going to be easy, that's for sure!

[cfdickson]

personally I would drop Mackinnon.

[CHunter]

I'm a gambler so I would pick

Ovie
Stamkos
Voracek
Mackinnon

[kovalchuk17]

id probably drop Mack. pacioretty is a sog beast

[Bubba55]

Pacioretty is the guy looking in from the outside for me. It's clearly between him and MacK and I think your right in considering MacK's current and future potential here. It might be close this year, but moving forward, give me MacKinnon.

[Axeman33]

Definitely a tough call. I would probably keep MacKinnon (its down to him or Pacioretty as your last keeper) and hope he becomes the better asset over MaxPac.

[franklin]

I'd go with MacKinnon over Max Pac.

[Nikerato]

Tough choice. That basically says you can't really go wrong with either Patches or Mack here. That said, those players must be a keeper on at least a couple teams. I would say shop Patches/Mack to your league (for picks) and see what the best return you can get would be.

If nothing happens, roll a dice lol. I would personally keep Mack just because I think his upside is higher and he's likely to reach it. Gonna be one or two seasons until he's an undisputedly better producer though.

[donpaulo]

Pacioretty is talented no doubt about it, I just wish he played in 82 games

Tough to cut him but I prefer the upside of Mac over the established Pacioretty

[Front89]

Last 2 seasons comparison:

Pacioretty: 38 G (avg), 25 A (avg), +23 (avg), 127 pts total, 34 PIM (avg), 286 SOG (avg) and 10 GWG (avg).

MacKinnon: 19 G (avg), 32 A (avg), +6 (avg), 101 pts total, 30 PIM (avg), 217 SOG (avg) and 3 GWG (avg).

Other than A, Pacioretty has him beat in every cat and in SOG, +/-, G and GWG he beats him pretty decisively.

I'd take Pacioretty if I wanted to win now for sure. If I was rebuilding, probably MacKinnon for the potential upside

[ericdaoust]

My first thought is you can't drop any of them. I'd be hustling 24/7 until a trade is done. Too much value to be lost for nothing.

[MarmotKing]

So Ovy, Stamkos and Voracek are locks.

Then you have to decide between MaxPac and MacKinnon. Max gives you better value right now, and MacKinnon gives you 1st overall pick potential. It all depends on how much risk you're willing to take.

I would personnaly take my chances on MacKinnon. But like others have said, maybe there's a trade to be made here to improve your forwards.

[Pengwin7]

Tough one, but I'm going with MaxPac, who finished 9th overall among players in standard Yahoo! 6-cat (G,A,PPP,SOG,+/-,PIM) last year.
MacKinnon... finished 219th.

This league also has GWG in play here, which doesn't seem like a lot... but it's essentially an extra "GOAL" category with a bonus to those on "Good Teams".
MaxPac is more of a sniper and on a better team.

I also still think MacKinnon will eventually be shifted to center in the NHL.
He hasn't really been pushed into that role yet.

I like MacK... he's gonna be a 80pt player... some day.
On a fantasy team that is not an ELITE league team... he's a must keep.

But for the next year or two, I prefer MaxPac over MacKinnon.
Even when MacK does start scoring in high volume... I'd still prefer a 65pt high-shooting/scoring "plus" MaxPac over an 70-75pt MacKinnon, in multi-cat.

This keeper set is TOO good to not go for it this year, IMO.

[blade816]

Thanks for the input guys, I'm still torn. The guys in my league are overvaluing their first round picks, I can't swing a deal for either Pacioretty or Mackinnon for a first rounder, even though they are better than a lot of the players they are keeping on their teams. I will keep at it though.