2016/17 Rocky Horror Roto Show

[Pengwin7]

Round 3
MVP Pick: No surprises
You Drunk? Pick: Bergeron on another very soft what da pick, C is very deep, I understand the 1100+ FW, but I don’t think he repeats his point and SOG totals with Backes now in the mix.

So Patrice Bergeron... who was the #29 overall Yahoo skater in 2014-2015 and the #7 overall Yahoo skater in 2015-2016 (in base 6 cat play, NOT INCL FOW)... is a bad pick at #34?
The guy who was pegged to play top line with Sidney Crosby at the Worlds.
In case you haven't been reading, BOS is slated Austin Czarnik (who?) to be their C3... which means Bergeron is slated for close to 20min again.
He's the recent Joe Pavelski... that almost 30-year old guy that is hitting his best years - and the RHRS crew will tell you I wasn't wrong about Pavelski either.

[horrorfan]

Draft results by round:

[horrorfan]

Draft results by team:

[horrorfan]

Cannibal Staalocaust

It was an interesting draft, with quite a few adjustments to the strategy going in. I had a plan in place, but I knew with these guys that could totally change at a moment's notice. Here's my draft summary:

1.6. Erik Karlsson: I had a plan going in with a few options. I knew Ovechkin, Crosby and Benn would be the top 3 or at least gone by the time I chose sixth. There was Karlsson and Burns, and Holtby and Price if I wanted to go backend first. Finally, I had decided that with the limited number of wingers with positional eligibility, Pavelski would've been a perfect pick here given his all around contributions. Unfortunately, he was taken fifth so had to change my initial strategy and go with my top D in Karlsson. Sure, Burns had a monster year last season, but I didn't want to assume that his sudden SOG and offensive increase was a guarantee this year. Karlsson feels like a safer offensive bet, and that was my priority, since I wasn't getting a forward.

2.19. Ben Bishop: I figured there would be plenty of goalie options , and I was going to take the top one remaining. I figured Quick or Bishop, so happy to get one of them.

3.30. Devan Dubnyk: When planning my strategy, I went back and forth deciding whether to take my second goalie right away or wait a bit later. There were forward options given I didn't have one yet, and since I had a D I wasn't going to grab a second this early. So, figured get that second reliable starter to solidify my starters. Dubynk was on my list and thankfully he was still there.

4.43. Filip Forsberg: I needed a forward, and ideally an all-round contributor in several categories. Forsberg was one of the few targeted remaining, so happy to have him anchor my LW.

5.54. Sean Monahan: Even though centres are plentiful, ones that are on the rise with good SOG and high FOW are not as abundant. Monahan's a guy who I hope will take that next step this season to be one of the more productive centres in the league.

6.67. Nikita Kucherov: He kept falling and falling due to his contract status. I just couldn't pass on him any longer, and hopefully he'll sign soon and fulfill his potential of being an elite winger in this league. Not huge peripherals but with points as a category I couldn't pass on someone like him with his upside.

7.78. Patrik Hornqvist: Decided to continue on the wingers and wanted to start looking at hits a bit more after my last couple picks. I could've gone with Toffoli here, and perhaps that may turn out to be a better choice, but with Hornqvist's high SOG and Hit totals, I was happy to get him before he got snapped up.

8.91. Ryan Kesler: Although tempted to go for a more offensive #2 centre, I wanted to boost the hits and help out PIM a bit more. Furthermore, as my plan was having centres with strong FOW totals, Kesler seemed ideal.

9.102. Boone Jenner: Seems to be a bit of theme around this part of the draft - back to higher shooters with some grit. Not sure if he'll get some centre time this year, thus boosting his FOW totals. That would be a bonus, but not a focus.

10.115. Jordan Staal: I've been thinking when should I get my #2 defensemen. Looking at what was available I figured I could wait another round. Originally, I thought about picking Staal a bit later but given the vultures in this league and his value in this format, strong FOW from the wing and decent offensive opportunities, I had to get him now.

11.126. Ryan McDonagh: Ok, needed a defenseman. McDonagh is expected to be the top D on the Rangers so hopefully he can get back to 40+ with decent peripherals, most importantly blocked shots, a priority when getting defensemen in this format.

12.139. Derick Brassard: Time for my #3 centre with good offensive opportunities on Ottawa, good amount of grit, and solid FOW. Good value IMO at this point.

13.150. Seth Jones: Leading the Blue Jackets D this season I have high hopes of a strong season. Not a big hitter but at least should be decent in blocks.

14.163. Justin Abdelkader: Back to the multiple category contributors, and it's been a few rounds since getting a RW so it was worth picking him up here, with his LW eligibility, modest offensive numbers, strong hits and PIM totals. Excellent value here, and hopefully he'll improve his +/- this season.

15.174. Johnny Boychuk: Not sure if he'll get much PP time this season but if given the opportunity then it will be a huge boost to his solid peripheral contributions. For a #4 D, that works for me.

16.187. Michal Neuvirth: With Greiss going a bit earlier I knew I needed my first backup goalie with potential to become the starter. I knew I wanted one more, and Chad Johnson is on my radar. Need to decide when to grab him...

17.198. Tomas Plekanec: Not yet, and although there were still a few decent depth centres on the board, perhaps Plekanec has enough left in the tank to put together a solid season, with good SOG and usually high FOW totals. Solid for my #4.

18.211. Chad Johnson: Ok, can't wait any longer for Johnson. In my pre-draft strategy I had figured around pick 200 so I'm happy to get him here. Will see how Elliott's health is this season but at worst hoping for decent spot starts.

19.222. Tomas Tatar: Have to admit I was surprised that Tatar fell this far. Sure, he wasn't great last season but he's only one season away from 29 goals, 56 points, 90 hits, 19 PPP and 211 SOG. If he can get close to that this season he'll be a steal at pick 222.

20.235. Shane Doan: Part of me was thinking should I grab more players with upside but even at this late stage of his career, Doan has been very solid on a per game basis. I'm not expecting last year's goal totals, but you can generally rely on him to hit a few categories on a regular basis.

21.246. Connor Murphy: I realised that I still only had 4 D so it was worth grabbing someone that will fill the hits and blocks, but might have a bit of offensive potential. With Stone still recovering (even though he's close), perhaps this will give Murphy a shot at some good minutes. I admit I didn't know anything about him recently but read that he had played on the top line with OEL late last season, and he did get some PP time as well. Of course, Stone's health will likely decide his value but figured it was a low risk option at this stage.

22.259. PA Parenteau: Potentially playing with Tavares and available at pick 259? Yes please. With my last two RW being more grit options, he might fill the offensive gap when needed.

23.270. Artem Anisimov: Another depth option with potential playing time with a star. If he centres Kane, then he'll have decent value as a depth centre.

24.283. Oscar Klefbom: It pains me as a Flames fan to pick an Oiler, but as I needed one more D I figured why not grab the guy who showed decent potential last season, may get some decent PP time, and on a per game basis, was strong in blocks.

25.294. Micheal Ferland: I could've gone with a more offensive player, a young guy with potential, but decided on the guy who provides a ton of hits and maybe, just maybe gets time on the top line with Monahan. Worth a shot this late.

Team summary:

C: Monahan, Kesler, Brassard, Plekanec, Anisimov
L: Forsberg, Jenner (C), J. Staal (C), Tatar, Ferland
R: Kucherov, Hornqvist, Abdelkader (L), Doan, Parenteau
D: Karlsson, McDonagh, Jones, Boychuk, Murphy, Klefbom
G: Bishop, Dubnyk, Neuvirth, Johnson

[dooley89]

Loved reading all the draft thoughts, huge FOMO (fear of missing out) so I will definitely be checking in lots this year!
Keep em coming!

[Maaaasquito]

So Patrice Bergeron... who was the #29 overall Yahoo skater in 2014-2015 and the #7 overall Yahoo skater in 2015-2016 (in base 6 cat play, NOT INCL FOW)... is a bad pick at #34?
The guy who was pegged to play top line with Sidney Crosby at the Worlds.
In case you haven't been reading, BOS is slated Austin Czarnik (who?) to be their C3... which means Bergeron is slated for close to 20min again.
He's the recent Joe Pavelski... that almost 30-year old guy that is hitting his best years - and the RHRS crew will tell you I wasn't wrong about Pavelski either.

No offense Peng... honestly first 3 rounds, there's no one that's gonna be terrible at all. I don't entirely think its a bad pick, it's not like Yakupov round 3 or kucherov round 1... I just slightly leaned towards the hmmm there could have been better options at that pick... but it's honestly just my 2 cents and doesn't mean much, if you're absolutely ecstatic who am I to question it? Just in my shoes, I might have gone Stamkos, MacKinnon maybe Max Pac over Bergeron.

With Bergeron I think there's a ceiling and he's pretty much there... I don't think you'll see him in the 70s for point production... the plus with him is of course the FW, you get a couple more C and maybe a winger to take FW and you essentially finish top in that department which is what you've done... I just think with Backes now in the mix, Spooner with another year of development, Pastrnak probably has a boost of 20 more points in him... I think the points get spread out a little bit more. Also I don't know if they'll finish ranked 5th in the league in offense either 2.88 GF/G they were behind only Dallas, Wash, Pitts and SJ last year...

Stamkos has a higher point ceiling (whether he gets there or not is a different story), Mackinnon has RW eligibility which boosts his value tremendously, Max Pac is just a great across the board producer...

But honestly just my 2 cents, I wasn't dropping a giant WTF with that pick at all... just a little hmmm...

But he could easily make me look like an idiot at the end of the year...

[Maaaasquito]

Yeah, my own player projections. Just happens you picked quite a few players I just don't like that much for the next season. We'll see what happens though as there have been cases were teams projected to the bottom have won/finished near the top.

I know you can't let me know all of the trade secrets... do you have your projections of all of the stat breakdowns.. I'm just interested in what you think my weaknesses are... Just weird to think I have one of the worst offenses and worst goalies, when I think I have a decent team for both, hahahaha... with that said I did take a year off so I'm a bit rusty with the depth charts and productions...

which guys aren't you digging and why, just curious something for me to learn from... and get into your head a little bit.

[Maaaasquito]

and Peng I made you an offer too, mull it over and let me know

[4T2]

I love reading all the recaps on here, not too often you get such in depth insight into some of the greatest fantasy hockey minds out there. I'll post a quick recap of my own with the caveat that my strategy went out the window pretty quickly. I was drafting from the 8-slot.

1- (8) Connor McDavid - C
I had hoped to draft one of Karlsson or Holtby in this spot but they both went early. With one pick before my turn I queued up McDavid and Price and figured I would take the leftover. Since Russ went with Burns, it meant I still had my pick of the two. How could I pass up McJesus at 8th overall? I can make up the peripherals later.

2- (17) Tyler Seguin - C
Back skating again and could play in the season opener. I couldn't pass him up (been a fan since the Bruins days). If healthy, he'll produce like a first rounder but that's a big "if". Didn't really want another C at this point but Tarasenko went right before him and the best 2 d-men were off the board. Side note, this must be the first time in the history of this league that I didn't take a goalie with my first two picks. Usually try to snag 2 tenders with my first 3 picks.

3- (32) Tuukka Rask - G
Glad to see so many people considered him when choosing their first goalie. He may not post elite numbers this year but the potential is there and the floor is pretty high.

4- (41) Evgeni Kuznetsov - C
3 centers with my first four picks... ugh. I was feeling pretty horrible about this. I had resigned myself to taking Stamkos because I couldn't believe he dropped as far as he did but Pengwin beat me to him. My next choice went off the board too with Pacioretty. I was torn between Kuz and Forsberg so with time running out I asked the girlfriend (who couldn't name a player other than Crosby). Oh well, Washington's top C in the fourth round? Could be worse.

5- (56) John Klingberg - D
Scrambled a bit with this pick as I really needed a D-man. Don't like that he's not an across the board producer but the offense will be there. Potential Top 3 offensive D-man.

6 - (65)Roberto Luongo - G
6th round before I choose my second goalie. Couldn't pass up Bobby Lou on a strong Florida team even with Reimer waiting in the wings. Besides, I'm sure I could grab him as a handcuff later... right?

7 - (80)Ryan O'Reilly - C/LW
FWs killed me last year, needed some from the wing to compliment my strong C. Surprised O'Reilly was still on the board actually as he's pretty well regarded in this league. My pick was met with a couple of positive comments so I guess it was a good one.

8 - (89) Jaroslav Halak - G
I find it vitally important to get all my goalie starts in and I prefer to pace ahead in games played and trade a goalie later in the season for skater help if need be. So with Talbot going two picks before and Halak still on the board, I figured it was a good time to snag goalie #3.

9 - (104) Kyle Palmieri - RW
Not a huge fan of this pick, but with his new contract and my lack of wingers and grit, I figured he was necessary take. A little bit of a panic pick as I watched Jenner and Okposo go just ahead of me. In hindsight, a Jordan Staal or Palat pick may have been better at this point.

10 - (113) Aaron Ekblad - D
Offense, offense, offense. Ekblad used to be touted as the next Lidstrom and count me in the camp that believes it. Peripherals are solid if unspectacular. Was strongly considering Keith here but his injury scared me off.

11 - (128) Bobby Ryan - RW(
55 points... close to 200 SOG... 100+ Hits, with all the real multi-cat studs gone and my offense looking good, it's time to load up on the proven commodities. Less upside but should produce some steady numbers across the board.

12 - (137) Colton Parayko - D
Parayko is the best D-man on the Blues and he is poised to improve on some already solid numbers from last year. An increased workload whenever Shattenkirk is finally traded spells big things. He was one of my targets and I'm stoked I didn't have to reach for him.

13 - (152) Patrick Sharp - LW/RW
Sharp may be aging but on that Dallas offense, he should still be good for 60-points if he can stay healthy. Plus he allowed me to go with Sharpnado as my team name haha. On the downside... my Florida handcuff James Reimer went 2 picks after this which I felt was a little early.

14 - (161) Patrick Laine - RW
I'm not usually one for drafting rookies but this kid looks like he could be something special and Winnipeg doesn't have a problem giving the puck to their young guys. I figured he was pretty decent value at this point too.

15 - (176) Thomas Greiss - G
After losing out on Reimer two rounds ago and watching goalies start going off the board again, I figured I better snap up Greiss now to lock down the NYI tandem, especially with how injury prone Halak is.

16 - (185) Chris Kunitz - LW
Kunitz may not be the offensive threat he once was but he more than makes up for that throwing his body around. Good for 250 hits and 40 points. Should be pretty decent production at this point in the draft.

17 - (200) Jonathan Drouin - LW
I can't remember if it was last year or the year before that I reached for Drouin in this league and got burnt quite badly. But I feel a lot better about the pick this year. After last year's playoffs, he should finally be a key contributor on the Lightning.

18 - (209) David Pastrnak - RW
I had been so worried that stocking up on Cs early was going to hurt me but at this point I started feeling a lot better about the wingers I was landing late. I was quite surprised at the value I was able to draft at this point. I was torn between Pasta and Fabbri, but ultimately I'll take the guy who has a shot at playing on the Bruins top line over the guy who could end up buried in St Louis. Fabbri ended up going next.

19 - (224) Leon Draisatl - C
A player that I snagged off the waiver wire last year in a few leagues that was extremely productive. I needed a fourth C and it came down to Draisatl, Rakell and Sam Bennett. Rakell's contract situation turned me off and I still have a soft spot for Draisatl after last year.

20 - (233) Jake Gardiner - D
Running short on D, really need to fill out my last 3 spots. It's been picked pretty clean. Gardiner should provide some value. He saw an increase in ice time after the Phaneuf trade last season and produced accordingly. Hoping for a full season of this.

21 - (248) Sam Bennett - C
Still on the board after I strongly considered him 2 rounds ago. Decent offense and plays with an edge. Pengwin7 loved this pick so that's enough to make me feel confident about it!

22 - (257) Shea Theodore - D
Swing and a miss... read right after the draft that he'd been sent down. I'll hang on to him for a bit, because if he gets called up I think he forces the Ducks to keep him.

23 - (272) Cam Fowler - D
Not a sexy pick with the log jam on the Anaheim defence. But man, all this guy does is produce. He will put up solid enough numbers in Anaheim for my 6th d-man or maybe he gets moved to another team to make some room for my last pick. If that's the case I will be laughing!

24 - (281) Noah Hanifin - D
Another great young D poised to take a step forward. A little surprised he was still available at this point to be honest.

25 - (296) Jesse Puljujarvi - RW
Two rookies in one draft? I never do that in a one year league. But the hype on this kid has been pretty heavy. Admittedly I haven't followed Edmonton's camp close enough so I don't know if he will make the team or not. But with Yakupov getting traded right before the draft, that clears some room. And there's no risk at this point in the draft.

Overall, I was really nervous through the first few rounds. Some of the picks were really surprising (Pengwin taking a goalie in the first round!!!) and threw off everyone's strategies. But I'm pretty happy with my team and I think I will be competitive. Looking forward to another awesome season with the best group of GMs fantasy hockey has to offer.

[temek]

I know you can't let me know all of the trade secrets... do you have your projections of all of the stat breakdowns.. I'm just interested in what you think my weaknesses are... Just weird to think I have one of the worst offenses and worst goalies, when I think I have a decent team for both, hahahaha... with that said I did take a year off so I'm a bit rusty with the depth charts and productions...

which guys aren't you digging and why, just curious something for me to learn from... and get into your head a little bit.

I guess I could elaborate a little bit. Strong in Hits/PIM, good in Blk, FOW and then rest of the categories are more or less in the bottom3. Goalie categories are consistently mediocre.

I pretty much mentioned Rinne already, but I just don't think he's a particularly good goalie and I'd question if he's even starter level anymore. Mediocre SV% numbers for last 3 seasons out of 4 so I don't see any reason to expect better than .910 Sv%. Nashville is a really good team though, especially defensively so should still provide pretty good numbers GAA and W, but pretty low in SVS/GP.

As for skaters, I am just fairly consistently down on most of your veteran picks. Lot of them have declined in recent years and I am expecting most of them to decline one step more. Thornton is good, but I think overachieved last season and I am projecting high 60s production. That paired with a very bad SOG totals and fairly poor FOW totals for a center (expecting to split faceoffs with Pavelski/whoever again). Marleau I am very down on due to his really poor even strength numbers (his scoring rates are comparable to 4th liners) and I am expecting him to be dropped down to a 3rd line role at EV, probably keeps his 1st PP unit spot still though. Kind of the same for Iginla too, expecting demotion at EV to 3rd line, but might still keep his 1st PP unit spot. Chara isn't getting 1st PP unit time anymore and that really limits his Pts expectations to low 30s at the very best. He's still a good all-around multicat producer, but I think 11th was 2-3 rounds too early. Nash was demoted to a 2nd line EV role with 2nd PP unit spot last season and I think he'll stay there. I would take under if given choice of over/under 50 pts.

[Maaaasquito]

I guess I could elaborate a little bit. Strong in Hits/PIM, good in Blk, FOW and then rest of the categories are more or less in the bottom3. Goalie categories are consistently mediocre.

I pretty much mentioned Rinne already, but I just don't think he's a particularly good goalie and I'd question if he's even starter level anymore. Mediocre SV% numbers for last 3 seasons out of 4 so I don't see any reason to expect better than .910 Sv%. Nashville is a really good team though, especially defensively so should still provide pretty good numbers GAA and W, but pretty low in SVS/GP.

As for skaters, I am just fairly consistently down on most of your veteran picks. Lot of them have declined in recent years and I am expecting most of them to decline one step more. Thornton is good, but I think overachieved last season and I am projecting high 60s production. That paired with a very bad SOG totals and fairly poor FOW totals for a center (expecting to split faceoffs with Pavelski/whoever again). Marleau I am very down on due to his really poor even strength numbers (his scoring rates are comparable to 4th liners) and I am expecting him to be dropped down to a 3rd line role at EV, probably keeps his 1st PP unit spot still though. Kind of the same for Iginla too, expecting demotion at EV to 3rd line, but might still keep his 1st PP unit spot. Chara isn't getting 1st PP unit time anymore and that really limits his Pts expectations to low 30s at the very best. He's still a good all-around multicat producer, but I think 11th was 2-3 rounds too early. Nash was demoted to a 2nd line EV role with 2nd PP unit spot last season and I think he'll stay there. I would take under if given choice of over/under 50 pts.

Cool... thanks for taking the time to clarify, really appreciate it...

Yeah I built my team on the peripherals, so I knew that was my strengths... I think points wise they will surprise...

This is what i'm thinking, 12 teams, 12 forwards, so essentially top 144 scorers give or take... if I look at the stats from 2015-16, the range went from 106 down to 38 for the 150th ranked forward... by my calculations on average top-150 forward was 51 points. So I think if you aim for that target then a player getting 38 points actually isn't too detrimental in terms of points... and I think on a whole, if you compare position by position it doesn't look too bad...

Let's say points MacKinnon vs Iggy, Mack had 52 points last year, Iggy 47... so really not really huge differences... or if I compare Brandon's Abdelkader (42) vs. Iggy (47)... or Pengs Lindholm (39) vs. Iggy (47) it's still fairly comparable... that's where I think a super emphasis on points isn't necessarily the be all and end all... everyone will have their #1s, but if you compare someone's #1 vs someone else's #3 then of course the comparisons will look ugly... but when you look at #3 vs. #3 then maybe players won't look at daunting...

Yeah Rinne I think will be a gamble, but he has shown flashes 2.12/.930, 2.39/.923, 2.18/.923... but as you said there's also the 2.43/.910, 2.77/.902, 2.48/.908... so it'll be interesting to see what happens... But this year I think I will micro-manage my goalies like no tomorrow (every start/every matchup). Most goalies/teams have ridiculous home/away split numbers (on average it's a swing of 20% some as crazy as 40%)... Even Rinne's splits are a bit mind-boggling, 2.29/.912 at home vs. 2.72/.902 on the road. So if I completely eliminate all of the 2.72/.902 starts, then I reap all of the benefits of the 2.29 and .912... Hopefully those numbers will augment Lundy's 2.31/.918 (home) and 2.64/.921 (away), once again if I bench him against the top offensive teams (Dallas 2.00/.934, Wash. 4.09/.876, Pitts 2.69/.917, SJ 4.89/.915, Bos 2.35/.935) and play for the weaker ones (NJ 2.49, .911, Van 1.95, .911, TO 1.00, .960, Car 2.02, .938, EDM 4.10, .868) I wonder if I can piece together some crazy goalie stats...

Same with Miller 2.44, .924 (home) vs. 2.97, .909 (road), so eliminate road starts and keep home starts...
and Ward 2.33, .915 (away) vs. 2.47/.904 (home), so eliminate home starts and keep away starts...

Once again if I roll with the punches and keep analysing home/away scoring trends and just piece together matchups maybe I can scrounge together some reasonable goalie stats which would be equivalent to a Holtby/Price... Lots of work but might be fun to play with...

Yeah Thornton I think you always take the negatives with the positives... the positive is that he'll get you tons of assists, and PPP down side is no goals, sog and now bad FW... The thing is I've linked him with Pav, so if JT isn't taking faceoffs, Pav will.. so I'm not really losing any FW there... it'd be the same as another team who has a ton of FW from a C but a winger who takes none... The way I'm thinking about it is that it's about 1000 FW that I'm covering just depends on who it goes to. Pav or JT... Marleau is a little bit of a project, but at the end of the day he's also my L4, so if he's getting the same production as last year, I think that's comparable to most L4 positions from other teams... I wonder how much of the lack of ES scoring was due to Couture being out? and even quality of linemates? He spent a lot of 2015-16 with Nieto and Ward, so it's not surprising to see his ES numbers plummet. If you look at the recent years, 34, 24*pro-rated (lockout), 37, 38 and then last year 23 assists... so I wonder if his dip in point production and +/- for that matter was just due to crappy linemates? Playoff time he was with Couture and Donskoi (probably Boedkker this year)... so I wonder if he gets more help this year? Worst comes to worst and he continues to suck I'll send him to the WW and just cycle my L4 slot...

Iggy I dunno, I did a bit of research and I don't know if they have the depth to drop him to the 3rd line... just looking at the RW depth charts, there's Iggy, Comeau, Smith and Rantanen... Yeah Mackinnon could shift, Gigorenko could possibly shift, maybe Soderberg shifts? I dunno I think it'd be pretty crazy for him to get demoted to 3rd line... I just like his PPP and 200 SOG... not a lot of forwards from the 197th draft slot...

Yeah Chara honestly was for the 100/100/100 and a bit of PIMs... I really wanted Phaneuf, but he was gone... and to be fair low 30 points (30-34) is pretty much a top-40 blue-liner (with 12 teams, that's around a #3 D production) I have him Green, Sekera as my 2,3,4... and they're probably right around the 35-40 mark (if I'm being realistic) and hoping for 40-45... If I compare points-wise with your squad, Chara/Green/Sekera vs. Hamilton/Martinez/Hamonic... point total-wise I think I would come out on top...

Yeah Nash is another gamble... but I'm just wondering what the hell went on... The thing is Brassard is gone which is the C that he spent the majority of his time with, so I wonder now that he's essentially forced to be with Stepan or Zibanejad that he gets back to his old ways... Also no more Boyle and Yandle to take touches too, so going back to McDonagh/Girardi/Staal that they used more of in 2012-14...

Anyways great to get back into the fantasy hockey banter after a 12 month hiatus... drop the pucks already!!!!

[temek]

And just to clarify: When I say 3rd line EV role, I mean he's 7th-9th F in EV TOI/GP on his team and not referring to an actual line he plays. Iginla might even be 1st line RW by the usual definition, although Comeau got more icetime at EV last season and Rantanen might push for a Top6 role already this season. For example I would say J.Staal played 1st line role at EV when he was in PIT as he was usually 3rd F in EV TOI in that team even if he technically was was playing 3rd line center most of the time. I don't really care much about actual lines or linemates for the most part(kind of important in projecting FOW totals though) and it's the ice time that matters.

[Maaaasquito]

And just to clarify: When I say 3rd line EV role, I mean he's 7th-9th F in EV TOI/GP on his team and not referring to an actual line he plays. Iginla might even be 1st line RW by the usual definition, although Comeau got more icetime at EV last season and Rantanen might push for a Top6 role already this season. For example I would say J.Staal played 1st line role at EV when he was in PIT as he was usually 3rd F in EV TOI in that team even if he technically was was playing 3rd line center most of the time. I don't really care much about actual lines or linemates for the most part(kind of important in projecting FOW totals though) and it's the ice time that matters.

ok fair enough... I wonder if there's a big difference in it though... I think it's probably got to do more with efficiency than time... Like Iginla 2.17 P/60... Comeau, 1.51 P/60. so you can argue that Comeau had more time, but if he's just not a player who can use that time efficiently, then the points won't come... So will it matter that much if he's dropping down in EV role if he's still scoring at a reasonable rate? Of course you want the ideal situation where a player gets efficiency and EV ice-time, but those guys are your Kane, McDavid, Thornton, Benn, Kuznetsov... If Iginla is operating at 2.17 + getting top-line time, he'd be in the top-50 for picks and not 197th...

[The Bottlenecker]

I know I'm not part of the league anymore, but I've been creeping the thread, and miss the banter.

For what it is worth (from the guy who finished 8th last year...terrible? Respectable? Not worth mentioning?), I like Thirteen Ghosts team best. Nice blend of points, Hits and two starting goalies. Hopefully neither Benn (IR) or Gaudreau (contract) are out too long or it could sink this team early.

Enjoy the season, guys!

[temek]

ok fair enough... I wonder if there's a big difference in it though... I think it's probably got to do more with efficiency than time... Like Iginla 2.17 P/60... Comeau, 1.51 P/60. so you can argue that Comeau had more time, but if he's just not a player who can use that time efficiently, then the points won't come... So will it matter that much if he's dropping down in EV role if he's still scoring at a reasonable rate? Of course you want the ideal situation where a player gets efficiency and EV ice-time, but those guys are your Kane, McDavid, Thornton, Benn, Kuznetsov... If Iginla is operating at 2.17 + getting top-line time, he'd be in the top-50 for picks and not 197th...

I am not saying more icetime is directly correlated with more points, just that icetime is necessary to produce a lot. You need both talent (I guess you could use P/60 as as a surrogate) and icetime to produce. Put Crosby on the 4th line with no powerplay minutes and he probably wouldn't hit 40 pts in a full season.

So I am not saying Comeau is a better pick or even close to Iginla actually, but just that I don't think Iginla will get that much icetime anymore at EV as coach seem to prefer Comeau for some reason (there was a coaching though so these are kind of guesses anyway).