Way too early keeper selections

[DrunkenScotsman]

I know next season is months away but I'm having a hard time trying to weigh up who I should keep for next season. My league's scoring settings and the team I finished the season with are in my sig, we keep 5 which must include one D or G, and we don't have offseason trades.

I think my best options are Seguin, Kucherov, Letang, Talbot and Quick. I'd have at least one elite player at every position except LW, plus Seguin should retain RW as long as Yahoo doesn't muck around with position eligibilities again, and I'd be able to target the best LW available or a second D-man in the first round (a useful strategy with keeping Letang; I'll be praying hard for 70 games out of him since I won't have Hedman as cover next season).

Part of me doesn't want to keep two goalies though so I can keep one of Pastrnak or Kuznetsov, and I'd lean Pasta for the better peripherals and top line/#1 PP minutes, never mind position scarcity and the fact that he probably won't survive the draft until my first pick at #7 overall. Elite starting goalies are the most valuable assets in my league though: this season, goalies made up all of the top 4 and 6 of the top 10 by total points, with Talbot ranked #1, whereas Quick was #6 overall at the end of last season. It makes a lot of sense to hold two Tier 1 workhorses so I don't have to worry about that position for a few rounds, though I could see Quick starting fewer games next season depending on who backs him up and the prerogative of LA's new coach, whoever that is.

Thoughts?

[Eskimo Brother]

Seguin, Kucherov, Letang, Talbot and Quick are your best bets. Don't overthink it as that is an awesome core.

[DrunkenScotsman]

That's about as enthusiastic an endorsement as I could have hoped for. Thanks!

[Eskimo Brother]

Yeah, plus it being a 10 team league with 4 D slots and an IR+ slot, you can deal with owning Letang.

[DrunkenScotsman]

Yeah, plus it being a 10 team league with 4 D slots and an IR+ slot, you can deal with owning Letang.

Very true. This season it was tough to deal with, what with Quick being a pylon in the other IR slot for 5+ months and having to ride out other injuries for weeks at a time (eg Zibanejad who I didn’t want to give up, which was ultimately misguided; hindsight’s wonderful, isn’t it?), but we do have that roster flexibility and FA depth to plug the gaps, you’re right. My saving grace this season was grabbing Werenski from FA early on and then being able to hold up to 5 D when all of them were healthy. I remain confident that one of these days Letang will play 70+ and dominate, but one of my first two picks this fall will almost certainly be a D-man!

[Bass56]

...Part of me doesn't want to keep two goalies though

I think I would keep those 2 goalies, solidifying your crease for next year with some fringe top-tier talent. The big ? is concerning Letang. If you can't stomach the risk then swap him for Pasta. I would bite the bullet and hold on to him if I were you; he's that good IMO. However, I understand how some have been burned by him and would prefer not to deal with the uncertainty.

[DrunkenScotsman]

I think I would keep those 2 goalies, solidifying your crease for next year with some fringe top-tier talent. The big ? is concerning Letang. If you can't stomach the risk then swap him for Pasta. I would bite the bullet and hold on to him if I were you; he's that good IMO. However, I understand how some have been burned by him and would prefer not to deal with the uncertainty.

I'm actually one of the bigger Letang fans out there, having owned him in 3 different leagues over the last 3 seasons, and he's already got a top-20 finish in my keeper league from 2015-16 - if he'd played all 82 at the same rate he'd have threatened the top 5! - so I know exactly what he's capable of if he can stay healthy. Always the big "if", but it's a risk I'm willing to take.

[RizzeeDizzee]

Pasta is better suited for goal-heavy leagues, which yours isn't. I agree that your instincts seem right to keep the two goalies instead.

[DrunkenScotsman]

Pasta is better suited for goal-heavy leagues, which yours isn't. I agree that your instincts seem right to keep the two goalies instead.

From the perspective of overall value at season's end and for making my life easier when drafting, keeping two goalies takes a lot of pressure off. We can only start 2/day anyways so that more or less locks up one position before the season even begins, though I will of course look for a third starter as well since more starts = more points.

I sort of agree RE Pasta in goal-heavy leagues, but if he can stick on the Bergeron-Marchand line again then I could see him putting up similar totals in goals and assists since all three are adept finishers. I'm mostly sad about letting him go because he's so useful for PPP, SOG and +/-, and he even put up respectable hit totals for a scoring winger last season.

[RizzeeDizzee]

From the perspective of overall value at season's end and for making my life easier when drafting, keeping two goalies takes a lot of pressure off. We can only start 2/day anyways so that more or less locks up one position before the season even begins, though I will of course look for a third starter as well since more starts = more points.

I sort of agree RE Pasta in goal-heavy leagues, but if he can stick on the Bergeron-Marchand line again then I could see him putting up similar totals in goals and assists since all three are adept finishers. I'm mostly sad about letting him go because he's so useful for PPP, SOG and +/-, and he even put up respectable hit totals for a scoring winger last season.

Keep in mind Pasta was with Krejci for most of the last chunk of the season, and PP1 for the Bs is never set in stone. There will be an odd forward out, and this year it was Krejci. But maybe Pasta draws the short straw next year, although that's unlikely since his 3.2 goals per 60 minutes at 5x4 in 2016-17 was 11th highest among 199 forwards who played 100+ minutes at 5x4.

[DrunkenScotsman]

Keep in mind Pasta was with Krejci for most of the last chunk of the season, and PP1 for the Bs is never set in stone. There will be an odd forward out, and this year it was Krejci. But maybe Pasta draws the short straw next year, although that's unlikely since his 3.2 goals per 60 minutes at 5x4 in 2016-17 was 11th highest among 199 forwards who played 100+ minutes at 5x4.

I remember being mildly annoyed at Pasta being moved to Krejci's wing after the coaching change... I can see why the B's would want to spread out scoring over their top two lines but the Marchand-Bergeron-Pasta line is so outrageously good both in real life and for fantasy purposes... absolutely annihilated the competition all year. I agree with you that it seems unlikely that they'd want to take Pasta off PP1, it looks like he's their go-to for the one-timer in most situations now so may as well keep him with the skaters most likely to be able to feed him the puck.

[LuigiC173]

Seguin
Kucherov
Pasta
Hamilton
Talbot

[DrunkenScotsman]

Seguin
Kucherov
Pasta
Hamilton
Talbot

Sooooooo not a Letang fan then, huh? Fair enough, I know he's very divisive, but IMO he's just too good in this format to give up for nothing. Even with his injury history I still don't think he survives long enough in the first round to get to me, there's a huge Pens fan drafting at 4th overall who likely would be only too happy to have Letang fall into his lap.

I can also understand not wanting to keep Quick. Right now he's in, but I'll be keeping an eye on who the Kings sign to back him up next season.

Thanks for the input!

[Laendarian]

I know next season is months away but I'm having a hard time trying to weigh up who I should keep for next season. My league's scoring settings and the team I finished the season with are in my sig, we keep 5 which must include one D or G, and we don't have offseason trades.

I think my best options are Seguin, Kucherov, Letang, Talbot and Quick. I'd have at least one elite player at every position except LW, plus Seguin should retain RW as long as Yahoo doesn't muck around with position eligibilities again, and I'd be able to target the best LW available or a second D-man in the first round (a useful strategy with keeping Letang; I'll be praying hard for 70 games out of him since I won't have Hedman as cover next season).

Part of me doesn't want to keep two goalies though so I can keep one of Pastrnak or Kuznetsov, and I'd lean Pasta for the better peripherals and top line/#1 PP minutes, never mind position scarcity and the fact that he probably won't survive the draft until my first pick at #7 overall. Elite starting goalies are the most valuable assets in my league though: this season, goalies made up all of the top 4 and 6 of the top 10 by total points, with Talbot ranked #1, whereas Quick was #6 overall at the end of last season. It makes a lot of sense to hold two Tier 1 workhorses so I don't have to worry about that position for a few rounds, though I could see Quick starting fewer games next season depending on who backs him up and the prerogative of LA's new coach, whoever that is.

Thoughts?

I think I'd actually go:

Seguin
Kucherov
Kuznetsov
Pasta
Talbot

Letang is probably going to slip a bit in drafts, and I think Quick is in tough on an LA team that may be looking at a rebuild

[DrunkenScotsman]

I think I'd actually go:

Seguin
Kucherov
Kuznetsov
Pasta
Talbot

Letang is probably going to slip a bit in drafts, and I think Quick is in tough on an LA team that may be looking at a rebuild

Definitely agree with the second point. I thought Quick played well for LA down the stretch, but if he gets less playing time next season then I feel he could really struggle to hit 35 wins, the Kings simply don't score enough. Almost certainly wouldn't get him back next season in that case, I think he'd be a strong candidate to go in the first round next season.

As to the first point, I totally understand the logic in thinking Letang might slip. The people I play with in this league always seem to overlook him, I took him in the 7th round the season after he returned from a stroke, then I got him in the 8th (!!!) when we switched to a keeper and he finished as the 18th most valuable player overall that season (I guess I'm the one dumb enough to gamble on him that regularly). It's just the giant Pens homer drafting 4th overall concerns me, I don't think I'd get him back and if he stays healthy and plays to his maximum capacity, I'd hate to throw that away as he's absolutely monstrous in this format. I'd strongly consider trading him mid-season though if I could get a good return at another position, probably LW, and I had another D on my team I'd be happy to keep.