Complete Draft Recap

**Wonko** · September 30, 2017, 9:34 AM

Recap of the Elite Fantasy Hockey League Draft 2017-2018

Scoring League. Regular season only. 3 LW, 3RW, 3 C, 6 D, 2 G per night. 6 Bench. Categories: G-5, A-3, shot/hit/bock-.3, STP-1, F/O- .1 (D bonus G-6, A-4, STP-1.5)

First off the board Mcdavid, Karlsson, Kucherov, Crosby, Price, Burns, Talbot, Holtby, Hedman. I am picking in the 10/11 spot. I kinda like this spot as I get two picks a turn, which ensures I fill the positions I need. I was thinking of taking a goalie with one of these two picks but the only three goalies I would do this for (Price, Holtby, Talbot) were already off the board. D men are at a premium in this league so I was hoping Hedman would fall to me, again only one of Burns, Karlsson and Hedman would I take in the first round, and of course they were all gone. So I decided to fill the wings which are much harder to fill than Centre. It was between J Benn and Ovi for LW. I decided (since this is a limited keeper) to take Benn. I think Ovi likely outpoints Benn in our league this year (or close) but then I think Benn takes over. One pick done. On right wing I ranked the top three players for pure fantasy points in our league (face offs from the wing are huge) as Sequin, Kane, and Pavelski (Kucherov being gone already). Again, with our settings these guys averaged the highest fppg average in the last three years on RW. I chose Sequin. Pavelski is 32 and Kane needs 90 points to hang with these guys in our league (limited peripherals) and I am not sure he gets it done this season (or in any season from here on in). I was not super stoked to pass on picking a D man or a goalie, and taking two players on the same Hitchcock coached team wasn't a cockle warmer, but I don't think I would do it differently if I had to do it again.

Next went Ovechkin, Matthews, Murray, Bobrovsky, Stamkos, Kane, Tavares, Eichel, Taraskenko, Dubynk, Letang, Scheifele, Laine, Draisaitl, Pavelski, Marchand, Gaudreau, and T. Rask at 29th.

Wow. That was a lot off the board. Ok. Regroup. I really need to accrue some top D men as we start six D and we have an added D scoring bonus. The next 4 D for highest fppg in this league were Byfuglien, Josi, Weber and Ristolainen (we score hits and blocks giving guys like Buff and Risto more value). Buff was the highest followed by Josi and Weber, but I decided to reach on Ristolainen because dammit I wanted him and he is only 22 years old. I consider Risto a young Buff. I think this is the only time I reached this draft, but I will let you be the judge. Next I needed a goalie because they seemed to be going fast and I was not going to see another pick until 50th. I decided to take a chance on F. Andersen as my 31st pick. He gets a lot of starts on a star packed up and coming team and I love the coach. Not my original plan of landing Talbot in the 10 spot, but there it is.

Next two rounds (3-4) go Doughty, Nylander, Allen, Malkin, Panarin, Vasilevskiy, Crawford, Jones, Byfuglien, Backstrom, Gibson, Josi, Bishop, Rinne, Shattenkirk, Pasternak, Subban, OEL and back to me in 50th. Damn. I wanted OEL. Thought he would fall further after last years train wreck of a season. This seems like a knowledgable crew. Moving on. I realized with surprise that Weber was still on the board so I nabbed him. Older yes, but an ironman and multi-cat stud. Next, I decided to fill in my goaltending as they seemed to be going fast and was happy to grab Quick in 51st spot. Hoping he stays healthy this season. Traditionally he likes to play a lot and volume equals fantasy points.

6th and 7th round. Giroux, Hamilton. Werenski, Anderson, Pacioretty, Klingberg, Monahan, Wheeler, Simmonds, Schenn, Ehlers, Lehner, Gostiberhere, Pietrangelo, Keith, Carlson, Barkov, Schneider. I was surprised someone took Lehner this early especially with King Lundqvist still on the board. In fact, I likely should have taken Lundqvist here as my third goalie but went with Bergeron and J. Faulk instead. Bergeron is getting up there but he can dominate by filling categories and accumulating face off wins. I have him for a bounce back candidate. Faulk is also a multi cat beast on a young up and coming team. If he stays healthy.

Mackinnon, Lundqvist, Hoffman, Drouin, Klefbom, Forsberg, Hubereau, Getzlaf, O'Reilly, Trouba, Darling Schultz, Marner, Carter, Skinner, MacAvoy, Saad, and Kessel falls as the 89th pick. Trouba and MacAvoy stand out in the 7th and 8th round as being a little early. With this leagues emphasis on D though, guys need to be proactive. Trouba especially was on my radar in this league but, alas, I did not want to reach for him and took Faulk instead with my pick the round before. As I mentioned face off from the wing adds a huge boost in this league so my next pick was Duchenne. Dual eligibility and upside. Possible trade to a better team likely won't hurt either. Next I see Krug still milling around on the board. Can't pass up on another young PP QB. Injury concerns probable scared some away. I was very happy to get him in 91st.

Round 9-10. Hall, Sheary, Arvidsson, Hellebuyck, Granlund, Kuznetsov, Voracek, Leddy, Jones, Van Reimsdyk, Parayko, Ekblad, Galchenyuk, Barrie, Atkinson, Fowler, Oshie, and Rakell. Pick 110. Giordano is still hanging on the board. I know he is 33 and Hamilton is breathing down his neck but how can I pass up on this value? This is not a dynasty league but a limited keeper (keep 10). Mark Giordano welcome to the team. My next focus is on a third goalie (we start 2 a night). Getting a third bonfire starter is gold. Not a lot left but I decide the best of the rest is Smith. Calgary has solid D and should give smith a lot more help than he had in Pheonix. Plus as a bonus Calgary has a good off night schedule allowing me to maximize starts. Goalies done. Phew.

Round 11 and 12. Fleury, Aho, Toews, Johnasen, Provorov, Yandle, Eberle, Radulov, Zetterberg, Ranta, Suter, Lee, Getzlaf, Couture, McDonagh, Gardiner, Green, and Theodore. 129 picks done. Glaringly I still only have one center (Old man Bergeron). Who is still on the board at 130? Kopitar. Am I seeing correctly? Snap pick. Welcome to the Lawnmower Dogs Anze Kopitar. Everybody chasing youth. Dollars to donuts my two centres finish top 10 at the position this season. At 131 I decide I can start taking longer shots and pull the bar on Evander Kane. Multi-cat beast who finally seems to have matured into the focused and responsible young man we hoped he would become. Who am I kidding, but if I can get 65-70 games out of him before he commits a felony its a win.

Rounds 13 and 14 see guys like Keller go. Personally I don't think he holds much value in a multi-cat limited keeper this season, but maybe thats just me. I hungrily snap up Jake Muzzin, who I think has a bounce back season and Bryan Little as my third center. All of my centres may have one foot in the grave but getting Kopitar and Little at 130th and 151 makes me smile. I don't have to keep any of them, I just need to squeeze the last bit of juice out of them this season.

15th and 16th rounds. Nolan Patrick is taken. See Keller above. Back to me at 170. All my positions are pretty evenly filled with no glaring deficiencies. Now just trying to find best value. Hard for me to ignore the fact that Horqvist is still hanging around. Snap. I know some of the young kids like Guentzel and Sheary might eat into his opportunity, but he is only 30 and I don't think Pittsburgh is going to push him off on a burning raft quite yet. I see Okposo staring back at me indignantly. Really? He is saying. You think I'm done? Nope. I think a scare like his illness is actually a big motivator. I see a big season out of Kyle this year. Welcome to the fold Mr. Okposo. I feel like both those picks are steals at 170 and 171. I round out my team with Lucic at 190 (again what? 190 in a multi-cat?), B. Jenner (hunch), Boychuck, Zuccarello and P. Stastny.

A lot of guys take rookie D late. I do sometimes as well, but honestly no one really caught my fancy this year. Sergachev, Chabot, Pulock, Honka all go. I took Boychuk. Sums up my entire draft I think. Going after the bangers and mashers regardless of age and refraining from buying any lottery tickets. Nothing wrong with buying a lottery ticket once in a while but they say you have roughly the same odds of finding the winning ticket on the ground as you do purchasing a winning ticket. I think I will just keep my eyes open.