Who to take 2nd overall ?

[BladesOfSteel]

I draft 2nd overall in a 14 team H2H keeper league. Keep 6.

C, C, LW, LW, RW, RW, Util, Util, D, D, D, D, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN.

G, A, P, +/-, PPP, SHP, GWG, HAT, SOG - GP, W, L, GAA, SV%, SO

My team:

C Spezza
C Kopitar
C Stamkos
L Cammalleri
D Streit
G Backstrom (MIN)

Trying to pick the best player available while taking into account current productivity and upside, who should I take 2nd overall?

I'm assuming Tavaras goes 1st overall. So that leaves me with a talent pool of,

Mike Ribeiro - C
Derick Brassard - C
Michael Frolik - C
Bryan Little - C
David Krejci - C
Matt Duchene - C
Kyle Turris - C

Loui Eriksson - LW
Kristian Huselius - LW
David Booth - LW
Paul Kariya - LW
Alexander Frolov - LW
Nikitai Filatov - LW

Alexander Kovalev - RW
Claude Giroux - RW
Jason Pominville - RW
Nathan Horton - RW
Chris Versteeg - RW

Scott Niedermayer - D
Dennis Wideman - D
Shea Weber - D
Victor Hedman - D

Pekka Rinne - G
Simeon Varlamov - G
Ray Emery - G
Jonas Hiller - G

In your opinion which one of these players will both offer production now and have the potential as a keeper? Who would you select with the 2nd overall pick?

[newper114]

i must say that is not easy. i would say you need a RW and horton stands out to me as i believe this is his year.

however since your league adds in SOG and HAT i have to lean towards booth. i think he gets the most sog and chance of hitting HAT's..

[Veritas0Aequitas]

Take Grioux. He has potential now and for the future. You don't have PIM so Horton isn't as valuable. Varlamov might not be a bad option in the 2nd round.

[fungchen3]

Wow, a ton of talent sitting on the tray there. Here are the names that standout for me:

1. Frolik (C)

2. Filatov (LW)

3. Giroux (RW)

4. Duchene (C)

5. Weber (D)

6. Hedman (D)

7. Booth (LW)

8. Rinne (G)

9. Varlamov (G)

10. Horton (RW)

For starters, I would water the list down to these guys.

Then, I would look at longterm upside (prime years), and in that department Duchene, Filatov, Frolik, Giroux, Weber and Hedman pop.

At this point I would factor in need (and what percieved value these players have) and that would leave me with Giroux, Filatov, Weber and Hedman. (Duchene & Frolik are Cs).

You really need a stud RW, and you definitely could use a boost in the D dept., considering Streit is your anchor (a damn good one, but 30+ in age).

I figure though, quality forwards will go before D in this league (just a guess) so that filters my pick down to Claude Giroux.

However, if Frolik were to get RW eligibility, it would be a toss-up between the two, as I think Frolik is a special player as well.

The only other player I would consider here is Filatov, because he could be a scoring machine and you only have one LW.

As for the Gs, Rinne and Varlamov are two goodies, but I am not 100% sold on either guy longterm to be honest. Not when “can’t miss” studs like Giroux, Filatov and Frolik are there.

In the 3-player race, my final decision would be Giroux.

[Briarpatch00]

My gt says Giroux on that list...

[duducks]

Since you can only keep 6, you have to think about if any of those players can crack your 6 keeper spots.

C Spezza
C Kopitar
C Stamkos
L Cammalleri
D Streit
G Backstrom (MIN)

I don't have much faith in Stamkos, just a gut thing, and beyond that Streit would be next to go in my list, but I find its best to always keep 1 Dman. So that would leave me with 3 options. 1) Draft Hedman to potentially replace Streit, or 2) Draft a winger (many choices), 3) Trade the pick

Have you explored trading your 2nd overall pick? With so much young talent available, the pick is worth quite a lot, and with so much young talent, you'd need to get really lucky to make the right choice. I'd look into trading it. The pick is huge, but tough. I'd rather get a sure thing, and let someone else make the tough decision.

[HellasLEAF]

take Varlamov

[akakak]

with only 6 keepers my advice would always be "play to win"

Take Shea Weber, he probably a top 5 dman moving forward, top 10 at worst, hes a way better number one than Streit.

Furthermore there are tonnes and tonnes of good forwards available, Girioux is a standout, but he may well be there in the second round, Weber will definitely be gone soon after you pick.

[akakak]

also taking either rinne or varlamov would be a very good pick. Weber is still my guy, but its pretty close.


When in doubt, I usually ask myself one simple question, who is most likely to have more value this coming all star break.... For me, weber would slightly edge out Rinne, But 2 plus goalies in a 14 team league cant be overlooked.

[Hardyvan123]

Weber, Giroux, Heman, Filitov, can't go wrong with any of these guys I would put them in that order and one of them might slip to the 2nd round for you as well.

Since you ahve 3 centers I would stay awasy from them until maybe the 6th or 7th round you might be able to get a forgotten guy like Brassard there.

Every league has it's own dynamic so you will need to keep that in mind but one of those 4 guys is the guy to take with the 2nd pick overall.

[rantonio]

I'd take Weber first, then Giroux, weber will be in your line up for the next 10 years.

[hockeyislife]

Giroux could be a stud at the hardest fantasy position to fill. He's my choice.

Weber would be my second choice.

[duducks]

Off topic, but are the Philly scouts THAT good now? Carter/Richards a little back, Giroux and JvR now? Should any Philly first round pick be treated like gold, or are the odds now against them now, and one of Giroux/JvR bound to not live up to the hype?