Fantasy Mailbag - August 23

[GoalieGuild]

Welcome to another edition of the School of Block fantasy mailbag! I'll be around all afternoon to answer your fantasy goalie questions. Anything from prospects to predictions to compare/contrast goalies, etc. I'll get 'er done for as many people as I can.

Give me an hour to get some errands done and I'll be back around 11:30a MST.

School of Block should be posted around it's usual time, so check for that as well! Feel free to leave follow up questions on any of the six topics I broached in today's lesson and thanks for reading everyone =D

[kytmagic]

How important would be for me to draft Corey Crawford in a keeper league if I own Marty Turco. I have Kipper, Turco, Gustavsson and Markstrom. I plan to get Jack Campbell. Is there any need to get Corey Crawford as well?

[mxpxillini35]

Currently own Luongo and Price, lost Nabby to the KHL. I need to make a play for a goalie now, and didn't know if Turco was a good option. What kind of a player should I give up for him? I know he's a bit of a risk, but it might be worth a shot, and since we're expanding our league, I might be able to get him for players I'd be losing anyway.

I also might have some good options in a redraft...because of the expansion

[NordiqueFan]

want to know how many year before reaching the nhl

climie
riopel
lalande
bachman
desjardins
calvin pickard

[GoalieGuild]

How important would be for me to draft Corey Crawford in a keeper league if I own Marty Turco. I have Kipper, Turco, Gustavsson and Markstrom. I plan to get Jack Campbell. Is there any need to get Corey Crawford as well?

I would say your focus should be on getting Campbell. Turco isn't an injury prone goalie and he'll carry the workload in Chicago. It will be interesting to see how quick Joel Quenneville will be to hook Turco in bad games (same dynamic as Huet last year) but I expect Turco to be a great fit in Chicago.

There's also the chance that Hannu Toivonen finds a way to repeat history and somehow steal the job from Crawford...but I would be blown away if that happened again.

Your definitely better off focusing on Campbell. You have great goalies at good ages so I wouldn't stress out too much about having the Blackhawks tandem.

[GoalieGuild]

Currently own Luongo and Price, lost Nabby to the KHL. I need to make a play for a goalie now, and didn't know if Turco was a good option. What kind of a player should I give up for him? I know he's a bit of a risk, but it might be worth a shot, and since we're expanding our league, I might be able to get him for players I'd be losing anyway.

I also might have some good options in a redraft...because of the expansion

Turco is a fine option in my opinion. He's on a team with still plenty of offensive and defensive talent despite the losses and he's expected to be the workhorse, so long as Quenneville doesn't play too many mental games with him.

I can't really answer what kind of player you should give up for him ... I don't have nearly the same kind of insight on players.

Also I wouldn't consider Turco a bit of a risk. I think every goalie that was traded over the summer comes with the same kind of risk, so it's basically non-existant. He's healthy, he's got a great opportunity and he's looking to prove to everyone in the world he isn't a playoff dud. Should be a good goalie for you to replace the loss of Nabby with. But as far as who to give up, I wouldn't really know how to answer that effectively.

[fantasyhockeygeek]

Hey Justin! As always, these are great.

What's Lehner's likely timeframe to make an impact in the NHL? Goalie prospects, brought along well, can take quite a few years from the time they're drafted to make an impact, so I'm wary!

I'm looking at the 6-10 slots on your top-100 prospects list (Lehner, Campbell, Stalock, Salak, Tokarski) and wondering who will have the earliest impact. Any thoughts?

[GoalieGuild]

want to know how many year before reaching the nhl

climie
riopel
lalande
bachman
desjardins
calvin pickard

Climie - 1 to 2
Riopel - Around 3
Lalande - Probably never
Bachman - Probably 2
Desjardins - 1 to 2
Pickard - In Colorado, probably 4 at the least

Climie's arrival depends on Montoya. They will battle it out this year to see who backs up Bryzgalov in the 2011-12 season.

Riopel's big moment is this training camp. He has to beat out Bobrovsky for an AHL gig.

Kevin Lalande is all but done ... playing in Russia this year really hurts his future value.

Richard Bachman is right behind Brent Krahn on the depth chart so expect 1-2 years.

Desjardins could see games this year. Or that could go to Tokarski. Basically those two are battling it out to see who is the legit #3 goalie and next backup to Ellis. I don't think the Lightning are very comfortable with Smith and for good reason.

Calvin Pickard is a ways away. Especially if he's stuck in Colorado's system. They take forever to give their goalies a chance. Peter Budaj is a good example. They drafted him, developed him slowly, hasn't turned into much of anything but is a great athlete. Be wary.

[Wayne Bonney]

Thanks for doing this.

My question is regarding the likeliness of some backups stealing the spotlights and becoming starter. I currently have Lundqvist and Anderson as starter but I am looking for a gamble in my draft. Who is the most likely to do that ? A ranking would be greatly appreciated.

Bernier
Greiss
Crawford
Neuvirth
Others that you can think of ?

Thanks again!

[GoalieGuild]

Hey Justin! As always, these are great.

What's Lehner's likely timeframe to make an impact in the NHL? Goalie prospects, brought along well, can take quite a few years from the time they're drafted to make an impact, so I'm wary!

I'm looking at the 6-10 slots on your top-100 prospects list (Lehner, Campbell, Stalock, Salak, Tokarski) and wondering who will have the earliest impact. Any thoughts?

It's good to be wary with Lehner. I'm really surprised they are pushing him to the pro's after just one season in the OHL. He had a good rookie year, but by all accounts he's still very raw-skilled.

So his timeframe to simply make the NHL may have been cut in half, but his time to make AN IMPACT in the NHL could now be longer. The Sens are taking quite a risk trying to put him in the AHL so soon, but they know more than I do about his potential and abilities.

Therefore I think it's a "wait and see" situation right now for Lehner. Let's see where he ends up this season. If he sticks in the AHL, the kid has more potential than anyone knew. If he's sent back to his OHL team, it's a smart move by the Sens and they continue to develop him in an effective manner, as he'll play another 50-60 games this season.

From the list you provided (those spots) I would say Stalock is going to have the earliest impact of them all. Obviously Salak's rank for the next Top-100 update will be lowered due to the fact he's heading over to Sweden.

[GoalieGuild]

Thanks for doing this.

My question is regarding the likeliness of some backups stealing the spotlights and becoming starter. I currently have Lundqvist and Anderson as starter but I am looking for a gamble in my draft. Who is the most likely to do that ? A ranking would be greatly appreciated.

Bernier
Greiss
Crawford
Neuvirth
Others that you can think of ?

Thanks again!

Not sure if you saw the School of Block I did last Monday, the Diabolical Backups, but it looked at precisely this same thing ... the likeliness that a backup could play more than current expectations.

Here is the link: http://www.dobberhockey.com/index.ph...man&Itemid=100

You'll notice all of the guys you listed above are included on mine, so you are looking at the right guys.

If I had to choose one, it would be Neuvirth. He has the capability to start 50+ games. I don't think Greiss is going to get that opportunity, nor with Crawford.

Bernier is the bigger gamble, as he clearly has the ability to start 50+ games but one of Quick/Ersberg has to be moved first for that to happen.

So the safest bet is Neuvy, but a gamble with higher reward is Bernier!

[DerekReese]

Which of these three do you think will be starting in years? I know Elliot is starting now, but will he still be in 3 years?

Elliott, Brian G OTT
Crawford, Corey G CHI
Karlson, Henrik G CAL

[pahlsson26]

I've got Rask in keeper league and will have to draft more goalies. Could you rank those for 10/11 season ONLY?

Lehtonen
Leighton
Ellis
C.Mason
Thomas
Elliott
Giguere
Gustavsson
Neuvirth
Greiss
Leclaire
Crawford

[GoalieGuild]

Which of these three do you think will be starting in years? I know Elliot is starting now, but will he still be in 3 years?

Elliott, Brian G OTT
Crawford, Corey G CHI
Karlson, Henrik G CAL

Tough question. I don't see any of these goalies being a legitimate clear-cut starter in the 2013-14 season. But depending on how they evolve and the situation they are in, all three of them have the potential to be a starter in 3 more years.

To rank them in order of ability to be a starter in three more years, it would be:

Crawford, Karlsson, Elliot.

Like throwing darts blindfolded, all three could end up in totally different situations in three more years. I like all three of their upside, but long-term starting tenures are getting few and far between these days. There's more turnover than ever before.

Really tough question, but they are all kind of "borderline" starter potential to begin with. Obviously Elliot has the upper hand since he's got experience splitting time with Leclaire, but I think he's getting close to reaching his talent ceiling. Karlsson is a wait and see sort of deal and Crawford is the one with the potential and development lineage to claim a starting role in 3 more years.

[Pokerface]

GG-
Piggybacking on the question above about Crawford, Karlsson, and Elliot- Where would Wesslau fit into that 'darts at a wall' ranking system?

Also can you give some background on the young goalie that CLB invited to camp?

thanks