Keeper league dilemma???

[kidicarius]

I am in the second year of a keeper league. There are currently 6 GMs in the league, but we are hoping to expand to 10-12 this year. Our rosters consist of 8 forwards, 4 defenseman, 2 goalies, and 1 enforcer with a bench of up to 10 that can be made up of whatever you want. My current roster, including bench, is as follows:

Forwards
- Malkin, Whitney, Spezza, Iginla, Carter, Doan, Stamkos, Ribeiro*, Setoguchi*, Briere*, Krejci*, Pominville*, Eriksson*

Defense
- Markov, Pronger, Niedermayer, Campbell, Del Zotto*, Robidas*

Goalies
- Hiller, Nabokov, Mason*

Enforcer - Konopka

* - denotes bench player (NOT ELIGIBLE TO BE KEPT)

We are allowed to protect 3 forwards, 2 defenseman, 1 goalie, and our enforcer. My initial thinking is to keep Malkin, Stamkos, Spezza, Markov, Pronger, Hiller, and Konopka. If Nabokov came back from the KHL anytime, I would automatically get him (he was my originally-planned keeper). However, a fellow GM noticed my lack of a quality goalie in which to protect. He has offered a combination of a goalie and forward for me to choose from for either Malkin or Stamkos and Nabokov: Bryzgalov/Fleury & Kane, Marleau, Gaborik, St.Louis. My thinking is to keep my forwards along with Hiller. Although Hiller may not get the wins that his goalies might, he should get more than last year and going forward, as he is guaranteed to get 65-70 starts now that JSG and his 6.5M salary is gone.

Goalie points are calculated as 2 pts for a win, 1 for OTL, and 2 bonus points for a SO.

What should I do? I need to know by 2:00 EST, otherwise he will pull the offer off the table, as he has another potential trade with another GM lined up.

Any opinion would be appreciated.

[Loki]

kidicarious - it's a fair offer.
I'd lean on keeping your keeper set as is. Hiller is good enough and I think you can land another if you make it a priority.
If it helps, I do not belive Nabby will reurn and if he does he'll be nothing to write home about.
Also, I do not respoind well to expiration times on offers provided both sides are making progress so I'd likely call his bluff and let the 2:00 deadline come and go.
If he had a better deal on the table, he would have already pulled yours so he may take it but we already know it isn't as good.

[natgeo]

As Loki says it's not a bad offer, but you're better off standing pat.

1) Rest assured Nabokov won't be back. He's signed long term in the KHL now, and as Radulov has discovered, it's not easy to break those contracts. Rumours of threatening one's family if you do.

2) Keep Hiller. He is the starting goaltender on a good team. Fleury is injury-prone and I don't think the Coyotes will keep up the pace this year so Bryz may suffer.

3) As much as I like Kane, Malkin is superior, especially in a severely limited keeper such as this one. Malkin had a down year. He'll return to his glory this year, and you would be sorry to have traded him away.

[Magicstew]

If he is able to offer those guys that means he can't protect them all. You already know he can only keep 1 goalie, so the other will be available. In a 6 team league I would keep Malkin as there will be lots of good forwards to pick up. Hiller should get you 30 wins as he is # 1 in Anaheim, but I would make sure I picked a goalie in one of my first 2 picks.

[kidicarius]

I will be targeting a goalie with my first pick. The problem is I traded away my first round pick to acquire Stamkos last year...so I don't get a pick until the 2nd round. So I will be looking at 10th overall as my earliest pick. You can bet the other GMs will probably be picking a goalie with 1 of their first 2 picks, so I may have scraps anyways. The only way I get a shot at a decent goalie is to try and get my first round pick back. Otherwise, I will have scraps to pick from for goalies. And that is assuming we don't expand at all...we were hoping to add 4-6 teams this year. If that happens, then I will definitely need to do some wheeling and dealing.