Fun Rule in my league - interesting dilemma

[Dobber]

Every season, in the league in my sig, we can sign one player aged 24 or older as a free agent. This is the only way to introduce new players into our pool other than the draft. You have until the trade deadline to use it up. The last three years I nabbed Cleary, Stajan and Moulson in that order. Traded Cleary and Moulson before they sputtered. That another rule about this rule - you can't trade a player for two weeks after you sign him, thereby negating any sign-and-trade shenanigans. People still do it, they just wait the two weeks so it's not as common.

Usually, I'm the third of fourth guy to use this up and I generally do it in mid to late November. However, guys have been scooping players up early this year. I had my eye on Mark Letestu in October, but wanted to wait a couple more weeks and see what happens when Staal returns. But he was nabbed early (and it turns out - lucky for me). The other time I was close was with Clarke MacArthur. He had three points last week and I sat down at the laptop and was ready to announce that I signed him when another owner's email was waiting for me. He had signed him.
Byfuglien, Cullen, Callahan, Elliott, Kopecky (early signing), Wisniewski, Stafford, Letestu, MacArthur, Liles have been picked.

This is a points only league. Keep everyone. Count Top G and Top D and the 12 other top skaters. Playoffs count.

I'm in second/third in the hunt. And with Crosby, Staal, Letang and Goligoski, I'm very much in the playoff trophy mix as well.

So it's down to me and three owners to use up their picks. I can trade with an owner (and wait the two weeks) and get his FA pick.

On my radar - and I know some of them will read this, but at this point it will just make my decision easier if they take one.


1. I could go for points and playoffs, in which case Todd Bertuzzi is an option
2. I could go for points and upside - in which case d-men are the best - Pitkanen, Zidlicky, Ehrhoff, Wideman and Gilbert are available.
3. I could go for playoffs and upside, in which case I could wait until the end of February, when Andreas Nodl and Justin Abdelkader turn 24.
4. I could add goaltending depth and then trade Bryzgalov. At this point, Bryzgalov is a Top 4 or 5 goalie under our league rules - but Carey Price is No. 1 or 2. Since I only count one goalie, I could parlay Bryzgalov into a skater with points. But in 2012-13 we go to two goalies, so having a solid guy with Price would be ideal. So I'm watching Corey Crawford and Devan Dubnyk.
5. I could trade with one of the other three owners - all three of them are out of the playoff hunt in our league (Top 8 get into the playoff competition). I'm the only contender with my FA signing left and trading for a second one would give me two of the above four options.


Anyway, these thoughts bounce around in my head. What would you do? How long would you wait? Does Bertuzzi get to 58 points? Can Nodl and Abdelkader top 45 and have upside for 65+? Does Crawford keep winning? Gerber's return has thrown a wrench in my Dubnyk thoughts.
I could also wait longer - much longer. Alex Steen didn't arrive on anyone's radar until January/February last year and by then only a couple of owners were left to use their FA signing on him.


Other FA's - Parenteau, Kyle Wilson, Garon, Leopold, Morrison, Budaj, A. Stewart, Ryder, Burns, D'Agostini

[JD88]

I like option 4/5 I like that you can trade for another and if you did I would grab Big Bert with the one and go for the help becuase I think that is very capable of hitting the 58 point mark...

with the 2nd pick I would go get Crawford I believe in what you posted the other day about him taking over for Turco and you could very well grab a solid forward for bryz and then have a great young 1-2 in the nets with Crawford and Price going forward!

If you only stick with the one pick then go for Crawford that makes the most sense to me!!

[Leumas]

Something to think about Dobbs...

Take a look at Bert's average icetime.

Then take a look at the NHL standings for the last 5 years or so and look at how few guys get to 50 points let alone 58 with that kind of icetime.

Good luck

[metaldude26]

My understanding from previous posts about your leagues are that points carry over. So whoever you sign, all you care about are his end of year numbers. Makes sense to me for you to wait it out here. With so many options available to you and the relative limited upside of these options I don't think that you'll miss the boat on anything huge. If anything, I might consider trading for a second pick-up that way you can take a stab at something now and if it falters you have another shot to make things right.

Ultimately, I think that playoffs are the big prize in your pool so making a move to boost yourself there makes a lot of sense to me. I don't trust Bertuzzi though, not in the regular season and particularly not come playoffs so that first option isn't one I like. If you can sell someone on him later though then I say all the power to you.

[Dobber]

My understanding from previous posts about your leagues are that points carry over. So whoever you sign, all you care about are his end of year numbers. Makes sense to me for you to wait it out here. With so many options available to you and the relative limited upside of these options I don't think that you'll miss the boat on anything huge. If anything, I might consider trading for a second pick-up that way you can take a stab at something now and if it falters you have another shot to make things right.

Ultimately, I think that playoffs are the big prize in your pool so making a move to boost yourself there makes a lot of sense to me. I don't trust Bertuzzi though, not in the regular season and particularly not come playoffs so that first option isn't one I like. If you can sell someone on him later though then I say all the power to you.

Good answer. And the remaining owners are conservative enough that they will wait (even if they read this, which they could - hi guys!)
Another guy out there I didn't mention - Tambellini. But what are the odds.

Anyway, the only thing that could make me rush a decision is if Crawford goes nutty for the next two weeks.

[Dobber]

UPDATE:
I agreed to a deal with one of the owners still with his FA pick and got him to choose Corey Crawford on December 3. To avoid a sign and trade, we have a rule that FA signings need to wait two weeks before they can be traded. So on December 17 I announced the trade:
Peter Mueller, COL, and a 1st round pick in 2013 for Jack Skille, CHI, Corey Crawford, CHI and Tobias Enstrom, ATL

I didn't want to use my own first round pick, so I managed to snag someone else's first round pick. I traded Doan, Beach, Ponikarovsky and a 2nd round pick just for that 1st round pick. So really the deal was Mueller, Doan, Poni, Beach and a 2nd for Skille, Crawford and Enstrom.

Now with two other owners left with their FA picks, I have the following FAs I can consider:
Cleary, Bertuzzi, Stewart, Tambellini, Pitkanen, Zidlicky, Ehrhoff, Nodl, Abdelkader and Gilbert.




ALSO, the Crawford acquisition allowed me to trade Ilya Bryzgalov before his injury. I traded Bryzgalov and Horcoff, plus a 2nd, for Anderson, Fleischmann and a 3rd. So all in all, I added Flash and Enstrom to my pro team, while still keeping stability in net with CC and CA now behind Price. I didn't hurt my depth or my youth.