New to this game, how can i improve my team

[c0der]

Hi everyone,

First post here and i'd like to say it's a great resource for fantasy hockey! I have read many of the posts and it's been really interesting!

Last september i joined a pool with my friends, that was already running and i managed to put up the following team :

Forwards:

Bobby Ryan
Ryan Getzlaf
Eric Staal
Patrick Kane
Gustav Nyquist
Justin Williams
Brad Richards
Chris Kreider
Wayne Simmonds
Mike Ribeiro
Evander Kane
Mark Scheifele

D-Men :

Ryan Murphy
Tyson Barrie
Brendan Smith

Goalies :

Jonas Hiller
Cam Ward

Specs for the pool are in my signature and i'm looking to improve it while still respecting the salary cap, actually i'm sitting at 68.4M with this team. Any ideas to help me? All inputs appreciated.

My main interrogations:

Should i keep Justin Williams since it's a band-aid boy or go with a safer one who might produce less for about the same salary? ex. Jiri Hudler, Tomas Fleischmann, Drew Stafford?

Is it too early to have a guy like Nyquist in a keeper pool?

Chris Kreider as a really bad start in the AHL, would you keep him or go with other guys that are doing better and are still NHLers? ex: Ryan Johansen, Jakob Silfverberg, Nino Niederreiter, Brett Connolly?

Since i already have Cam Ward, should i go for a 2nd goalie that cost less than Hiller (4.5M) and still net about the same number of wins? ex: Craig Anderson, Semyon Varlamov?

All the guys in my examples are still available, as well as some other "good" ones like: Paul Stastny, Thomas Vanek, Alexander Semin, Nathan Horton, etc.

Sorry for the long post but i'd like to be ready if the season finally starts! I know i can't win this year cause other guys have really strong teams, but i don't want to finish last of my group

Thanks in advance for all your inputs!

[davidgoodburn]

You definitely need to upgrade your dmen. Only smith is a lock to even play in the NHL this year.

I agree with your suggestion to dump hillier for a cheaper goalie. From your list , my pick would be Varlamov. Don't see a significant point difference between the two and salary pools are all about maximizing points per $ spent.

I'm not a huge Kreider fan in a points only league. I might take a chance on Niño or silverberg over him.

Given that you aren't going to win this year and have cap space you want to consider Semin/Stastny/Horton over a guy like Williams. They are expensive but could become a tradable asset if they produce like they have in the past.

I'd also try to sell Staal. His points per $ is quite poor and There's a lot of hype around Carolina right now. Perhaps James Neal for him? Maybe Jamie Benn?

Anyway a few thoughts anyway.

[Luffy D Monkey]

Hey there, welcome to the forums, happy to see somebody playing salary cap. As I'm sure you've noticed lots of people don't play in salary cap leagues here, and there are some pretty big differences. Maybe I can give you a hand.

How many players are you allowed to keep?

Considering your situation I'd assume you are middle-of the pack at best, are you aiming to compete as soon as possible? Personally my strategy would be to get good as fast as possible then try to compete every single year. I don't buy into rebuilding or tanking in keeper pools.

Now let's look at your players:

KEEP

P Kane is awesome and on a stable contract, nice asset there.
Ward is your franchise goalie until something changes.
Ryan is a great player for salary pools right now.
Getzlaf is affordable enough to hang onto as one of your offensive pillars.
Ribeiro: underrated solid point scorer on an affordable deal, might end up lining up beside Ovechkin. Some of the best hands in the league.
E Kane is a great up and comer on a long, stable contract. He might get traded. This is one of the major building blocks of your team right now.
Simmonds is really affordable until 2017. "Depth" guys like this will start winning you pools if you can hang onto them.
Hiller is a decent #2 goalie but you wont win any pools with him. Hold him until you can draft or trade for somebody better.

KEEP or TRADE TO A GM who will OVERPAY
J Williams: underrated ability but super inconsistent fantasy stats, if he gets rolling you can trade him to a contender, he's on a really affordable contract which is a huge plus.
Nyquist: high end prospect that could play as soon as this season, you can afford to wait and see with him right now.
Scheifele: he is going to be awesome. But he probably won't be fantasy relevant for a year, luckily you can afford to wait.
Kreider: a prospect I'm not super high on, but worth holding onto or trading if you can.
Murphy, Barrie, Smith: all prospect level D-men. Find a way to get at least one 4-6 million dollar range stud defensemen. How you configure your salary balance between forwards and defensemen is totally arbitrary. I won last year with a really weak, but really cheap D group.

CUT
E Staal is still young and fairly consistent but he becomes very expensive. In my pool at this point he doesn't get drafted. I'd trade him if you can.
B Richards doesn't even become draftable in this format until 2017. Get rid of him somehow unless you have money to throw away.


Out of the free agents you mentioned I like Vanek, Fleischmann, and Varlamov.

[c0der]

Thanks for these good inputs, let them come in, it will surely help me!

Just want to add that i can drop players and bring someone from the waivers anytime before the trade deadline.

[Luffy D Monkey]

Originally Posted by c0der

Thanks for these good inputs, let them come in, it will surely help me!

Just want to add that i can drop players and bring someone from the waivers anytime before the trade deadline.

So just to clarify you are allowed to keep ALL of your players from year to year if you choose?

Dont know how many waiver moves youre allowed to make right now but I would definitely pick up Vanek, Fleischmann and Varlamov straight up for E Staal, Richards and Hiller.

[c0der]

Yes, we can keep all of our players each year and no limit on the number of moves we can make. Team is locked at the trade deadline till the end of the season.

[Call of Doughty]

Originally Posted by c0der

Forwards:

Bobby Ryan
Ryan Getzlaf
Eric Staal
Patrick Kane
Gustav Nyquist
Brad Richards
Mike Ribeiro
Evander Kane

D-Men :
Brendan Smith

Goalies :

Cam Ward
Should i keep Justin Williams since it's a band-aid boy or go with a safer one who might produce less for about the same salary? ex. Jiri Hudler, Tomas Fleischmann, Drew Stafford? Take Flash or Stafford here.

Is it too early to have a guy like Nyquist in a keeper pool? No, he's a future stud forward. Will be one of Detroit's top LWers in no time. Keep him.

Chris Kreider as a really bad start in the AHL, would you keep him or go with other guys that are doing better and are still NHLers? Jakob Silfverberg for me!!


Since i already have Cam Ward, should i go for a 2nd goalie that cost less than Hiller (4.5M) and still net about the same number of wins? ex: Craig Anderson, Semyon Varlamov? either one is a solid choice, but I think Varly will put up some very solid numbers in Col.

All the guys in my examples are still available, as well as some other "good" ones like: Paul Stastny, Thomas Vanek, Alexander Semin, Nathan Horton, etc. All solid choices, Vanek would be my first pick here, followed by Semin, then Stastny

Overall, nice group of forwards. Defense is in need of MUCH work. Smith is a few years away from putting up some decent fantasy numbers and will be a better MULTICAT guy vs points only keeper. I would look to move Hiller and maybe a few of your costly fwds for some dmen. Ward should be your guy in nets. Some work to do, but overall not too too bad. Welcome to the boards.

[Shoeless]

Hey c0der - welcome. Pretty good job of posting the specs for your league, which is critical to get solid analysis. A couple of things I am curious about though - is your roster size limited to 17 players? Do you start all 17, thereby having no bench?

i am looking for a reason here as to why you can't stream players onto your roster on a daily basis. I's the cap the only limitation beyond roster size?

[c0der]

In fact the pool works almost as an annual pool where the points are calculated at the end of the year based on the 17 players your own.

So yes, the limitations are only 17 players and salary cap of 70.2M this year (which could go down with new CBA).

Every year we make a draft where the rank is based on the performance of your team last season so you can drop and recruit a new one or keep your club as it is if it still fits the salary cap with any new contracts you might have.

That's what make it difficult for me when the same guy managed to get: Crosby, Stamkos, St-Louis, Seguin, Skinner, Backstrom, Daniel Sedin... He's a difficult one to compete with

[Shoeless]

So basically the 17 players you have on your team at the end of the season are the only ones who contribute to your point total for the year and hence determine where you finish in the league standings?

Are you using Capgeek.com for your salary source?