Your irrational prospect crush

[Spleentastic]

It's a well-known phenomenon that GMs will overrate their own prospects, but is there one or two guys that you have a completely irrational fantasy crush on? I'm talking about a player that you rate vastly higher than most other GMs for no specific reason, you are loathe to trade unless it's painfully obvious or necessary, and are willing to draft one round or more earlier than the consensus just so you can own him.

For me it's Jonas Brodin. I picked him up as a late pick on a hunch, and now it would absolutely kill me to trade him away. I've fallen hard for his game, and I'm clinging frantically to the hope that his offense catches up with the rest that package and he develops into a top-5 all around defenceman. Part of it is subconsciously showing off that I'm smarter than everyone else for drafting him, I'm sure, but I've hitched my wagon to the Brodin train, for better or worse.

[Dakkster]

Since I started playing fantasy hockey in 07 I've made a bunch of pickups in my dynasty league that make me look like a genius. I've gotten early starts on Mike Green, Enstrom, Stepan, Silfverberg, Holtby/Varlamov/Neuvirth, Carlson, Nyquist, Burrows, Krejci, Tlusty, MacArthur, Justin Schultz, Dillon and a bunch of others.

I wouldn't really call your crush on Brodin irrational. He's a stone cold talent, although I don't think he'll be a top five fantasy dman option in his career. He could very well be a Norris candidate down the line, but that will be for two-way play and not offense.

I've had a buuuuuuuunch of prospect crushes that turned out catastrophically and just fine. I had a huge boner for Luca Caputi for years. That Bouchard kid who never got anywhere for the Caps. I've liked a lot of Caps prospects. Perreault, Fehr, Kugryshev...

Right now Gustav Nyquist is the perfect storm of fantasy hard-ons for me. He's from my hometown (Halmstad, Sweden), he plays for my favorite team and I snatched him years ago in my dynasty league. He's pretty much my only untouchable player even though I know his value isn't all that high all things considered.

On my team right now I would say that I love most of the prospects more than I should :P Favorites are Silfverberg, Nyquist, Schwartz, Chiasson, Rattie, Schultz, Pickard and Stalock. But don't we all get a bit too attached to the prospect keepers that we think "damn it, I discovered this kid and he's ALL MINE!"?

[zakkthebear]

I this year's draft, I'm hot on Dominik Kubalik and I have zero idea why.

Swoon.

On my current squad, Anthony Stolarz in one I am irrationally high on.

[bigbabybuda]

Filatov comes to mind from the past and I still feel Hodgson has allstar potential even though I'm not sure that is the case anymore

[Dakkster]

Filatov comes to mind from the past and I still feel Hodgson has allstar potential even though I'm not sure that is the case anymore

Oh, man, I had repressed Filatov I think I held on to him for four years.

[Axeman33]

I dont know if I would call it a crush or just a fascination but in most of my leagues I go out of my way to acquire Braydon McNabb, aka McNasty. I dont know why but he is someone I have targetted in most of my leagues as a trade target if I dont already own him.

[Zorro]

Zherdev, Brule, and O'Sullivan come to mind..

Now has to be Johansen(CBJ)

[golfguy1672]

Stefan Noeson. Ever since his draft. Thought he was gonna be Perry 2.0. Now he gets to learn from Perry himself.


Emil Molin too. Not sure why on him though haha.

Patrick Maroon too.

[tgraveline]

Trouba for me. I've had a gut feeling with him and felt like the only reason he fell some in the draft was due to his college commitment. Now he's coming around and I snagged him. I'm only taking the world for him in offers.

[Ed.]

No one is untradeable, ever, if someone wants to get crazy, so I am not irrational there, but I do tend to hold on to guys, or keep coming back to them long after most have lost hope. It's not one particular guy, though I am a bit of a sucker for Paajarvi any time he comes available in a league. I held out hope on guys like O'Sullivan and Cal O'Reilly for years, picking them up late in drafts, and thinking this year, surely, would be THE year. Pouliot too, although now I have learned to like him for who he is, and not hope that he will be anything more. Useful fantasy player in a lot of formats, who a lot of GMs undervalue because he has disappointed them in the past.

Generally though, I have learned that even if I like a prospect, if the rest of the world has given up on him, it probably makes sense to fill his spot with someone else, someone who looks more hopeful, and will have more value if I want to trade him. Chances are the other guy will sit untouched on the waiver wire and I can grab him any time he shows a sign of life, or after a trade when I am left with roster spots to fill.

[GMGates]

For me it's usually funny names ala Sgarbossa.

I was a big fan of JG Pageau before his breakout. Next up is John Gaudreau.

My other hopeful hidden gem is Konrad Abeltshauser, especially in Hits/BS leagues.

Lastly, the one who I've got shelved: Alex Salak. Amazing stats this past season :

SHL - 41 GP, 1.61 GAA, .939 SVP
Playoffs - 10GP, 2.34 GAA, .922 SVP
International - 12GP, 2.18GAA .926 SVP

[PrairieDog]

Filatov comes to mind from the past

Oh I feel your pain there - that year I took him 2nd overall before Doughty

I have Alex Chiasson in 4 of my 5 leagues - didn't pay anything for him in any of them but he's occupying a keeper spot in each. I really hope we see more of what we saw this past season from him (obviously the pace he had was super high, I'll take 25-30G happily).

[Call of Doughty]

Oh I feel your pain there - that year I took him 2nd overall before Doughty

I'll pretend I didn't hear that.

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

Teemu Hartikainen.... Of all 80-ish players I had on my team when I took it over in late 2009, he's the only one left. Kept seeing the future Franzen and he never quite worked out between the flashes he would show. Now that he's in the KHL I've finally started trying to add him into deals in case anyone wants to sit on him.

Rocco Grimaldi is another. Took him 16th in the 2011 draft and I just can't move him.

A real head-scratcher.... Jesper Fasth. I absolutely love him as a player.

[Ed.]

Rocco Grimaldi is another. Took him 16th in the 2011 draft and I just can't move him.

I drafted him too high. I still like him, and would be happy to have him back. However, no one is untradeable, so I didn't hesitate to include him in the monster package I traded away last summer...for Kovalchuk.