Fantasy Hockey Mailbag - April 24, 2014

[yougo]

1- Is Parise ever going to score 80+ point?
2- Is RNH making a leap next year to 70-80 points?
3- Will Holtby be Washington #1 goaltender next season?
4- Sven Baertschi : Bust?

[Jay1982]

Scoring format in my sig..roster not up to date.

I traded away MacKinnon about 3 weeks ago, the trade was:
Stamkos/P.Kane/2 Keeper spots next offseason (we have a cascading keeper format; the higher you finish the less guys you can keep for the following here. 1st and ssecond keep 11; last 4 places keep 15)
for
MacKinnon, Benn, Neal

The GM has offered me
MacKinnon, 2 first round picks next year (the two picks have a shot at being for McDavid) for Seguin, Subban, Kuznetsov.
Thoughts? I'm high on MacKinnon and didn't really want to trade him away but the offer for Stamkos was too good to pass up IMO and I want him back. Albeit I'm buying into super hype right now.

[Dobber]

First, thanks for doing that.

Question 1: How do you see Eriksson future ? Can he be a 65-70 pts player with Boston ?

No, and the only way he gets 60-65 is if he stays healthy, which I think is an issue now. Currently, I value him at around 57 points with some upside.

Question 2: Will Kuemper be a starter next year or a 50/50 split time goalie ?

I could see that, but this is a tough summer to nail down because of all the free agent goalies available. But Bryz/Kuemper is a 1A/1B option and Harding is still in the mix too.

Question 3: How do you see Victor Fasth future ?

I'm not sure whether or not he is a certified band-aid boy, but if healthy I think he can be a 60-start guy for EDM. And if EDM finally does what they should be doing in terms of wins...then he'll be fantasy gold. One of the best, but risky, buy low goalies out there

[Rodgort]

Everyone talks about Gaudreau's amazing college career (and it was great) but no one was talking about Boucher breaking Stamkos' goals record for Sarnia with enthusiasm. Now I am not saying Boucher is going to be better than Stamkos, but I am wondering why he does not seem to get the love other prospects do. What type of future point totals do you see for him? Can he be a player who scores over 60+ points? Also I understand the NJ factor possibly bringing down the point totals, so maybe an in NJD outside NJD point totals?

Thanks

[Dobber]

Awesome! Always love it when you open this up! Thanks!

I was curious on your thoughts towards Colton Sceviour. He signed a 2 yr, 1 way deal with Dallas and I am wondering where you see him fitting in on that roster and the type of production we could see from a player like him.

He could earn his way up to a scoring line, but it won't be given to him. In fact, they'll be trying Ritchie on a scoring line more than they try Sceviour. He's Dangerfield Boy! He'll need to get lucky on some early production to get and keep a scoring line spot. It happens sometimes, but odds are against it

[Dobber]

What would your play be in my league on keeping MSL? We count hits, and that hurts MSL's value a bit. So far I have him pegged as a keeper. Would you take a chance on Iginla (if he stays in boston or if he doesn't stay?) or Perron, instead?

My tentative plan was to keep MSL, then draft Nichushkin early (he was dropped in our playoffs out of a desperation move by a GM gunning for the championship) with the intent of replacing MSL as a keeper entering 2015/16.

I keep MSL and then trade him for a good draft pick or three. And I don't have a huge objection to having him entering next season, not the end of the world

[Dobber]

1)Does Markstrom's stock improve in Vancouver this year? So far he just cycles (plays great in the AHL, called up to the bigs and struggles big time) How close are you to writing him off as a 1st round bust?

2)WTF is up with Dustin Brown (27 pts this season!)? Does he bounce back to anything approaching fantasy value next year?

1 - pretty close. I have no faith in him now and wouldn't bet a single dollar on him. But there's still a chance so I would definitely acquire him if he could be had for a (very) low price and see how 2014-15 starts

2 - I'd like to see if he's injured. We'll hear after the Kings are out. I can't believe it myself. If he's been healthy all this time, then perhaps he's just like Trevor Linden was. Remember Linden was around 29 I think and suddenly he went from being a 70-point guy to a 30-point guy

[Loki]

Dobbs - thanks for opening the shop

Keeper League G-A-PTS-+/- are the offensive categories
I can only keep 2 of the following...Drouin, Kuznetsov, Yakupov, RNH, Nyquist

or I could keep 1 of them and keep a 2nd goaltender (Price is my #1)...Rinne or Bernier
However, with a 12 team league, I can usually find a solid 2nd goaltender in the draft so I tend to favor the extra fwd.

Thoughts are appreciated

[Dobber]

Keep two of: E Staal, Kunitz, E Kane, OEL

H2H Fantasy Points/Weekly Start
Start 2 C/2 LW/2 RW/3 D/1 G
Limited Keeper (Keep 6)
Scoring: G=1/A=1/SHG=1/GWG=1/Hat Trick=4 PIM=0.1/FOW=0.05/FOL=-0.05/SOG=0.05
Goalie Scoring: W=1/GA=-0.5/S=0.1/Shut Out=2

Other keepers are Malkin, Perry, Karlsson, Lundqvist

I keep Kunitz and OEL, and it's by a wide margin under those rules

[Dobber]

For the next 3 years, who do you think is the best keeper option :

Gaborik, Palat or Schwartz.

Thanks in advance

Palat, Schwartz and who?

Schwartz is safer (less down-side) but I would keep Palat

[Big Ben]

Tarasenko is hot right now! Since december 17th, he's almost a ppg foward (31pts in 33games).
What are your projections for him next year and in 3 years?

Also, can Varlamov repeat his dream season? Colorado could be the next chicago with all the young talents they have!

Thanks for doing this!

[Dobber]

With Dan Ellis and his two-year deal out of Dallas and Thomas presumably heading out this summer, any chance that Christopher Nilstorp gets the backup gig? How do you see that playing out?

He's a UFA and I think he'll latch on somewhere else as a backup or even a No.3. If he re-signs with Dallas, it will be under condition that it's a one-way deal and I don't think he's earned that. And besides, I don't think he can be an NHL starter.

[Dobber]

Hey Dobber, thanks for doing this.

I have 2 questions:

1. ANA goalies seem to be fantasy gold.. what about next year? Sounds like Hiller is leaving, and if so, would it be a 50/50 split with Andersen/Gibson? or would you expect Andersen to get a majority?

Andersen the majority. And Gibson will toil the way Bernier toiled in LA. That's a realistic scenario that I can see. I'm already kicking tires on Andersen in my leagues

2. Should I be worried about E. Staal for next year? His PP took a big nose dive this year. I have the option of keeping E. Staal or R Johansen -- I think Staal has the upside (pts wise) but maybe you know something about Johansen that I don't. I'm really only interested in the next 2 years (I'm in a limited keeper and want to win now =) ).

Cheers!

I think Johansen will be the better guy to own over the next two years, but Staal has far more trade value. So he's probably your best bet to keep.

[TornBetween2Pucks]

Let's have your fantasy hockey questions gang!

Also, to update you on putting in the older threads - Keeper League D-men section is now complete. Working on the Goalie section. Still a few thousand posts to add, in all.

Hi Dobber,

I'll ask you the same questions I asked Darren on his fantasy site. Hopefully your answers are mostly in agreement!

I'm in a keeper league that goes pretty deep. My team is a bit too young to win next year so I'm choosing the guys who I think will be best three years from now. It's points only with bonus points for defencemen goals, power play goals and short-handed goals.

I need to protect 4 of 7 forwards - Ryan Strome, Sam Gagner, Teravainen, Kuznetsov, Kucherov, Silfverberg and Colin Wilson.

I need to protect 3 of 5 defence - Ekman-Larson, Justin Schultz, Slava Voynov, TJ Brodie and Justin Faulk.

So...who do you think I should protect?

Thanks for doing this.

[errantpass]

Thanks for doing this Dobber. My first time posting here!
Do you expect Jagr to come anywhere close to this season's performance next year?