Draft Strategy?

[TheBigJankowski]

Hello All.

Our draft is coming up and I was trying to create my draft strategy. I Need to draft a 4th defence man, and I thought I would address this area first. Then for my bench spots, I was thinking of a veteran forward, and a prospect. Then I thought I would draft another defence man with my last pick. I added a couple of goalie prospects, although I don't really need a 4th goalie. Just thought I could season one on the bench and maybe trade on of the three in a season or two. Any Thoughts on this strategy? Is there anyone I should specifically target on this list. I just plucked players that were available, from Dobber's FH Draft List. Team is in Sig. Thank You.

Jake Gardiner
Tobias Enstrom
Morgan Rielly
Dan Boyle
T.J. Brodie
Justin Faulk
Cody Franson
Slava Voynov
Aaron Ekblad
Darnell Nurse
Hampus Lindholm
Tyler Myers
Radim Vrbata
David Desharnais
Mats Zuccarello
Mike Ribeiro
Jiri Hudler
Carl Soderberg
Jiri Tlusty
Sam Gagner
Dustin Brown
Tyler Johnson
Nick Bonino
Ryan Strome
Tyler Toffoli
Leon Draisaitl
Johnny Gaudreau
Sam Bennett
Sam Reinhart
Max Domi
Linden Vey
John Gibson
Jake Allen
Darcy Kuemper
Colin Wilson
Justin Williams
Alex Tanguay
David Legwand
Alex Killorn
Ryan Callahan
Michael Frolik
Benoit Pouliot
Lars Eller
Pascal Dupuis
Andrew Cogliano
Martin Hanzal

[smartfantasyhockey]

Goalies seem to be very valuable in your league, and I see John Gibson there, who's value is sky high right now. Depending on how other GMs value goalies and youth, I'd guess you could draft Gibson and trade him or Crawford and get a better d-man than those from this list. Just a thought.

In a point only league, Boyle and Enstrom are safe picks. Whoever ends up on Toronto's top pairing between Gardiner and Reilly is also interesting.

For veterans forwards, I like Vrbata and Ribeiro here. Hudler is a safe bet for ~50pts, as well as Desharnais, who seems to be clicking well on a line with Pacioretty and Parenteau in training camp.

For rookies, you've got great names in that list. On the other hand, I'm not sure any of them are that much better than your keepers, so maybe you're looking at short term production here. In that case, Toffoli, Gaudreau and maybe Domi are the only ones I can see making an impact this year.

[Avangard]

Definitely Reilly as 4th D. Also Allen could be a good pick for a G. He has only Elliot challenging him, which is less than Andersen.

[Pengwin7]

One of the biggest mistakes I see in drafts is people that feel they need to fill out each starting roster spot before filling their bench.
In most leagues, goalies are most valuable, then forwards, then defense.
In some leagues, it is forwards, then goalies... then defense.

But my last STARTING! D-slot is usually the last spot I fill in most one-year drafts.
I still plan to stream in extra forwards & goalies and I KNOW that those players carry more value (per start) than a defenseman.

For example, in my recent roto pool, we have 3C/3LW/3RW/5D/2G + 5 bench.
My first FOUR players were all centers.
Only centers. C-only.
This doesn't bother me.
We have a GP max for centers and I have no conflicts with those 4 in 3C slots for the first month & half of season.
I'm going to overpace Games Played... then trade one for value.
Maybe ONE goes down with an injury... I've still got three.

And they are going to provide MUCH more than D in this league.


Long way of saying... don't feel a NEED to fill your last D.
In your keeper league, you should be looking at John Gibson, then Jake Allen... in. that. order.

Depending on categories, I might even want Vrbata or Tyler Johnson or Callahan or Hanzal before any of these D.

My 2 cents.

[TheBigJankowski]

Thanks for the insight, I greatly appreciate it.