Who to Draft?

[ESY16]

Hey DobberHockey readers!

I am in a salary cap keeper league ($75 million) that was just formed and we are in the middle of the draft right now. My pick in the 2nd round is up and I was wondering what your thoughts were on who I should take. The most interesting rule to note in this league is that a player and is an unrestricted free agent and doesn\'t sign a contract before July 1st is automatically thrown into next year\'s draft and you lose him for nothing. Therefore, a players contract status is very important.

STATS: G, A, Shots, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, FW | W, Saves, GAA, SO, SV%
KEEPERS: Entire roster save for UFAs that dont\' sign before July 1st
PLAYERS: 24 overall -- 4C, 4LW, 4RW, 6D, 2G, 4B, 2IR.

16 Teams

Ok, now that is out of the way and I can get to the players. Here is a link to the draft results thus far so that everyone can see who has been taken:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?k...PVDg&gid=5

I am ESY16 and drafted Luongo in the 1st round. The player ahead of me in the 2nd round picked Kipper even though the spreadsheet isn\'t updated yet.

At this point I am mostly contemplating between Eric Staal and Olli Jokinen. Olli will give strong numbers in multiple categories though he might be a bit of a reach and hopefully he doesn\'t leave Phoenix in 2 years. Staal will be an RFA (you can keep RFAs that don\'t sign before July 1st) that will get a big raise but (hopefully) has more 100 point seasons ahead of him. There are other solid players available but these are the two I am looking at right now. I would greatly appreciate your advice as to who to pick (now and in the next round) and thank you for reading this long post!

[Bass56]

I would go with Staal before Jokinen.. In my books, he\'s your best pick to rack up points and PP\'s. Try to snag Nick Backstrom in the next round (considering the importance of faceoffs), and you would have your centers covered and a top def in the 4th round such as Greene, Campbell or whoever is not taken at that point. Hope this helps!

[87Flyer]

definitely think taking a stud center with your next pick is crucial. myself i\'d say staal, he\'ll be locked down soon enuff and with his age and the way he played after brindy went down has got to be a bit ahead of jokinen imo. if both are gone you might want to consider others like kopitar, ribiero(not a popular choice but he looked like he had heart in the playoffs which cud bode well for him in the future), n.backstrom(may be a bit young still but so much potential on that team) and radulov(ha ha kidding).

after that, lock down a stud D man. with your league dressing 6 i can\'t stress the importance enuff of getting some of the better ones before they all disappear. guys like bouwmester, makarov, campbell, weber, e.johnson or burns would be great ones to build around. in fact i\'d prolly go with my next 2 picks on solid young D men and try to give myself a core group that would be around for many years to come. there aren\'t as many solid D men around as there is forwards and if you can mange to get yourself a solid group they could be the difference in how your team does from year to year. hope things work out well for you, good luck.

[Bass56]

hehe 87flyer, I like the way you think

[tybiggs]

lidstrom, leclaire, savard and nash? is this a friend league or something? I would be happy with staal, backstrom or....hossa! Unfortunately hossa will be the ufa next year so scratch that. Staal and dont look back. He went 14th in our recent draft.

[Shoeless]

35% of your stats coming from 2 goalies - I would be tempted to slam the door on those cats with another goalie and create a goalie run - you look like you have a pick coming up soon after your round 2 pick for round 3 - lots of time on a centre

[Pm4n3y]

I really like Pheonix for the next five years. Olli should continue to produce for the next 4 - 5 years at a high level. You definetely need a monster defense or 2, so get on that in the next round. I would say after this pick you should try for 2 D and one centre like Kopitar/Backstrom if you still can. Good luck!

[BrianSTC]

I agree with shoeless.

Draft your second goalie...

Otherwise, I would personally take Backstrom over Staal - I doubt Backstrom will still be there in the 3rd round.

Or take Green.

[ESY16]

Normally, I would completely agree with you Shoeless. I forgot to mention however that there is a rule in the league that you can\'t take a second goalie until all teams have at least 1 (and you must have 1 goalie by the 5th round). I hate the rule but it does exist so I can\'t take another goalie until the 6th round most likely.

Looks like we have 2 votes for Staal and 1 for Jokinen. I was leaning towards Jokinen but can certainly see the potential in Staal. Will he be getting back to his 100 point production any time soon?

Also, I know that I always underrate D so I will definitely keep in mind that I should be picking one soon. Based on production, salary, and contract (years left, likely to stay with team if UFA) who would be my best targets?

A big thanks to all that have posted so far and I will be giving out karma as soon as it reloads.

[BrianSTC]

I repeat Green...situation in Washington, locked up for I think 5 years...but he wont be there in the third round me thinks...

[Shoeless]

ESY16 wrote:

Normally, I would completely agree with you Shoeless. I forgot to mention however that there is a rule in the league that you can\'t take a second goalie until all teams have at least 1 (and you must have 1 goalie by the 5th round). I hate the rule but it does exist so I can\'t take another goalie until the 6th round most likely.

Looks like we have 2 votes for Staal and 1 for Jokinen. I was leaning towards Jokinen but can certainly see the potential in Staal. Will he be getting back to his 100 point production any time soon?

Also, I know that I always underrate D so I will definitely keep in mind that I should be picking one soon. Based on production, salary, and contract (years left, likely to stay with team if UFA) who would be my best targets?

A big thanks to all that have posted so far and I will be giving out karma as soon as it reloads.

Wow yeah that is a whacko rule. Oh well, rules are rules.

I see you took Staal. He will serve you well I think - hard to believe you got him at 28th overall. I always hate taking centres early but that seems to good to resist.

Your next pick should be interesting - keep an open mind. I bet you will see 3 goalies picked before your turn. I know you are getting alot of heat to pick a D guy and Green if available would be the one - but the way the draft is going I think a LW might be better. The drop off in value after Vanek is gone is pretty big. I don\'t see the same drop off after Green on D.

Just my $.02

[tybiggs]

sucks because it gives players like hossa...well especially hossa little value as he is unlikely to get traded and unlikely to resign.

tough seeing bryz, ward, jokinen, backstrom, vanek, gaborik, kopitar, d sedin...so many choices god I love drafting.

[ESY16]

Spreadsheet on the first page is nearly updated and it is my pick again. The two guys ahead of me (not on spreadsheet yet) picked Brendan Morrow and Anze Kopitar.

This leaves some great players still available, including Jokinen, Vanek (though his contract is not great), Backstrom, Kane, and all D besides Lidstrom/Phaneuf/Green. I was wondering what people were thinking as to who I should take. Vanek is enticing but his contract will hurt in a salary league. Jokinen is a great all-around player and Backstrom has huge upside but I already have a center. Many people think I should pick a D but I am wondering who that would be?

Also, I have been offered to trade my 3rd (this pick) and 8th round picks for a 4th and 8th round pick. Thoughts? Thanks again and Karma for all!

[BrianSTC]

I was right about Green going...

I would take Backstrom.

[ESY16]

BrianSTC wrote:

I was right about Green going...

I would take Backstrom.

Backstrom is really good but I already have a center and no wingers and D yet. I was leaning towards Ryan Whitney or Patrick Kane. Vanek would be amazing but he makes $7 million and I already have Luongo at $6.75 million and Staal who will get a big raise next year.