WHL (World Hockey League) - Settings / Inaug.Draft / Discussion

[GoNucks]

Fantastic read Burgundy!

[GoNucks]

My strategy had to change mid draft on the go after seeing how it was going....in hindsight I think a win now strategy is great plan since so many teams went youthful. With only a few teams in the win now strategy it gives a good opportunity vs less contenders right away. Good draft Burgundy!

[Pit Bulls]

My strategy stayed pretty constant throughout the draft. Once I saw I had the 15th pick overall, I knew it would be tough to go for a win now strategy. I also knew I wouldn't miss any runs (which worked well for me). I decided to get the best possible young (under 30 yrs old) player available at the time of my picks, while keeping an eye on which positions I needed to draft.

I also knew I was going to draft my Tier 1 goalie (took Bishop) in the 2nd round. He might loose some starts to Vasilevski but with 24 teams in the league, there was no chance of getting a goalie of that caliber later and he was the best available at that time in my opinion. TB will be one of the strongest teams in the east this year and Bishop should still get between 50-60 starts. I was hoping to draft Vas later (for the handcuff) but I missed out by one round.

Another key to my draft was selecting high quality prospects at the expense of my defence. I knew I could get some very serviceable d-men later in the draft without overspending. I wanted to pick prospects that had a very good chance of entering the NHL within 2-3 years. With updated salaries, my team cost $69.6 million, leaving me with $30.4 million in cap space to upgrade my team if things don't work out as expected.

Overall, I am pleased with my team - I have some solid building blocks on my roster, some very good prospects in the minors and expect to be a contender within a few years.

[evans334]

I went with pretty much the same strategy as Pitbull, trying to keep my players at around the age of 24 and with potential to break out.

I went into the draft with 3 goals also:
1 - Tarasenko would be my first pick at 10
2 - Avoid the goalie rush and grab hopefully Lehner after the rush.
3- Grab both Domi and Duclair before the prospect rush.

After I got those I just adapted as the flow went along. This league was very strong and knowledgeable so you couldn't really let anyone slide.

My one regret is not grabbing a stud D or two along the way, I completely abandoned D (pro or prospect).
I also wish my LW's were a little stronger, but I'm hoping Nelson ends up slotting in as LW1 or 2 with the Isles.

Also, I think I took a bit too much gamble on some KHL transfers (Burmistrov, Petrov, and Tikhnov), but I took them pretty late in the draft so it may prove worth the risk.

C - Nugent-Hopkins, O'Rielly, Nelson, Anisimov, Cizikas, Gordon
L - Galchenyuk, Johansson, Etem, R.Bourque
R - Tarasenko, Semin, J.Hayes, Burmistrov, Smith-Pelly, Tikhonov
D - Girardi, Gryba, Petry, Gudbranson, Scandella, Tanev
G - Lehner, Hutchinson, Neuvirth

Minors - Domi, Duclair, Erne, Point, McCarron, K.Petrov, Slephyshev, M.Rielly, Novak, Skapski

[rataylor22]

I'm probably not putting my WHL team in my sig, unless evans can show me how to do it like his.

[GretzkysMullet]

My strategy was definitely to build a strong team for now, but I did go for a couple of prospects earlier than I had anticipated because I felt they were the BPA (starting with Deangelo in the 10th round, followed by Rantanen in the 14th). Given we have to keep 5 prospects I think higher end prospects will be valuable, you want to have good players in those keeper spots. Took a goalie I feel confident in early and then let a back up option slide till much, much later. Overall I think youth went early in this draft, so there was some bargains to be had if you were willing to take older players. (Zetterberg at 161st overall comes to mind)

I think I let some points for next year slide in order to pick some younger players at a few points in the draft, and that middling/moderate approach on those picks might hurt me in the short term. Right wing is probably my weakest position. (pretty shallow these days IMO)

[Pengwin7]

Great job Burgundy.

On a scale of 1-10... I ended up about an 8.5 or 9/10 in happiness with my team.

Round 1 - once I got the #6 pick... I knew my love for the team would be getting Claude Giroux (one of my fave players) for my team.
Round 2 - I was set on Pavelski - and was shocked when praba took him. 95% of people pass on Pavelski. That was a big wrench, but considering the goalie run... and Lundqvist still there as the 10th goalie taken! Yes please.
Round 3 - Byfuglien was an absolute monster last year after moving back to D. He out-fantasy pointed Karlsson and Subban as a D-man, but the stats got lost on most people because his first 1-2 months were as a forward.
...
Round 4-9 - I loaded up on forwards, especially centers... to take advantage of the 0.01 (might not seem like much ) bonus per FOW for a center. Backes, Bergeron, Jenner, Dano, Hossa, Kunitz.
If Backes gets 600 FOW, it'll be an extra 6pts while rostered as a center. 1000 FOW from Bergeron is +10pts over the year from him while in a C slot.
...
Round 10 - Took my first prospect, Darnell Nurse. I expect Nurse to be a mini-Buff... and even though he doesn't fit in the WIN-NOW strategy, his trade value is high... and I got him AFTER Pouliot & Deangelo.
I actually considered taking Nurse in Round 8... and had PM with Axeman to ask about him. But he did slide two full rounds allowing me to take veteran wingers Hossa & Kunitz. Probably my most enjoyment in the draft was getting Hossa-Kunitz-Nurse.
...
Round 11 - I took Brouwer because there was a pure drop-off in RW scoring.
...
Round 12/13 - I took Lehtonen/Pavelec. There's a lot of wasted points here but I didn't like the forward quality and I hope to flip one of these guys... also - great security if one of my goalies gets injured.
...
Round 14-18 - Back to the veterans: B.Sutter, Nielsen, B.Richards, J.Jokinen (LW was thin), and D.Brown
...
Round 19 - Francois Beauchemin. He was one of the last big HIT/BLK/PIM defenseman that will be a top 4D guy. The COL defense has been weak and I hope Beauchemin eats huge minutes, maybe even some PP time.

Round 20/21/23 - I went with three goalie prospects - the other GMs had picked the prospect forwards bare-to-the-bone: M.Murray (PIT), Gillies (CGY), Makarov (BUF). I think all three of these guys could be starters in 2-3 years for their teams. Also prospects have trade value... and noting how many teams were in youth mode, I wanted some trade chips to barter for their veterans as I made a decision in late-regular season on going for it. Between Nurse & these three, I think I have better "trade chips" than some other older teams.
...
Round 26-on - I had one definitive strategy for this point in draft: Get 5-6 young defensemen that are prospect eligible. Specifically, I was looking for guys that were getting decent HIT/BLK... and whose scoring would be gravy if they do it. Whichever are putting up stats will be starters for me... the others can wait in the minors. I got Lovejoy (PIT-D5/D6), C.Wideman (OTT-D6/D7), Trotman (BOS-D5/D6), Hickey (NYI-D5), K.Miller (BOS-D5/D6), TVR (CHI-D5/D6), Chiarot (WPG-D6), Folin (MIN-D6/D7), Manson (ANA-D7/D8), and Lindbohm (STL-D5/D6). All but Lovejoy/Miller/Hickey are minors-eligible. I just need about 2 of these guys to be regulars to start with Buff/Beauch/Lovejoy/Miller/Hickey. Going with TVR & Chiarot to start the season.
...
Upside/Risks: Lars Eller (Round 22), Glencross (Round 25), Danault (Round 30).

I still like Eller's upside... and some good face-offs as MON C3.
Glencross is unsigned, but he was by far the best LW available (my LW-Bench)... and I've read speculation that he'd sign with NYR - though that's probably squashed with Stoll signing.
Danault will probably be a cut for me next year... but I first learned about him two years ago when scavenging for "best faceoff prospects"... which is how I first discovered Boone Jenner - who may still one day be a very solid two-way NHL center.

Overall, I think I might have a 5th/6th strongest team right now.
I plan to ride through half or 2/3rds of the season and then decide if I want to trade prospects to make a run.

I could've gone full-out-veteran draft... but I've learned that flexibility of strategy is important.
A couple big injuries... and I may switch tacts and be the team that trades my veterans for youth.

[GretzkysMullet]

Wow, that was a thorough break down Pengwin7. Nice.

[evans334]

I'm probably not putting my WHL team in my sig, unless evans can show me how to do it like his.

I'll provide you the link once we go public.

[rataylor22]

A couple big injuries... and I may switch tacts and be the team that trades my veterans for youth.

This is my favorite part of my team. I feel I have enough youth that I can trade my older/depth guys for youth and those guys will have good value (Hornqvist, Reilly Smith, Boedker, Ehrhoff, Seabrook, maybe even Burrows), or else I have an old enough team that most of my guys are in/entering their primes and if I want to a can trade some pure prospects to make a run. I like the flexibility to go either way based on injuries/performance.

[Burgundy]

Now that's how you recap a draft! Well done Peng.

[GretzkysMullet]

You have a really strong team Burgundy, definitely top 5 for the upcoming season.

[Burgundy]

Thanks - I'm not a huge fan of these players in particular but the draft just screamed "WIN NOW!" with the older players that kept falling. With the amount of teams going very young I have a real window to win in the next 2-3 years (will have to rely on some trades to really go for it) but then a pretty heavy rebuild will be coming.

[rataylor22]

Thanks - I'm not a huge fan of these players in particular but the draft just screamed "WIN NOW!" with the older players that kept falling. With the amount of teams going very young I have a real window to win in the next 2-3 years (will have to rely on some trades to really go for it) but then a pretty heavy rebuild will be coming.

If you're really gonna "go for it" with veterans, I think we could work something out with a Hornqvist/Nichuskin swap, as a starting point. I wouldn't do it 1 for 1 though.

[GoNucks]

I agree Burgundy that was a great draft day strategy change to go win now, and look for the heavy rebuild later. But your rebuild could be fairly quick because by then the majority of teams will be contending and not looking for youth as much as the rebuilding teams.