Another new draft complete thread

[Samfolds]

Hey guys,

Second team in my sig. We just had our draft which was a little unusual in that we simply drafted an NHL team and got all players who had played less than 20 games from it.

More information :

1. There will be a 1 round free agent draft as well as a 5 round prospect draft held in 2 weeks. This is the only was to get new players! Free agents are all players with 20 games or more played who are in a team that was not drafted... Also of note, draft order will be reverse of team draft (I picked 9th for the team, so I'll pick 6th in both the free agent and prospect drafts).
2. There are no free agent pickups at all. Only trades and drafts will permit to add players.
3. We got a 75M cap this year and will be NHL cap+7.5M in future years.

I have a ton of questions since I'm new to cap leagues, but I'll start with a handful :
1) Would there be any guys from the list in my sig that you would consider straight out dropping (or maybe try trading away)? Keep in mind that I need at least 12F, 6D and 2G and that I'll only draft one Free Agent. If I had a little more depth, I'd definitely consider dropping Bouwmeester, but he should count in my top Ds (how sad). Ott is another player I'm considering dropping..
2) Am I crazy to only consider a G in the free agent draft? One major downside of having Allen and Elliot is that they will likely get a similar amount of points, but since it's a count 2 best goalies type of pool, if I get another goalie, one of Elliot or Allen will not count this year.

I have included the teams that were drafted should you need this info:
TEAMS DRAFTED:

1. PIT
2. TB
3. MON
4. ANA
5. DAL
6. COL
7. CBJ
8. LAK
9. STL
10. MIN
11. WSH
12. CGY
13. SJS
14. NYI

Thanks for the time you'll put into this.

[tobias]

- Jay Bouwmeester averages around 30 points a year, hasn't hit 40 points in 06-07, and makes $5.4 million. Too rich for me. However, since the Blues' cap is already set, and he fits within it, you might be best to keep him, as you said.

- David Backes is a UFA next year. He has some name value, so if you can find a younger, 50 point player, on a cheaper contract, then see if you can swing that.

- Goalie situation: Where do you draft (9th again... reverse order?). I usually find goalies to be very valuable in points only leagues, there are a number of good goalies out there still (Crawford, Rinne, etc.). This is a new format to me, too, so my gut says that it's a good idea for you, especially, to get another goalie since you do not have a bonafide number 1.

[Samfolds]

For the prospect and free agent draft, order of team draft will be reversed (so I'll pick 6th). I have added this in my initial post. Thanks for pointing it out!

One other detail is that it will actually be a mixed draft (so you can either pick a free agent or a prospect in the same draft, but you are limited to only 1 free agent for the whole draft.

Based on the detail above, I think that McDavid and Eichel will go before my picks, but then I could choose one of : Crawford, Rinne, Rask, Lundqvist (although his contract is huge).
Other options at D would be : Karlsson, OEL, Josi (his contract seems to good to be true)
Other options at F would be : Giroux, Hall, Eberle

Thanks for the tip on Backes, will look to move him. As for goalies in the free agent draft, I'd be curious to hear taking a goalie vs another player. For what it is worth, Darling and Vasilevsky will be available as prospects, so I could target one of them as well.

[tobias]

What is the breakdown of points for goalies?

[Samfolds]

What is the breakdown of points for goalies?

2 points per win and 3 extra for SO. Also has 3 points for assists and 10 for a goal!

I'm pretty sure you know this based on those stats, but the top 10 fantasy players last season were all goalies except for Benn and 12 goalies were among the top 20 players.

[chuckcouples]

2 points per win and 3 extra for SO. Also has 3 points for assists and 10 for a goal!

I'm pretty sure you know this based on those stats, but the top 10 fantasy players last season were all goalies except for Benn and 12 goalies were among the top 20 players.

I think you answered your own question here. Draft a goalie with your free agent pick for sure. For prospects, I would also look at drafting a couple of big name goalies such as Hellebuyck or Vasilevski. Here's the order I would draft players:

McDavid
Lundqvist
Crawford
Rinne
Rask
Mason
Luongo
Schneider

[Samfolds]

I think you answered your own question here. Draft a goalie with your free agent pick for sure. For prospects, I would also look at drafting a couple of big name goalies such as Hellebuyck or Vasilevski. Here's the order I would draft players:

McDavid
Lundqvist
Crawford
Rinne
Rask
Mason
Luongo
Schneider

The question then becomes : Is is better to gamble that one of the free agent goalie will be available in my round 2 pick and go with a top prospect in round 1? I doubt it, but I'm wondering if I should simply pick my free agent later in the draft to load on top prospects (since everyone is only allowed to pick one FA)...

[tobias]

It's a really guessing game to me. I would think that the teams with Price, Bishop, Fleury, Andersen, Quick, Holtby, etc. would be drafting a high-end skill player since they are already "set" in net in their minds. If that is the case, then any of those aforementioned goalies plus one additional, back up goalie, is essentially the same situation you are in with Elliott and Allen. All of those goalies are better than either Elliott or Allen, but, combined with their backup, could suddenly be on par (unless, of course, those guys don't feel like they are "set" and go after the prime goalies instead). I almost think now that you don't want to eliminate one of your goalies by picking up another.

For example:

Elliot: 20 wins + 3 shutouts = 49 points
Allen: 15 wins + 2 shutouts = 36 points
Giroux: 80 points
Total = 165 points

Elliot: 20 wins + 3 shutouts = 49 points
Allen: 15 wins + 2 shutouts = 36 points
Crawford: 33 wins + 2 shutouts = 72 points
Total = 121 points (Allen is cancelled out)

I think that I changed my mind, and you should go after a Karlsson, Giroux, or Hall type of player. Drop Bouwmeester to make cap room, if needed.

[Samfolds]

It's a really guessing game to me. I would think that the teams with Price, Bishop, Fleury, Andersen, Quick, Holtby, etc. would be drafting a high-end skill player since they are already "set" in net in their minds. If that is the case, then any of those aforementioned goalies plus one additional, back up goalie, is essentially the same situation you are in with Elliott and Allen. All of those goalies are better than either Elliott or Allen, but, combined with their backup, could suddenly be on par (unless, of course, those guys don't feel like they are "set" and go after the prime goalies instead). I almost think now that you don't want to eliminate one of your goalies by picking up another.

For example:

Elliot: 20 wins + 3 shutouts = 49 points
Allen: 15 wins + 2 shutouts = 36 points
Giroux: 80 points
Total = 165 points

Elliot: 20 wins + 3 shutouts = 49 points
Allen: 15 wins + 2 shutouts = 36 points
Crawford: 33 wins + 2 shutouts = 72 points
Total = 121 points (Allen is cancelled out)

I think that I changed my mind, and you should go after a Karlsson, Giroux, or Hall type of player. Drop Bouwmeester to make cap room, if needed.

That is entirely true for this year or in the near future (as long as both Allen and Elliot are on that team). That being said, I'm still unsure whether my team will be able to contend this year or next (it's complicated since everyone has a mediocre fantasy team given that players are mostly a real NHL team) ... If I were to aim for the future, would having a starting goalie help me more (as in Allen starter long term + another starter picked up from this year's draft) rather than Giroux or Karlsson? In other words, won't goalie be worth a lot more in the future (maybe not this year, but 2-3 years from now?

I'm not really sure and find it very very hard to estimate.

[tobias]

Yes, goalies are more valuable, so you are probably right in that you should get a stud goalie for now and especially the future. Both Elliott and Allen have two years remaining on their deals (I believe), and only one will be around as the starter when that time comes.

OK, I've swung back to the "draft a goalie" side of things again. Then build around Tank, Shat, and Schwartz.