Auction strategies/trends/general discussion

[larrylintz]

I'm preparing for an auction and i'd really love to get a sense as to where the bargains are going to be, and i was hoping auction averages from the big sites would help. But this link https://hockey.fantasysports.yahoo.c...=DA_AP&count=0 that was the basis for a column on the dobber site doesn't seem credible. How could Ryan Johansen be going for $5 vs $50 for Giroux and Perry? This does not make any sense to me and there are many other aberrations, as noted in that column. Is there something I'm missing? Is this about bots messing things up?

And for those of you in auction drafts or mocks in leagues with competitors you know and respect, can you share with us the players that you think are being consistently under/over valued?

[Eskimo Brother]

Johansen seems low at $5 compared to the others you mentioned. Generally the top guys do go for insane amounts more than the middle tier guys. It's tough to list who may be undervalued, as every league is different.
The best thing you can do it budget your money wisely, and sick to the budget!! Nothing hurts more than bailing on an auction strategy 5 picks in.

[finminer]

Looks like kind of an odd setup, 5F-2D-0G? And only G and A for points? Do I understand this right?

These effects are kind of obvious, but they will all serve to drive up prices of the top scorers:
1) No goalies, who tend to chew up a lot of $ early in an auction.
2) Pushes out younger players out considerably. Young studs like Matthews and Laine will often be overvalued for their longer term scoring, but in their 1st year and with only 80 forwards picked, they might be late round buys at best.
3) Devalues power play specialists.
4) Devalues players with strong peripherals but not as much scoring. So a guy like Landeskog, with decent scoring but higher value for Plms, would get pushed out.

I did a quick sort on last year's top 80 F's and top 32 D. The guys below were just outside those lists - a lot of younger players whose hype might exceed their performance, so they could easily be earlier targets with higher prices. I would watch prices on these guys as well as those that were in the bottom 25% last year, who could be relative bargains, especially if they have steady track records.
F - Zibanejad, Zetterberg, V Rask, Eberle, Hertl, Larkin, Duclair, Ehlers, Tyler Johnson, Fabbri, Burakovsky
D - Ekblad, Rielly, Ekholm, McDonagh, Parayko, Jones, Dumba, Severson, Lindholm

[Magicstew]

How many on Roster. I usually try to tier scorers in groups i.e 80+, 70-80,60-70 etc. This way I try not to overbid on players as other owners usually overbid on their favorite players or teams. This way you know how many are left in category to bid on. You need to get some top player so you may have to overbid on some stars. The guys that win you these drafts are the end picks or lower value guys who break out. I also like to keep a couple of my last picks for whatever the minimum bid is. The worst thing in an auction draft is to have a lot of money left at the end, so you need to keep track of your totals, as well as everyone else's total at all times. Help you to know if others can bid you up.

[larrylintz]

Roster of 10 players plus 3 waiver picks during year so average of 13 per team. We could have as many as 20 teams this year, which will be scary. I almost always blow my money early on a superstar or two and fill out roster with cheapies and astute waiver picks, and have won last 3 years. I'm really torn this year between Karlsson and McDavid as there's just no way i'll be able to afford both of them, but have a man-crush on both of them. McDavid blowing me away in world cup, what a force.
there is a very idiosyncratic trend in my league, and auction is based on last year's points standings so you go down from kane at the top, Karlsson will be 5th, etc. McD will be moved up to top 10 though. Superstars go for $100ish out of the $200 budget, crosby might go for 120 and Karlsson SHOULD go for same this year. Some are cautious in early going, then there's a bidding war for the 55-70 point guys as everyone panics about being stuck with money, then there's usually big bargains below 55 EXCEPT if you wait for a Couture or tyler johnson there's a good chance someone else will also be saving money for that player, so you can get burned doing that.