Opinions on my first draft of the season

[4T2]

Hey guys, first draft of the season complete... been in this league for years and usually am pretty competitive. Won last year (3rd time in 7 years). What do you guys think of my draft (10th overall pick)?

12 Team H2H Daily Starts
Roster Positions: C, C, LW, LW, RW, RW, F, D, D, D, D, Util, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN, IR+, IR+
Forwards/Defensemen Stat Categories: Goals (G), Assists (A), Points (P), Plus/Minus (+/-), Penalty Minutes (PIM), Powerplay Points (PPP), Shorthanded Points (SHP), Game-Winning Goals (GWG), Shots on Goal (SOG), Faceoffs Won (FW)
Goaltenders Stat Categories: Games Started (GS), Wins (W), Losses (L), Goals Against Average (GAA), Save Percentage (SV%), Shutouts (SHO)

1. (10) Braden Holtby (Was - G)
2. (15) Erik Karlsson (Ott - D)
3. (34) Blake Wheeler (Wpg - RW)
4. (39) Filip Forsberg (Nsh - LW)
5. (58) Brad Marchand (Bos - LW)
6. (63) John Klingberg (Dal - D)
7. (82) Jakub Voracek (Phi - LW,RW)
8. (87) Milan Lucic (Edm - LW)
9. (106) Tyler Johnson (TB - C)
10. (111) Semyon Varlamov (Col - G)
11. (130) Cam Talbot (Edm - G)
12. (135) Brendan Gallagher (Mon - RW)
13. (154) Derek Stepan (NYR - C)
14. (159) Tomas Plekanec (Mon - C)
15. (178) Leon Draisaitl (Edm - C)
16. (183) Andrei Markov (Mon - D)
17. (202) Nikolaj Ehlers (Wpg - LW,RW)
18. (207) Alex Goligoski (Ari - D)

Roster:
C: Johnson, Stepan, Plekanec, Draisatl
LW: Forsberg, Marchand, Voracek (RW), Lucic
RW: Wheeler, Gallagher, Ehlers (LW)
D: Karlsson, Klingberg, Markov, Goligoski
G: Holtby, Varlamov, Talbot

[Invictus]

Looks pretty solid. Somewhat similar to mine. Not sure the Varly pick at that spot was all that great but I'm guessing goalies were going fast by then.

I'm going to post mine too in a sec

[Eskimo Brother]

Marchand may be a little high.
You also waited a long time on your 3rd Dman. Not sure how great that will work out. Varly is also a questionable second goalie, but Holtby does make it more palatable.
There's no way to have a perfect draft in a 12 man league.

[Invictus]

Actually thinking about it Marchand went top 50 in my draft ...

[The Bottlenecker]

Interesting how you chose so many wingers early on and still grabbed some decent centremen later on. Maybe a strategy for me to consider in my one year league??
Can't really add anything different to what has already been said, but wanted to comment on the selection of so many wingers. Good team, 4T2!

[rangerfan2430]

I like it a lot. Only thing I'd say is Varly as your second goalie is a bit risky but I think he's going to surprise this year. Also, having Holtby and Talbot mitigates the risk

[Ingolo]

Other than your 3/4 dmen being relatively weak, pretty solid team, especially at pick #10. Nice steal on Karlsson at 15th, would have expected him gone by then, and Ehlers as your second-to-last pick is going to look like a stroke of genius if (I'd rather say when) he pots 60pts this year. Also, I know you picked Varly before Talbot, but I would consider Varly your bench goalie, and Talbot the #2.

[stevegamer]

I like it, I look at Talbot as your real #2 goalie, Varlamov is #3. Really like the Ehlers pick late.

[Invictus]

Klingberg isnt bad...

[ChilePuck]

That's a great looking team. The only thing I would have done different is pick other D-men at the end of the draft - such as:

Trevor Daley
Brian Campbell
Mark Streit

Then again what do I know....

[4T2]

Thanks everyone. I had really intended to snag a #2 goalie earlier but they went pretty quick and I couldn't justify picking certain goalies over the choices I made. My intention was to snag 2 goalies and 3 wingers with my first 5 picks but when Karlsson fell to 15 I had to take him. Varly is risky but I figured I could get him and a solid #3 with those 2 picks and that worked out.

There's still some valuable D on the waiver wire (including Reilly/Hanifin/E Johnson/Boychuk/Trouba/Larsson) so I'm going to be pretty quick to swap out Markov/Goli if any of those guys get off to good starts or even have a really good camp. The league is so heavily weighted to point producing forwards and with only 4 D slots and no Hits or BS, I figured I could wait on my last 2 D.

The only downside to waiting on drafting my C was it was tough to get a lot of FOW but I think I have made up for that in other areas.

Thanks for all the input guys. It was a far cry from my usual strategy, which is why I was looking for the feedback. You guys have made me feel a little better about it now.

[horrorfan]

I think you have a decent balance, but lacking a high end forward. Your goalie settings are a bit different to my experience (having losses) so perhaps Holtby is even more valuable, but I would have chosen a top forward there. In a H2H league I find that you can be successful without an elite goalie but you know your league better than I do. Personally I would've chosen a top forward at 10 and grabbed your first goalie at 34 instead of Wheeler, who may not return the value of last year (52 assists is a high number and may be difficult to repeat).

I love your top two D. I think you may struggle with faceoffs unless you find a way to get Plekanec in there more often. Johnson and Stepan are not yet big faceoff guys and you don't have any wingers that help there. Though if Yahoo I know there aren't as many as years before.

For your forwards, as you are lacking a top end one, you appear to be relying on last year's breakouts to continue/stabilise (Wheeler, Forsberg, Marchand) getting bounce backs (Voracek, Johnson), or new breakouts (Gallagher, Draisaitl, Ehlers)

I think you'll be competitive but there is some risk there. As mentioned, there is good balance and should battle for a playoff spot at least.

[RizzeeDizzee]

Karlsson fell to 15th in a league where the starting line-ups consist of 36% defensemen. And then Klingberg nearly 50 picks later! My take is your team seems like it'll certainly be in the upper echelon, and based on who you were able to draft and when, this league probably is not filled with the brightest other fantasy bulbs, which in turn means you'll be able to improve as the season goes along.