Can Crosby or Ovechkin Hurt Your Fantasy Team?

[smack]

I think this was brought up in a post a while ago but not sure. I\'m in quite a few pools and noticed that whoever has Crosby or Ovechkin have won 1/5 of those pools. Then I have 2 other friends in another 5 or so pools and whoever had Crosby or Ovechkin didn\'t place better than 3rd other than one who came in 2nd.

However, in 3 of those pools the GM who traded Crosby or Ovechkin won the pool.

So my question is this some sort of freak coincidence that means nothing or would it be better to trade them IF you can get a huge overpayment for them (as is usually the case)?


Edit: Have no idea why I put this in the injury thread so if one of the mods can move it that would be great. Cheers.

[mysterymike]

i\'ve found fantasy hockey is all about depth. ur worst player has to be good! so.. in 1 year pools, last year i traded iggy when he was leading the league in goals and vinny when leading in points for massive depth... it didnt work out, but i am on that thinking that in 1 year pools u need great depth to win it.
in keepers u need the studs.

[Shoeless]

Great question Smack. Just to add fuel to the stat - in my 7 one year leagues over the last two seasons only 1 team has topped the league with one of these guys on it - AO, two seasons ago.

I am really not sure what to think about this - although I know I have often wondered about it and certainly find my success, in 1 year leagues at least, does not involve trading for either of these guys. Once they are drafted onto another guy\'s team I tend to forget about them for the season.

[JHM]

I lost last year with Crosby & Ovechkin! But won the two years before that! Crosby owners suffered last year because he was injured. There\'s often a fairly large investment to having one of these players, so when they go down, the franchise can flounder. I\'m in a cap league. Last year was the first year with cap. In cap league, neither of these two really produces as many points as are required for a winning points to dollars ratio. We use real NHL salary. In pools where the owners assign the contracts. Pretend you gave 50% of your salary to Crosby and 50% of your salary to Ovechkin. You would lose. On the assumption that you got 250 points out of the pair, you wouldn\'t have enough points to win. So... do the big guys mess you up? Sometimes!

[Shoeless]

mysterymike wrote:

i\'ve found fantasy hockey is all about depth.

I really agree with this statement. I seldom have studs on my teams except in goal - but my next 3 guys at the position are top notch.

In 1 years for sure, I never worry about who is leading the league in the first 3-4 months, in fact I hope I am in the middle of the pack, so that I can work trades and the wire more freely to build that depth.

Guys tend to trade less with league leaders around depth increments, so in roto and points leagues I even make sure I fall behind in max games in order to not be in the lead.

[pudge]

interesting topic, BUT I don\'t think we can look at these kind of stats yet, they\'ve only played a couple seasons each (one with a pretty key injury)... in the next couple years these two (with Malkin) could widen the gap pretty substantially over the rest of the field... THEN I think it would be really interesting to see this discussion.

Also related the teams that were lucky enough to draft Crosby and AO should have an edge as their depth hasn\'t been affected as much as any team thats traded for them.

I have neither...

[Anonymous]

I think the the thing is, well firstly you have to say that this can only be true in a one year league because you are on cruise control if you ahe them in a keeper. But I think what it is, and in my preference anyways, if you draft Crosby or Ovechkin, you have the 1 or 2 pick. That means you get one superstar, but then you get like pick 23 or 24. Where as if you pick later, you still get two elite players, and if youre smart you can pick up a scoring winger and a stud goalie.

The other aspect is if you trade for Ovechkin or Crosby, then you are giving up way too much, and you decimate your team for victory. If it is a keeper league though, I would always draft near the start if I had a choice and always take the stud. Build off of quality over quantity.

It doesn\'t take much skill to draft a big name, and think of all the rookies that play the game. If a good player, or really anyone who know the game well enough, knows depth players, knows how to draft, Drafting early should have no consequences. only 1 out of 12 teams will be successful, and its likely that most public leagues have lots fo rookies, so the rookeis are going to lose no matter what player they pick. The odds are though more rookies, more rookies to pick Superstars.

Theres lots of theories, but I would never shy away from one of these all stars.

[recordstyle]

those first 2 first-rounder type picks are such a blessing/curse. a moment to savor (yes! i pick first!!) and then to dig deep and draft smart for the rest of the (snaking probably) draft.

Every season has the 2nd/3rd rounders that are bound to creep into the 1st round after career/awesome seasons. (Zetts\', Datsyuk, Heatley years ago, etc) - I enjoy the research (coughcough Dobberguide) and \"touch\" (personal mojo/hockey insight we all try to develop/sharpen) needed to feel out who will be that 2nd and 3rd rounder this year that\'ll be worth as much (or damn close to) a 1st rounder. Missed out on Jumbo Joe? Savard isn\'t far behind, and paired up with a Gomez is quite the duo to field. Not buying on the 1-man show that Ovie\' can command? Trade him for 2 (or even 3!) guys that\'ll round out your PIM, Assists, and possibly a 3rd stat (a goal shark that doesn\'t do much else that you could always trade when he\'s hot/sell-high too...)

Really great thread (fantasy-philosophy) style question though. You could argue that the monster numbers and smart drafting in later rounds brings the 1st-place title home, or you could say that they are (don\'t take it the wrong way) overrated in terms of a 1-man show and that middle of the pack draft spots and FA pickups more-than make up for their bignames on your rosters.. no?