A question of strategy...

[rticinelli]

I\'ll try to paint the picture as briefly as possible...

I play in a 15-team league with 23-man rosters. Right now, my bench is full of \"centers,\" most of whom should gain eligibility on a wing soon. However, in the meantime, I am short one LW, RW and D-man in my starting lineup. My bottom two (4th and 5th out of 6) dmen are Russell and Harrold. I\'m considering dropping them for Tucker and Voros, two guys that I feel can give me 30-40 points and 100-150 PIM (with about an Even +/- rating as opposed to the potentially big hit in minus from the two dmen).

I\'m in a position to contend for the title this year, but having a starting lineup that\'s three players short of a full deck obviously hurts my chances. Would you drop the two promising young dmen for the two forwards? Russell and Harrold probably wouldn\'t make my keeper list, but they could end up being very attractive bargaining chips on the trade market... Tucker and Voros will probably give me the same point production, but with better \"intangibles\" (i.e. PIM and +/-).

Thoughts?

[smoothfun]

this is pretty obvious ! , you have to play a full line-up if you plan on competing!there must be some decent fa\'s that can fill up those spots for you.brooks laich for ex. , s.avery , etc. good luck.

[duducks]

You have to dress a full lineup.

If I think I have a shot at this season, I don\'t care what happens next season. You have to win while you have the chance, and do everything to help.

If you\'re just holding onto these guys to trade, might as well try right now for a couple of days to move them. If you can\'t, drop them and fill up your roster

[rticinelli]

Maybe I didn\'t state my question clearly enough. I\'m obviously working towards filling out my starting lineup... once guys like Mueller and Laich (who are currently on my bench) gain LW/RW eligibility, then I\'ll be fine.

The question, though, is in the meantime would you rather have Russell and Harrold in your lineup, or Tucker and Voros? Again, considering it is a keeper league and guys like Russell and Harrold would bring more value as a keeper asset, but guys like Tucker and Voros would probably produce better numbers (points, PIM, +/-). I\'m currently one LW, one RW and one Dman short of a full roster... so, would it be worth it to drop my 4th and 5th dmen (Russell and Harrold... we start 6) to start an extra LW (Voros) and RW (Tucker)?

p.s. With a 15-team, 23-man roster league, do you honestly think guys like Avery and Laich would be on the FA list?!

[Fongmeister]

What is your D like right now?

I don\'t like seeing teams go without a full roster.
Especially if you\'re contending.

IMO: Russell could be a solid 30 pt dman this season. Keep the guy.

I don\'t see Harrold contributing. Try and deal the guy before dropping him.

Otherwise, I\'d go according to plan, and trying to pick up one of those two wingers.

[rticinelli]

Let me try re-phrasing once again...

There are no moves that I can make that will fill-out my roster. I will have a full roster once Mueller and Laich gain LW/RW eligibility... in the meantime, they are sitting on my bench.

The question is, until those two forwards gain their proper eligibility, would you drop Russell and Harrold for two forwards. No matter what I do, I will have holes in my starting lineup because Mueller and Laich are both incorrectly listed as center-eligible... for obvious reasons, I will not drop either of them to pick up a winger like Voros or Tucker, but am thinking that it might be more worthwile to have a Voros and Tucker in my lineup for the time being than a Russell and Harrold.

I guess I\'ll make it even simpler... which pair do you think will produce better, in terms of PTS, PIM and +/-?...

Voros and Tucker
or
Russell and Harrold

[woodrow]

I definitely think your strategy of Voros and Tucker would pay bigger dividends for you. Are you looking at dropping these 2 once Laich and Mueller get their eligibilty on the wing? What are the odds that Russel and/or Harrold will still be available at that point? I\'d be tempted to drop at least 1 D-man for Tucker in the short term. If you are short on your roster, not a big deal, especially since you can probably make this up later on. I did this last year and it definitely helped close out winning my league. If you are going to be short in the lineup, do it with your worse D-men.

[rticinelli]

Thanks woodrow... that\'s what I was leaning towards. I also think there is a chance (slim, but a chance nonetheless) that both Russell and Harrold will still be available after Mueller and Laich gain eligibility on the wing. Once that happens, I would drop Voros and Tucker to pick up my final two defensemen.

[spitball]

i\'m surprised tucker and voros are available

make the move now...phx only plays 9 games the first four weeks. you might be waiting quite awhile for mueller to gain w elig.

btw, i think this is question of tactics....

cheers
spitball