Expansion choices

[DocMcPuffin]

Hey dudes, looking to get some advice as to whom I should drop in our upcoming expansion draft. We will be expanding to 12 teams. We must unprotect 5 skaters and one goalie. I have second guessed myself probably like 10 times but I think I am making the right call. Players in Bold are the one's I'm thinking about leaving unprotected. Side note, I'll lose two players for sure but I also have players like Ho-Sang and Kamanev that I need to bring up or else I lose them as they are no longer protected on my taxi squad. They, at this time, are being considered to replace some guys I may drop or lose. I also have the 2nd overall pick this year so that player will most likely be called up as well. I am in the middle of a rebuild so I am focusing on youth as much as possible. Thanks all!

Panik, Jankowski, V.Rask, Anisimov, Sheary, Eakin, Ferland, Vrana, Wood, Athanasiou, Vesey, Bratt, Duclair, Sikura, Kaprizov, Gaudette, Brodie, Ekblad, Shattenkirk.

Goalies: Varlamov, Raanta, Ward (either lose in expansion draft or dropping as Demko needs to be called up)

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Also, my Sig needs to be updated so some names aren't accurate.

[DocMcPuffin]

Sig is now updated.

[zaz2712]

first of all none of the players are in bold ;-)

I would leave Ward, Panik, Eakin, Anisimov, Wood and Duclair unprotected.

Ward is the obvious choice for goalies. Eakin is useless in points-only leagues. Panik and Anisimov are low 40 pts players. I have soured on Duclair and would let another manager take a chance with him. Wood I don't really know.

Given the state of your team I'd rather leave the "older" players unprotected and take a chance with the younger ones. You can always package a couple of them to upgrade your forwards.

[DocMcPuffin]

first of all none of the players are in bold ;-)

I would leave Ward, Panik, Eakin, Anisimov, Wood and Duclair unprotected.

Ward is the obvious choice for goalies. Eakin is useless in points-only leagues. Panik and Anisimov are low 40 pts players. I have soured on Duclair and would let another manager take a chance with him. Wood I don't really know.

Given the state of your team I'd rather leave the "older" players unprotected and take a chance with the younger ones. You can always package a couple of them to upgrade your forwards.

Stupid copy and paste haha! The players were Eakin, Ferland, Panik, Brodie, Shattenkirk and Ward.

[zaz2712]

I did not realized position does not matter...

In this case, I would probably leave Brodie unprotected. But not Shattenkirk... I think you can definitely get something for him in a trade. I would still be more inclined not to protect Duclair than Shattenkirk.

[DusterDave]

Panik, Eakin, Wood, Anisimov, Duclair & Ward.

No need to leave Brodie unprotected and why on earth are you even considering exposing Shattenkirk? Ward is your easy choice for goalie. You are rebuilding and Demko is supposed to be the real deal and could get NHL starts as early as this coming season.

[stevegamer]

Wow - I think you're focusing way too much on youth. I also would've expected you to actually want decent Flames players. I see DusterDave on Shattenkirk, and raise him a Ferland.

Shattenkrik is a pretty reliable 40 point D. Even considering that you can roster whatever skaters you want, that is still a reliable 40 point guy, and you don't have many of them. If the league changes in the future to require D, you will want a couple of them.

Ferland is 25, and put up 20 goals this year. He looked good at times on the first line. You're not so loaded that you won't miss him, and unless you hate him ofr the Flames, I don't see that making any sense.


Easy drops for me: Anisimov, Eakin, Panik, and Ward. Old and not that productive.

My other two are Wood & your choice of Brodie, Duclair, or Vesey.

I know that Wood is young, but he's just a guy right now. He's got no name recognition, hype nor strong production.

Brodie: Con: oldest of the 3, and a Dman, so lowest ceiling, in theory. Pro: Most proven, safest floor, Flame
Duclair: Con: 3rd team in 3 years, attitude issues, smells like a bust. Pro: Youngest, highly drafted, most hyped.
Vesey: Con: least draft pedigree. Pro: Has been pretty decent, and team is now rebuilding with youth, more opportunities, maybe.

If you could deal one of the guys for a prospect and a guy to expose, that would be ideal, but you likely can't.

[DocMcPuffin]

So general consensus would be to protect Shatty over Brodie? And probably Ferland over Duclair? Basically Panik, Anisimov, Brodie, Duclair Eakin and Ward? I've got more D men than I'd like and I don't want to drop Ekblad so would most of you agree Brodie would be the odd man out? Really appreciate all the good advice.

[Eskimo Brother]

So general consensus would be to protect Shatty over Brodie? And probably Ferland over Duclair? Basically Panik, Anisimov, Brodie, Duclair Eakin and Ward? I've got more D men than I'd like and I don't want to drop Ekblad so would most of you agree Brodie would be the odd man out? Really appreciate all the good advice.

I thought positions didn't matter, so what does it matter if you have more Dmen?

I think it's a pretty easy decision with: Anisimov, Panik, Duclair, Eakin, Brodie and Ward.

[lucafen4]

I thought positions didn't matter, so what does it matter if you have more Dmen?

I think it's a pretty easy decision with: Anisimov, Panik, Duclair, Eakin, Brodie and Ward.

yup, agree here

[DocMcPuffin]

Position doesn't matter but D men seem to hold less value than forwards in our pool for some reason. I could offer a 40 point D man for a 20 point forward and 9 times out of 10, I'd get rejected. Hell, Doughty is on the waiver list and he had 60 points this year.

[lucafen4]

Position doesn't matter but D men seem to hold less value than forwards in our pool for some reason. I could offer a 40 point D man for a 20 point forward and 9 times out of 10, I'd get rejected. Hell, Doughty is on the waiver list and he had 60 points this year.

I'd be filling the bottom of my roster with 40-60pt dmen then... points are points. anyone not rostering Doughty but taking say a Connor Brown or Bryan Rust is crazy... sounds like something to be exploited

[stevegamer]

Position doesn't matter but D men seem to hold less value than forwards in our pool for some reason. I could offer a 40 point D man for a 20 point forward and 9 times out of 10, I'd get rejected. Hell, Doughty is on the waiver list and he had 60 points this year.

Okay, most of the people in your league don't understand the rules. Now take advantage of them.

[DocMcPuffin]

Okay, most of the people in your league don't understand the rules. Now take advantage of them.

Actually it's shocking how many good scoring D men are on the waiver wire. As much as it may not seem like it, I do see value in D men but like I said, for some reason, unless you're EK, Hedman or Subban, you're not valued much in our pool by other GMs.

[lucafen4]

Actually it's shocking how many good scoring D men are on the waiver wire. As much as it may not seem like it, I do see value in D men but like I said, for some reason, unless you're EK, Hedman or Subban, you're not valued much in our pool by other GMs.

it's a really weird and flawed philosophy. Points are Points, it makes no sense to run a 30pt forward out there when there's 5 50pt dmen sitting on the wire. If I were sitting there with Eakins on my roster and I saw Doughty or Barrie floating as a UFA... man, I'd be licking my chops. That's a 30pt bump right there