Two years ago, a 7-round opening missed-draft auto-draft had me finish 7th (out of PRO qualification) in a Dobber Conference-level league.
Last year, I managed to qualify the hard way, finishing 1st overall in my league (Campbell? Wales?)
I managed that win on the strength of drafting D-heavy with value-drafting goalies.
This style usually works GREAT if there's 1, 2, or 3 lesser-keen GMs... because value-goalies are left on the table.
It does NOT work so great in a fully-keen league: especially one with WEEKLY starts. (In RHRS, at least I can spot-add back-up goalies when I see H2H matches coming)
So I was (too) bound & determined to GET, MY, GOALIES!
Off & running on my DobberPRO team (drafted Sept20th, ten days ahead of RHRS).
1-9: Erik Karlsson. In this six-cat league (with HIT, but not PIM), there are three elite D... and they start to go near the end of 1st round... which means I'd better draft one pre-turn, not after. Sure enough, this was smart. Burns went at 7, then Hedman at 11.
2-16: Patrik Laine. In this format, getting big G/SOG is critical on top end of draft. Laine should also bring great PPP and +/-. I needed this to balance out Karlsson, who may not put up huge SOG. And... I mean, how can anybody NOT want to own this guy!!!
3-33: Tuukka Rask. I don't like drafting goalies high... but in "weekly lock", its hard to rally in goalie starts. I rostered 3 quality goalies last year, overpaced at G, and was all set when a starter went down. It was critical to my 1st place finish and I've seen it decimate teams to relegation. This year, I simply want to feel out the league and avoid relegation, so I'll make sure I get my 164 starts. I target Atlantic goalies because TB/TOR/BOS/FLA get to feast on BUF/OTT/MON/DET. I really would've liked to compliment Rask with Halak... but Halak went way sooner than I hoped - fortunately, I've got enough goalies.
4-40: MA Fleury. Goalie #2. Immediately, this puts me behind pace on high-end skater stats. This may be a problem, but, again, I'll settle for 5th-8th place so long as my goaltending is very good in 6/3-cat set-up.
5-57: Anze Kopitar. Solid all-around center who I also took in RHRS around about same mark. Should have solid stats again.
6-64: Mitchell Marner. I took him in RHRS too. Expecting big things. RW2.
7-81: OEL. He's pretty good in this format and I think he has a bounce-back year.
8-88: Brayden Point. Very good young forward. About par-value at this pick.
9-105: Roberto Luongo. I was the first team to have 3 goalies... and I made this pick because the teams inside me at the turn were laying off goalies. I *HATE* leaving value on the board for ANYONE. Sometimes, yes, I will hurt my own team. And, in DobberTier leagues, the relegation is REAL - which means people may feel forced to trade for a goalie if they are falling down there. I also *LOVE* the Panthers upside this year. I suppose we'll never know if Lu was to go in the next six picks... but it was disheartening when they all laid off goalie drafts again.
10-112: Sean Couturier. He's not going to be top30 fantasy player again... but maybe top 60. I'll take that.
11-129: Carey Price. 4th goalie. Ugh. IDK, looking back... it's hard to justify this. Same theory as round 9... those damn slackers drafting at 10-11-12, we'll see how they do.
12-136: Colin Miller. I'm not thrilled about this pick, but his advanced stats are really good and he does HIT and get PP time. With Schmidt out to start season, should get big TOI.
13-153: Nino Niederreiter. TBH, IDK on this pick. Nino has always baffled me. Some expect him to bounce back and I started getting desperate because I had ZERO Left Wingers here... just could.not.find.one.
14-160: Ryan O'Reilly. This should be a solid pick. ROR fell on pre-draft rank because of his Buffalo negative, which could flip from -20 to +20 with STL. Let's hope so.
15-177: Anthony Mantha. Mantha is a young player I'm big on this year. With Zetterberg out, I expect him & Larkin to be PP1 and line1 all year. Hopefully he busts out to 55-60pts and big Hits. I do worry about +/-.
I decided to name my team after him.
16-184: Jon Drouin. Well, back to my hopes. I was SO high on him last year... I'll invest again. Two years ago Larkin burned me... and I vowed not to make that mistake again. I should've Larkin-ed twice, now I'll Drouin-twice.
17-203: Nikita Zadorov. Ugh, looking back, 17th round is way to high for a pure HITS investment... but I had abused my D-drafting.
18-210: Patrick Marleau. So, then I compliment my over-HIT drafting with a non-HIT guy, hoping to recoup my Zadorov MINUS with Marleau's PLUS. Feels like I got ONE player with TWO picks. Awful.
rd19: Erik Johnson. Great value, while healthy.
rd20: Nick Bjugstad. Actually solid place to get a FLA top sixer.
rd21: Zach Hyman. No PP1, so hope those complimentary points and pluses add up.
rd22: Oliver Bjorkstrand. High on this kid, drafted him in RHRS at about same point.
rd23: Michael Del Zotto. Well, he hits.
rd24: Robby Fabbri. Already injured, ho-hum
rd25: Micheal Ferland. Why do you spell your name E-A-L. I hate that. I've since replaced him.
Overall - this draft was similar to the way Ebby Calvin Nuke Laloosh makes love...
"a little bit all over the place".
One of my poorer drafts ever - with no potential of a top 3 finish.
Best case is that I flip a goalie or two to somebody desperately trying to avoid relegation.
For now, I'll be scratching & clawing to a 7th or 8th place finish... if I can.
Just a really bad draft... but it set the tone for a more focused attack on RHRS, ten days later.