Play-off move time

[65jeff]

Is it worth my first round pick (which is equivalent to 7th round since we keep 6) to get one of Horvat or Couturier plus one of Kuemper or Varlamov? Or would you try to use the first for a better goalie and not worry about forwards? Or keep the first and do nothing?

I'm currently in first place by a fair margin. An important detail is that we have seven moves per week, so having roster room to make moves is worthwhile.

I don't have a lot of experience in knowing when to go for the win. I'm 12-2 in matchups thus far, so there may not be a need to make moves but other teams are making trades to improve.

My categories record this season - you can see i am weakest in net though Lehner is really picking it up:

G	A	PIM	PPP	SOG	FW	HIT	BLK
8-5-1	12-2-0	10-3-1	11-2-1	13-1-0	11-3-0	11-2-1	11-3-0

W	GAA	SV	SV%	SHO
5-7-2	9-5-0	6-8-0	8-6-0	1-5-8

My team and league settings are below. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

Henrique, Lowry, Backlund and Vatrano are all temporary with Hall, Trocheck, J Staal and Pionk on my IR.

Yahoo H2H - 10 Teams - Keep 6
G A PPP PIM SOG FOW HIT BLK
W SV SV% GAA SO
3C 3L 3R 1F 5D 1U 3G 5BN 4IR+ 1NA

C Stamkos Eichel Trocheck Larkin J Staal Henrique Lowry Backlund
LW Hall Kreider Ferland Rust Vatrano
RW Palmieri Kessel Stone Nyquist
D Josi Carlson Chabot Yandle Edler Petry Pionk
G Andersen Talbot Grubauer Lehner

[hockeyrobot]

I would be wanting a lot more if I'm giving up a 1st round pick. Look at the non playoff teams and ask for their best players outside of their top 6. That's gotta be better than Horvat in a 10 team league.

[Eskimo Brother]

I agree with hockeyrobot.
As the league leader, keeping the podium is worthwhile, and definitely worth exploring shopping your first rounder. However, you need a lot more than that for a first.
In one limited keeper of mine (10 team keep 11 - so double the keepers from your league) I traded my first for Radulov. I would expect you to be able to get even more value back than that for a first because in your league firsts are even more valuable.

[hockeyrobot]

I agree with hockeyrobot.
As the league leader, keeping the podium is worthwhile, and definitely worth exploring shopping your first rounder. However, you need a lot more than that for a first.
In one limited keeper of mine (10 team keep 11 - so double the keepers from your league) I traded my first for Radulov. I would expect you to be able to get even more value back than that for a first because in your league firsts are even more valuable.

Yep to compare as well....we keep 8 and just had some firsts go for starting goalies like Fleury, Rinne and Jones (I was surprised by all of these because they should definitely be in the "keep 8" but anyways....) and then another one go for PK.

[65jeff]

Hey, thanks for the replies. I will definitely try to see if I can get a better goalie as more teams pack it in for the season.

Nashville and Vegas don't have great play-off schedules so Rinne and Fleury are not guys I would target but I should be able to land someone better than Kuemper for that first.

I could get Kuemper alone for a 4th round pick. I'm just not sold on Kuemper. I had the idea of adding in the forward so that I'd get two upgrades for one pick.

My keepers at this stage are Eichel Larkin Stamkos Andersen and two of Carlson Chabot Trocheck Hall. I have strong keepers already for this format so I would not be keeping whoever I acquire in this trade. Despite their value in my format, I don't like investing a lot of capital in goalies due to the year to year uncertainty. I could try to upgrade some of my potential keeper forwards for a keeper goalie, but I don't want to keep a second goalie.

[65jeff]

After making some moves my team is now:

C Stamkos Eichel Trocheck Larkin Scheifele Couturier J Staal
LW Hall Kreider Ferland Vatrano Pacioretty
RW Palmieri Kessel Nyquist DeBrincat Keller
D Josi Carlson Chabot Yandle Edler Petry
G Andersen Talbot Grubauer Lehner Kuemper

I have, however, given up my first and second round picks for next year. I didn't intend to give up my first, but I got offered Scheifele for it today and didn't want another contender to snap up the offer.

So I have some options:

1. Roll into the play-offs with this team and gamble on recouping picks in the off season. I'm going to have to drop 4 or 5 keepable guys. I should be able to get picks for players. I know I could get a good pick for Eichel. See option 3.
2. Try to trade for goal tending. That will be tough and expensive. Since we start 3 most guys roster 4 or 5, some more. I really don't want to keep two goalies so going big and trying to get someone like Vasilevskiy doesn't work for me.
3. Another team who is out of it has been after Eichel all season long. This team is out of the playoffs and has a spare first round pick, so it is easy for him to make a good offer. He has offered his first pick plus Horvat for Eichel. I might be able to get Barrie instead of Horvat. This would be turning Eichel into Scheifele plus Barrie or Horvat plus an upgrade on my first round pick by a few slots. I reckon Eichel is the best player in the deal in this league set up. Shoots more, hits more and gets more PIMs than Scheifele.

Check the first post in this thread for the league set up.

Let me know what you think!

[DusterDave]

Option 1. Go for the championship. We play fantasy to win. Recoup whatever picks you can in the off-season by trading your non-keepers.

[lucafen4]

you need eichel for the win. I wouldn't be downgrading my team due to worrying about picks in the upcoming draft - that's what summer is for.

I would drop Talbot & use that slot to waiver churn. with 7 moves per week, you'll never use them all anyway.

[65jeff]

Thanks for your replies, fellas.

After sleeping on it I landed on the same thought. In a keep 6 when will I have this team again? Plus I've had lots of injuries with significant time missed (Trocheck Hall Edler Chabot Eichel Andersen and now Larkin) - if that continues I'll wish I had kept the best players.

I do need to drop 1 or 2 players to allow me to use those 7 moves. Talbot and Grubauer are candidates as are Keller and Nyquist. With so many moves it's tough to compete in shots hits blocks and saves if you don't use the moves.

I'm hesitant to drop the goalies in case of an injury. There's probably 50 goalies currently rostered in the league. Absolutely nothing on the wire. I was really lucky I snagged and held Lehner until he heated up.

On the other hand, I think I have benched Talbot and Grubauer nearly every start the last three or four weeks. I'm not getting much value from them unless I'm losing the rate cats and want extra saves.

I'm starting to notice that I am struggling with assists. I think due to Eichel Carlson Yandle and Chabot slowing down. I have acquired a lot of goal heavy forwards. I have been trying to get Wheeler (offered Hall, but no luck).

Thanks again for the replies!