Keeper Decision

[WeissAsNice]

In a league that is expanding. It's a salary cap league, with very simple scoring cats. Pretty much only consider points and plus/minus (1 point for a goal/assist/plus and -1 for a minus 1). Basically, a 40 point, +20 player is as valuable as an 80 point, -20 player. From this list, I have to expose five.

Nik Ehlers ($5.5 mil per, 3 years remaining) [50 fantasy points in 2018]
Nino Niederreiter ($5 mil per, 3 years remaining) [67 fantasy points in 2018]
William Karlsson ($3 mil per, 2 years remaining) [79]
Max Pacioretty ($4.5 mil per, 1 year remaining) [40]
Tom Wilson ($1 mil per, 2 years remaining) [60]
Ondrej Palat ($1 mil per, 2 years remaining) [47]
Boone Jenner ($1 mil per, 1 year remaining) [51]
Jordan Greenway (RFA rights) [12]
Adam Erne (RFA rights) [35]

Which four would you protect? Keep in mind I'm a competitive squad that is in the title race.

[Auston'sWilly]

It heavily depends on the rest of your roster. i.e. how tight is your cap?
If you have room, I'd protect your 4 most expensive guys.

[WeissAsNice]

It heavily depends on the rest of your roster. i.e. how tight is your cap?
If you have room, I'd protect your 4 most expensive guys.

I have a fair amount of space right now. Last year I was right up against the cap and expect to be again when all is said and done, but with new teams entering, talented players are going to spread thinner. Right now, I'm leaning towards protecting at least 3 of the 4 higher priced ones, but I'm hesitant to give up Tom Wilson's multi year, league minimum contract, given his role in WSH.

[stevegamer]

You should most certainly not simply protect your 4 most expensive guys. By and large that's a horrible strategy in any kind of cap or auction league. Unfortunately, trying to predict plus-minus well is like trying to predict the 2032 US presidential election.

You want value, and therefore elite players and cheap guys are what you want. This list has no really elite players on it, as it's clearly the guys you are deciding between.

I'd keep Wilson & Karlsson for sure, and expose Pacioretty & the RFA rights guys for sure.

Then it comes down to the cheap (Palat/Jenner) versus the more productive (Ehlers/Neiderriter) that's really your call, as the values have fluctuated year over year, and plus-minus is fickle. Palt's plus-minus is liekly the safest, but he's likely scoring the least as well.

[WeissAsNice]

Thanks for the thoughts Steve - repped!

Jumping in real quick again here, I have to opportunity to send Ehlers out for assets that I wouldn't need to protect. Someone is offering Sam Steel and Nick Suzuki for Ehlers. Worth picking up the prospects, and making my keeper decision easier, even as a competitive team?

[senryu]

You may want to wait until a few hours from now to make that decision, because if Anaheim picks a center, then that player will (in time) compete with and perhaps displace Steel.

That aside, Steel and Suzuki are two of the better prospects with less than 40 NHL games under their belts. Based on the information available, I'd consider that. What other prospects does the other person have?

[WeissAsNice]

You may want to wait until a few hours from now to make that decision, because if Anaheim picks a center, then that player will (in time) compete with and perhaps displace Steel.

That aside, Steel and Suzuki are two of the better prospects with less than 40 NHL games under their belts. Based on the information available, I'd consider that. What other prospects does the other person have?

Those are definitely his top prospects, and we're kind of waiting on this specific deal with the ball in my court. Really interesting point about waiting to see who ANA drafts, but who knows if it'll far apart by then. We're working on a deadline in our fantasy league of tonight at midnight to get rosters in before expansion. I also have a deal involving trading Troy Terry, so if I acquire Steel I may be more apt to move Terry, just for the sake of ANA redundancy.