Gusev will make this thread look silly by Xmas..
He's looked elite in preseason.
Labanc will be good but Gusev's on a different level.
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Blades of Steel
9 Team Full Keeper - Pts Only (G,A,W,SO)
Crosby, Wheeler, Bergeron, Forsberg, Connor, Kopitar, E.Lindholm, Pastrnak, DeBrincat, Fiala
Jones, Klingberg, Hamilton, Theodore, Letang
Saros, Shesterkin
Garland, Vrana, Bjorkstrand, Verhaege, Backstrom, Karlsson, Perunovich, Spurgeon, Pulock, Hellebuyck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmw3MxlbNYw
So in this clip, his shot selection and offensive instincts/decision making looks excellent. What I don't like is the end to end moves and the quick shimmies in traffic, which scream "hit me" in the NHL. He looks fast but not fast enough to escape that type of contact. It's like he's almost there, but just a step or half a step too slow to pull that kind of stuff off in the best league in the World. The KHL is not the NHL, nor is the preseason.
The skill looks pretty good (the hands are great, the mind too), but the skating isn't all that explosive.
Thoughts?
Blades of Steel
9 Team Full Keeper - Pts Only (G,A,W,SO)
Crosby, Wheeler, Bergeron, Forsberg, Connor, Kopitar, E.Lindholm, Pastrnak, DeBrincat, Fiala
Jones, Klingberg, Hamilton, Theodore, Letang
Saros, Shesterkin
Garland, Vrana, Bjorkstrand, Verhaege, Backstrom, Karlsson, Perunovich, Spurgeon, Pulock, Hellebuyck
I think I would go Gusev. Labanc is low enough in my ranks that I would want the unknown upside.
Hate to say it, because he's with the NJD and a strong team in my league has kept him stashed away, but I think Gusev is going to be a stud.
10 team full keeper roto 4C/LW/RW,6D,2G
G,A,P,+/-,PIM,SOG,GWG,PPP,SHP,Hit,Blk,FOW
W,GAA,SV,SV%,SHO
C-Aho,Couturier,Matthews,O'Reilly
LW-Ehlers,Giroux,Panarin,Rust
RW-Kucherov,Palmieri,Pastrnak,Wilson
D-Burns,Carlson,Gudas,Josi,Nurse,Pietrangelo
G-Fleury,F.Andersen,Markstrom
BN-Zacha
Under 250 gp farm
Beaucage,Berggren,Bokk,Brisson,Chytil,Dugan,Foerst er,Foote,Frost,Grewe,K.Johnson,Lindblom,Mikheyev,N ybeck,Peterka,Pospisil,Protas,Ranta,Raty,Stankoven ,Suzuki,Tuomaala
Alexeyev,Brook,Foote,Graves,Poirier,Sanderson,Seid er,Wilde,Woo,Zamula
Berdin,Brossoit,Commesso,Ersson,Husso,Knight,Koche tkov,Lafontaine,Oettinger,Primeau,Sandstrom,Stolar z,Ustimenko,Vladar
I went with Gusev and rolled the dice due to my existing forward depth. Labanc was no question the safer pick but I have a feeling Gusev is no Shipachyov. I went with all gambles in the end and even got Kaprizov and Shesterkin lol. So we'll see.
Blades of Steel
9 Team Full Keeper - Pts Only (G,A,W,SO)
Crosby, Wheeler, Bergeron, Forsberg, Connor, Kopitar, E.Lindholm, Pastrnak, DeBrincat, Fiala
Jones, Klingberg, Hamilton, Theodore, Letang
Saros, Shesterkin
Garland, Vrana, Bjorkstrand, Verhaege, Backstrom, Karlsson, Perunovich, Spurgeon, Pulock, Hellebuyck
6 games in and they’re pretty well tied in points except Goose is playing less than 10 mins a night and Labanc is getting 18. Goose hasn’t looked all that impressive, neither has Labanc. I’ll chalk it up to adjusting but I sure hope Goose is in it for the long haul. Not sure for how much time he’ll tolerate 4th line minutes... eep.. can’t say I wasn’t warned.
Oh well, wing big and sometimes, often in fact, ya strike out.
Yeah Gusev TOI trending down is really concerning, things are not going well so far for him. Buy low or cut loose?
10-team Pts only, 19-man roster, 9F, 4D, 2G, 4bench 95M cap league
F: T.Tompson Pasta Kaprizov Rantanen Gaudreau Necas Greig Zegras Vilardi
D: Josi Bouchard Sandin Sanheim
G Shesterkin Samsonov
B: Woll Perfetti Poitras
Farm: Guenther, Will Smith
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