Went into this as always with a couple of outline strategies (Forwards first, make sure I have enough goalies, well rounded D), and a short bit of research into some pre-ranking, but that was it... oh, and a beer! (For those of you in Southern Ontario I've discovered this new spot in Bracebridge that has free shipping across the province on over $75 orders - Their Overdraft Saison is my new favourite brew.)
This is such a great league to draft in, because as P7 mentioned, LOTR, Temek, and P7 himself are some of the hardest guys to draft alongside. Horrofan autografts so well that no one is ever left sitting there for too long, and from playing against them the last few years in these leagues I have a huge respect for some of the other guys like Max, Filip, and the other two Mikes.
*Pro tip, if you want to do a yahoo mock for a 12 team league, draft in a 14 team mock and that's usually the quality of players left at each of your picks in the top 150 or so.*
On to the picks!
Round 1 - Andrei Svechnikov
I had Vas, Matthews, and Eichel ahead of him in that order, and was actually kind of hoping I would end up with Svech anyways because he does it all. G, SOG, +/-, Hits, PPP - all elite.
Meh, he was decent. Should have been a second round pick.
Round 2 - Brad Marchand
In all my mocks I ended up with him here, and he's a first round talent. Simple.
Solid.
Round 3 - Mikko Rantanen
I was expecting one of the top four D here, but the last two (Josi/Hamilton) went with the two picks before me. Hurts even more that my guy Josi was one pick away. (You can give as good as you get P7.) Couldn't pass up loading up my offence with another possible first round talent.
Lucked into him after missing those D. He was huge.
Round 4 - John Tavares
Well, I was expecting to have a Dman by now, but there were none worth grabbing here over the forwards, and unexpectedly the top G were not slipping. With some high end offence booked, I can focus on other positions, and focus I did...
Solid.
Round 5-7 - Tristan Jarry, Philip Grubauer, Pavel Francouz
Knew I couldn't wait too much longer on goalies, and Jarry was the last in my higher tier of volume starters on decent teams. Getting Grubs a round later was a gamble that Francouz would last, and since he did I managed to lock up 90 starts with likely at least 60 of them being wins. Figured I could grab DeSmith way later.
*Narrator's voice: "He thought wrong"*
Well, I got most of the COL starts and that was awesome. Francouz was a waste.
Managed to snag DeSmith off the waiver wire two weeks in which helped.
Rounds 8-10 Shea Weber, Zach Werenski, Tomas Chabot
I had Ryan Pulock and Shea Weber as the top two D on my list and I thought Pulock was the more likely of the two to slip another round. He didn't - the first of a ton of D stolen by Yellow Dogs. Locking up the top half of my D with three high scorers was great, and combined they don't hurt me too much in any of the peripherals.
Chabot was solid but the other two disappointed
Rounds 11-12 Evgeny Kuznetsov, Ben Bishop
I was not expecting to take either of these two players in any draft this season let alone in this league, but there was too much possible value here to pass up. One of the top 10 starters in the league for half of a season and a 70-point C? Sure, why not! Having just missed Kaprizov I didn't have a lot else in my queue that I was hugely looking forward to right away anyways.
Kuz was okay, Bishop was another waste.
Round 13 - Alexis Lafreniere
Sergachev got taken two picks before me, and apparently he was at the top of P7's list too so he definitely wasn't making it to me. Decided to swing on the upside of Laf.
Note to self, stop reaching for rookies!
Round 14-15 - Jake Muzzin
A little short on hits, I knew I would have to cover that later in the draft. Muzzin doesn't get PPPs, but I should be covered well enough there anyways. Suter is similarly not flashy, but effective. D was really starting to thin out.
Meh.
Round 16 - Joe Pavelski
I knew I needed another F and Joe's combination of PP exposure, hits, and a solid floor made him the safest pick. I also had a sneaking suspicion he would be gone by my next selection.
BOOM! This was much better value than I was expecting. Have to wake up earlier to draft Pavs next year Peng
Round 17 - Josh Anderson
Banking on the injury rebound and the new team adrenaline. A 25 goal and 200 hit 82-game-pace would be amazing. At worst it's a 15/150 pace. Had top-line-winger Burakovsky all lined up until he went three picks before me.
Solid
Round 18 - Pavel Buchnevich
Doubling down on the NYR winger situation, and Buch looks ready to pop on that top line. Was sad to miss out on Cernak.
MVP pick. Amazing value
Round 20 - Robert Thomas
Gotta have guys on your teams that you enjoy, and after missing Josi I wanted one of my other favourites in Thomas. P7 and I are probably the two biggest Robert Thomas fans out there. It's going to be a goooood year from him! Now he just needs to be on that top PP all season.
Wasn't on my team long.
Round 21 - Ryan Reaves
I told you, I needed hits...
Not great.
Round 22-23 Noah Dobson, Chris Dreidger
Trying to make sure I can fill out games at D and G, and these two offered some sure games plus upside. Projected goalie starts: 125 - good enough.
Both excellent picks.
Round 24 - Nikita Zadorov
I think he leads the league in hits this year. Huge minutes on a CHI team that will never have the puck. Hoping his +/- balances out with Reaves.
Meh.
Round 25 - Mikhail Grigorenko
"Do you know who has two thumbs and finds a first line [winger] and PP1 forward in round 25... yeah, it's this guy.
-Michael Scott"
-Alex MacLean
Whoops. That was a flop.
All in all, happy with the team, and it should be a competitive year!
I don't think it's quite a first overall team (Apparently I knew what I was talking about), but hopefully with a few moves throughout the year coupled with a bit of luck, I can get there.
Some added thoughts here:
https://twitter.com/alexdmaclean/sta...76810089668608
Combining two of my favourite things, hockey and food, this team shall henceforth be know by the call:
It's Grub Hour!
Attachment 5067
(No idea how you make the photos bigger)