Re: Dobber Pro Wales 2021-22
I didn't much time to do research and prep for the draft this year. I went with I general plan and some ideas of where some players were being taken based on my previous experience in the levels of the tiered dobber league. Picking 7th overall allowed my to be in the middle of each round and adapt to the draft as it went. I had a general plan of focusing on skaters early, picking one of the top D and wait as long as possible to draft goalies with likely high share of starts to try and cover SV and W to some extent.
1.7 – Auston Matthews – TOR – C: Initially, I was planning on picking one of Marchand, Pastrnak or Panarin, but Matthews made it to 7th. He is contributing across the board in this setting with high amount of G. The wrist surgery is a bit of a worry, but he seems on track to be ready for opening night.
2.18 – Jonathan Huberdeau - FLA - LW: Huberdeau should complement my Matthews pick very well with high assists and PPP. He is also providing a decent amount of SOG and some hits.
3.31 – Dougie Hamilton - NJD - D: Most of the players in my queue got picked up before my pick (Svech, Tkachuck, Zib, Hedman, Carlson). Still happy with Hamilton. His offensive numbers might take a bit of a hit but he still is a top 5 D in this setting.
4.42 – Aaron Ekblad - FLA – D: I was slowly building my queue when my internet connection crashed and I only managed to reconnect by the end of the 4th round. For some reason I had Ekblad on my queue ahead of players I valued more like Josi, Nurse and Guentzel. A bit of a reach here considering his lack of peripherals, but he is a PP quarterback on one of the top offensive teams.
5.55 – Elias Lindholm - CAL – RW,C: At that point, I needed skaters that provide hits along with a decent amount of points. Lindholm fits the bill here, especially with Huberdeau and Matthews hopefully producing over 90 pts each and Hamilton and Ekblad reaching 50+.
6.66 – Jacob Markstrom - CAL - G: As Kofax said, goalie starts are important in this league and one of the few plans I had before the draft was targeting goalies with heavier workloads when they were thinning out. Most of the goalies left will split starts (Varlamov, Samsonov, Campbell) or have question marks for me (Andersen, Demko, Price). Markstrom was one the few undisputed no 1 goalie left and should provide a large amount of saves and hopefully the wins will increase with a full season in the Sutter system.
7.79 – Jonathan Marchessault - VGK - C,LW: Again, I am looking for players that should provide decent point production along with other stats here. Even if his production decreased a bit over the recent years, he provides high SOG, fairly good hits and should provide good +/-.
8.90 – Jordan Binnington - STL - G: One of the last high workload goalies left on the board. I didn’t think he would make it to the next round. I think St-Louis will do better this season and his W total and GAA should improve with the team.
9.103 - Tom Wilson - WAS - LW,RW: Accounting for 5-8 games suspension, Wilson will provide his fair share of hits along with decent point production. He loses value in non-PIM leagues, but I think he provides very good value at that point in the draft.
10.114 – Ivan Provorov - PHI - D: My first two D were on the weaker side for hits. I decided to go with Provorov here as he provides production across the board in this league.
11.127 – Claude Giroux - PHI – C,LW: While he is not the player he used to be, he still should provide a good amount of PPP and should be on one of the top 2lines on an improved PHI team. I think this is a very good value pick at that point.
12.138 – Tomas Hertl - SJS – C,LW: A bunch of wingers I was targeting were gone since my last pick so I take Hertl. Hopefully he improves his peripherals from last season, especially +/-. Potential +0.8pts/G is nothing to sneeze at that point in the draft.
13.151 – Anthony Mantha - WAS – LW,RW: If he can stay healthy, I think he could be in for his best season yet, on a better team. He should provide good multi-cats production and the dual wing eligibility doesn’t hurt.
14.162 – Evgeny Kuznetsov - WAS - C: Here I have Farabee, Meier, Dumba and Muzzin on my list, but I see Kuznetsov is still on the board and I still need some C. His peripherals are weak, but with Backstrom’s injury he is the 1st line C and hopefully he bounces back. In retrospect, maybe I should have stick to my list and let him slide further…
15.175 – Filip Hronek - DET - D: All the players on my queue get plucked out. D are starting to get thin, I am looking for D that can provide some hits but still provide some scoring. Hronek seemed to be one of the best options left. +/- might be a problem, but I think I can stomach it…
16.186 – Cam Atkinson – PHI – RW: Not my best pick… Internet connection acted out again and was left scrambling for my pick. I think Konecny and Farabee are better options on PHI but they were taken a few rounds earlier. In retrospect, there were better options left on the board.
17.199 – Elvis Merzlikins – CBJ - G: I am very happy with that pick at that round. My third starting goalie. Not the best team, but contract says he is the starting goalie and with Korpisalo injury history, I think he should provide a good amount of starts and saves.
18.210 – Colton Parayko - STL - D: Needed to fill out D a bit and Parayko should provide a decent amount of points along with SOG and hits.
19.223 – Mike Hoffman - MTL - LW,RW: Good value pick at that point. He should provide a fair amount of G, PPP and SOG once he is back from injury.
20.234 – Jean-Gabriel Pageau - NYI - C: Not a sexy pick, but he should provide a fair amount of stats across the board especially hits and good +/-. Maybe I could have waited a round or two since FW is not a stat in this league.
21.247 – Jack Roslovic - CBJ – C,RW: I liked Roslovic at that point. Potential 1st line and could provide decent pts production. +/- might be a bit of a worry.
22.258 – Erik Cernak - TBL – D: Not that many options that I like left for D. At that point, I am looking more for hits from my D. Cernak fits that need and can provide good +/- along with a few points.
23.271 – Boone Jenner - CBJ – C,LW: Dual position, good hit and shot production at that point. Feels like decent value.
24.282 – Esa Lindell - DAL - D: Another D that provides hits along with a few points and SOG. He somehow always ended on my teams at some point over the last few seasons.
25.295 – Jonathan Drouin - MTL – C,LW: A bit of a long shot. Hopefully, his problems are behind him. He always seems to do well early in the season over the last few years. Not much of a risk here.
Overall, I think my team will be fairly balanced. +/- and GAA might be the two weakest stats. Most of potentially bad +/- players are late round picks which might end up on the waiver wire. I see my team as a top half team at the very least.
C: Matthews, Kuznetsov, Giroux (LW), Roslovic, (RW), Pageau
LW: Huberdeau, Marchessault (C), Hertl (C), Mantha (RW), Drouin (C), Jenner (C)
RW: Lindholm (C), Wilson (LW), Atkinson, Hoffman (LW, IR)
D: Hamilton, Ekblad, Provorov, Hronek, Parayko, Cernak, Lindell
G: Markstrom, Binnington, Merzlikins
12 teams H2H Keeper
Keep 7 (1 each position, +2 any position but goalie)
G A P PPP SOG FW HITS BLK PIM W GAA SV% SHO
Start: 3C 3LW 3RW 4D 2U 2G 5B
C: Mackinnon Matthews Thomas Bennett Pinto
LW: Kaprizov Buchnevich (C) Fiala Drouin (C)
RW: JT Miller (C) Barzal (C) Jarvis (C) Geekie (C)
D: Fox Hamilton (IR) Nurse Faber Harley Manson Chabot
G: Hellebuyck Rittich Ingram Lyon Andersen (IR)