Re: Dobber EXPERT Stanley 2021-22
Sorry to hear that things are wearing on you and that the draft wasn't as enjoyable Peng. It'll be nice to sit back and just watch now.
On my end, I've also ended up in the back half in my three years in the Experts League, drafting 7, 8, and now 10 (so at most there was only one draft slot separating me and P7 the last three drafts - and he doesn't make it easy).
I was expecting this draft to be messier with being the cheese on the sandwich of P7, me, Temek, and LOTR. In fact, I found things went pretty well, and my guys that I would be watching for almost always fell to me. The realistic options anyways, can't expect McDavid, Matthews, and Vas to all fall.
Went into the draft with a top 15 or so ranked, but I was solidly debating between 9-15 the entire time and would flip them in my mind on a daily basis. Between Ovie, Tkachuk, Rantanen, Hubs, Panarin, etc there were just too many options for that spot. Luckily my 7th ranked Marchand dropped to me, so that made my choice a little easier. I felt bad leaving Tkachuk off the board, but with knowing that this was going to be a tough draft for me having to give the baby a bath during the middle rounds, I played it a little safer in the opening rounds.
Aside from that, I have found goalies and defencemen decently deep this year, so I said I'll see how the runs go but I won't rush anything. Figured I would likely end up with a bunch of forwards early, and that is exactly how it went.
Round 1 - Brad Marchand
As mentioned above, could have gone any number of ways, but the scoring is there and the peripherals are all solid. Safest pick on the board after #6 IMO.
Round 2 - Jonathan Huberdeau
I think Florida is going to absolutely go off offensively this year (and I don't think I'm alone in that) so I wanted to get a share. 100 point potential in round 2 plus a hit per game is impossible to pass on despite giving me 2 LWs.
Round 3 - Jake Guentzel
Debated a few different options here, but with Guentzel and Crosby nearly back, I loved the idea of adding another 85-point guy with lots of PPPs, shots, and hits. I've also found LW a lot deeper than RW this year, so I wanted to get at least one RW early.
Round 4 - Max Pacioretty
I'm a sucker for the guys that can put up points with peripherals. What can I say. I'm not sure I would trade my first four picks for anyone else's at this point, even to get McDavid.
Round 5 - Neal Pionk
Peripherals through the roof here, and hopefully a boatload of PPPs too. I think he finishes as a top-10 fantasy Dman this year. Couldn't risk letting him go even five more picks to my next one. There were a couple forwards I debated, but I knew one would fall to me.
Round 6 - John Tavares
I don't see him putting up more than 75 points this year, but even a safe 70 with a good plus-minus, lots of shots, and a terrific +/- is something I'm happy with here in my first C of the draft. Still seeing enough goalies on the board that I'm happy waiting too.
This is where I started doing the baby bath, so I really wasn't looking far down my list.
Round 7 - Taylor Hall
Dmen are still flying, but I couldn't pass on the upside of Hall anymore. Having two pieces of that top Boston PP is juicy, and I thought the defenceman I wanted would slide to my next pick.
Round 8 - Ryan Pulock
Indeed I did get Pulock, who provides a safe offensive floor if not the same points upside that some others bring. That's okay though because I have enough scoring at this point. His shots, hits, +/-, and a little contribution on the PP were what I needed most.
Got very busy here and kind of just blindly zeroed in on goalies for the next few rounds.
Round 9 - Jack Campbell
A few more goalies gone, and there really weren't a lot of goalies left that I felt I could ride to a podium finish (needing saves, wins, and a decent GAA from at least two starters/tandems). The wins from Toronto put Campbell at the top of my list of the guys remaining.
Round 10 - Ilya Samsonov
Considered Mrazek here, but I figured I could wait a bit on him, but I couldn't wait on the last goalie left that I saw in this tier.
Round 11/12 - Petr Mrazek/Vitek Vanacek
Managed to grab both of my backups to cover my 164 games. Should be enough for top-four finishes in most of the goalie categories in my mind, and getting all four of them after round 8 is huge.
Round 13 - Vince Dunn
Back to the skaters, and the defencemen were stating to thin out. Dunn has looked great in pre-season with Seattle, and I think with the minutes bump he's in for a very productive year. A bit of a swing without the high floor I like, but at this point in the draft that's fine.
Round 14 - Justin Faulk
Still looking at defencemen and seeing it dry up a little with a whole ton of similar forwards still on the board. Faulk is streaky, but there weren't any better PPP, shots, hits options left.
Round 15 - T.J. Oshie
Now it's just time to mine forward value while a few teams are still focused on certain stats or positions. Oshie should have been gone 3-5 rounds ago despite his age. He's a 60-70 point winger that brings all the peripherals.
Round 16 - Pavel Buchnevich
I got called away and was a little distracted here, so I just went with one of the highest ADPs left on the board. Buch actually has very similar stats/upside as Oshie, but is a fair bit younger. Lots to like there, and helps me fill out RW.
Round 17 - P.L. Dubois
Needed Cs, and there's some upside here despite the lack of deployment. Getting the other half of last season's trade made me feel better about missing Laine a couple rounds ago.
Round 18 - Kyle Palmieri
Top line winger with hits, shots and PP time, tough to do better than that at this point. Didn't feel the need to fill out my defence yet.
Round 19 - Logan Couture
Another guy that probably slipped a little too far. Happy to lap up another C. I was also feeling a little light on PPPs from my last set, so I doubled down on the SJ one at least providing me a few without absolutely killing my +/-. More on that next.
Round 20 - Erik Karlsson
Hoping for a bit of a rebound here, and there's a lot of upside if the SJ offence can get back on track. Maybe all they need is Kane out of the dressing room. Not a lot of hits either, but I can survive that.
Round 21 - Alexander Georgiev
Best backup left, and because of injuries or not setting my lineup in time, you need more than just two tandems to hit your max starts. If Igor goes down (it's happened before) then Georgiev is suddenly a huge pick.
Round 22 - K'Andre Miller
One of my big upside guys for the year. Tons of peripherals, some offensive potential, and going to be playing top-4 minutes.
Round 23 - Joonas Korpisalo
Either a trade chip, or a spot starter for whenever they play Buffalo/Detroit/etc.
Round 24 - Craig Smith
Meh, we know what he is. Might be on the wire in a few weeks, but he's not going to hurt me in any category the meantime.
Round 25 - Phillip Danault
With only one extra forward (I think), I figured I would grab someone to rack up a few peripherals to bank a couple extra games early. I was fading so I didn't look too hard here. Might flip him to the FA pile once I have time to comb through it.
That's that.
Really happy with the team. Maybe a little light on defence, but I think my Fs and Gs more than make up for it. I think I finish 5th at the lowest, but it'll take some love and care through the season.
Best of luck to all!
Associate Editor for DobberHockey (Wednesdays). Click that Ramblings button on the the menu bar!
(No I don't have a hockey problem...)
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Could return to form.
