Keep 2. 4 to Choose from

[TheLettuceBowl]

Hey! my fantasy league has a keeper setting where the player is kept in the round he was drafted in, the year previous. For players who have been kept more than 1 year, their value is determined by yahoo's rank going into the previous years draft.

Anyways, I have 4 players to choose from, and I've listed the round the player would cost to be kept in.

I'm keeping Mackinnon (round 1), Pastrnak (round 2), Makar (round 4), Saros (round 7)

I have 2 picks left to make. I'm trying to decide between:

Elias Lindholm - round 5. Should have a decent year. Bummer that he lost his wing eligibility though..
Drake Batherson - round 6 - who knows whats going on with this guy.
Kevin Fiala - round 6 - Could be great value. Not sure about these 90+ point projections I've seen thrown around lately though.
Morgan Reilly - round 13. Was the 6th best dman in our league last year. 55th overall. Very good value for round 13, but I'm already keeping Makar. Not sure if I want to keep another dman.

If both Batherson and Fiala (both round 6) are chosen, one would get bumped down to round 7.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

[stevegamer]

I always look at these leagues as gaining the maximum keeper value over the average draft pick in that round you can get, as long as a you have a good keeper core.

Therefore, Reilly is a mortal lock for me at a 13th round cost.

Fiala would be my second choice of the guys you list, but I'm curious who else is eligible that cost a pick in rounds 10+, as I think that's the path you likely should be taking.

[TheLettuceBowl]

My later round keeps worth mentioning would be:

Brock Boeser - round 11
Victor Olofsson - round 17
Noah Dobson - round 18
Mats Zuccarello - round 18

There's definitely a choice to be made between keeping your best available players, and keeping value picks later in the draft. The main one I'd consider here would be Dobson, but there's no way I'm keeping 3 defensemen. Zuccarello is obviously great value in round 18, but I don't expect a repeat of last year again, and he's easy to target in the draft again next year if I really want him back.

[stevegamer]

Honestly, I'd keep Dobson & Reilly and keep 3 D. The thinking should be which of these is best:

Fiala + typical 11th & 18th rounders
Boeser + typical 6th & 18th rounders
Dobson + typical 6th & 11th rounders

[sweetcelly]

Just to clarify, are there positional requirements? How many do you start at each position? Or is it just skaters in general?

[TheLettuceBowl]

It’s 2C 2LW 2RW 5D 5 bench 2G

[TheLettuceBowl]

I think I’ve narrowed it down to mackinnon pasta makar saros Rielly

Then it’s choosing between:
Fiala in 6
Dobson in 18
Lindholm in 5

I’m a little concerned about my LW position honestly. I spent most of last season (which I won), cycling through LW without having a legit top LW. Thankfully fiala and zuc had monster years or I had no one. If I don’t keep fiala, I basically have to pick up a LW with my first available pick in the draft. The majority of top LW’s are all being kept by other managers. I guess there’s always trade potential, but trades don’t seem to be super common in this league

[stevegamer]

Those positional requirements make me want Dobson even more, but if you think Fiala will go even earlier this year, and that you can Dobson or the equivalent late, keeping Fiala can make sense.

That bit about LW scarcity is important as it's league-specific.

[TheLettuceBowl]

Yeah I think it comes down to what you project fiala for this year. Anywhere 80+ points and I’d be happy with him there. I’m just so used to him being a 55-60 point guy haha.

Kinda surprised at no love for lindholm. If he kept his RW eligibility I think I might go with him

[stevegamer]

Yeah I think it comes down to what you project fiala for this year. Anywhere 80+ points and I’d be happy with him there. I’m just so used to him being a 55-60 point guy haha.

Kinda surprised at no love for lindholm. If he kept his RW eligibility I think I might go with him

Cost of Lindholm is too high, he's a center who requires round 5. I don't see him outscoring Fiala by enough at a deeper position.

[Axeman33]

Fiala and Morgan Rielly for me.

[niconasr]

Yeah I think it comes down to what you project fiala for this year. Anywhere 80+ points and I’d be happy with him there. I’m just so used to him being a 55-60 point guy haha.

Kinda surprised at no love for lindholm. If he kept his RW eligibility I think I might go with him

I have Fiala down for 83 points next year. As a top line, top PP guy in LA, he should recoup anything he'd lose from playing with Kaprizov on the PP in Minnesota. I guess 90 could happen in a perfect year and his floor is probably around 65-70. I'd be happy to keep him for 6th round value especially if LW is scarce.

Otherwise, it'd be Dobson. He's a young stud and the value is amazing here. Lindholm would get more love if he had RW eliligbility but without it, he's just a C which there are many more of.

[sweetcelly]

In a D heavy setup like this, all the more reason to not shy away from keeping multiple Dmen. I like the value of Dobson as an 18th round.

[LuigiC173]

Dobson and Reilly. Noah is scary good and this coach presumably opens up that offense unleashing his potential for 60-70 points.

[TheLettuceBowl]

Thanks everyone! I think I gave rep to everyone here? Appreciate the advice