2022/2023 Rocky Horror Roto Show

[Eskimo Brother]

The Hughes of the Devil

TheHouseOfTheDevil_onesheet_USA-1.jpeg

Maiden Voyage of the RHRS here, and I'm feeling like I'm not sure that I did it justice.

Picked the number three slot (one having already been taken) thinking that I could take either Matthews or Drai, before the options drop off from there. Was happy with either.

I made an initial stab at some pre-draft rankings a month ago, and never had time to re-jig those, or even double-check settings since then. Made my second-half of the draft a little more clunky, but overall it went off fairly well all things considered.

Also working against me was the in-laws coming over for dinner (which is always a big event - causing a few extra drinks pre-draft). As a result, I didn't sign on for the first round, managed to make my 2/3 picks from the bathroom, and then excused myself to clean up in the kitchen where I made 4/5 and 6/7 round picks before they took off closer to 8:30. Then, around 8:45 I had to take my turn putting our stubborn 1yr old to sleep, which took up some of my focus for the 10/11 & 12/13 picks.

Anyways, on to the fun stuff:
1-3 Auston Matthews: Tough to argue with the across the board production here. And also I think the first time I've ever owned him in fantasy.

2-22 Evander Kane: I may dislike him, but he's a Tkachuk lite, that could even out-produce both if things fall the right way.

3-27 Timo Meier: Not sure how much longer he would have lasted on the board but I feel like it would not have been long. Loving my goals, hits, and shots numbers thus far, as those are tougher to load up on in the first few rounds.

4-46 Kris Letang: Considered a few others here, but really wanted to no be left behind without a top defenceman or two. Letang can be a top-five Dman in this league as long as he's healthy (and as backup on that I grabbed Petry later).

5-51 Darnell Nurse: Again, heavy peripheral Dman, and a high floor for points, despite a lower ceiling on the scoring.

6-70 Tanner Jeannot: At this point I made the rushed decision to focus less on FOWs, and more on the rougher categories. Also taking another hit in points, but I knew a few guys like Hughes, Thomas, Kyrou, etc would fall that I could cover that lack with.

7-75 Sam Bennett: Got sniped on Trocheck here, and that made this probably the pick I am least happy with. I do think Bennett gets some solid time with Tkachuk, while Verhaeghe, Duclair, Reinhart are also solid secondary options to keep his scoring and peripherals production afloat. Again, not heavy FOWs, but solid elsewhere.

8-94 Jack Hughes: Getting a player whose point totals are going to match his draft slot # is much more appealing at this point in the draft. Not a lot of production elsewhere, but I'm hoping for a house full of points from the Devil.

9-99 Miro Heiskanen: There was a small tier of Dmen left that I liked for my #3, including Miro, S. Jones, and D. Toews. I took the guy who should be growing into a bigger role, but the other two went with the next two picks. Glad I grabbed one here, and looking at the rest of the defencemen I figure I can wait a while before taking another one.

10-118 / 11-123 Ilya Samsonov/Matt Murray: We're past pick 100 in the draft, so I can look at goalies now. Lo-and-behold there is a full 82 games from the President's Trophy team left on the board. Thank you

12-142 Bryan Rust: 75-point RW with decent peripherals. No complaints.

13-147 Michael Bunting: I think he was the top guy left on my really-preliminary pre-draft ranking list since after I picked Sam Bennett. Couldn't stare at him any longer, and it's nice to double-dip on the Leafs' first line.

14-166 Jeff Petry: Wanted to make sure I got Petry for his peripherals, and as a Letang cover. His +/- was holding his ranking down, but with the move to PIT that shouldn't be an issue.

15-171 Ryan Pulock: I was eyeing Robert Thomas here, but he went two picks earlier. Another guy that wouldn't have lasted as long if P7 was still in this draft. Looked at goalie, and didn't see any standouts, also looked at F, and there were some deeper tiers, so I went back to Dman. Getting my number 5 here means I can wait on #6, and even fill in from the FA pile if needed.

16-190 Ondrej Palat: Stacking the NJ top line with a winger that also hits and shoots.

17-195 Evan Rodrigues: Basically the only guy left with FOW from a wing eligible guy, and having the upside of the second-line C in COL. If he flames out though, then he's a back-9 pick, and I can easily make that up.

18-214 Sean Durzi: Ended up sorting Dmen by PPPs and realized there was one upside guy left in Durzi, so I had to grab him. There's my six.

19-219 Alex Killorn: How you guys let this name slip so far in the RHRS, I will never know. Gotta be some good (evil?) karma in owning him... He also hits and shoots a fair bit, and should be a top-PP staple and centred by Point.

20-238: Dan Vladar: One of the only goalies left on the board from a top-5ish team. Figured I would grab him here, and if Markstrom's drafter was actually present, he likely wouldn't have lasted this long. Not ideal for goalie #3, but still a couple darts left on the board too, and my other 82 games are going to be a committee approach.

21-243 James Reimer: Another starter left on the board. Not a ton of wins, but some decent ratios and a lot of saves.

22-262 Jordan Staal: Had been eyeing Staal, Danault, Couturier, and Granlund at around round 17, and decided I was going to wait on them and just pick the last one left. Well Danault went a few picks before, so I jumped on Staal. Again fitting the theme of lots of peripherals but a lower ceiling on points.

23-267 Alexander Holtz: Stacking the NJ top line with a winger that also hits and shoots x2. Actually don't know if Holtz hits, but he has some fun upside at this point in the draft.

24-286 / 25-291 Laurent Brossoit/Adin Hill: Ideally, Brossoit is back about five games into the season, and Vegas sends down Thompson, running with a tandem of Brossoit/Hill. If so, that's 70+ games or so for me from another playoff team. Love being able to wait on goalies.

All in all, may struggle a little in A/P/FOW categories, but I think the rest of them I can be in the top-third, which hopefully is enough to keep me in the top-half and within striking distance of the podium.

Durzi and Brossoit being DTD/IR right now means I get a couple early picks off the waivers too, so that's always fun to fish for some upside there.

All in all, it feels like I'm descending into some haunted house with this group here, so that helped create my team name: The Hughes of the Devil.

Considered something with Meier/Mirror, Kill(orn), Pu(Lock), Kane/Cane/Con, Staal/Stall, Vladar/Blade (maybe a bit of a reach and not a core piece), Rust, Nurse, Jeannot/Ya'know, and anything with Matthews which didn't really fit.

Fun draft overall, and looking forward to seeing the stats starting to count up!

[temek]

I will post my team recap for later, but here are full standings projections for the season. You can also look at my draft spreadsheet at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing if you want to take a more detailed look including more or less full player projections and my rankings. You should be able to make your own copy or download it as a file. Downloading might break some formulas, filtering or colour coding. Original spreadsheet was made in Libreoffice calc(.ods file) so that's more likely to work if you have problems.

Rank	Team	Draft pos	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	SOG	PPP	Hit	Blk	FOW	G GP	W	GAA	SV	Sv%	Standings	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	SOG	PPP	Hit	Blk	FOW	W	GAA	SV	Sv%
1	The Hyman Centipede	9	1380	397	705	1102	172	769	3761	328	1718	1145	3561	164	85	2.58	4621	0.916	126	11	9	11	9	9	9	9	6	7	8	6	11	10	11
2	Maaaaaa-chete	4	1382	345	721	1066	72	648	3773	340	1496	1144	3235	164	89	2.69	4496	0.911	101	4	11	9	1	4	11	11	2	6	6	11	8	9	8
3	Natural Born Quiller	5	1400	344	650	994	150	735	3413	283	1918	1232	3742	162	81	2.52	4712	0.920	100	3	5	2	7	7	5	4	8	10	10	4	12	11	12
4	HorrorfanTBD	1	1384	374	795	1169	92	625	3549	372	1182	1055	2545	163	88	2.67	4486	0.912	96	8	12	12	2	2	7	12	1	2	2	10	10	7	9
5	Elvira's Big Pumpkins	7	1394	381	637	1018	92	757	3871	288	1962	1184	4207	151	74	2.86	4482	0.912	95	9	3	5	3	8	12	5	10	9	11	2	2	6	10
6	The Haunting of Hall House-AW	2	1375	349	687	1036	115	629	3223	303	1512	1160	4860	162	90	2.70	4409	0.910	89	5	8	6	4	3	3	7	4	8	12	12	6	4	7
7	EB TBD	3	1397	373	623	996	193	910	3771	242	2499	1250	2346	164	88	2.79	4363	0.905	85	7	1	3	11	12	10	1	12	11	1	9	4	2	1
8	Scary Team Name (PH)	8	1404	369	679	1048	172	664	3525	295	1949	1142	3450	164	78	3.05	4793	0.905	84	6	6	8	8	5	6	6	9	5	7	3	1	12	2
9	4T2	11	1361	328	636	964	203	892	3178	260	2197	1266	3008	164	83	2.73	4491	0.909	82	1	2	1	12	11	1	2	11	12	5	5	5	8	6
10	Children of the Killorn	12	1353	406	638	1044	121	608	3356	318	1496	1113	3652	164	87	2.69	4414	0.909	80	12	4	7	5	1	4	8	3	3	9	8	7	5	4
11	TBD (YL)	10	1329	333	679	1013	185	814	3197	281	1772	1114	2584	164	87	2.68	4406	0.909	77	2	7	4	10	10	2	3	7	4	4	7	9	3	5
12	Dough Heads	6	1394	388	713	1101	131	727	3635	335	1540	996	2576	82	39	2.84	2298	0.908	77	10	10	10	6	6	8	10	5	1	3	1	3	1	3

[PenguinHunter]

8^th overall selection – It all began with receiving the 5^th overall selection for selecting the draft order. I was hoping someone before me would go against the grain and select the 12^th slot or something as I had a clear top four (McDavid, Matthews, Draisaitl and Makar) After that it opened up and the next tier was a large group. I did not want to select at the start of the tier and I did not want to draft too close to the turn as this always seems to make me overthink things. I figured at the 8^th slot that either of the top goalies (especially if Maaa-chete picked a slot before me) or the Tkachuk brothers would go and push someone like Kaprizov or MacKinnon down to 8^th.

Round 1 (8) – Cale Makar – while I was partially right, one of the goalies and one of the Tkachuk brothers went before me… but I was incorrect in predicting which player would end up being available at #8 overall… I was super pumped that he was available…. And strategy gone with my first pick… but its Makar… I can wing this… Let’s Go!! I was pumped to get to own Makar!

Round 2 (17) Jonathan Huberdeau – my original plan was to take JT. Miller here… but I never expected Huberdeau to be available. It goes to show, no matter how many mock drafts you do, you can never be ready for the RHRS draft night! I don’t usually take players on new teams – but I bucked that trend and did this year… hoping for a big year in Calgary!
Round 3 (32) – Mika Zibanejad – I really wanted Pastrnak here… someone should have had a couple more drinks after the Eagles win and let him get to me. But I am okay with getting Zibanejad here. He provides cross category coverage that I like in my centremen.

Round 4 (41) – Alex DeBrincat – I needed some goals here and DeBrincat fits the bill. I also considered Kreider here, but I was less confident in DeBrincat making it to my next pick… looks like I was wrong about Kreider as well because he went two picks later.

Round 5 (56) – Aaron Ekblad – There was lots of forwards that I considered taking here, but Ekblad was the last D man from a tier for me. I had a couple Bruins on my queue that I knew wouldn’t make it back to my round 6 pick with Gabe drafting between my picks, but I was confident that I would be happier with the forwards available then any D so I went with Ekblad here.

After 5 – I have 1 Center, 2 Left Wings and 2 Defense and it is around this that I decide I am going to wait a while on goalies and throw mud at the wall later in draft and see what sticks. I was hoping to get Campbell in like round 7 or 8 and he went in round 5. I always struggle drafting goalies early and this year I really punted on them.

Round 6 (65) – Filip Forsberg – Another LW that shoots, scores and hits lots. I am happy with getting Forsberg here and hoping he can stay healthy and have a huge year this year.

Round 7 (80) – Claude Giroux – I spent some early capital on Zibanejad to get some FOW… so I figured this was a good time to invest on some FOW from the wing. In a young Ottawa lineup, I am thinking that the experience of Giroux will result in him taking a lot of faceoffs this year – so hard to bee 700 FOW as my first RW.

Round 8 (89) – Pavel Buchnevich – This is the part of the draft that my kid needed immediate attention and I heard the yahoo chime that my pick was up… so I ran back to the computer and did a quick search to see who was projected to be a top point producer available. Buchnevich was near the top and he was LW,RW eligible and he doesn’t lack anywhere significantly – click and back to dealing with the kiddo..

Round 9 (104) - Cam Talbot – I figured it was time to start throwing a dart at a goalie and hopefully Ottawa can win a decent amount. Really was disappointed not to get Forsberg later in the draft to assure I get the full compliment of starts… hopefully Ottawa wins and Talbot plays. Francouz goes a couple pick later and I was started

Round 10 (113) Alex Pietrangelo – I wanted to add another D-man here and Vegas should score more this year with a healthy Stone and healthy Eichel… Pietrangelo should benefit. Hopefully he isn’t getting to old that he starts to decline… but I wanted a piece of the Vegas scoring increase!

After 10 – 1 Center, 3 Left Wings, 2 Right wings, 3 Defense and 1 Goalie. We are seeing my usually balanced position approach… I realize I should probably try getting another big FOW centre… but its too early to take Toews…

Round 11 (128) Tomas Hertl – I targeted some more FOW and found a guy that isn’t one dimensional. Would love it if he still had his LW eligibility of years prior, but with over 700 FOW, 100 hits and 60 points, I will take him here.

Round 12 (137) Carter Hart – Let’s hear it… Homer pick!! Boo!! – Like I said I am throwing mud at the wall for my goalies and decide Hart is the next option. In a Tortorella system and Couturier not being out as long as expected… hopefully the Flyers play a boring defensive system that keeps Hart’s GAA in check.

Round 13 (152) Neal Pionk – I needed a D- man to make up for the lack of hits from Ekblad and Pietrangelo. I narrow it down to Pionk and Petry. I figured I would pick the one that didn’t have a down year and that wasn’t a Penguin.

Round 14 (161) Joel Eriksson Ek – I was targeting FOW without giving up too much across the board. I had placed Hischier at the top of my queue, but when it came time to pick, I decided on Eriksson Ek, thinking the ‘O’ beside Hischier would persuade people.

Round 15 (176) Lucas Raymond – After making a pick like Eriksson Ek for his FOW and hits… I always feel the need to try and make up for it with an upside pick for points and such… so Lucas Raymond come on down… really hope he can improve his scoring numbers and really improve the plus/minus from a season ago… and during the draft, I found out the kid isn’t afraid to hit either with 62 of them last year. I will take it.

Round 16 (185) Stuart Skinner – Well I didn’t get Campbell early in the draft, but I still figured I should take a chance on Skinner. Campbell has had some injury concerns in the past, so maybe I will get lucky and Skinner will get a decent chunk of starts… and I was targeting him for Scary Team Name purposes as we will see later!

Round 17 (200) Travis Konecny – Before this pick I saw Hischier get selected and was disappointed I never pulled the trigger before this round to get him. I looked at my roster and realized I was severely lacking PIMs – so did a quick search and found someone who gets a decent amount. In Torts system I am hoping he doesn’t end the season with such a horrible plus minus again… and his SOG totals are just a bonus here.

Round 18 (209) Alex Nedelkjovic – Meh, just another goalie – hoping to get something out of one of them.

Round 19 (224) Blake Coleman and Round 20 (233) Jean-Gabriel Pageau – During these two rounds I went targeting for some hits for my forwards. I found a list of a handful of guys. The first one I picked was Coleman because he also shoots the puck and gets some PIMS which I needed at this point. For the next pick, I picked Pageau for his combo of hits and FOW.

Round 21 (248) Dmitri Orlov – A late round d-man that will get 100/100 on the peripherals and can still produce offensively.

Round 22 (257) Brian Elliot – With the amount of hockey that Vasileskiy has played in recent years, one has to think that the Tampa Bay backup will eventually get more starts or even have to fill in for an injury or fatigue…

Round 23 (272) Vladislav Gavrikov – See Dmitri Orlov above.

Round 24 (281) Mason McTavish and Round 25 (296) Reilly Smith - Upside picks here.. MacTavish young with upside… Smith has upside as he is playing along side Eichel in the pre-season….

Overall – I am happy with my group of skaters. I look at my team and I don’t have any of those high-scoring options that only have 8 hits, or a centreman that scores a lot, but only gets 300 FOW… so I am happy with the balance across the categories of my skaters. However.. my goalies… they are dependent on some big ‘IFS’ so if things don’t go as I am hoping, then my goalies will be the detriment of this team.

C – Zibanejad, Hertl, Eriksson Ek, Pageau
LW – Huberdeau, DeBrincat, Forsberg, Buchnevich, McTavish
RW – Giroux, Raymond, Konecny, Coleman, R. Smith
D – Makar, Ekblad, Pietrangelo, Pionk, Orlov, Gavrikov
G – Talbot, Hart, Skinner, Nedeljkovic, Elliot

I was going to go with Skinner as my team name... but that was too simple... so I started digging some more and found this:



Thus my team name will be named after my top Goalie - Larry The Wolfman Talbot

[horrorfan]

Well, unfortunately for the first time ever I've had to autodraft in the RHRS. I was really tired yesterday and there was no way I could stay up to 1am to attend so had to rely on my computer friend to draft for me. Fortunately, I had some rankings from my other league so I made a few tweaks and hoped it would work out ok. Looking at my team below, I wish I made a few more tweaks but didn't have the energy to spend much time on it so we'll see how it goes.

Here's my team with a few brief thoughts along the way:

1. (1) Connor McDavid (Edm - C)

At least I knew one player I was getting! He's ok I guess.

Because of my draft position, I had to decide how soon I would want goalies. I know that in Yahoo they draft all your starters first so I would only be getting three goalies in total and my third wouldn't be until at least the 21st round. So, my priority was to rank in the hopes of getting two workhorse starters. I also bumped up Svechnikov as a solid all rounder since my later picks could be anyone with deficiencies in multiple categories (which turned out to be true).

2. (24) Jacob Markstrom (Cgy - G)
3. (25) Andrei Svechnikov (Car - LW)

Well that worked out! Very happy with Markstrom as my #1. As for Svechnikov, who knows if he's worth the 25th pick but happy to get him here.

4. (48) Connor Hellebuyck (Wpg - G)
5. (49) Patrick Kane (Chi - RW)

Workhorse #2, check! Kane - could be good value or might see his production drop as the 'Hawks should be really bad so his +/- should stink. Time will tell...

6. (72) Jason Robertson (Dal - LW)
7. (73) Patrik Laine (Cls - LW,RW)

Hope Robertson signs soon as similar production to last year would be ideal. Happy with Laine - hoping for chemistry with Gaudreau and a career year.

8. (96) William Nylander (Tor - LW,RW)
9. (97) Noah Dobson (NYI - D)

Light on hits but a repeat of last year for Nylander would be great. Dobson as my #1D - can't complain.

10. (120) Teuvo Teravainen (Car - LW,RW)
11. (121) John Klingberg (Anh - D)

Another winger light on hits so hopefully he can stay healthy and get back to productive ways. Two Carolina wingers - we'll see how that goes. Klingberg should be solid as a #1 but on a worse team so that +/- could be poor.

12. (144) Jordan Kyrou (StL - LW,RW)
13. (145) Torey Krug (StL - D)

And another winger light on hits - seeing a trend here. The risk of an autodraft in such a league as the all rounders are grabbed early. If only I had more time to pre-rank. Krug seems solid at this stage of the draft.

14. (168) Clayton Keller (Ari - LW,RW)
15. (169) Robert Thomas (StL - C)

And another winger light on...you get the idea. Please be healthy as he was great before his injury last year. And a centre light on hits...well my assists totals should be good...

16. (192) Mark Giordano (Tor - D)
17. (193) Logan Couture (SJ - C)

Giordiano decent depth as a #4. Couture still can produce but like others above could be a poor +/-.

18. (216) Shayne Gostisbehere (Ari - D)
19. (217) Vince Dunn (Sea - D)

Decent D depth but Arizona (again) and now Seattle - sheesh is my +/- going to be -100?!

20. (240) Mikael Granlund (Nsh - C)
21. (241) Troy Terry (Anh - RW)

If Granlund produces close to last year I'll happily take that at pick 240. A winger (light on hits) who scored 37 goals last year at pick 241? Not expecting a repeat but could be solid depth.

22. (264) Thomas Greiss (StL - G)
23. (265) Jaccob Slavin (Car - D)

There's my #3 goalie. Not expecting much from Greiss but if Binnington struggles again could get a decent number of starts. Slavin - might even start him if one of my others struggle. Should at least help with +/-!

24. (288) Ryan Strome (Anh - C)
25. (289) Yegor Sharangovich (NJ - C,LW)

Strome - could be ok as depth but another player on a weak team. Sharangovich - if he's playing with Hughes then a breakout is possible. If not, off to the wire he goes!

A slightly recycled name but didn't want to spend too much time on it: Connibal Hellecaust 2 (well I do have 2 Connors!)

C: McDavid, Couture, Thomas, Granlund, Strome
L: Svechnikov, Robertson, Laine, Nylander, Sharangovich
R: P. Kane, Teravainen, Kyrou, Keller, Terry
D: Dobson, Klingberg, Krug, Giordano, Gostisbehere, Dunn, Slavin
G: Markstrom, Hellebuyck, Greiss

Overall, I should have a good offence, light on some peripherals (especially hits), poor +/- and a solid goaltending core. We'll see how they perform.

[The Comish]

Had the 5th overall pick. Would have taken MacKinnon if available. Every year, I underestimate how many face-off wins it takes to compete - in past years, I would put off taking Centers until a little later in the draft due to it being the deepest position. Wanted to focus on more FOW, get decent Blocked Shots from my Defence and keep peripherals in mind, but still take offensive talent when they fall in the draft. I got home with 10 minutes to go before the draft, so everything was rushed.

1(5) Igor Shesterkin (NYR - G) - If I couldn't get one of the first 4, I was going to go with either Shesterkin or Vasilevskiy because there was no way they were going to make it back to my next pick. I did give Brady Tkachuk (went 2 picks later) a little consideration

2(20) Sidney Crosby (Pit - C) - Would have taken J.T. Miller, but he was taken with the pick right in front of mine. Time to put my money where my brain was at with face-off wins and go with Sid the middle-aged man

3(29) Jake Guentzel (Pit - LW) - If Markstrom was there, I might have taken him, but he went with the last pick in the second round. Guentzel stuffs a bunch of offensive categories

4(44) Ilya Sorokin (NYI - G) - Was hoping Zibanejad, Eichel or Scheifele would make it here, but all gone by my pick. Sorokin gives me confidence with my goaltending and I don't have to think about another goalie until much later in the draft

5(53) Moritz Seider (Det - D) - Really wanted Letang, Carlson or Nurse, but yeah, no dice. Seider will contribute bigly in Blocked Shots, Hits, PPP and Points. The Red Wings should be an improved team this year

6(68) John Tavares (Tor - C) - Even though Tavares is injured, I couldn't pass on his numbers for my 2nd Center

7(77) Pierre-Luc Dubois (Wpg - C) - It was between PLD and Kadri with Kadri being the frontrunner, but he got sniped right in front of my pick. This is the earliest I've ever had 3 Centers on my roster

8(92) Mikhail Sergachev (TB - D) - Wanted Batherson or Nylander, but needed another D more and Sergachev's numbers were too good to pass on. A lesser version of Seider's numbers

9(101) Devon Toews (Col - D) - Both forwards I wanted were taken, so I went with another D. 57 points in 66 games, plus-52. Nuff said

10(116) Brayden Schenn (StL - C,LW) - Was waiting on Schenn ever since my last pick, even did a count down in the chat, hoping he'd still be there with my pick. So many good numbers, 58 points in 62 games and contributes in nearly all categories. I also like plus players

11(125) Justin Faulk (StL - D) - Was hoping for Morrissey, but what the Faulk? Plus-41, lots of hits and blocked shots and 47 points. Yes please

12(140) Mats Zuccarello (Min - RW) - Still don't have a RW on my roster. Really wanted Duchene, but had to settle for the Norwegian

13(149) Valeri Nichushkin (Col - LW,RW) - Was hoping for Rasmus Andersson and then when he was taken, shifted to Blake Wheeler, but both were taken just before my pick. Settled for my 2nd RW. 52 points in 62 games, decent hits and plus/minus

14(164) Tyler Toffoli (Cgy - LW,RW) - Wanted Boldy, settled for Toffoli. Not a big fan of the guy, but beggars can't be choosers

15(173) Ivan Provorov (Phi - D) - Lots of blocks 30-35 points, but minus-20 last year. I should be able to weather that negative with all my plus players

16(188) Ryan Johansen (Nsh - C) - Barzal, Mangiapane, Oshie Severson all disappeared from my queue, so I was left with RyJo. 63 points, but those FOW and PPP won me over

17(197) Lawson Crouse (Ari - LW,RW) - Might be a little light on the hits, so this guy. Plus, he did have 34 points in 65 games in addition to those big hit totals

18(212) Jake Allen (Mon - G) - Wanted Taylor Hall, but he was gone. Saw a starting goalie on a team that might not be as bad as some think

19(221) Conor Garland (Van - LW,RW) - Decent numbers across the board for a 19th round pick

20(236) Nick Schmaltz (Ari - C,RW) - 59 points in 63 games, but nothing else

21(245) Barclay Goodrow (NYR - C,LW) - Penalty minutes, hits, a smattering of FOW and hopefully 35 points

22(260) Brenden Dillon (Wpg - D) - Passed on Power with my last pick thinking he'd make it to this pick. Yeah, nah. Penalty minutes, hits, blocked shots

23(269) Cam Fowler (Anh - D) - Passed on Slavin to get Dillon's hits and hoped he'd be there...settled for Fowler. Don't expect 42 points again with Drysdale in the fold, but he does contribute with blocked shots

24(284) Nick Paul (TB - C,LW) - Just a shot in the dark, but I know he's likely going to slot in as a 3rd liner

25(293) Luke Kunin (SJ - LW,RW) - Big penalty minutes and hits. That is all

Overall, I am reasonably happy with my team. I'm deeper at Center than I've ever been before and like the make up of my Defence, LW and Goalies. We'll see what the season holds

[temek]

I was drafting from slot #9 and I did consider taking G with my first pick, but decided to go for a skater instead. Generally I find the best available players on my list at any point of the draft after few first few rounds are always defensemen/wingers so if my ranks were close I'd always pick C over W/D. This league has FOW as a category and competing there requires picking up 2-3 FOW-taking wingers and also filling center position with players that take good amount of faceoffs. I was going to skip any C-only player with low FOW totals like Barzal and few others like that even if they were best availalable players on my list. I also tried to not fill my winger spots too early as I thought there would be good value picks available late at both wings like Nichushkin, Konecny, Mangiapane, Wheeler, Caufield and maybe also injured guys like Wilson or Pacioretty. As far as goalies, I just wanted to get good value so picked a goalie when I felt it was good value whether it meant going for goalies early or late. If any goalies that I think had a decent chance of solid numbers were available later in the draft (R15+), I would pick them up until they all were picked up. If that meant picking 10 goalies that would be perfectly fine sitting on all of them for quarter to half of the season and then dumping the bad ones to make up deficint of skater GP played.

Pacandyman

C - Hintz, Suzuki, Toews, Colton
LW - Landeskog, Ehlers, Kempe, Pacioretty
LW - Rantanen, Pavelski, Bertuzzi, Boldy
D - Josi, Doughty, Werenski, Chychrun, Cernak, Addison
G - Saros, Oettinger
BN - Farabee, Varlamov, DeSmith, Comrie, Gustavsson

1. (9) Mikko Rantanen (Col - C,RW)
Looking for a skater here and maybe Makar if he drops here, but most likely Kucherov/Rantanen. Rantanen might also player C so might pick up even more FOW that I am expecting as a extra bonus.

2. (16) Roman Josi (Nsh - D)
I was also looking at goalies here, but Saros, Sorokin, Markstrom and Demko were all available so I thought getting there was good chance of getting one of them with my next pick. I wanted M.Tkachuk, but he went few picks earlier so was deciding between Barkov, Miller and Josi. I had a hard time deciding, but ended up going with Josi. Barkov might have been better pick for roster balance, but I think Josi is just fine too.

3. (33) Juuse Saros (Nsh - G)
I was hoping for Pastrnak, but no such luck. I was still very happy to get one of my 2nd tier goalies here as I was projecting all of them to go in the 2nd round, but only Markstrom was gone. I chose Saros as I liked him slightly better than Sorokin/Demko.

4. (40) Gabriel Landeskog (Col - C,LW)
Demko and Sorokin were still available, but didn't want to pick up 2 goalies in first four rounds so decided to skip them as I would be perfectly happy to pick up someone like Kuemper/Hellebuyck/Jarry/Fleury in one of the next few rounds. I would really liked to get Eichel here, but he was gone so had to pick some other skater. Letang was the highest rated skater available on my list, but I thought he might be available next round so picked Landeskog over Carlson/Ekblad preferring FOW-taking winger as tiebreaker.

5. (57) Jake Oettinger (Dal - G)
I was really hoping to get one of Letang, Ekblad, Seider or Carlson here, but all were picked before my turn. I was alson considering Bergeron and Marchand, but thought Marchand might drop to me next pick and and Bergeron is getting old and with Marchand missing some time I was little hesitant about him. There was stil one Top10 G on my list available so decided to pick up Oettinger as my 2nd goalie.

6. (64) Joe Pavelski (Dal - C,RW)
Both Bergeron and Marchand were gone so had to go elsewhere. I was considering between Doughty, J.Robertson and Pavelski. Preferred to fill wings ahead of defense and I decided to avoid Robertson's contract situation and picked up Pavelski. Probably my least favourite pick of the draft and the hindsight I could have gone for one the BOS duo last round and pick Fleury or Jarry here as 2nd goalie. At least Pavelski brings FOW from the wing so I didn't have to pay much attention to FOW-taking wingers anymore as long as I filled my C with decent faceoff takers.

7. (81) Drew Doughty (LA - D)
Fleury was still available and I was considering picking him up just to prevent some other team to get good value here, but decided going for 3rd G here would hurt my skaters too much. Also Doughty as still available so very happy to get him here.

8. (88) Roope Hintz (Dal - C)
I did consider Ehlers and Chabot as well, but I really needed C so went with Hintz.

9. (105) Nikolaj Ehlers (Wpg - LW,RW)
I was about 50/50 between Francouz and Ehlers. Picking up high quality 3rd goalie would be really nice, but decided to for skater in the end as I had 2 really good goalies already and felt it would be fine just to pick up quality platooners/backups later to fullfill my goalie needs.

10. (112) Zach Werenski (Cls - D)
I would have preferred to get 2nd C, but Suzuki would probably be available with my next pick so went with Werenski.

11. (129) Nick Suzuki (Mon - C)
Centers still available weren't looking great outside Suzuki so went him. Also had 3rd goalie, McAvoy and Rust under consideration, but I really needed C.

12. (136) Semyon Varlamov (NYI - G)
Decent 3rd goalie options were starting to get thin so picked up Varlamov. Considered Rust as well, but felt getting solid was priority as I was pretty sure there would be good value pick wingers available later.

13. (153) Tyler Bertuzzi (Det - LW,RW)
I did consider DeAngelo as well, but decided to for Bertuzzi instead.

14. (160) Matt Boldy (Min - LW,RW)
I was looking in to center situation as well and considered Eriksson Ek and Hartman, but decided to pick Boldy. In hindsight I should probably have gone for C here as I could have picked up solid winger like Konecny later.

15. (177) Jakob Chychrun (Ari - D)
I took a look at available centers and decided to skip them for now and take one or two C like Toews, Couturier, Danault, Pageau, etc. few rounds later. I did consider Kempe and Boeser as well, but decided that picking up 4th D was more important than 7th winger.

16. (184) Adrian Kempe (LA - LW,RW)
Kempe was still here so picked him up. I did consider A.Forsberg as well, but thought I could wait and still get one of Forsberg/DeSmith later.

17. (201) Casey DeSmith (Pit - G)
I was looking into Wilson and Pacioretty as well as Dunn as D option. I really needed Hits/Blocks from my remaning defence at this point so that ruled out Dunn. I already had pretty nearly full lineup of wingers picked so decided 4th goalie was more important.

18. (208) Eric Comrie (Buf - G)
Wilson went and I thought about Pacioretty, but decided to pick one more goalie while they were still available.

19. (225) Max Pacioretty (Car - LW)
Goalies were getting pretty thin so decided to pick up Pacioretty instead of going for another goalie. I still needed 2C and 2D, but felt the quality of available players there wouldn'n change much between here and end of the draft.

20. (232) Filip Gustavsson (Min - G)
Gustavsson was the last goalie I felt decent about so picked him up.

21. (249) Jonathan Toews (Chi - C)
22. (256) Erik Cernak (TB - D)
23. (273) Ross Colton (TB - C,LW)
24. (280) Joel Farabee (Phi - C,LW)
25. (297) Calen Addison (Min - D)
Filler rounds with some last roster spot fillers and upside shots. Toews isn't that great anymore, but just hoping for good FOW totals and passable numbers otherwise. Cernak is a solid PIM/Hits/Blocks D and playing in TB should post solid +/- as well, McDonagh trade might also mean slightly more icetime as well. Ross Colton has been very impressive in limited depth role and with Cirelli injured and Palat leaving he might get a shot in the Top6. He's also wing-eligible player that should get decent FOW totals and solid allaround production so I think he's worth a shot for multicat upside. I feel Farabee has more to offer than he did last season and he has solid multicat upside so he can be solid value even with 55-60 pts production and I think there's decent of that happening. Addison was very impressive in the AHL last season and looks like he might just get shot at MIN 1st PP unit so worth taking a shot.

Overall I am mostly happy with the team outside weak center. I should probably have picked up 1-2 more centers earlier in the draft and fill out my wingers later in the draft as there were a lot of solid pickups available later in the draft. I picked up several FOW-taking wingers, but weak C picks kind of watered that down so not happy with that. Categorywise team might be weak on W and and mediocre on Hit/Blk, but picking Hit/Blk should be fixable at least. I also took chances in 2 injured players in Landeskog and Pacioretty so there's always a little questionmark in those situations.

[Shoeless]

Such a class league. I particularly enjoy reading about the strategies folks had going in, as it provides context for drafting the way they did. Brutally tough draft - I think it was Russ who commented during the draft about how the guys in the league know their stuff and come prepared. Certainly no free lunch.

[Pengwin7]

Did you guys really log 300 picks and nobody grabbed Mario Ferraro?!

[YzermansLegacy]

Ahhh another year of drafting with the best fantasy hockey minds out there... and another year of feeling a little gutted post draft lol.

First off - new team name for this year - Flower's in the Aho-ttic (Fleury + Aho... two guys that represented my strategy working... if only that kept throughout!)

Drafting from the 10-spot and so my only strategy was just TRUSTING MY DRAFT BOARD. Too often in RHRS I wind up reaching for guys as the draft progresses and I wanted to see what my post-draft squad would look like if I actually followed through on this.

1. (10) N.Kucherov + 2. (15) M.Marner
I actually wanted to go Marner and Rantanen with these picks but Rantanen was scooped before my first pick and I didn't expect Kucherov to be there. Was happy to still land Marner in the 2nd round. Part of trusting my board was trusting the tiers (value-wise) I had guys in and that limited (severely) the D and G I was willing to take here.

3. (34) S.Aho
First test of my "stick to my board" plan. I had full intention/hope of taking J.Eichel with this pick but I had Aho slightly higher (mostly due to durability concerns) and so I went with him. Was hoping Jack would fall another 5 picks back to me.

4. (39) M.Rielly
With Eichel gone, was either taking a D or G as it's a long way back before I pick again. Felt there were enough G's in my next tier that I might get lucky, but only a few D left that I had ranked. Really debated taking Letang here instead due to his full cat coverage, but with Kuch already on board, I played it safe-ish. Also had a lot of peripheral-heavy guys in mind for later (which you'll see I did not execute well)

5. (58) E.Malkin
My entire tier of D and G did NOT make it back so I was stuck having to either reach into my next tier for positional purposes or stick with my board. Adding Geno here was NOT optimal value, since he sucks at FOW and will only give me 40-60 games. But I always get so enamoured with his PPG and PIM (hot head) upside. I also tend to fade FOW a lot in RHRS as I find that stat can overvalue guys moreso than others. Try not to punt the cat - but I'm okay with middling FOWs as long as I can find some from the wing that leave me overall mid-pack.

6. (63) B.Point
Again, going with my board here. It's a long way back to my picks so it would have been safer to go G or D here... but Point's value in the 6th feels great to me.

7. (82) M-A.Fleury
My patience with not reaching for G pays off as I have 3 goalies left in my next tier when it comes back to me. This is exactly where I like to be able to take a solid #1 G.

8. (87) J.Binnington
This is a great example of where my own draft board really differs from other rankings. I am much higher on Binner (well.. STL) than most outlets seem to be. Maybe because I had him last year and he was really solid before imploding and Husso stealing the net. Seeing them let Husso go, I am sure he'll be given the reins over and over even if Greiss is decent. Having him as my #2 I feel like my G's are in good enough shape to compete in the cats.

9. (106) P.Francouz
With a lot of guys across all positions in this tier still available, I didn't expect to pick another G here. Full transparency this was (mostly) a "block" on allowing CCC to grab the COL tandem (he was two picks away from his double-selection at the turn). That said, I'm also a fan and feel like he'll be close to even in terms of games with Georgiev this year. With 2 starters and now a high-end 1A my G's feel like they're in excellent shape to max out GPs and still keep the ratios decent.

10. (111) T.Stuetzle
So in truth, this was the one pick were I did "reach" into the next tier because I only had 3 guys left in my previous tier and they were all straight-C's. Stuetzle fits a BUNCH of my team needs at this point - FOW from the W, some HITS and likely strong production with the upgrades that OTT made.

After 10 rounds - 3C, 2R, 1L, 1D, 3G (this is the first year maybe ever I've had 3 Gs in first 10 picks... and I was fading them!!)

11. (130) C.McAvoy
Obviously short on D at this point (usually I'll have 3 or 4 by now) and looking at my list, McAvoy is standing out despite his injured status to start the year. Great coverage and I'm thrilled with a Rielly-McAvoy 1-2.

12. (135) C.Petersen
Again did NOT expect to take another G here - but trusting my board. Two pieces (in hindsight) that make me comfortable with this pick is that a) I think CP could take over the next in LA this year (and even if he just splits, should still deliver good ratios) and b) goalies get scarce real quick, so I can likely trade him or another G to address other gaps if necessary

13. (154) T.DeAngelo
He's actually the final Dman on my board in this tier... and I REALLY wavered on skipping him as the PHI tire-fire, Torts/ADA potential for explosion, and overall weak peripherals make him a guy I'm just not keen on. That said though I do think he can deliver value at this point in the draft (if he plays) and again, wanted to keep trusting my board.

14. (159) R.Hartman
While I would have much preferred finding a W or even another D at this point, I really like R.Hartman (1C with some truculence) at this stage of the draft.

15. (178) M.Barzal
Do I need a 5th straight C? No. Do I want a straight C with brutal FOWs and light peripherals? No. Should M.Barzal be available in the 15th round? I don't think so... which is why he was the final guy left in my tier... and why he's on my team haha. (Plus I do really love this guy and think he'll have a MUCH better season this year - AND depth at C when you have Malkin is not the worst idea)

16. (183) R.Ristolainen
Seeing my squad I really need D and I'm really light on peripherals. Risto fits the bill and I can see a world where Torts keeps trotting him out to hit and block everything.

17. (202) T.Hall
I dropped Hall a bit after his injury news but still see some strong value here and the tiers for F/D at this point are pretty huge so I liked his upside the best.

18. (207) P.Grubauer
He was the final remaining goalie in this tier and while he's available here because it's SEA and Grubby crapped the bed last year, I think both SEA/he will be better this year. I also never mind having additional depth at G to mitigate against injuries.

19. (226) C.Verhaeghe 20. (231) A.Mantha
Two wingers I had last year that I'm high on. Even though Verhaeghe never gets primo PP time he plays with Barkov and should be decent. Mantha is an injury risk for sure, but really solid upside when he plays. These two cover off a lot a cats together without sacrificing too many other areas.

21. (250) A.Lafreniere
22. (255) S.Couturier
23. (274) J.Kotkaniemi
24. (279) N.Lundkvist
25. (298) B.McNabb

I typically consider all of these rounds to be guys I'll likely cycle/stream out during the season, so usually try to toss some high "upside" darts in the hopes of hitting one. Lafreniere could deliver if he gets enough ice time. Kotkaniemi is a guy I've targeted across most of my leagues as he's clearly CAR's preferred choice for the 2C role... though he may not be ready for that yet. S.Couturier is an IR-stash for now but if he's healthy when he comes back, think Torts will play the hell out him. Lundkvist and C.Addison were my plan for my final two picks, but Addison got scooped just beforehand. If he wrests PP1 in DAL, he'll have value. If not, off to the wire. B.McNabb brings the peripherals but once/if Hague signs, I'm guessing I'll stream him out for other bangers throughout the year.

Overall:
Meh. Don't love the makeup post-draft but I do feel like there's enough meat on the bones here to at least keep me in the game. Will need to address some weaknesses and balance out my positions a bit more, but I tend to be really active both on the wire and with trades, so I'm confident I can tweak as the season progresses. And if a guy like B.Point somehow regains his C/RW as TB plays with line combos, then my balance at F somewhat fixes itself.
I also tend to be really (sometimes overly) patient with my slow starters during the season, so it's going to be a test to stick with a guy if he's slow out of the gates, since more than a few I didn't really "want" but wanted to trust my rankings.
As always - it will be fun and super challenging!

Team:

C: Aho, Malkin, Point, Hartman
R: Kucherov, Marner, Mantha, Lafreniere
L: Stuetzle, Hall (ir), Verhaeghe, Kotkaniemi
D: Rielly, McAvoy (ir), DeAngelo, Ristolainen, N.Lundkvist, McNabb
G: MAF, Binnington
BN: Barzal, Couturier (ir), Francouz, Petersen, Grubauer

[LordoftheRinks]

Before I start my team commentary I have a few PSA’s: First, what a privilege it is competing with this group. Each year, I learn something new and I really feel this the strongest gathering of GMs around to test your hockey IQ against. No one quits, and everyone competes to the bitter end regardless of positioning. I toast you all, my comrades! Second, Brandon! I salute you for being all that is truly meaningful as our commish, as well as being the best damn auto-drafter, bar none. Kudos to you good sir! Finally, Q – your annual recap belongs in this thread. Next to the draft, your commentary is what we look forward to the most. Make it so Q, make it so!

Down to business…

Going into the draft knowing I had the 7th round pick was sort of a ‘meh’ feeling. Also, arriving at the draft feeling a little ‘fuzzy’ after a long day of tailgating and watching the Eagles beat the Jags in the cold, rain, and wind. Oh well, time to crack open a beer (one more can’t hurt, right?) and get down to business.

Team Name: The Kings in Yellow (my homage to the cosmic horror genre and the classic horror fiction writers in the HP Lovecraft mold)

While I didn’t have an actual strategy, I did script out my top 5 or 6 rounds prior to the draft, so I had somewhat of a plan. Plans, however, don’t last long with this bunch. Generally, I wanted to focus on a top end center and a couple of top end wingers, at least one D, and a decent, workhorse goalie. I knew picking in the mid-range, I wasn’t going to get shut out of goalie or d-man run (I hoped) so could pivot if needed.

RD 1: B. Tkachuk – LW (7th pick) My targets: (B. Tkachuk, Ovechkin, Rantanen, Kaprisov) I picked B. Tkachuk as I have him 4th overall in my rankings and he’s a fantasy hockey unicorn. He’s always providing value even when he’s not scoring. Can he take a step forward in term of offense? If ‘yes’, good-by suckers!
RD 2: Barkov – C (18th pick) I had several targets here (Crosby, Barkov, Josi, Hedman, Huberdeau, Marner, Pastrnak) and the question of who might be available with my next turn. Several were still there, so grabbed Barkov, a truly elite center, and kept fingers crossed another one of these would be there for Rd 3.
RD 3: Pastrnak – RW (31st pick) The hockey gods were smiling, and Pastrnak was still in my queue. The B’s may be decimated in the early going, but Pasta is a shooting and goal scoring machine. He’s great value for a 3rd round pick.
RD 4: Demko – G (42nd pick) This is generally where the top workhorse goalies and top defensemen begin flying off the board and I knew I would need to choose between a top PPP getting defenseman or a workhouse goalie. (Note: 5 of the 5 goalies in my queue would be gone before my next pick came around again in RD 5). Once I saw 2 of the 5 goalies I was targeting leave the board, I pulled the trigger on Demko (highly skilled, no competition, a team on the upswing). Definitely a round earlier than I hoped to take a goalie, but he’s the type of goalie you just slot and forget.
RD 5: Hamilton – D (55th pick) It was now or never for a top d-man. Reilly, Letang, Carlson, Nurse, and Seider all went since my goalie trade-off. Of the 2 remaining in my queue (Hamilton and Ekblad) I opted for Hamilton. Both have their injury issues, but I’ll bet on a healthy Hamilton over a Healthy Ekblad.
RD 6: Reinhart – RW/C (66th pick) Looking at players with high point potential at their position (Burns D, Reinhart at RW/C, Tavares C, Forsberg LW). Decided on Reinhart for the point producing upside along with dual eligibility.
RD 7: Kopitar – C (79th pick) In this round I wanted either a top point producing / FOWwinnig C or a top remaining D man, or a winger who brings higher value relative to their draft position. In my queue were Kopitor, Larkin, Trochek, Hughes, Hintz, Chabot, Doughty, Weegar, Nylander, Marchessault. My hope is some will carryover to next round as well. Kopitar is ranked 54th overall on my list and was just too hard to leave value on the table and not pick in this format. With two talented wingers (not dragging Dustin Brown’s corpse around anymore), he has more upside than in previous seasons.
RD 8: Chabot - D (90th pick) Going into this round I still have several goalies in my queue – guy’s who aren’t necessarily elite but who are clearly number 1 and have upside over last season (incl. Binnington, Merzlikins as two of the remaining better options). Binnington went right before my pick but I felt safe that Merzlikins would be there at least another round. Several good d-men still on the board when my pick came around so I grabbed a defender who I really like this year in Chabot.
Rd 9: Marchessault – LW/RW (103rd pick) Pretty much the rest of the good defenders are gone by the time my next pick came around and the forwards remaining in my queue were Ehlers, Marchessault, Stuetzle and d-men Werenski and Pietrangelo. I’ve always liked Marchessault in roto leagues, he’s dual-eligible and he’s consistent.
RD 10: Merzlikins – G (114th pick) Merzlikins Once I saw Ullmark get picked, I just knew GMs we’re sniffing the goalie queue so I didn’t wait any longer. He’s likely the last decent clear #1 and will improve on a better CBJ team. My previous skater queue was cleared out before my pick so I was somewhat happy with getting a somewhat decent starter. The only player I had in my queue I missed out on who I was hoping would fall to next round was Horvat who went immediately after (along with goalies Husso and Samsonov).
RD 11: Bouchard – D (127th pick) Back to the D board to get one of the remaining quality D-men who provide cross category coverage. In my queue were Bouchard, McAvoy, and Morrissey. Morrissey went before my pick and McAvoy I would have picked up as fourth D, but not as my 3rd. Bouchard is great value even with limited 1st unit value and is huge value if/when he takes over as the quarterback on the 1st unit.
RD 12: Jenner – C (138th pick) 5 goalies went in this round before my pick. In my queue were Hyman, Jenner, Nugent-Hopkins, Perron, Seguin, Rust, Zegras, Zuccarello. Jenner is always valued in this league because of his category coverage and dual eligibility (LW/C). This year he isn’t (YET) dual-eligible but he is getting the first crack at centering Johnny Hockey and Laine. Upside + category coverage + FOW. At LEAST one of the remaining guys in my queue will there in the next round, right?
RD 13: Seguin – RW/C (151st pick) Zegras is intriguing but went right before my pick. Seguin had a much better 2nd half last season after his recovery time from hip surgery (see what you have to look forward to Marchand owners) and with FOW is very valuable at wing.
RD 14: Hyman – LW/RW (162nd pick) Still in my queue and just a good all around winger on a very good offensive team.
Feeling generally good (but still fuzzy from the Eagles game) after 14 rounds – I have a balanced team with 3 centers (Barkov, Kopitar, Jenner), 6 wingers (B. Tkachuk, Pastrnak, Reinhart, Marchessault, Seguin, Hyman), 3 defensemen (Hamilton, Chabot, Bouchard), and 2 goalies who don’t stink (Demko, Merzlikins). I have a decent core I can build around and will allow me to tinker with to fill gaps once the season begins (via FA pick ups or trades).

The rest of my picks were basically category fillers or upside picks:
RD 15: Dumba – D (175th pick) He does a little bit of everything and has upside if he plays powerplay.
RD 16: Marchment – LW/RW (186th pick) Another category filler with upside. He’ll bring great value in a top-6 role with Dallas.
RD 17: Matheson – D (199th pick) If he locks down the PP quarterback role he’s great value here.
RD 18: Lee – LW (210th pick) I don’t trust the Islanders as a team, but their captain will have a top 6 role, powerplay time, and he shoots and hits (and hopefully scores).
RD 19: Danualt – C (223rd pick) I wanted to fill out my C positions with top FOW guy who can get 50 points. He’ll have decent wingers on an improved LAK team.
RD 20: Meyers – D (234th pick) Meh. He covers categories for my 6th D position (SOG, PIM, HIT, BLK) and scores the occasional goal. Probably the one pick I really don’t like/care about but I was fading fast from a crazy day and this was a brain fart pure and simple. Definitely expendable. In hindsight, my worst pick in the draft and would have been better served going with one of the remaining back up goalies.
RD 21: Lehkonen – LW/RW (247th pick) Just a really solid player who plays top-6 on a Stanley Cup winner.
RD 22: Kuzmenko – LW (258th pick) Another flyer. However, he didn’t come over from the Motherland to play bottom six minutes and he’s looked really comfortable in the preseason. Time will tell but WTF it’s the 22nd round.
RD 23: Blackwood – G (271st pick) I’ve been fading goalies since round 10 and it’s now or never. For my 3rd goalie, he’s a time share for sure, but NJ is improving and it isn’t like he’s competing against Brodeur with Vanacek. He could play 35, he could play 45.
RD 24: Copp – C/RW (282nd pick) Another solid hockey player who’s improving each year. He’ll center line 2 with DET and have decent wingers and some PP time as well. Plus decent FOW at the wing position!
RD 25: Lindell – D (295th pick) Why did I pick Meyers when I could have had Lindell? Plus, he may sniff some 2nd unit PP time with Heiskanen moving up to #1. Solid peripherals as well.

That’s my team, and with some tweaking and no major injuries, I’m confident I’ll compete for a top 3 finish.

[4T2]

Did you guys really log 300 picks and nobody grabbed Mario Ferraro?!

I had him queued up for the last 5 round but would have meant missing out on Martin Fehervary, Anthony Stolarz, Martin Necas, Karel Vejmelka, Anthony Cirelli. I agree that he could outproduce any of those guys in this league though, but that's the chance you take. I would have had to take him in Round 20 or earlier if you were still in the league though haha.

But I put a waiver claim in on him right after the draft and was able to snag him (and Rossi) so I'm feeling pretty good about my team now.

[Pengwin7]

Ferraro is probably the best kept secret in Hits/Blks/PPP leagues... as he's playing point on PP2 for SJ. (They didn't like R.Merkley's full game)
Ferraro put up points at U-Mass Amherst, yes, but was buried behind some guy named Cale Makar while he was there. Both were 18yr olds there in 17/18.
I honestly think he can finish as a top25 D-man and top100 skater in Hit/Blk/PPP leagues if he plays full season with PPTOI.

[WHL people can verify I used a very valuable #1 overall waiver claim on him just a few weeks ago.. and PQMC people know I drafted him around rd.20 of that league]

I don't think you'll drop him... and his early games in Europe will get you out to a nice lead - which is fun in ROTO!
Nice claim. (And you give me somebody now to root for in RHRS - my favourite all-time one year league!... I dearly miss... most of you!)

[horrorfan]

First trade of the season:

Michael Bunting Tor - LW
Dan Vladar Cgy - G
Traded to Connibal Hellecaust 2 (HF)

Jordan Kyrou StL - LW,RW
Yegor Sharangovich NJ - C,LW
Traded to The Hughes of the Devil (EB)

[Eskimo Brother]

^Post-draft I was realizing I didn't have enough scoring, so adding some points and PPPs at the expense of some of my extra grit made sense.

[4T2]

Good trade fellas. Not sure I can recall the last pre-season trade in this league. I don't think they are super common. Hopefully a sign of things to come this year