Keeper Advice

[Shota]

Need some keeper advice for the league in my sig. Keepers slot in on the upcoming draft order relative to their draft position from the year prior (the number in bracket after each players' name). FA are automatically the last available pick of the draft (so pretty much 20th).

Because this is a shallow league where 160 players are drafted and only 40 are kept, I tend to prioritize elite high scoring wingers and defenseman with scoring upside and solid category coverage.

I plan on being in contention this season (only 8 teams, so I think all managers intend to compete). I pick 4th out of 8 teams and I've retained all my draft picks except for my 3rd (two 13th picks). The last place manager has two 1sts and two 2nds and a third, so if I give up an elite player, they will very likely not make it back to me in the draft.

I am more or less set on Kucherov, Rantanen and Meier (20th). I am a firm believer in not drafting goalies until I've established a solid roster of scoring forwards and multi-cat dmen, but I've got a couple good ones in Markstrom and Sorokin. I am leaning on Markstrom because I think CGY will be a much better team than NYI for the duration of this keeper league. My other "bubble" keepers are Stamkos and Dobson.

Any advice would be appreciated!

[The Biscuit]

I would keep Markstrom.

[SeaDawg]

It's between Stamkos and Markstrom for me.

In a small league like this, you have to wonder which of those two players would be easiest to draft or replace. I'm inclined to think that Stamkos would be easier to replace, but it would partially depend on which players you think your competitors are going to protect. Will there be plenty of goalies available in the draft?. If so, I might be inclined to keep Stamkos and re-draft Markstrom (or a similar goalie).