Up and Comers vs Vets: Tippett, Wahlstrom, Farabee, Crouse, Vatrano

[ste.anne]

Picked up a few forwards when some of my core guys got hurt. When they return from injury I have to assess whether to keep the young up an coming guys I picked up or a bottom tier veteran who is serviceable. I am contending for a title this year so need to balance current ability with future upside. Who would you want to keep and who would be the first to drop from the list below:

Tippett: getting ice time time in PHI and is putting up good shots and hits. Interested in the multi-cat potential and points potential if he sticks top 6.
Farabee: also getting ice time in PHI but is cooling down after a hot start. Worry that he does not do enough of anything really well and is kinda vanilla.
Wahlstrom: only getting like 12 minutes a night, but it is with Barzel. Okay shots and hits. Could his production spike if he gets more ice time?
Vatrano: solid on shots and hits (and more blocks this year to), plays in the top 6, but not likely much more than a .5ppg player
Crouse: will likely stay in top 6 but likley capped at around .5ppg, okay shots but has great hits

I'm intrigued to keep some of the younger guys over a Vatrano or Crouse as their points upsides could be higher. But how much higher? Any of these guys likely to get to .8ppg or higher? If they are .5 - .6 ppg players at their ceiling, it might make more sense to go with a known element like vatrano or crouse.

[senryu]

Wahlstrom is a headcase who only wants to shoot. His ice time is restricted as a result of his unwillingness or incapability of being an all around player.

Crouse appears to be the kind of guy who was drafted high more because of his size than talent. That being said, if you don't have an Ovechkin or E. Kane to provide you with hits and scoring, Crouse is a very valuable guy to round out the end of the starters. He probably won't hit .8 ppg ever because he can't playmake, but a high-powered center (cough, Bedard) could raise Crouse up if Crouse is paired with him. Crouse's ideal outcome is to be the Alex Burrows to the Sedin twins.

Vatrano is solid, unspectacular, and not likely to ever show more that he ever has. He's a third liner at heart.

Given all the choices, I'd keep Crouse if you need hits or one of the Flyers kids if you want to speculate. I think Farabee is a better player than Tippett, even if 2022-23 hasn't shown it.

[LuigiC173]

I like Tippett's potential for continued success. He has a world class release as well.

[stevegamer]

I prefer Farabee to Tippett comparing the two Flyers guys. to be fair, I've seen more of Farabee, but he is a definite NHL player, and will not bust, he's a top 6 guy. Tippett has a bit mhigher ceiling, but a much lower floor, I feel.

Vatrano is a really safe guy to stream or as an injry fill in. I've rostered him inv arious leagues, particularly deep leagues, cap leagues or both for years and been happy enough, but he's not exciting - except when being dealt to the Rangers.

Crouse is peripherals with decent scoring, I prefer him to Vatrano for possible upside.

Wahlstrom is a bit of an enigma. I think many of us expected more this year, and we're not getting it.

[Catfish On Ice]

If you are keeping two, I would hang onto Farabee and Crouse.

[ste.anne]

Thanks for the feedback. Dropped Wahlstrom and Vatrano. Will have to still likely make a call on one of Tippett, Farabee and Crouse. In my league, if a forward is only getting you .5-.6 ppg then they gotta have one of at least 2.5+ shots/game or 1.5+ hits/game. Ideally both. Tippett seems like he may be able to generate those shots and hits. Crouse is a hitting specialist. Farabee seems to have the highest points ceiling. However, if Farabee can't get past 2 shots and 1 hit per game, he needs to produce more to be good value. These are the bottom fowards on my roster, so not a huge deal. Good problem to have.

[Fighting_Emu]

I like tuppett and Farabee.

Tbh I've heard concerns about wahlstroms hockey iq.

I accidentally dropped tippett so you can sleep softly knowing hes about to absolutely explode lol!!

[butch]

we're still waiting for Beauvillier to find consistency let alone Wahlstrom