5th overall pick?

[Starvin Marvin]

Hello

Long story short, this past season we started very late, so the league was free. With that, many teams were not really trying in order to get into the Bedard sweepstakes. I unfortunately didn't make the sweepstakes because some teams were tanking harder than I was... I'm now the 5th overall pick.

I know there's a thread on here regarding the 4th overall, but with drafting 5th, is there a clear player to nab if the top 4 are taken?

Team/League is in my signature. I've already cleared out the players I'm not keeping and also may not keep Kostin, Copp and Deslauriers.

[stevegamer]

First off, you hope one of Carlsson or Michkov drop to you. It's not impossible, as they are both European players, and Michkov in particular has the Russian question. However, in a cap league, the KHL angle can help, as he may come over later.

Other than that, I think that there is no clear #5 guy right now. There may be post-draft. I think you look at the various forwards who are projected in that next tier, plus physical D. I think the offensive D seem to take longer to produce in multi-cat, and with a more physical D, you can get something while they are cheap. You do not need goalie prospects, so if a goalie goes high in the NHL draft, that helps you with either one of the top 4 falling, or with somebody wanting to move up to get that goalie.

[Axeman33]

I think this is the real question going into most fantasy drafts and I am surprised more haven't asked this one.

At this point, the top 4 are the top 4. As mentioned, if one of them drops to you at 5th, someone in your league is not paying much attention to what is going on in the prospect work for hockey. Either way, if that happens, this discussion becomes moot.

If all goes according to plan, and the top 4 go before you, it gets real interesting. Do you draft in your league before or after the actual NHL draft? That will be a big tell for you. Right now, the 5th overall could be between Zach Benson or Will Smith in my eyes but there's others who are right there with them and where they go in the actual NHL draft will be a big tell on how the professional drafting scouts see them as well.

[senryu]

It's Will Smith for me at 5. He's a Zegras type, height and skating are good, very smart. He'll be known more for generating assists than scoring goals. But being a center, he'll help with FOW. He may not be as electric as Fantilli or Bedard, but he does pretty much everything above average or better, except maybe for defensive effort.

[Starvin Marvin]

Thanks for the replies! I tried to rep but I don't see the option.

Our league opens back up a month after the NHL draft. Our draft usually takes place 3 weeks before the season starts. There's a lot of quality players on the FA, so I'm hoping a top 4 prospect drops otherwise I'll be reading up more on Benson and Smith.

Then I'm basically drafting a D core for most of the rounds... 😄

[Invictus]

Will Smith is a risky pick for me at 5...
What if he doesn't like the team that drafts him... Will he go up on stage and slap the GM?

[stevegamer]

Thanks for the replies! I tried to rep but I don't see the option.

Our league opens back up a month after the NHL draft. Our draft usually takes place 3 weeks before the season starts. There's a lot of quality players on the FA, so I'm hoping a top 4 prospect drops otherwise I'll be reading up more on Benson and Smith.

Then I'm basically drafting a D core for most of the rounds... ��

Sine it's limited keeper there's a likelihood that there will be some older prospects in that mix, At least that gives you more options. Good luck.

[PoolPartyPuljeejarvi]

I don't think you could take him as high as 5 but Cristal looks like a great pick for fantasy, Sale is getting thise pastrnak comparisons that make us drool and im not a professional scout by any measure but in terms of watching them all play I can't get enough clips of Perreault...