Dobber EXPERT Stanley [2023-24]

[temek]

Standings prediction based on Dom Luszczyszyn's projections from https://theathletic.com/4815363/2023...sheet-2023-24/ . The order stayed mostly the same, but my team and Yellow Dogs went down -14 and -13 points respectively and Ice Cobras, Y! Autodrafts and AINTaPLAYAiJUSTdraftALOT up by +7, +7, +6 points so there definitely were some changes at least. Getting to draft 1st overall and McDavid is a massive boost compared to any other team so my team got a pretty big headstart there. I estimated that getting McDavid was comparable to boosting 25th round pick to 10th round pick so that's a pretty big advantage for 1st overall drafters. Y! Autodrafts, Savages, '68 and What's up Dach? still get penalized pretty hard for not hitting goalie max GP so those teams would be higher up if you use per game numbers instead. His +/- projections seem much more realistic at least even if the order of teams stayed mostly similar to mine.

Might as well describe my process a little bit so you get a clearer idea of how I am doing the standing projections. I select best starting skater lineup for each team, 4C, 4RW, 4W, 6D moving multiposition eligible players around if necessary. Sometimes I leave 1 extra skater in if team has lot of injured players leading to low GP totals, but that's quite rare. Then if the team hasn't used all of the GP available per positoin, I'll fill the remaining games with what replacement level player of that position would produce in those games. For example if Team is missing 41 GP from C position and replacement lvl C produces 20 pts/82 GP, then Team gets 10 G added to it's totals from starting lineup's 4 C players and similarly for every skater position. For goalies I keep all goalies active until goalie max GP of 164 is reached. If team is above max GP limit, I remove worst ranked goalie from the team until I can't remove one without going below 164 GP.

Rank	Team	Draft pos	G	A	+/-	SOG	PPP	Hit		G GP	W	GAA	SV		Standings		G	A	+/-	SOG	PPP	Hit		W	GAA	SV
1	Last Resort	1	415	726	38	3808	355	1784		164	82	2.64	4684		83		8	9	8	12	9	9		5	12	11
2	Soo Venirs	5	428	760	21	3535	374	1169		162	83	2.72	4694		70		11	11	4	4	10	2		7	9	12
3	Yotes pack	2	410	714	10	3727	378	1615		163	88	2.81	4534		67		6	8	3	11	11	6		10	4	8
4	Ice Cobras	8	409	799	5	3658	394	1284		164	83	2.72	4526		65		5	12	2	8	12	3		8	8	7
5	Yellow Dogs	12	413	702	47	3698	347	1752		164	87	2.93	4439		64		7	7	9	10	7	8		9	2	5
6	Don't Panic	3	391	609	48	3556	250	1790		164	96	2.67	4462		58		3	1	10	5	1	10		12	10	6
7	Y! Autodrafts	9	441	654	36	3696	337	1430		80	46	2.66	2283		56		12	5	7	9	6	4		1	11	1
8	some guys	6	419	615	27	3477	302	1950		164	83	2.83	4635		53		9	2	6	2	4	11		6	3	10
9	Savages	10	424	652	60	3626	295	1165		146	81	2.76	4068		49		10	4	11	7	3	1		3	7	3
10	AINTaPLAYAiJUSTdraftALOT	4	383	640	26	3470	307	1642		164	90	2.78	4624		48		1	3	5	1	5	7		11	6	9
11	'68	11	407	753	-12	3563	355	1573		155	82	2.79	4331		47		4	10	1	6	8	5		4	5	4
12	What's up Dach?	7	385	659	79	3487	270	2351		128	60	2.94	3705		42		2	6	12	3	2	12		2	1	2

[tweetdrivr]

Interesting. Thanks for the info!

[duntroon68]

I liked the first projection better.

Now tell us the projection if all the guys you drafted that I was going to take next pick had gotten back to me. Looking at guys down the ADP, thinking, “Next pick…damn it.”

[Invictus]

I like Dom's. Has me out of relegation.

[temek]

This was my 1st draft for 1-year leagues this season so the plan was to play little safer on my value picks and not wait too long on anyone. Weekly FA pickups make it pretty difficult to catch up in games if you drop behind in GP pace so didn't want to use more than 5 spots for goalies preferably with two of those being established starters. In general I was just trying to get good value on all my picks and trying to not fill any position too fast so I would have an option to use my picks on any position even later in the draft. Didn't quite turn out that way though and I had to skip some good LWs available later on.

Last Resort

C - McDavid, Stamkos, Bennett, Vilardi
LW - Marchand, Fiala, F.Forsberg, Ehlers
RW - Batherson, Laine, P.Kane, Evangelista
D - Letang, Dobson, Forsling, Petry, Ristolainen, Ekholm
G - Sorokin, Saros
BN - Woll, Hertl, Levi, Ingram, Stolarz

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

It's pretty well established that early picks have an advantage in snake drafts and I estimated that getting McDavid would give me an advantage comparable to upgrading 25th round pick to 10th round pick. Value difference between McDavid and Draisaitl(2nd on my rankings) was about same as between 2nd overall and late 2nd round pick(20-25th overall) and that would translate to about 3-5 points on standings so a pretty big headstart straight from the start.

2.(24)Ilya Sorokin (NYI - G)
3.(25)Steven Stamkos (TB - C,LW)

I was looking at my rankings pre-draft and it looked likely that there might not be a single skater available I liked so I would probably have to pick at least 1 goalie here, maybe even double goalie if skaters looked bad enough. Luckily Stamkos was available so happy to get one skater here. Sorokin and Hellebuyck were left of my Top5 goalies and ended up going with Sorokin.

4.(48)Juuse Saros (NSH - G)
5.(49)Brad Marchand (BOS - LW)

All the skaters I wanted went before my pick with E.Karlsson and Heiskanen the last two picks before my turn so I wasn’t happy about that. I would have preferred to wait on getting a 2nd goalie few more rounds, but decided to go with Saros. Saros was the last of my top tier goalies available with a pretty big dropoff to the next goalies so at least I got him at relatively good spot. Choosing the second pick was a much harder decision as I didn’t really like any of the skaters available that much. I ended up picking Marchand, but I think I would have been better off with RW or D like Boldy, Sergachev or Q.Hughes in hindsight.

6.(72)Kris Letang (PIT - D)
7.(73)Kevin Fiala (LA - LW)

I was hoping to get Burns, but he went few picks ahead of my picks so chose the next best D on my list in Letang, I am projecting both Letang and Karlsson to get 1st PP unit time most of the time in similar manner as Burns and Karlsson were in SJ few years back so happy to pick him up here. Fiala was clearly the best available forward on my list so went with him. Filling 3 LW slots already was somewhat concerning though and might limit my picks going forward. Fiala could get RW eligibility though and I also had an option to move Stamkos to C if necessary.

8.(96)Drake Batherson (OTT - RW)
9.(97)Noah Dobson (NYI - D)

I was really looking to get at least one RW on board as RW looks pretty weak this season so didn’t want to wait too long on getting my 1st RW. I was hoping to get Pavelski, Kyrou or S.Reinhart here, but all went earlier in the 9th round so had to pivot to a backup choice in Batherson. The next best skater on my list was F.Forsberg, but I really didn’t want to get 4th LW already this early so went with the best D available in Dobson instead.

10.(120)Filip Forsberg (NSH - LW)
11.(121)Patrik Laine (CBJ - LW,RW)

I was ready to draft Eriksson Ek, but he was sniped on the last pick before my turn so had to pick someone else. Picking 4th LW already wasn’t really ideal, but I had Forsberg so much ahead of the next best skater on my list that I felt I couldn’t pass on him anymore. Yahoo in general is pretty liberal with giving extra position eligibilities so it was likely that some C or LW on my team would get RW at some point of the season so felt position imbalance was acceptable consequence. The other pick was between Laine, Marchessault and Nichushkin and ended up going with Laine, but it was very close decision in the end.

12.(144)Gustav Forsling (FLA - D)
13.(145)Nikolaj Ehlers (WPG - LW)

I would have liked to shore up my C and RW and was looking to pick Norris, but he went earlier in the 12th round. I did consider Kadri, DeBrusk and Caufield too, but decided to get another LW as Ehlers was by far the highest ranked player left on my list. I had 4 LW already, but could move Stamkos to C and in the end preferred to have Stamkos at C + Ehlers at LW over Kadri at C + Stamkos LW. Besides Ehlers has a good chance of getting RW eligiblity anyway so I felt it was worth doing. Choosing th second pick was harder, but ended up going with Forsling. I am projecting Montour and Ekblad to miss the first 25-30 games so Forsling should provide excellent value until then in probable PP1 role and who knows what happens if he performs well. Montour took over Ekblad just last season so I thnk there is an opportunity for even long term value.

14.(168)Sam Bennett (FLA - C)
15.(169)Joseph Woll (TOR - G)

I wanted to get C and/or RW and since options at RW were not looking good, I went with Bennett at C. I was also monitoring goalie picks and felt it was time to pick up my 3rd goalie after Copley went. Since both of my starting goalies are playing for playoff bubble teams at best I wanted platoon/backup goalie from top team to get some extra wins. Toronto should be a top team and there could even be an opportunity for starting role with Samsonov not quite a surefire starter yet. I would be happy even with 25 starts from backup role too so all in all solid 3rd goalie. I did consider Klingberg too, but decided to pass as I wanted more hits from my bottom3 D and felt he would be a little risky pick as well.

16.(192)Gabriel Vilardi (WPG - C)
17.(193)Patrick Kane (NYR - RW)

I had marked Pacioretty and P.Kane to be worth taking a shot around these rounds and opted for P.Kane since my LW was full and needed RW. I am projecting about 70 pts pace with 65 GP played so it’s not like I am projecting return to 90+ pts days, but could be nice pickup if things go well. I also thought about Boeser, Colton and Hanifin, but decided to get another C on board in Vilardi. I think he is a good upside pick in a solid situation in WPG and also has a good chance of getting RW eligibility which would be useful.

18.(216)Jeff Petry (DET - D)
19.(217)Devon Levi (BUF - G)

BUF G situation is still open and BUF defensive results don’t inspire much confidence either, but looks like Levi is getting an opportunity to show what he can do so I think he is a worth a shot at this point of the draft. I did also consider A.Forsberg, Hofer, Francouz out of other goalie options. Ross Colton was still there as well, but wanted to get RW or D and picked up best D available on my list in Petry over Mangiapane at RW. I did also think abou going with Krug, but wanted D with more hits.

20.(240)Tomas Hertl (SJ - C)
21.(241)Connor Ingram (ARI - G)

I feel I should have taken a upside shot with someone like Fantilli or Novak instead of Hertl, but that’s easy to say in hindsight. I also continued to fill out my bench goalies with Ingram. He had solid numbers last season and has a history of good previous performances in the AHL and ARI roster also looks lot more competitive than previous seasons so I think he’s a good target to take shot at later in the draft.

22.(264)Luke Evangelista (NSH - RW)
23.(265)Rasmus Ristolainen (PHI - D)
24.(288)Mattias Ekholm (EDM - D)
25.(289)Anthony Stolarz (FLA - G)

Not really that much to talk about here, 2 filler Ds Ristolainen and Ekholm, upside shot at Evangelista and taking a shot at possible backup goalie on a good team in Stolarz. I might have been better of taking shots at likes of Clarke/Addison/York instead, but we’ll how that ends up.

Overall mostly happy with my team after the draft. Getting McDavid gives my team straight away 3-5 pots headstart in standings so a good start there. My RW looks pretty bad, but there’s always trading and FA pickups if necessary. I also think it’s pretty likely Yahoo gives someone like Vilardi, Fiala or Ehlers RW eligibility anyway so I can just keep an eye on it for now. Category balance looks fairly good except team might be a little low on Wins so I feel I should have prioritized drafting backups from good teams like Raanta, Francouz, Fleury when they were available.

[4T2]

I have a lot to prove this year after finishing 9/12 last year and only avoiding relegation due to a team ahead of me in the standings not returning.

I ended up picking third overall which I feel is the toughest choice in the first round this season. There are 6 players I would consider at this pick after the big 2 are gone. I had to lean wing given the depth at the C position this season and how shallow the RW pool is.

Round 1 (3) – David Pastrnak
This ultimately came down to Pasta, Mackinnon or one of the Tkachuks. Pasta’s concern is that his linemates have downgraded, Mack is the safe pick but C is soooo deep this year, M Tkachuk could still be suffering from the broken sternum, and Brady doesn’t produce at the same offensive level but is a multi-cat beast! Ultimately I went for one of my favorite players on my favorite team who offers elite offensive production and good cross-category coverage from the most shallow position in the game this year.

Round 2 (22) – Jake Oettinger
I knew I’d have to take a goalie with one of my round 2 or 3 picks. I had hoped one of Shesterkin or Vasi would fall but that didn’t happen. With temek picking on the turn, I knew at least one goalie would go before it circled back to me (he took Sorokin). I didn’t want to risk missing out as I have a clear divide below the top 4 goalies so went with Oett. Sorokin is the better goalie but the Stars should lead to stronger stats for Oettinger.

Round 3 (27) Teemu Meier
I had Meier a little further down my list but he is another personal favorite of mine (former Moosehead). It came down to him or Miller for me here. This could be a great pick if he starts to mesh in NJ but may require some patience as that didn’t happen immediately after the trade. But he should provide solid offense and great SOG/Hits.

Round 4 (46) Erik Karlsson
Getting Meier in round 3 meant I could focus on some pure offensive talent here. It looked like Panarin would fall but he went 2 picks ahead of me. I had 5 guys in my queue at this point so was feeling pretty good that I’d get two of them with this set of picks since there are only 4 slots in between. Karlsson playing with Crosby/Malkin should give some pretty good production.

Round 5 (51) Jack Eichel
3 of the 4 remaining in my queue went with the next picks in Heiskanen, Saros, Marchand. Eichel was the last remaining C in that tier for me. He could prove to be a steal at this position if he is finally fully health and recovered.

Round 6 (70) Brent Burns
Thought about going G here as it seemed to be another mini-goalie run going with the next tier of goalies starting to fly off the board (Ullmark, Samsonov, Gustavsson). But Burns was the last D remaining from this tier for me so I decided to grab him. Deangelo may cut into his PPP production, but the old fella still has some gas in the tank.

Round 7 (75) Frederik Andersen
Yotes pack went back-to-back Gs in between which took Demko/Vanececk off the board. I took Freddy here because I figured Raanta might be the easiest to get in later rounds to lock up that tandem. Plus Carolina should be a very strong team.

Round 8 (94) Evander Kane
I had thought about Kane the previous two rounds but since I had Meier, I decided to focus elsewhere. I’m thrilled to get his multi-cat production at this point in the draft.

Round 9 (99) Joonas Korpisalo
There aren’t too many true #1 goalies left on good teams so this came down to Korpisalo vs Markstrom for me. Ottawa will challenge for a playoff spot this year and should be a fun team to watch so I went with the Sens new goalie. Along the same lines as Andersen, I was hoping to snag the Forsberg handcuff later.

Round 10 (118) Aaron Ekblad
D had been flying off the board with 7 going since my last pick. So I figured Ekblad was a good snag here. I don’t mind stashing a guy on IR for a bit as there’s always a few leftovers from the draft who are worth taking a chance on.

Round 11 (123) Elias Lindholm
Two of my favorite Cs to own were still on the board and I went back and fourth between Lindholm and Trocheck here. Ultimately I thought that Lindholm would be the better offensive option if Calgary bounces back. Thought about taking Tom Wilson here but decided I didn’t need him with Meier/Kane already in my lineup.

Round 12 (142) Anze Kopitar
I was at a really strange spot here in that my queue was somewhat empty but not because of a run on players I liked. I just found this to be a very mushy middle section of the draft. I’ve drafted a balance of players positionally to this point. Kopitar should help boost some offensive cats and should outproduce his draft spot. Seemed like the best choice.

Round 13 (147) Tom Wilson
Speaking of outproducing his draft spot, Wilson should be a great choice in round 13. If he stays healthy he is one of the top multi-cat guys in the game. I’m very heavy on the multi-cat guys at this point but couldn’t pass him up. I may have to look at trading one of the bangers though for offensive help at some point.

Round 14 (166) Dawson Mercer
This is where RW starts getting very shallow. I had Debrusk, Caufield, and Barzal queued up but they all went between these picks. I’ve seen a lot of people pegging Mercer to take another step forward so I’ll be rooting for the kid this year.

Round 15 (171) Hampus Lindholm
The available D list is dwindling and Lindholm was a pleasant WW pickup for me last year. Always nice to have an extra player from your favorite team too.

Round 16 (190) Ryan Hartman
Still has a chance to center the top line in Minny. I’ll take exposure to Kaprizov at this point in the draft.

Round 17 (195) K’andre Miller
Decent offense and hits a lot. My D isn’t overly physical so he should help on that end.

Round 18 (214) Alexis Lafreniere
Magical fourth year breakout anyone?

Round 19 (219) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Temek took Devon Levi two picks before this, so I figured I better snag the goalie I think will actually be the #1 in Buffalo this season. Jack Campbell went right before as well and I may have taken the chance on him if he hadn’t

Round 20 (238) Peter Kochetkov
He’s starting in AHL this year but I don’t mind stashing him in case one of the Carolina tandem goes down with injury. I was hoping to get Forsberg here to handcuff Korpisalo but duntroon snagged him earlier in the round.

Round 21 (243) Jusso Valimaki
Showed great promise late last season but could be stuck behind Durzi this year. Worth a late flyer as D number 6 though. Vrana would have been my pick here but was sniped right in front of me.

Round 22 (262) Ivan Provorov
I hadn’t realized he was still on the board so when I noticed, he jumped to the top of my queue. Should get great production even on a crowded Columbus blue line.

Round 23 (267) Matthew Knies
Highly touted Toronto youngster who could see exposure to top-line superstars with only 3 rounds left? Sure, why not?

Round 24 (286) Sean Couturier
Like Provorov, I noticed him on the board late and couldn’t pass him up this late in draft. Could be a big bounce back year for him.

Round 25 (291) Yaroslav Askarov
Was only on my radar because EskimoBrother is so high on him. I also forgot that Lankinen was in Nashville as the backup. But I’ll take a chance on the G prospect and see what happens through the rest of training camp.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with my draft. I sacrificed some offense for multi-cat production but I think my depth picks will help make up for that. With some shrewd trades, I feel like I’ve got a team that can compete this season.

[Locke]

Yotes Pack

1. (2) Leon Draisaitl (EDM - C,LW)
Decided not to overthink it.

2. (23) Rasmus Dahlin (BUF - D)
Start of my strategy. RW is notoriously shallow, but so are D above replacement in a start 72 D league. Heavy D then RW. Was thrilled to see Dahlin here as he was my target. With hits, Dahlin’s probably the D with the best chance to top the heap after Makar.

3. (26) Dougie Hamilton (NJ - D)
My second D target. While last year was perhaps his ceiling, NJ is still trending up. Josi was gone, and Hamilton’s sog make him preferable to me than Fox.

4. (47) Miro Heiskanen (DAL - D)
Fox, Bouchard, and Karlsson all went. I view Heiskanen in the same tier as those three so my decision was easy. So far the plan is working out.

5. (50) Mikhail Sergachev (TB - D)
I went back and forth here between Hughes and Sergachev. In the end decided Sergachev’s pp potential and hits fit my team better than Hughes lack of hits and elite pp numbers.

6. (71) Thatcher Demko (VAN - G) & 7. (74) Vitek Vanecek (NJ - G)
Was still looking at D here but there was a bit of a run. All of Hughes, Hedman, McAvoy, Morrissey, Montour, Seider, and Burns went. Decided to pivot. Had a bunch of similarly ranked rws in my queue, so went G. I had 4 guys left in a tier: Vanacek, Jarry, Andersen, and Demko. Went Demko and Vanecek. Demko burned me last year in this league – hopefully not again.

8. (95) Joe Pavelski (DAL - C,RW) & 9. (98) Tyler Toffoli (NJ - RW)
Now I really need some rws. Reasonably happy with these two. Pavs just keeps going, and has elite linemates. I generally don’t like taking guys who have switched teams, but Toffoli’s likely lesser usage is offset imo by NJ’s high-tempo style and elite Cs.

10. (119) Joel Eriksson Ek (MIN - C)
Nearly pulled the trigger on Forsberg here as he’s really undervalued by Yahoo this year. Took a chance he would last, and went with JEEK (Forsberg went immediately after). I need a C, some grit, and I like Ek’s pp outlook better than Trochek (who I also considered).

11. (122) Jonathan Marchessault (VGK - RW)
Filling out my rw with a high sog high floor guy.

12. (143) Michael Matheson (MTL - D)
Matheson is one on the only dmen left with 100 hit pp1 overlap. I’m pretty high on him this year.

13. (146) Nazem Kadri (CGY - C)
Decent chance of a solid bounceback from Kadri, and a good multi-cat floor

14. (167) Owen Tippett (PHI - RW) & 15. (170) Lawson Crouse (ARI - LW,RW)
I’m a bit light on hits at this point so took a couple of guys with 20/20/150/150 floors. If either go off for 30/30/200/200 they’ll be huge value at this point.

16. (191) Nick Schmaltz (ARI - C,RW)
After drafting 300+ hits with Tippett and Crouse, I can afford Shmaltz’ lack of peripherals. When he plays he’s near a ppg with solid pp production.

17. (194) Barrett Hayton (ARI - C)
If Hayton can build on the last half of last year he’s good value here. Talented player.

18. (215) Sean Durzi (ARI - D)
My 6th dman. I think he’s the frontrunner for the Yotes pp.

19. (218) Jack Campbell (EDM - G)
Was looking for Levi here, but he got sniped just before. Campbell’s got the contract and he’s a solid dart here.

20. (239) Lukas Reichel (CHI - LW) 21. (242) Jakub Vrana (STL - LW)
Filling out my lw with some high-upside guys. If neither pan out I’ll need to make a trade or get lucky on the wire.

22. (263) Thomas Novak (NSH - C)
I think NSH will be best served giving Novak offensive minutes and O’Reilly defensive minutes. If that works out, Novak could have sneaky value here.

23. (266) Spencer Knight (FLA - G)
Bob’s as streaky as they get, and Knight looks like he’s now actively dealing with some demons. Great upside.

24. (287) Jason Zucker (ARI - LW)
Hopefully a bit of LW security.

25. (290) Casey DeSmith (VAN - G)
Demko insurance


C: Eriksson-Ek, Kadri, Hayton, Novak
LW: Draisaitl (c), Crouse (rw), Reichel, Vrana, Zucker
RW: Pavelski (c), Toffoli, Marchessault, Schmaltz (c), Tippett
D: Dahlin, Hamilton, Heiskanen, Sergachev, Durzi, Matheson
G: Demko, Vanecek, Campbell, Knight, DeSmith


I was pretty happy to have successfully executed my d-first strategy without reaching too much. Time will tell if it works - I'm a bit light on wing and c depth. Historically it's easiest to find useful forward options on the wire - but you have to find em for that to work. I did end up with 5 yotes (hence the name), which wasn’t planned. I do think this is the year they take a step - there’s a decent amount of talent there now. If they don’t though, I may be in some +/- trouble.

[duntroon68]

Locke. I like everything about this draft.

[Locke]

Locke. I like everything about this draft.

That's.....some high praise. Thanks!

[duntroon68]

And to expand, IÂ’m not necessarily talking about the specific players although their general quality is part of it but rather recognizing when certain positions were available and managing to take quality players throughout because of that. Loading up on PP D while still getting your last two later. Getting RW when thereÂ’s a bunch available on either side of pick 100. Late LW. Good G that werenÂ’t too expensive. Shots and hits accounted for. Even the run of Coyotes recognizes that top PP and first liners are often available later on.

[tweetdrivr]

I always seem to end up in the bottom half of the draft as I did here, but I like my team. Temek made some good observations about my goalie situation that I’ve already tried to add to.

1. (7) Brady Tkachuk - thought Matthew was going to fall to me here. I love the pick though. This Ottawa offense is going to be dynamite.

2. (18) Mitch Marner - one of the best RWs there is. It was my goal to target a couple RWs early in the draft.

3. (31) Andrei Svechnikov - another solid RW. I will say I had Pettersson cued up and he went the pick prior.

4. (42) Sebastian Aho - first C. He was one of the few tier 1 Cs left and I wanted one.

5. (55) Kyle Connor - another top tier W. I also had Boldy cued up here and he was picked one pick prior again.

6. (66) Moritz Seider - my first D. Again, I felt most of the top tier D were dwindling here.

7. (79) Martin Necas - the RW eligibility swung me.

8. (90) Stuart Skinner - felt about right to take a G here. Good value for a top team goalie.

9. (103) Darnell Nurse - in a non cap league this is great value. The exit of Barrie bumps Bouchards value but Nurse has also moved up the depth chart.

10. (114) Shea Theodore - needed to take a D here and he was by far the best one left.

11. (127) Val Nichuskin - another top line RW who I think slipped with the end of season antics.

12. (138) Mackenzie Weegar - a pick my list liked better than I do. Trusted the numbers here on another needed D.

13. (151) Dmitri Orlov - might have left a D slot a little late here. He’s got the contract but’s a deep group in Carolina.

14. (162) Elvis Merzlikins - one of the last bone fide starters left. CBJ D are much better. But this could go either way. Decent for saves.

15. (174) Pavel Zacha - needed a C here. Low floor, high ceiling.

16. (185) Ivan Barbashev - top line Vegas at this point seems good.

17. (198) Radko Gudas - one of my favorite picks. Fantastic banger coverage at the right point in the draft.

18. (209) Michael Bunting - also like this one a lot. Will play in the top 6.

19 (222) Nino Neidereitter - fleshing out RW. Should be solid value.

20. (233) Sam Montembeault - should be the Mont starter. Could be a bad pick. Fine with this in rd 20.

21. (246) Jesperi Kotkaniemi - very strong finish and playoffs. Good last active roster C grab.

22. (257) Wyatt Johnston - first bench C. Lots of upside.

23. (270) Alexander Romanov - feel like he fell due to missed time. Blocks and hits.

24. (281) William Eklund - took a flyer. Will kill +/-. I’ve already dropped him for another goalie.

[duntroon68]

Yellow Dogs

Per my usual approach, I wanted D with PP time and, as I like in a limited games played league, goalies cobbled together from backups and tandems. I find that centres, while deep, are also not great off the waiver wire or late in the draft. I may be wrong about that last but it did influence some decisions. All numbers I cite will be 82 game pace. I don’t worry much about injuries.I will try to diversify my players from team to team so I will not be married to an injury or bust everywhere. This means I will deliberately pick guys here that I would not take in a blocks or face off league.

1.(12)Mikko Rantanen (COL - RW) I hadn’t really made up my mind about targets except that I would take Makar if he was there and look at someone who fell from his ADP. Otherwise, try to get points, shots and PPP. Happy about Rantanen.

2.(13)Kirill Kaprizov (MIN - LW) A LW version of Rantanen. Should be 200 points, 600 shots, 60 PPP, decent +/- and non-zero hits from these two.

3.(36)Aleksander Barkov (FLA - C) I had Barkov in mind here for most of my draft prep. Healthy, he pretty much duplicates the numbers of the first two.

4.(37)Evan Bouchard (EDM - D) Now I wanted to fill in some D. As many of my leagues have different cats, I do like to take guys that I wouldn’t take in other drafts. I wanted D with PPP and at least 300 combined shots and hits. I would have taken Hamilton, as I often do, if he had been here but I was always planning on taking Bouchard here as I will likely not take him in my blocks leagues, of which I have several.

5.(60)Charlie McAvoy (BOS - D) He doesn’t shoot as much as you might like but he doesn’t lose any points in hits. Usually, decent in +/- but this year?

6.(61)Josh Morrissey (WPG - D) I did not plan on drafting Morrisey but he showed decently in the assorted projections that I compared. I traded for him two years ago in a keeper league, so I like him just fine but it is hard to take players that you think likely to come back down. 300ish shots and hits. OK with this.

7.(84)Evgeni Malkin (PIT - C) This was going to be a reach down the ADP for Letang and the next pick was going to be Carlson. Temek took Leteng at the beginning of the round and ‘68 took Carlson the pick before mine. I had no ideas and took Malkin’s PPP. I might have taken Andersen as he was my one early G target but he was gone too.

8.(85)Drew Doughty (LA - D) Said screw it, tossed ADP (because it needed to be tossed) and grabbed another D who has PP1 and some hits.

9. (108) Jakob Chychrun (OTT - D) I don’t know which Ottawa D gets PP1 but I like Chychrun’s upside. Including the Dobber forum mock draft, I have him in several places already.

10. (109) Jacob Trouba (NYR - D) Just filling D. I meant to get some big hitters. He doesn’t hurt in shots and he might get a handful of PPP.

11. (132) Vincent Trocheck (NYR - C) After Trouba, I immediately decided that a Forsberg/Laine double winger tap was my next move. So did Temek. I honestly cannot recall why I picked Trocheck. I imagine he showed all in green in my draft list (conditional formatting) and I thought “more hits.”

12. (133) Akira Schmid (NJ - G) So, goalies. I have been largely drafting late tandem and backup G in limited GP roto league for a few years. This year, I had decided to grab the presumptive starter on a good team to shore up W and GAA. Those guys went before I was ready and so I kicked the can down the road to here. I had to start getting somebody if I was to get enough guys to fill my GP limit. I don’t think of Schmidt as my goalie as much as part of a team of G.

13. (156) Brock Nelson (NYI - C) Nelson has a four year pace of 65 points and gets PP1. I have no strong feelings about this.

14. (157) Mathew Barzal (NYI - C,RW) Two W to my name. Barzal is the guy on NYI. pushes 70 points a year with a lingering hint of upside.

15. (180) Antti Raanta (CAR - G) I could not get Andersen but I will take whatever Hurricanes’ games Raanta can give me.

16. (181) Cam Talbot (LA - G) LA seems like a good team. Talbot feels like a tandem guy at the least. I have taken to drafting teams rather than goalies.

17. (204) Brock Boeser (VAN - RW) I did not think about Boeser one time this fall before I made this pick. I now have him in two leagues. He had a couple of rough years, personally, and he has 60 point, 200 shot, PP1 paces with some upside. I am feeling that my draft has gone off the rails at this point TBH.

18. (205) Max Pacioretty (WSH - LW) Why not?

19. (228) Pavel Francouz (COL - G) Good team.

20. (229) Semyon Varlamov (NYI - G) Good environment for G.

21. (252) Mason McTavish (ANA - C,LW) PP1. LW. Feels like a guy who could do something.

22. (253) Ross Colton (COL - C,LW) Good per 60 guy on a new team. Colorado went and got him on purpose and he hits some. Also LW.

23. (276) Laurent Brossoit (WPG - G) Goalie dart.

24. (277) Daniel Vladar (CGY - G) Calgary could do better. Maybe Markstom doesn’t.

25. (300) Joey Daccord (SEA - G) Did well in AHL. Seattle is decent. Grubauer is no guarantee. Again, just trying to fill in some GP from a bunch of G and hope that I already have the big waiver wire pick up already.

So, I drafted eight G and three RW. My gut feeling was not great but upon reflection I didn’t mind it. You are always going to have to manage the team in season and I just set myself up to start earlier.

[sanuksanan]

Here are my draft thoughts, a bit late, but at least before the puck drop!.

I had to begin on autodraft as I was still driving home at the start. I was not worried as I was confident with how I had ranked my players for the first few rounds. Plus there aren't many players I would not be happy with in the top fifty. I wanted to get top wingers and centers for the first few rounds of the draft.

some guys

C - Stutzle, Pettersson, Tavares, Norris, Rodrigues
LW - M.Tkachuk, Boldy, Hagel, Blais
RW - Bratt, Kempe, Tolvanen, T.Raddysh
D - Werenski, Pietrangelo, A.Larsson, Sandin, Byram, Schenn, Drysdale, M.Anderson
G – Hill, Kuemper, Vejmelka, Copley, Hofer, Wedgewood

1.(6) Matthew Tkachuk (FLA – LW/RW)
A little worried about the lingering effect of the sternum injury, but happy enough with the autopick.

2.(19) Tim Stutzle (OTT – C/LW)
3.(30) Elias Pettersson (VAN – C)
Very happy with these picks too. So that means I was happy with both my rankings and the way other managers were drafting.

4.(43) John Tavares (TOR – C)
This is where I got home, stopped autodrafting and made the most boring pick possible in round four...this also set the direction of my draft as I would now miss out on drafting top D-men like Heiskanen and Quinn Hughes.

5.(54) Matt Boldy (MIN – LW,RW)
6.(67) Jesper Bratt (NJ – LW,RW)
7.(78) Adrian Kempe (LA – C,RW)
So pivoted to drafting multi-position forwards with these picks. All are trending well with a solid floor and decent upside. But I am here drafting 60-70 point forwards and missing out on potentially 60-70 point D-men. We'll see how it ends up going.

8.(91) Adin Hill (VGK – G)
This is the round where I wanted to take my first goalie. Just missed out on Skinner. Trusting that Hill's contract ensures he gets at least half the Vegas starts and wins.

9.(102) Darcy Kuemper (WSH – G)
Should end up being my workhorse goalie, just like he is in Washington.

10.(115) Zach Werenski (CBJ – D)
My top D-man is no sure thing...but will shoot a lot when and if healthy. Not much competition for the top PP in Columbus.

11.(126) Alex Pietrangelo (VGK – D)
Another sort of boring pick...but he could be of decent value here.

12.(139) Josh Norris (OTT – C)
I've been a fan ever since he crushed it at the combine in his draft year.
What happened? Did the tough NHL crush him and his strong shoulders? He will start the season on IR.

13.(150) Brandon Hagel (TB – LW)
Back to the forward vs. D-man argument: Very happy to get Hagel here in round thirteen, he should get my team similar production to Sergachev and Hedman who were both drafted in round five. Position scarcity and all that aside.

14.(163) Pheonix Copley (LA – G)
LA should be a solid team in the West, but will Copley give them solid goaltending?

15.(174) Adam Larsson (SEA – D)
Another boring pick. That is not necessarily a bad thing.

16.(187) Karel Vejmelka (ARI – G)
I agree with the preseason expectations that Arizona will be improved. Last season Vejmelka and the Coyotes were much better at home than on the road. If that continues I need to be very careful when to start him. And picking Vejmelka here means I missed out on Seth Jarvis who went two picks after.

17.(198) Rasmus Sandin (WSH – D)
18.(211) Bowen Byram (COL – D)
Very happy with my decision to fade D after getting these two guys here. Should I be though? Some questionable upside with Sandin and another big time band-aid boy in Byram, but when healthy he covers all the stats.

19.(222) Joel Hofer (STL – G)
I expect he gets more starts in St.Louis than than your average back-up around the league.

20.(235) Luke Schenn (NSH – D)
One trick pony, but an elite one trick pony.

21. (246) Eeli Tolvanen (SEA – LW,RW)
LW added after the draft. Now getting into the potential waiver wire section of the draft.

22. (259) Taylor Raddysh (CHI – RW)
23. (270) Sammy Blais ( STL – LW)
Raddysh will hopefully get some of that Bedard skank on him. Blais has been great when playing in the top six in St.Louis, fifty point pace and a ton of hits. Let's see if he sticks on the line with Vrana and Hayes.

24. (283) Jamie Drysdale (ANA -D)
I was hoping at the end of the draft there would still be a D-man on a poor team who could possible get my team some ppp. This is that guy.

25. (294) Evan Rodrigues (FLA – C,LW)
Ecstatic he was still available with my last pick.

Overall happy with the draft, I was sniped plenty but in the end I have all my forward positions well covered by multi-eligible guys. I reached for some guys I like and some guys I like fell in the draft and I was able to snag them in the later rounds. Since the draft I have picked up some guys in Mikey Anderson and Scott Wedgewood. Welcome to the team, Mikey and Wedgie!

Apart from Kuemper, my goalies all start season in some kind of tandem or a clear back-up role. I expect in the end I will get max starts and get plenty of saves, but that is not a given. If I am mid-pack for W and GAA I will be happy.

Puck drops tonight!

[tweetdrivr]

A trade to announce


Owen Tippett - LW/RW PHI
Traded to What’s up Dach

Mackenzie Weegar - D FLA
Traded to Yotes pack

[loppantorkel]

No other updates...? 50 days or so remaining. Were the projections good? Is there a link to see the race or can you post an update here of the standings? It's the top league after all.

Is there no HoF of past winners?