Saved for draft results
The time is upon us for the 14th year of the Rocky Horror Roto Show. We're happy to welcome back all of our managers from last year. The only slight change is that I will be stepping down to co-commissioner while The Comish himself will be taking the reins to run the league.
Big congrats to duntroon68 for taking hope the championship last season in his first year in the league. A mighty fine accomplishment.
Lord of the Rinks brought home the silver medal and I managed to sneak on the podium for just the 4th time in our 14 year history with a third place finish.
Yahoo, One year Roto, Daily lineups
No max moves/82 max games per positional slot
G,A,P,+/-,PIM,PPP,SOG,FOW,Hits,Blocks,W,GAA,SV,SV%
4C,4L,4R,6D,2G,5BN,3IR+
The live draft date has been set and will take place on Friday, September 27th at 9pm Eastern.
The draft order is below:
1 Shoeless
2 PenguinHunter
3 Lord of the Rinks
4 The Comish
5 Chili Con Carne
6 Duntroon68
7 Temek
8 YzermansLegacy
9 4T2
10 Eskimo Brother
11 Atomic Wedgy
12 Maaaasquito
Draft Results
To be posted after the draft
Without me, it's only "aweso".
Saved for draft results
Without me, it's only "aweso".
Let the annual slaughter that is the Horror Show begin!!
Huge thanks to Comish for stepping in to lead our band of misfits alongside 4T2.
Can't wait to get the season started gents!
RHRS, Yahoo, 12-team, Roto
PQMC, Yahoo, 12-team, Keep 11, H2H
Hanson Bros., Fantrax, 10-Team, Keep 8, weighted scoring
Black & Blue, Fantrax, 12-Team, Dynasty, H2H weighted
The Dream Team League, Fantrax, 14-Team, Dynasty, H2H
"When I do not know who I am I serve you, and when I do know who I am, you and I are one." - Hanuman-ji
Let's Go!!
Glad we found a way to make a draft time work for everyone!
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I'm going to be slaughtered... flew in on a red eye last night, got about 3 hours of sleep... at work now... little guy has basketball afterwards... then draft starts at 10PM...
Without me, it's only "aweso".
I've started my pre-draft drinking so I can have a ready made excuse for my poor performance. Nothing beats experience. Well, hard work and a plan might beat experience. Shut up outside voice.
Great draft fellas! Looking forward to reading everyone's recaps.
I think I've already settled on a team name with The VelociPastr given that YL went with the early goalie leaving Pasta to fall to me.
Some other considerations were:
Final Pastanation
BedardJuice (Don't really have any names that work for Beetlejuice although I guess I could pick Chytil up off waivers for naming purposes, ChytilJuice has a nice ring to it)
Panaconda (since Panarin fell to me in the third round)
Without me, it's only "aweso".
Scary Team Name (PH) 2024-25 Draft Recap
Round 1 (2) – Nathan MacKinnon – This is where the draft actually started. Everyone knows who is going #1 overall… but there was a few options who could have went at #2. I decided to go with the guy that I feel covers the categories the best across the board after Connor.
Flashback – To two days before the draft – I get a message on Yahoo… asking me if I want to make a trade. After some back and forth discussion – we decide to trade picks 13 and 36 for 23 and 26. (2nd and 3rd picks for 2nd and 3rd picks)
Round 2 (13) – Mikko Rantanen – Debated long and hard here between Rantanen and Kaprizov. Decided to go for the stack of Avs and get some coveted FOW from the wing position.
Round 3 (36) – Jake Guentzel – The guy showed that he was more than just a passenger on Crosby’s line when he produced post-trade. I think slotting in for Stamkos is going to be a huge opportunity for Guentzel and I have been drafting him everywhere. I expect 93 points and 35 PPP from Guentzel playing with Kucherov and Point this year.
Round 4 (47) Sam Reinhart – Scored 90 points last year. I expect a bit of regression but still 80 point production, with FOW from the wing, and decent shot and hit totals.
Round 5 (50) Joel Erikksson Ek – I made a big note on my list ‘Its not all about points’ so I grab a centre that gets a decent amount of points while getting good hits and FOW totals.
After 5 - Two centres, two RW and a LW. I prepare to add a D and goalie in the next few rounds…but when it comes time to pick – the goalies I like are either gone or too big of a reach
.
Round 6 ( 71) Jesper Bratt and Round 7 (74) Owen Tippet – I consider taking Owen Tippett here… but Bratt is higher on my list and it would be a nice cushion to get Bratt’s points before taking Tippet. On the turn, Keller and Johnston go, so I get Tippett. I expect him to reach the 65 point mark this year to go along with his near 300 shots and 150 hits. I feel like someone would have taken him before my next pick.
Brrrrrrring....Brrrrrring… my cell phone rings. Its another GM with another trade offer. How would you like to swap 8ths and 9ths now. There’s a couple players that I like so we make the trade…
Round 8 (85) Mathew Barzal – Point per game production in the 8th round. Barzal produced awesome under Roy at the end of last season and I expect that to continue. And the best part is that he is RW eligible so you don’t have to take the hit on him not taking faceoffs.
Round 9 (105) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – I knew I needed to get a started soon here. And I was looking at three as this pick approached, Woll, Demko and UPL. I was close to selecting Demko, but decided I needed to make sure I had a started at the start of the season so I took the healthy guy.
Round 10 (119) Thatcher Demko – After almost taking him at the end of Round 9, I get him at the end of round 10. I almost fell out of my seat that no goalies were picked between these two picks.
After 10 – I have 2 Centres, 2LW, 2RW, 2 Dual eligible wingers, and 2 Goalies. At this point I am happy with how my team is looking even though I have not drafted any Defensemen. There are a lot of D-men in a coming up tier that I am more than happy drafting….
Round 11 (122) Frank Vatrano – Lots of shots, lots of hits, and I expected the points to continue this year on an up and coming Ducks team. The plus/minus could hurt a bit, but if the team improves as I expect – then that will be less of a factor.
Round 12 (143) Mattias Ekholm and Round 13 (146) – Devon Toews – A couple defenseman with nothing flashy to their games… just reliable defensemen on teams that score a lot so they get the points and have solid plus/minus. Happy with these two as my top pairing.
Round 14( (167) Filip Hronek and Round 15 (170) Aaron Ekblad – My second pairing, both on solid teams that score lots leading to solid plus minus. My top D-men, taken in rounds 12-15 had a combined Plus 122 rating last season. And they all contribute across the bored. Again, nothing flashy, just reliable.
Round 16 (191) Charlie Coyle – I don’t expect 60 points again, but if he gets it to go along with his 700+ FOW and 130 hits and 40 PIMs – I will take it!
Round 17 (194) Ryan Pulock – Lots of hits and blocks!! That’s what I needed at this point in the draft and that’s what I got. He was playing a lot of minutes after the coaching change and I hope that continues.
Round 18 (215) Sean Monahan – I want the Blue Jackets to have an amazing year offensively to honour Gaudreau. The emotions are going to be real… but I hope Columbus can use them to motivate and score a tonne this year… so I picked Monahan. And he can win faceoffs.
Round 19 (218) Marcus Pettersson – PIMS, Hits and Blocks… oh yes and he was plus 28 last season.
Round 20 Vlad Tarasenko – Shoots, scores, hits… and got traded to an exciting Red Wings team.
Round 21 Petr Mrazek – Always need goalies in this league to get to the games played… won’t win a tonne, but will get lots of saves again on Chicago.
Round 22 Ivan Fedotov – Homer pick – I want this kid to be a superstar goalie… so hopefully it starts this year!
Round 23 Logan Cooley – Big breakout coming with the move to Utah!
Round 24 Lukas Dostal – With Gibson out to start the year – I can get some starts, especially if Demko isn’t ready. And as mentioned before, I expect the Ducks to take a step forward this season. Oh yeah – and hopefully he plays like he did for Team Czech at the worlds!
Round 25 Cutter Gauthier – I seldomly draft rookies. I wanted to draft Michkov big time this year… but got sniped. So I drafted another one in the last round – that might hold some name value in the RHRS.
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YL Draft Recap:
Every year this is the toughest draft (and league) and I tip my cap for this crew always making it such a challenge. Tremendous GMs and awesome people.
Team Name: The New York Ripper
Turned out that my first three picks are all from NY-based teams so this seemed like a good fit. The Goalies (Girl) With All The Gifts was a close second (great flick) but a bit too long.
Strategy:
First to admit I was pretty unprepared for this draft compared to most years so I knew I was in for a long night from the get go. I was picking 8th and decided that I just didn't want a 8-12 F as my first pick (see J.Robertson last season) and so planned on reaching early on a couple of guys and bank on drafting well, finding value at F, later on.
As you'll see... that didn't really pan out lol.
Picks:
1) I.Shesterkin - Goalies haven't often gone in Rd 1 since the days of Vasy's dominance. But if I couldn't get a top F, I wanted THE top G (imo) and a top D with pick 2. It's (likely) our final year with very challenging 164gp for 2G and I really wanted to get a couple of 'surer' bets in goal this year.
2) R.Dahlin - Makar went Rd 1 so it was between Josi/Dahlin for me here. Just a slight preference for Rasmus since he's great with peripherals and still has that 'unknown' ceiling to hope for
3) I.Sorokin - First real tilt moment for me here with this pick as Temek sniped Oettinger right before me, so I looked at my list and EP40 was still there, put in his name, saw he was drafted way earlier (as he should have been) and now was scrambling. Saros? Bob? Both gone a few picks earlier. Sorokin was the last G I wanted (despite the current injury and last year's ceding to Varly) so I click him and note that I have to get Varly in a little bit for the handcuff.
4) A.Svechnikov - Hoping to find a value F here with this pick and like the multi-cat elements Svech brings. I should have taken Marner (goes right after me to Temek) but I have PTSD from never being able to compete in shots in this league and really hoping that this is the year Svech ascends.
5) M.Sergachev - D are just flying off the board now and by the time it gets back to me, I see a bunch of F I like (with short turn coming) but just Serg left of the D I really wanted. Think he's a bit underrated due to the injury last season and unknown of UTA - but I think he'll hit this draft value.
6) K.Connor - Gotta get a F here and a few I was hoping for (Eichel, OV) go between my picks. Fine with Connor here though as despite not much grit, he shoots and scores, should be good for PP and +/-, and I think was undervalued a bit due to injury last year. He represents the kind of F I'm hoping to grab after leaning into G & D early.
7) M.Scheifele - Once again (you'll notice a theme emerging here), Temek takes E.Karlsson right before me and I'm scrambling a little. I will say that I REALLY wanted Scheifele this season (drafted him in a few leagues) but ideally I'd get him closer to Rd 9/10 as opposed to here.
8) RNH - Really hoping for a 3rd quality G here but the reach on Scheif burns me big time with a slew of Gs going between my picks. 4T2 grabs A.Hill right before my pick and I'm kicking myself for not grabbing a G with my last pick. That said, totally happy to grab RNH here who will bring PPP and some FOW from the wing. Love the value on him - but hate how I haven't optimized my early investment on Gs.
9) R.O'Reilly - If there's one round where it ALL FALLS APART... this is it. I'm adament about grabbing a particular G with this pick and see a ton of those 'value' Cs still on my board. Suzuki/Hertl/Horvat/Kadri/Lindholm all go. DeBrincat and Wilson (2 big targets) also go. And right before my pick... Temek AGAIN snipes me taking J.Woll. I am officially on tilt here and my timer is ticking down. Decide I'm going to pick C.GIROUX but before I do, I need to put ROR in my queue for my next pick... and then I accidentally pick ROR. Wow.
10) C.Giroux - Fortunately I do still get Giroux here at this pick. Good FOW and PPP for this slot.
11) R.Gudas - Quality G/D come off the board and in my head, I just drafted J.Woll so I lay off on taking Varly to grab some big peripherals after drafting 5 straight Fs who don't offer much in grit. Especially since I've lots out on Wilson. And then it happens...
12) P.Laine - This should read S.VARLAMOV... but I'm still feeling like I'm in scramble mode and sure enough, Maaaaquito nabs Varly on me on the turn. Demko gone. Binnington gone. This is the moment, where I knew I fully eff'd up lol. I did want to take a flyer on Laine this season but this is a reach made mostly out of frustration at fully whiffing on my G plans.
13) L.Thompson - Would have preferred Ingram or Stolarz here but they went just before me. Thinking I might be able to handcuff with Lindgren in a couple of rounds... but the WSH tandem was NOT who I hoping to supplement Igor & Ilya with.
14) A.Pietrangelo - A bit surprised here's still here and had Pionk queued up but EB took him just before me. Should be strong BLKs (another cat I traditionally struggle with) and good +/- with some points sprinkled in. Totally fine for my 4th D.
15) D.Doughty - Don't see a ton of F I'm intrigued by and the remaining Gs are not calling me yet. Will obviously only get a part season from DD but he'll bring a good smattering of cats when he gets back. With him and Petro, I'm feeling like at least I am optimizing D (as I intended to do with G).
16) S.Gostisbehere - Have C.Lindgren queued up to get the WSH tandem and sure enough, 4T2 snipes him the pick before me. At least at this point I'm not super surprised or thrown... and decide to double-down on my D by taking Ghost who I expect to run PP1 in CAR.
17) T.Zegras - Have M.Stone, J.Norris, D.Cozens and Huberdeau all go right before me again, but I'm happy enough with Zegras here. He was definitely a target for me and while he's bench-only until he gets his W designation, I expect him to put up solid value in scoring cats at this stage of the draft.
18) S.Knight - So much risk here with Knight but I'm out of G options I like and 2 starters + 1 1B guy ain't gonna cut it. Go Knight with hopes that he brings solid Ws + ratios playing for a top team this year. I also hope that top team is in the NHL and not the AHL lol.
19) B.Hayton - I have not adequately addressed my C situation but I have a couple of late fliers that I'm interested in, and Hayton is one of them. If he keeps C1/PP1 status he should be roster-worthy and is actually decent in the dot.
20) J.Quick - Missing the (more important) NYI handcuff but this hopefully gets me 82 gps from the Rags which isn't bad.
21) T.Jeannot - Wanting J.Quinn here but watch him, and Couturier who I'm hoping for, both go. Decent dart to throw here on Jeannot who should help with the grit and if he's more NSH and less TB he'll return great value here.
22) M.Frost - While Couturier is the PHI C I wanted (due to FOW), at this stage, grabbing Frost is a good upside swing as Torts seems to like him and Michkov seems to be adapting pretty quickly. I'll give him a solid run to see if he's able to deliver enough to be rostered.
23) T.Seguin
24) K.Marchenko
25) A.Mantha
Just looking for any flicker of upside here, ideally with decent shot totals since I'm typically lacking there. Usually most guys drafted in the 20+ round range are just cycled so happy to throw these darts knowing it's unlikely they hit for the whole season.
Post-Draft Roster:
C: Scheifele, ROR, B.Hayton, M.Frost, T.Zegras (til he gets LW)
L: K.Connor, RNH, P.Laine, T.Jeannot
R: A.Svechnikov, C.Giroux, K.Marchenko, A.Mantha, T.Seguin
D: Dahlin, Sergachev, Pietrangelo, Doughty (IR), Gudas, Ghost
G: Shesterkin, Sorokin, L.Thompson, S.Knight, J.Quick
Draft Grade: C-
In all honesty, I do feel like if I'm not consistently sniped during the draft (nearly EVERY round) this strategy had a chance to pay off. Therein lies the risk though, that if it doesn't unfold well, you're likely screwed, which is how it looks for me at the moment. A testament to the quality of GMs in RHRS too - who make it the most challenging pool out there every year.
Likely low-to-mid-pack finish unless I'm able to swing some deals, hit some waiver wire gems and get some luck. The one saving grace though is in reviewing other teams, a LOT of them have question marks too (again, tough to get an ideal draft in this league), so hoping that parity keeps me in the thick of things.
RHRS, Yahoo, 12-team, Roto
PQMC, Yahoo, 12-team, Keep 11, H2H
Hanson Bros., Fantrax, 10-Team, Keep 8, weighted scoring
Black & Blue, Fantrax, 12-Team, Dynasty, H2H weighted
The Dream Team League, Fantrax, 14-Team, Dynasty, H2H
"When I do not know who I am I serve you, and when I do know who I am, you and I are one." - Hanuman-ji
I went into this one with the simple game plan of focusing on FOW (especially from the wing if I could find them at the right time) and trying to value pick goalies.
It was an interesting draft in that I got sniped a lot which made me think that my valuation of players was pretty good, but then realized that this also means I got outmaneuvered a lot.
Round 1 (5) – A. Matthews (C). Leading up to the draft I thought this was who I would pick – as expected, McD, Drai, Mack, and B. Tkachuk were all gone. I did spend a couple of days mulling over M. Tkachuk giving the cross-category beast he is. Kucherov was also a consideration but in the end I deferred to the FOW and elite scoring of Matthews (plus his blocks and hits are pretty good).
Round 2 (20) – T. Stutzle (C, LW). Not thrilled with this pick but okay with it as all of my preferred targets went (Dahlin, Pettersson, Miller being highest on my list). Decent peripherals (including some FOW from the wing) and hopefully a bounce back season.
Round 3 (29) – Stamkos (C, LW). Again, not thrilled but some more FOW from the wing.
Round 4 (44) – S. Aho (C). Getting FOW from the wing is wasted without a solid roster of centers. Lots of good options on the board so hopefully I made the right decision.
Round 5 (53) – W. Nylander (RW). Still a lot of serviceable options for C on the board so decided to go with Nylander and his upside – very happy with this one and think he slid because of the injury concern. RW also caused me grief last year, so this helped calm my nerves a bit.
Round 6 (68) – S. Jarvis (C, RW). A few FOW from the wing (RW to boot!) and I like the hits. I am doing pretty well in SOG so figured I can afford his low shot totals.
Round 7 (77) - F. Andersen (G). Man, I am worried about this one and his injury risk, but his stats are excellent when he does play. Most of the goalies I liked were gone so went with the upside of Freddy if he can stay healthy and given that I needed to start addressing my G slots.
Round 8 (92) – F. Gustavsson (G). Should be the starter and hopefully rebounds from last season. Meh.
At this point I am resigned to the fact that my d-corps is going to be weak, so decide to defer largely to the latter part of the draft for blue liners (unless I see something of value) and use them for peripherals, and focus more on best offensive forwards and G for the next few rounds.
Round 9 (101) – P. Kane (RW). Fills a RW slot of has some offensive upside. Meh, but I can live with it.
Round 10 (116) – J. Sanderson (D). I see value here and hopefully PP1 so figure I should take him. Matheson went right before me which pissed me off.
Round 11 (125) – B. Nelson (C). Thought about S. Bennett here but decided to stick with the offensive upside. I like the goals, SOG and PP1 potential. No thrilled about the FOW. This was a bit of a reach, but I am okay with it as it helps round out my C.
Round 12 (140) – D. Strome (C). Not a lot of C with offensive upside and good FOW. I decided to grab him in part to make up for the Nelson’s low FOW. I am hoping Dubois craps the bed leaving the door wide open for Strome.
Round 13 (149) – J. Daccord (G). Bit of a question mark but hopefully takes the reigns in Seattle.
Round 14 (164) – Zuccarello (RW). I really leaned on the Dobber guide for my remaining forwards, including Zucs. If he gets PP1 I can live with it and hopefully he keeps bulging the twine.
Round 15 (173) – A. Silovs (G). There are a lot of question marks around my goalies so decided to start throwing some darts. This could pay off if Demko is out for any length of time.
Round 16 (188) – K. Lankinen (G). See Silovs, A.
Round 17 (197) – J. Huberdeau (C, LW). Meh, but PP1. Really leaning on the Dobber guide here.
Round 18 (212) – T. Toffoli (LW, RW). Getting someone that can flirt with 25-30 goals this late in the draft is something I am happy about. Hopefully the +/- doesn’t drag me down too hard.
Round 19 (221) – A. Kuzmenko (LW, RW). Squeezing every drop of juice I can out of my $10 at this point (thank you Dobber). If Calgary has a good year, he and Hubs could be decent picks. If not, we’re getting to the bottom of the draft so no real loss.
Round 20 (236) – B. Byram (D). Would not have even looked at him if not for the guide. Again, later round so no real harm if this is a whiff.
Round 21-25: J. Manson (D), A. Romanov (D), C. Clifton (D), MAF (G), T. Myers (D). Getting some banger D (missed out on quite a few that I preferred though) and solidifying the Minny tandem.
A lot needs to break my way for this team to be competitive – Matthews/Nylander are healthy, some of my late draft wingers pan out, and my goalies come alive. I see myself in the bottom half of the league. I’ll ride with this until the quarter post and then re-assess.
Nurse of Tkachuky
With the fourth overall pick, I was pretty sure I knew who was going to go in the top three. I wasn’t tempted to go with a goalie this high. I thought about how I wanted to try to build my team, but in this league, it’s too painful to see your well-laid plans get smashed round after round, so I thought I would wing it and take the best player available and look for the crumbs that fall a little in the draft.
1(4) – C/LW-Brady Tkachuk OTT – Kind of thought the first 3 picks were going to go the way they did. Had one of McDavid, MacKinnon or Draisaitl fell to me, I would have taken them. Chucky is a unicorn in fantasy, so it was a relatively easy choice for me
2(21) – D-Evan Bouchard EDM – Wanted Hellebuyck or Dahlin, but settled for the top defenseman on my list
3(28) – G-Sergei Bobrovsky FLA – Knew that there would be a run on goaltending before my next pick, so I had to secure a decent tender. Kind of hoped Vasilevskiy made it to me, but Bob was right there on my list along with Oettinger. Hoping that the Panthers don’t have too big of a let down post Cup win
4(45) – D-Charlie McAvoy BOS – Badly wanted Trocheck or Marner to fall to me, but they went 2 and 3 picks before mine. Really needed to make sure that my blueliners have blocked shots and McAvoy gives that plus hits, points, power play points and a surprising amount of penalty minutes
5(52) – G-Georgiev COL – Had Seider not gone three picks earlier, I might have gone back to back D. I also considered Eriksson Ek, but he was gone as well. There was a lull in goalie picks and figured there would be another run before I picked again. Hoping for better numbers than last year with similar wins
6(69) – C-John Tavares TOR – Ugh, my top center is once again, an 84 year old second line center. He does provide decent points, power play points, face-off wins and shots on goal. I’m banking on at least a repeat of last season’s 65 points
7(76) – LW-Chris Kreider NYR – Wanted Bratt, but he was taken earlier. Went with an old reliable for me. In hindsight, really should have taken Barzal, just for the points alone. Not many players with the potential to score at a point per game pace
8(93) – C-Nick Suzuki MTL – Still only had one center and face-off wins are still something I can salvage. I was surprised with Suzuki scoring more than 30 goals and 77 points last year, but he will also contribute a ton of face-off wins and power play points
9(100) – C-Elias Lindholm BOS – Absolutely gutted when Tom Wilson got taken two picks in front of me, so went with another center. Loved what I saw from Lindholm in the playoffs and did not realize how physical of a player he was. He’ll fit in just fine in Boston. Looking for a rebound to 65-70 points with close to 100 hits, 800 face-off wins and top power play duties
10(117) – LW/RW-Drake Batherson OTT – Once again, in hindsight, I would have taken either Demko or Binnington. I thought one of them would come back to me, but the turn was unkind. The Drake is my first Right Wing, which should probably be a concern. Still, I’m always looking for multi-cat players, so Batherson should challenge 70 points, 100 hits and 20-plus power play points
11(124) – D-Darnell Nurse EDM – Had to zag when my goalie hopes were sniped. Huge multi-cat blueliner, but there is some concern about his health and point production
12(141) – RW-Jonathan Marchessault NSH – Still only had one RW and Marchessault will contribute nicely in points, shots on goal, hits and power play points
13(148) – G-Connor Ingram UTA – Goaltenders are important in this league and I like what Utah has done this off-season in upgrading their blueline. Ingram should be the primary beneficiary
14(165) – LW-Michael Bunting CAR – Just filling out my roster spots. Bunting had 19 points in his 21 games with the Pens and was getting top PP minutes. He also has a penchant for taking penalties which is getting harder to find
15(172) – LW/RW-Eeli Tolvanen SEA – The 25-year-old still has some unrealized upside. Hoping for 20 goals, 50 points to go along with 200+ hits and a smattering of power play points from my number three RW
16(189) – D-Rasmus Andersson CGY – Needed my fourth defenseman and took the highest one on my list. Andersson should be good for north of 40 points and a huge amount of blocked shots while manning the second power play unit
17(196) – C-Dylan Cozens BUF – Went from a 68 point season to 47 points last year. A good bet to rebound, but will also contribute with triple digit hits, 200+ shots on goal and a decent amount of face-off wins
18(213) – C/RW-Martin Pospisil CGY – Penalty minutes and a hit monster who might be the next Tom Wilson? Scored at a 31 point pace, but had 109 penalty minutes and 237 hits in only 63 games last season. Penalty minutes are one of the more difficult categories to fill without hurting your roster – no one wants to “waste” a roster spot on a Matt Rempe. It will be fun to watch his progress from a fantasy hockey perspective
19(220) – D-Sean Durzi UTA – Essentially, a carbon copy of my 16th round pick, but with a few more penalty minutes. Good for 40 points, with nice blocks, penalty minutes and a dozen or so power play points. I expect a slight decrease in PPP with Sergachev taking the top man advantage minutes
20(237) – D-Jake McCabe TOR – Would have loved to gotten Xhekaj, but I’ll settle for near 30 point, 60 penalty minute, 200+ hits and 130 blocked shots to round out my bottom defence slot
21(244) – C/LW-Ivan Barbashev VGK – Was really hoping Tarasenko fell, but he went two picks after I selected McCabe. Barbie is coming off two nearly identical seasons, 82 games, 45 points, 42 penalty minutes, 122 (125) shots on goal, 180 (182) hits, 5 power play points, 48 (45) blocks and 16:07 (16:45) minutes of ice time. Recorded 60 points three seasons ago, so there is still a chance for more points
22(261) – LW-Matthew Knies TOR – Should improve upon his 35 point rookie campaign and play in the top six. Recorded a sweet 168 hits last year. Could surprise in the points department and in my dream scenario, he gets some run time on the top power play unit
23(268) – D-Nikita Zadorov BOS – Two trick pony, penalty minutes and hits. That is all
24(285) – LW-Evander Kane EDM – My straight to IR pick. When healthy, he should score at a 50 point pace, with great peripherals
25(292) – C-Logan Stankoven DAL – Last round dart. I almost never take rookies in this league, however, I’ll make an exception for this talented player
Assessing my roster post draft, I am going to struggle to keep up with the pack in assists and points. I missed the boat on goaltending as nine of the 12 teams have five or 6 goaltenders. I only have three and the two other teams have two and four goalies. If Bob, George and Ingram can start between 50-55 games (not factoring in all 3 starting on the same night with only 2 starting slots), that’s still only 150 of the 164 goalie games. Overall, I don’t think my team is as bad as I thought it might be right after the draft, but there's still work to do if I hope to compete at the top. Can’t wait for the season to start and see how this all pans out!
C - Tavares, N.Suzuki, E.Lindholm, Cozens, Stankoven
LW - B.Tkachuk, Kreider, Bunting, Barbashev, Knies
RW - Batherson, Marchessault, Tolvanen, Pospisil
D - Bouchard, McAvoy, Nurse, R.Andersson, Durzi, McCabe, Zadorov
G - Bobrovsky, Georgiev, Ingram
IR - E.Kane
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