Vanek or Hemsky

[keeper17]

So far my keepers are:

C Datsyuk
C Backstrom
LW Ovechkin
D Mike Green
G Lundqvist
G Fleury

It's down to Vankek or Hemsky for my last keeper spot.

Both had sub par years last year. Hemsky of course had the major injury.

Who do you keep?

[prkal8r]

Hmmm that`s a tough one for me.

I think given Hemsky's injury risk and being a young team (and possibly a crappy +/-) I`d go with Vanek. Although he's certainly far from a slam dunk.

The other reason is LW is harder to come by then RW.

I`d almost go with Franzen over either of them, but you can`t deny Vanek has the 40G 80pt potential if he can put it back together.

[Laendarian]

I'd take Hemsky, RW is actually a shallower position the LW now and you already have a top end LW in AO. I also think Hemsky is the better player in general.

[JHM]

Who can burn you?

I would suggest Hemsky is more likely to burn you than Vanek. Health & age would be the two big factors, and both weigh to Vanek's advantage. Vanek has a higher end upside window & more productive seasons remaining. When contract time comes... I can envision both potentially getting bitter. They're both in healthy situations (clearly established as top 6 forwards)

I would take Vanek looking for an eventual rebound to higher windows.

[iglooinhabitant]

Very close, I'd keep Vanek though. He's proven more than Hemsky and is a little younger + healthier. Goal scorers are also a lot harder to find than assist men.

[Instant Karma]

Very close, I'd keep Vanek though. He's proven more than Hemsky and is a little younger + healthier. Goal scorers are also a lot harder to find than assist men.

What he said.

[keeper17]

Looks like it's 4-1 for Vanek so far.

[Domi's Homey]

I agree with prkal8r: if you've got Franzen on your roster, I would consider keeping him over the other 2.

[fajita123]

I'd go with Hemsky myself. I think he's a lot more likely to put up a ppg than Vanek. They both had problems with injuries last year, at least Hemsky was on the IR so he could be replaced. Vanek played through it and didn't do much all season.

[Umpteenth]

I would suggest the major factor that would sway you one way or the other should be your estimate on whether a) Hall will be playing with Hemsky and b) what Hall's production will be like.

Hemsky has never had a pure goal scorer to play with and he is an almost pure setup person. He's had a couple of 70pt seasons with scoring machines like Horcoff before - imagine that he'll do with someone who is that much more talented.

Even if Hall doesn't play on the 1st line the entire season Penner and Hemsky were putting up ppg numbers together before the injury. Meanwhile Vanek has lost his top producing linemates over the past couple years, which has also played into his dwindling production imo. He won't be getting an upgrade this year and is still mentally saddled with the huge expectations of his massive contract thanks to Edmonton.

All in all, I'd say go with Hemsky but it is a risk/reward type situation. Given your categories, Vanek will probably come out on top in +/-, SOG and G but the others will go to healthy Hemsky (especially assists).

[TML]

I would suggest the major factor that would sway you one way or the other should be your estimate on whether a) Hall will be playing with Hemsky and b) what Hall's production will be like.

Hemsky has never had a pure goal scorer to play with and he is an almost pure setup person. He's had a couple of 70pt seasons with scoring machines like Horcoff before - imagine that he'll do with someone who is that much more talented.

Even if Hall doesn't play on the 1st line the entire season Penner and Hemsky were putting up ppg numbers together before the injury. Meanwhile Vanek has lost his top producing linemates over the past couple years, which has also played into his dwindling production imo. He won't be getting an upgrade this year and is still mentally saddled with the huge expectations of his massive contract thanks to Edmonton.

The big thing people are concerned about for Hemsky are his injury concerns. Do you think that with Hall, he's going to stop getting injured?

With average linemates, both players can get 70-80 points. What these wingers both need the most are good centres, so if you wnat to talk about linemates, I"m pretty srue Buf has the better centres. Ennis, Gerbe and Roy

Give me Vanek.

[Umpteenth]

The big thing people are concerned about for Hemsky are his injury concerns. Do you think that with Hall, he's going to stop getting injured?

With average linemates, both players can get 70-80 points. What these wingers both need the most are good centres, so if you wnat to talk about linemates, I"m pretty srue Buf has the better centres. Ennis, Gerbe and Roy

Give me Vanek.

Again, I said risk/reward. If he's healthy I'd take Hemsky over Vanek today no question. Wingers do not need centres per se, any player needs a complementary player to their skill set to be productive. That's why so many of the best point producing combos over the years have been passer/shooters (Sedins, Marleau/Thornton, Stamkos/St. Louis, etc.). Ideally this is a center/winger combination since it makes it easier to set up plays right off the faceoff, but isn't absolutely necessary. I doubt Renney's going to force plays through whatever center they use on the 1st line next year just because that's how it 'should' work - as soon as they reach the offensive zone players will go to the areas they need to regardless of the letter of their position on some stat sheet.

[Instant Karma]

I agree with prkal8r: if you've got Franzen on your roster, I would consider keeping him over the other 2.

I don't. I've owned Franzen before and, unless you' have playoffs in your league, he goes in my "overrated" category. He doesn't do as well in the regular season as he does in the playoffs. He also gets injured quite a bit.

[natgeo]

If your leagues values goals more, or is H2H with stats categories such as G, PPG, GWG, then Vanek is definitely your man.

If it's straight points, I would go with Hemsky. Although he's had some injuries slowing him down I just like the situation in Edmonton with Hall, Paajarvi and Eberle coming in. As early as this year you might see Hemsky explode.

Vanek is top six in Buffalo, but he still doesn't get huge minutes.

[keeper17]

If your leagues values goals more, or is H2H with stats categories such as G, PPG, GWG, then Vanek is definitely your man.

Our league is H2H, we do not track PPG or GWG. We track G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, PIM, SOG, FOW.

All categories are weighted equally (1 point per).