#1 Prospect Pick

[Glrussia]

In one of my keeper leagues, I have the #1 prospect pick and I was wondering what the consensus is on who to pick. At first I was all over at the idea of selecting Backstrom, but after watching Toews at the Wolrd Championships Im not so certain. The one thing really leaning me to Backstrom is because he will be Ovechkins set up man, which is just plain scary. Yet Toews has been impressing me more and more every time I watch him. I should probably jsut stop watching him. Thoughts?



P.S For the real keeners here are our league rules.
Forwards
G: 25
A: 25
PIMs: 5
PPG: 15
SHG: 20
OTG: 15
GWG: 25
HTRK: 50
+/-: +/- 10
GP: 2
SHGWG: 150

[Thieving Giraffe]

Backstrom. He is more talented offensively than Toews (no slouch himself), and will play with Ovechkin and/or Semin throughout the next few seasons.

[The Good Sir]

Backstrom.

While Toews is an amazing talent in his own right, Backstrom is just a ridiculous playmaker. He\'ll be playing with Ovechkin next year. I mean what else can be said, really?

The only way I would pass on Backstrom would be if you were setup big time in assists. Say you had Thornton, H. Sedin, Savard, and Crosby. Then maybe I could see passing on Backstrom. Otherwise take him and be glad you did.

[Pete]

One word : Backstrom !

Close the thread ! B)

[Stannic]

Glrussia wrote:

In one of my keeper leagues, I have the #1 prospect pick and I was wondering what the consensus is on who to pick. At first I was all over at the idea of selecting Backstrom, but after watching Toews at the Wolrd Championships Im not so certain. The one thing really leaning me to Backstrom is because he will be Ovechkins set up man, which is just plain scary. Yet Toews has been impressing me more and more every time I watch him. I should probably jsut stop watching him. Thoughts?



P.S For the real keeners here are our league rules.
Forwards
G: 25
A: 25
PIMs: 5
PPG: 15
SHG: 20
OTG: 15
GWG: 25
HTRK: 50
+/-: +/- 10
GP: 2
SHGWG: 150

If you\'re using HF\'s (65gp and less then 24 yrs old for forwards/dmen)determination of a prospect I would have to go with Radulov over Backstrom. But if not, then I would go with Backs.

[Thieving Giraffe]

Is Radulov even an option? If so, then certainly grab him and never look back.

[sakic19]

I\'d take Toews over both backstrom and even radulov, even if this is a very very very close margin, Toews keeps proving more and more why he is compared to the great Joe Sakic. Hes a leader, has so much heart and talent keeps getting better and better. Scored another amazing goal today and hes only playing on the fourth line for Canada. And we shouldnt forget that Chicago has the #1 pick and that Patrick Kane can be added to that nice crop of forwards they have already.

As much as this is close, Toews would be my pick. Backstrom does have Ovechkin yes, but Toews also has Havlat and Ruutu to feed and not to mention 3 top d-men in Seabrook,Barker and Keith to give him a much better cast then Backstrom as of now.

As for Radulov, he is an awesome talent, but with Forsberg,Hartnell as good as gone and Kariya leaning heavily towards free agency there isnt much left for Radulov to work with. Besides Legwand and Dumont there wont be much left.

All this can change but as of now Id take Toews, then Backtrom and then Radulov, but all 3 are sure bets. Very hard descion, good luck with it.

[Dobber]

Radulov
Backstrom
Toews

Clear cut in my opinion. In that order.

[Kowalchuk]

before the World Championships, I would say Backstrom easily, but Toews has been so dominant for a player his age in this tourny, its incredible. I bet Toews will adapt to the NHL alot quicker then Backstrom. Its really close, and I would have them ranked very close to each other. However, Backstroms season in the SEL against men is quite impressive, and I would give him the slightest edge, however it wouldn\'t shock me at all if Toews became the better player, I have been really impressed from what I have seen from him.

[lanky522]

No way should you take toews over backstrom...

If you\'re a GM and you\'re deciding who you should draft for your NHL team, it\'s a bit more difficult because Toews has intangibles and leadership, that make him a great all around player and future captain (similar to yzerman and messier).

HOWEVER, since you are a fantasy GM, you should without a doubt take backstrom. Intangibles and leadership don\'t count for anything in fantasy hockey... yeah Scott Stevens could rock the hell out of people, played hardcore defense, and was a HUGE asset to his team, that doesn\'t mean that ANYONE had him in anything other than extremely deep fantasy hockey leagues (if they did, they were stupid).

If you take Toews you will find yourself feeling stupid 2 years from now, when you\'re just out of first place because backstrom had 20-30 more points than toews.

When people say things like \"best player outside the nhl\" they are usually pretty close (evgeni malkin). So why would you let Backstrom, who has every bit as much hype (as far as I\'m concerned) slip by?

[mrbugg]

Hey now, Scott Stevens used to be a premier offensive defenseman. Eight seasons of 50+ points, five of which were 61+ point seasons.
If you had him in a pool where defensemen goals were 2 fantasy points and where PIM mattered, you were laughing.