Building for the Future can you help?

[FraserValley]

I am in last place in my pool and I can protect 20 players capped at current NHL cap. I have made 2 trades so far this year to save cap room for next year. If players have yet to play 25 games in the NHL they can be on my farm team. Currently I have Hornqvist, Mattias(Maybe), Pietrangelo and they will not count against my cap. Who should I look to deal before the trade deadline. I have doubts about Dipietro & Lethinen but if I move them do I risk not getting the same back in value?

1st I traded Robidas, Tyutin + 6th rd for Bogosian & Kulemin
then I traded Visnosvky for 2nd rd pick, Pietrangelo, F. Kaberle

possible trade- Gaborik + Gilbert + 4th rd pick for Purcell + Goligoski + 2nd pick


Thanks for the help...

[JHM]

20 Keepers. That\'s a good bunch of Keepers. The draft won\'t be real fancy.

Robidas, Tyutin + 6th rd for Bogosian & Kulemin
I much prefer Bogo & Kulemin. Robidas is over 30, Tyutin could blossom. Lots of guys could have blossomed but never did. Bogo & Kulemin are both on the high road to potentially be useful fantasy players.

Visnosvky for 2nd rd pick, Pietrangelo, F. Kaberle
F. Kaberle is nothing in Fantasy. The safe path is to grab Visnovsky. I suspect the 2nd round pick is depth. Nothing too secure.

Gaborik + Gilbert + 4th rd pick for Purcell + Goligoski + 2nd pick
If Gaborik plays you get KILLED. He had 84 points last year.

[Dr.Smurf]

First off, i dont think that trade works in your favour. Wait until Gaborik plays some games and proves hes still a star, then trade him. You\'ll be able to get more bang for you buck.

If you\'re building a team, i suggest you try and get solid goalie (ie Fleury, Luongo, or one of the other big names) to back stop uour team. Next, get a solid and respectable forward to build around. Gatzlaf is a great choice and is a terrific value.

Im curious to see what more seasoned pros suggest, as im only in my first year of a keeper, but am using this strategy and am only 4 pts out of first!

[FraserValley]

Problem is for me is that Luongo, Fleury and Getzlaf are all going to be protected next year I need to start getting better assets to improve my team. Players I don\'t have to commit 6-9m against my cap at 57m this year. What I am looking for are young players who I can keep on my farm for free and build towards the future.

Francois Bouchard, Joe Colborne, Jakub Kindl, Bob Sanguinetti, Cody Franson, Ryan McDonagh, Jakob Markstrom?

What about these players? Are they worth putting on your farm team to build around?

Is Lethinen not a goalie of the future or should I move on?

I can only protect 2 goalies every year do I protect Dipietro and Lethinen? and maybe hope I can draft a starter for next year.

[JHM]

Francois Bouchard, Joe Colborne, Jakub Kindl, Bob Sanguinetti, Cody Franson, Ryan McDonagh, Jakob Markstrom?

Are they worth building around?

Well, I predict, after having wondered through the forests for many moons
- 1 or 2 will be nice, outside chance one is elite
- 1 or 2 will be okay
- 2 or 3 won\'t have been worth knowing

For fun, take their draft positions, go to hockeydb.com and research those draft positions over the past 20 years. It\'ll take a little while. Overall, they\'re a reasonably high drafted bunch of kids. All are on the radar and familiar names.

Basically elite forwards managed near a couple of points a game in Jr. when they were 17 or 18. Elite D-men managed more than a point a game when they were 17 or 18. If you can figure out the goaltender thing, you\'re one up on the rest of us! Most tenders picked in the top 5 turn out (then there\'s Al Montoya). Then there are the exceptions. Of course little rule of thumb where exceptions are concerned. It\'s hard to put a ruler on \'heart\'.

[Dr.Smurf]

You\'re going to have to start trading some of you young\'uns to teams wanting to freshen up their team or create cap space. They problem with only having rookies, it that once all of your guys hit their prime, you wont be able to afford them. I\'m in that situation right now with Kopitar and Stastny, sure they\'re good and gonna get better, but after this year they\'re both making around 6.5 mil. There\'s just no way our salary cap (56.7mil) can fit them plus all of the other players i need. Once the entry level contract is over on your rookies, you are going to be trillions over the cap.

This is why you\'re going to have to start trading them once they show what they can do (probably next year), and pick up players that have already shown they posess skill, yet do not come with an outrageous price tag.