A preseason trade. I didnt know they made those!
A preseason trade. I didnt know they made those!
Prior to the draft I was overseas for a good 6 weeks, so I didn’t do a ton of research in terms of preparation for this draft. I went into the draft with a similar strategy in the past of looking to stack goalies, then C and D early, then fill out the wings in the later half of the draft. Of course, with RHRS the strategy gets blown to smithereens by about round 3… Anyways here is my recap along with some thoughts.
With pick 4, I was straight into the dilemma zone, basically at 4 you’re left with Matthews, Mackinnon or Vas/Shesterkin… so really the decision is goalie or forward? Last few years, I’ve gone goalies early and was burnt (Hellebuyck/Kuemper – 2021, Price/Samsonov 2020), so I thought I’d go a bit safer with Mackinnon this year.
Round 2/3, Russ pretty much ****ed me all night and destroyed my queue just as I’m about to hit the draft button. I had Crosby all ready to go, then see him go the pick right before which then left me in scramble mode already in round 2. Picked Hedman, solid reliable D plus the 100/100/200 hit/bs/sog along with all the PPP, I think he’s the 2nd best fantasy blue-liner out there. I did debate on picking Markstrom at this pick, as I thought he was probably the best ‘value’ goalie of the draft, and I honestly thought he’d get back to me at the next pick, but gone… Went with Panarin in round 3, the 1.34 points-per-game average as a Ranger just baited me in. The lack of peripherals sent me some alarm bells, but I figured the point production was worth it. I did consider Saros, and bypassing a goalie by round 3 certainly isn’t my MO.
Round 4/5, of course, I knew I needed a goalie by these next couple of rounds, so took who I thought was best available in Kuemper, I did think about Hellebuyck, but since he burnt me last year, I just couldn’t draft him again… Campbell was another goalie that I was targeting, so easy pick in round 5. I was really after a Markstrom/Campbell as my initial plan, but Kuemper/Campbell will have to suffice.
Round 6/7, I knew I wanted to secure the goalies stats, so went with Jarry. So a trio of Kuemper/Campbell/Jarry should be a decent setup for the goalie stats, it allowed me to ease off the pedal in terms of getting goalies for the next 4-5 rounds and really focus on the offense. Going back to the G,C,D strategy, I looked at the best C available, took Kadri because of the PIM, SOG potential, I do think that he will regress a bit moving from COL to CGY and certainly the drop off in PPP, but he should still get plenty of ice-time in a top-6 role in Cowtown. I also debated on Dubois and seeing him go to Russ the pick after Kadri, made me think I was on the right line of thought. I really like the Giroux pick and thought that he would slide down a couple of rounds, but he went.
Round 8/9, I liked the Chabot pick, I had him queued and ready to go, but landed a really nice sneaky pick in Larkin. Tons of FOW, produces a decent amount of HITs and SOG plus nearly the point-per-game production, so really happy with this snag. Mackinnon, Kadri and Larkin, I have a solid foundation for C stats. On the return, I knew I needed a D, so went with who I thought was BPA in Jones. Once again, going after the 100/100/200 mode, Jones fits that, and I figured with Larkin, the +/- is probably going to be shot, so adding Jones wouldn’t be too much of a hit in that department.
Round 10/11, Russ screwed me again as I wanted Schenn for the LW eligibility, and saw him go right before my eyes, so I had to settle for next best option in Horvat. I liked his SOG and FOW potential, so being able to get 4 decent shooting instead of pass-first centers will help largely in that department. I did debate on ROR, but the lack of SOG and HITs worried me a bit. Went back to the D well in round 11, ended up snagging Morrissey. Once gain really wanted the peripheral stats, and 150 hits with 100 BS and around the 150 SOG is monstrous on the peripheral front. Would love to see him get into the 20s for PPP, hopefully the Jets can get into the upper half of PP productivity this year. I really liked the Hertl/Suzuki picks, but because I had my Cs already filled, couldn’t grab another C, but great value for a couple of top-line Cs in round 11.
Round 12/13, was really looking at grabbing my 4th G at this point, but a goalie run saw Quick, Vanacek, Gibson, Raanta, Petersen, Varlamov, Quick and Hart all fly off the board, so no sense chasing at this point, so went with some additional FOW from a winger help. RNH was my pick, which will also help in the PPP department. I was utterly surprised to still see Wheeler sitting there in round 13. I know that he got the C taken off him, but to see him drop this far down the draft list I was shocked. The guy was a 5th round pick in last year’s draft… He didn’t regress that much in my opinion? I loved the Seguin pick, he completely slipped my draft list… Also loved the Benn pick and was secretly hoping he’d slide 1 more round for me to pick, but gone before I could get to him.
Round 14/15, Russ bloody did it to me again, after missing Benn I targeted Toffoli and had him all ready to click, so when he went, I posted a F-bomb on the draft chat, to rub more salt on the wound, he then responds with, “I didn’t really want him anyway…” shaking my head… That left me reeling, so I went back to the D and grabbed Hanifin. I owned Andersson last season, so I watched a lot of the slowdown in the last couple of months of the season. Hanifin posted 23 points and 89 SOG in the final 31 games. He’s also pretty close to the 100/100/200 numbers too, great 14th round value really. At this point I wanted to grab another blue-liner to help solidify the position, and noticed Karlsson sitting there, so figured I’d take a swing at him. With Burns gone, he now gets the #1 reigns back, and the Sharks weren’t completely atrocious on the PP, they were only 13 PP goals away from being in the top-10. Plus they still have Couture, Hertl and Meier on that top unit, so it’s not a complete gong show. Probably could do a lot worse for a 5th D at this point. Really loved the Tage and Chychrun picks in this round.
Dobber Expert Pool Champion 2011-12
Round 16/17, I really wanted to Campbell handcuff, so to see Skinner go off the board 4 picks before me hurt a bit… I also had Ristolainen and Kempe queued, so thought I’d circle back to the G and grab Kahkonen as I didn’t think there was that many options available… I also dig the Vrana and Johansen picks in this round and also the Couture pick in 17. I was eyeing him with my next pick, but he went 3 picks ahead of mine. Managed to snag Caufield, who had a nice 2nd half after MSL took over. 35 points and 118 SOG in 38 games post-ASB, will play with Suzuki/Monahan/Dach, so not a bad spot to be for round 17. At this point, I was also considering Hall and Wilson as a stash play, but since I was drafting my LW3/RW2, I needed more secure production than a gamble. In hindsight, probably grabbing DeSmith, as the Jarry handcuff, would have been a smarter play.
Round 18/19, Voracek got sniped as I had him queued and by this point all of my dark horses have already been snagged. So McCann was a bit of a panic pick, but if he can manage to keep his SOG total up along with a couple hundred FOW and 45-50 points that would be very serviceable in the 18th round. On the turn around, I wanted to round out the blue-line, so took a shot at Romanov. The 227 HITs, 144 BS and 100 SOG was what drew me to him. Who knows what’s going to happen with the Isles’ PP, so if he can manage to get some PP time and put up the solid peripherals, I’m laughing with him as my D6. I liked the Garland, Jarvis, Verhaeghe and Coleman picks… all pretty solid in round 19.
Round 20/21, Russ again sniped me with Schmaltz… so I ended up with Atkinson. Under Torts, Atkinson is a 0.71 and 3.18 point/SOG-per-game producer (58/260 per 82G), so if they can manage to rekindle that magic, he could be in for a very good year. In round 20, I’m ok if he doesn’t pan out and need to require a ww replacement. Love the Mantha and Lundell picks, great value there. Swung for the fences with Zacha in round 21. With the injuries to Hall and Marchand, Zacha should get some good top-6 time in Beantown and with the news coming out the pre-season of his performance, Zacha could be a steal at this point of the draft. His 1 hit per game is also a nice bonus too. Toews is a great snag, don’t know how offensively productive he will be with the rebuilding Hawks, but round 21 is absolutely a great steal. Laffy (if he can manage to get onto the top-line) could also be a huge steal here.
Round 22/23, getting to the pointy end of the draft now, so really just looking at rounding out the rosters. The 200+ SOG appeal of Arvidsson got me here, as he solidified his top-6 position. He’ll most likely line up alongside Danault and Iafallo/Moore possibly Byfield on the 2nd line, so he’ll still be given a bit of rope for offensive production. If he can manage to get on PP1 with Kops/Fiala/Kempe he should outproduce his draft slot. Kuzmenko could be an interesting fantasy player this year, so not a bad pick here in round 22. I also really liked the Krejci pick. I went with Rakell in round 23, once again low-risk pick here. 13 points and 48 SOG in 19 games, which translates to 56 points and 207 SOG in an 82 game pace, after being traded to PIT last year. He’ll slot alongside either Crosby or Malkin, so there’s a bit of offensive potential there. Holtz, Beniers and Blackwood are also some nice picks.
Round 24/25, really just looking at rounding out my roster slots, picked up Lindgren as the Kuemper handcuff, so I’m happy with that as my 24th selection. Some nice picks with Farabee, McTavish, Kravtsov and Strome here… Last pick, I went with Kubalik, the Red Wings have had some sneaky off-season signings and don’t look as thin up front as they used to. The 2.34 and 1.13 SOG/HIT per game numbers could be a nice roster stat padder. He’s going to be my LW/RW5/6 anyway so probably won’t expect him to be very active on my roster.
Overall, I'm ok with my team, nothing glaring as a major issue to address straight away, a few lucky bounces and a couple of good seasons from these guys and I should be in the running for a podium finish.
Team Maaaaaachete
Mackinnon, Kadri, Larkin, Horvat
Panarin, RNH, Caufield, McCann, Zacha
Wheeler, Atkinson, Rakell, Arvidsson, Kubalik
Hedman, Jones, Morrissey, Hanifin, Karlsson, Romanov
Kuemper, Campbell, Jarry, Kahkonen, Lindgren
Here’s my bible recap! Let’s get it started! Good luck boys!
Dobber Expert Pool Champion 2011-12
Anybody else game for just shutting the league down today and awarding the trophy?
... No? Just me?
Missed posting the first trade of the year:
October 6 -
Connibal Hellecaust 2 recieves
Michael Bunting
Dan Vladar
The Hughes of the Devil recieves
Jordan Kyrou
Yegor Sharangovich
November 17
The Forever Berge recieves
Jesper Bratt
Hampus Lindholm
Powergeist recieves
Brandon Tanev
Jacob Trouba
Without me, it's only "aweso".
Trade:
Oliver Bjorkstrand Sea - RW
Traded to The Hughes of the Devil (EB)
Bowen Byram Col - D
Traded to Dark T(o)uch
Standings:
Rank Team Points 1 The Forever Berge (4T2) 100 2 Powergeist (Shoeless) 99.5 3 Knightstalker (Atomic Wedgy) 98 4 Natural Born Quiller (The Comish) 96.5 5 Dark T(o)uch (Chili Con Carne) 95 6 Maaaaaa-chete (Maaaasquito) 92.5 7 The Kings in Yellow (LordoftheRinks) 92 8 Larry The Wolfman Talbot (PenguinHunter) 90 9 Connibal Hellecaust 2 (horrorfan) 88 10 Pacandyman (temek) 87 11 Flower's in the Aho-ttic (YzermansLegacy) 79 12 The Hughes of the Devil (Eskimo Brother) 74.5
Yeah, this is shaping up to be a real chess match. It will be interesting to see what decisions are made to try and separate from the pack and how those decisions cascade across the league (moves made by others in response).
A little bit of context from my end on that last trade (pretty minor trade but...). I have way too many underwhelming/similar potential RWs, my D is pretty bad (although better than what I drafted based on a few pick-ups) and I also had some players come off IR recently with others to follow shortly. The trade helps me fill out the bottom end of my D (pending Byram's return) and gives me some roster flex/an opening to stream from the wire a little.
Game on!
Trade:
Jared McCann SEA - C,LW
Victor Hedman TB - D
Traded to The Forever Berge (4T2)
Jamie Benn DAL - C,LW
Andrew Mangiapane CGY - LW,RW
Traded to Maaaaaa-chete
Standings:
Rank Team Points 1 Maaaaaa-chete (Maaaasquito) 116.5 2 Powergeist (Shoeless) 107.5 3 Dark T(o)uch (Chili Con Carne) 104 4 Pacandyman (temek) 103 5 Natural Born Quiller (The Comish) 100.5 6 Connibal Hellecaust 2 (horrorfan) 99 7 Knightstalker (Atomic Wedgy) 93 8 The Forever Berge (4T2) 80 9 Larry The Wolfman Talbot (PenguinHunter) 79 10 The Kings in Yellow (LordoftheRinks) 77.5 11 The Hughes of the Devil (Eskimo Brother) 68.5 12 Flower's in the Aho-ttic (YzermansLegacy) 63.5
And a trade:
Pheonix Copley LA - G
Jonathan Quick LA - G
Traded to The Kings in Yellow
Thatcher Demko VAN - G
Traded to Powergeist