Re: 2023/2024 Rocky Horror Roto Show - Spooky Season #13
I'll jump in with my personal draft analysis:
New team name for this season: JasonX(hekaj)
Jason (Robertson) was my 1stround pick (12th) while Arber Xhekaj was my 22ndround pick. Always a bit of a risk using a late-drafted guy as Idon't like to upset the fantasy gods by trading/waiving any guys whomake up my team name!
Overall I was pretty pleased with howthe draft went this year. In this league, you HAVE to expect gettingmultiple guys sniped on you each round... which also (for me) meansshifting strategy on the fly.
Round 1: J.Robertson
He was in my top 11 so happy he slid aspot. Doesn't help with FOW but J.Hughes went right before this pickand I'm hopeful his other cats help him retain value here.
R2: C.Makar
I had intended to go with a differentplayer here, but decided at the last second to take a risk withMakar. His health is the x-factor... but if he can play 75 games I'llgladly take PPG from the D slot.
R3: A.Barkov
I was hoping one of my C targets mightfall to here and it turned out that multiple ones did. While Barkovdoesn't add much in the grit cats, he's really solid across the rest.
R4: I.Samsonov
First major deviation as I intended tofade goalies (and D) but he was the last in that tier and Ihoped/planned to grab J.Woll later (which did not work out). Thinkthe Leafs will be strong again this year and if he stays healthy,should be decent value at this slot.
R5/6: S.Aho/J.Eichel
I definitely wasn't planning ondrafting 3 straight C's in the first 6 rounds but felt like the valuehere was too good to pass up. After already going off script forSamsonov... might as well commit to a full blown improv production!
R7: D.Nurse
Feeling like I have to start findingsome grit after missing out on the multi-cat guys in the earlyrounds. Should provide adequate value here and keep me fromscrambling for peripherals later in the draft.
R8: P.Laine
A bit of a reach pick but missed out onthe high-end Rws and hoping he'll offer some FOW from the W withdecent scoring. If he has a good year, I'll meet the value. If not,this one may cost me.
R9: J.Huberdeau
I was sweating down to this pick asJ.Gaudreau had already gone and I really wanted to find somepotentially strong value here. Hubs is a bit of a trendy “value”pick but I'm happy to land him here.
R10: A.Hill
Wasn't my first choice but my G queuegot killed in between my picks so hoped I'd get him here and be ableto handcuff with L.Thompson next round (but 4T2 snagged him 2 pickslater). Still, between him and Samsonov, I'm liking my shot atcompeting in Ws and hopefully neither submarine my ratios.
R11: D.Doughty
Maybe my fave value pick as he stoodout like a sore thumb on my list as the only left in his tier forquite a while.
R12: T.Jeannot
I actually was targeting T.Wilson tofill this role earlier but again 4T2 took him before me. I will saythat in this league, if Jeannot comes even close to his 2021 levelshe'll provide awesome value here. If not, he's still helping tobalance out my cats a little bit.
R13/14: P.Copley/C.Talbot
Guys simply killed my list betweenpicks and I was double-guessing my Jeannot pick when I missed out onR.Hartman making it back here. That will cost me in FOW and he likelyhad enough HIT/PIM to make him more valuable than Jeannot. Ah well.As for these picks, with my other guys all of the board, I decided tolock up the 82gps from LA. Had my eye on using my back-to-back pickson a few tandems and this was the only one that came to fruition.
R15: R.O'Reilly
After committing early to Cs I waswilling to wait until this tier and it was time to pull the trigger.Think his poor season last year crushed his value and I expect him tobe better this year while adding elite FOWs for a NSH team thatdoesn't have a ton of C-depth.
R16: P.Kane
This was right about where I waswilling to take a shot on an injured guy like Kane. Tons ofuncertainty but it won't kill my draft if he doesn't come back in agood situation/at full health. Flip side is if he does land in agreat spot, I can count on a scoring boost for the rest of theseason.
R17: J.Sanderson
Most of the D that I was hoping forwere all gone here, but Sanderson could offer sneaky value here.Obviously if he's PP1 this might be a homerun, but even if not, aslong as he progresses (which is never certain with sophomores) heshould return value. Needed another D at this point too.
R18: M.Pacioretty
Honestly this might be a throw-awaypick but at this stage, the risk is worth reward. Helps in a coupleof cats I need if he's even close to his former self.
R19/20: R.Ristolainen/T.Krug
Just filling out my D-corps here with ablend of grit and potential PP help. Both might be anchors in +/- soI'll have to play it by ear with them.
R21: A.Lafreniere – Was reallyhoping for him here. Offense is a gamble but at minimum he's offeringsome hits.
R22: A.Xhekaj – Nearly tookhim over T.Krug and now part of the team namesake. Not sure if he'llstick or not but good rate stats for grit if he does.
R23: C.Coyle – A bit ofprotection for my Cs if one goes down to injury
R24: C.Addison – A bit ofprotection if Krug sucks again
R25: S.Montembeault – A bit ofprotection if I lose a G to injury
Overall Draft Grade: A-
While I missed getting a few of mytargets I'm still happy with the balance that came out in the end. Iam banking a LOT on guys staying/getting healthy and if that doesn'thappen I won't be near the podium. But if it does, I'm happy with thefoundational pieces and with the #1 waiver, my enjoyment of tradingand using the wire... I think I can at minimum be a pain in the assto everyone this year.
And let's be real – the quality ofGMs in this league is second-to-none... so just exiting the draftwith a notion that you can compete is a win in my books.
Here's to a great season lads!
ROSTER:
C: A.Barkov, S.Aho, J.Eichel, R.O'Reilly, C.Coyle
R: P.Laine, P.Kane (IR), T.Jeannot,
L: J.Robertson, J.Huberdeau, M.Pacioretty (IR),
D: C.Makar, D.Nurse, D.Doughty, J.Sanderson, T.Krug, R.Ristolainen, A.Xhekaj, C.Addison
G: I.Samsonov, A.Hill, P.Copley, C.Talbot, S.Montembeault
RHRS, Yahoo, 12-team, Roto
PQMC, Yahoo, 12-team, Keep 11, H2H
Taro Tsujimoto Draft League, Fantrax, 6-team, pts-only (*2018 draftees or later only)
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
On Frozen Ponds, Fantrax 10-Team, Dynasty, Roto
"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