Need advice: 20 team league?

[Frauliebe]

I joined a league that was 12 teams when I joined it, but got bumped up to 20 for various reasons. It's standard Yahoo stats: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, W, GAA, SV%, SHO. I don't know my draft spot yet.

Now I'm wondering about strategy. The big problem I can see is that goalies are going to be really really scarce. So unless I'm the first pick, I'd be something like insane not to draft the best netminder I can get my hands on, and just hope that I'm not one of the lower picks (or that other people aren't picking goalies early).

The thing is, what do I do after that? Do I draft another goalie if there's still a reasonable one left by second round? Or do I go for a LW, which is another category that will be awfully short on candidates?

I haven't read much on here about draft strategy in really large leagues, so I was hoping for advice.

EDIT: Doh! Should have said it's H2H.

[horrorfan]

Welcome to the boards.

I assume you are in a H2H or Roto league since you haven't given point values. So, assuming you start 2 goalies and they are worth 40% of your categories, I would pick two goalies right away. If you can get two solid ones, depending on your draft position, you could have an advantage over most managers each week (assuming H2H), or over the course of the season (in roto). Depth forwards are available late, goalies are not.

[Renegade]

If you get to picking your 2nd goalie and the remaining goalies are scraps... wait and pick up forward then pick up a goalie that is sharing time with another goalie. Use it as bait and pick up a starter.

Or pick Bernier, Schneider, Crawford and pray an injury/trade happens or the goalies falters.

Scan Dobberhockey for prospects that are on the cusp on making the team. Scan for injuries (okposo- Nino is a good pick). People coming back from injuries (David Jones, Hemsky) and if you really want to feel comfortable with your team... draft a strong defense. So strong that you wouldn't care trading a good player away from forward depth.

[Maaaasquito]

Yeah pretty much what Horror said,

I'd for sure go double goalie right away, in a 20 team league, goalies are going to be scarce...

If I had the 1st pick I'd even be inclined to pick Luongo instead of Ovechkin/Crosby... If you think about it... You get 1st pick, and your 2nd pick won't be till 39. By then you would think at least 15 goalies(best case scenario) probably would have gone and you're looking around Varly/Quick/Backstrom as your number 1 goalie... If 20 go, you're looking at Hiller, Price, Lehtonen.

With 40% of your stats going to goalies, the upside of having an Ovechkin, but a lower goalie in the list above isn't all that appealing...

If you went Luongo first overall, your still probably looking at Ryan/Cammy as your 1st LW, which you would think would be more across-the-board than the alternative...

The thing is 20 team leagues you kinda need to look at the pool of talent... yes LW is shallow, but with 30 teams each playing 4 LW, you kinda have a choice of 120 to choose from... 30 teams with 1 number 1 starter, and maybe 10 teams with a solid backup, you really only have a bank of 40 fantasy worthy goalies to choose from...

Goalies are definitely the more scarce of the positions and I'd strongly consider double goalie off the bat.

[Frauliebe]

Interesting. So the consensus is to draft a goalie first round, even if I end up getting the first pick (I'm sure the second and third people in line will be thrilled!). I do see the reasoning, though. For 40% of the stats, it would really stink to get stuck with sub-par netminding.

[SharkMeat]

I am in a 20 team league and we already drafted....Goalies were reduced to must play 2 games per week and only W, Save% and SO for points...means you can get by with one top notch goalie..I have Rask and Neuvirth ....I was picking number 14..so my first pick was a goalie...the next big issue was D men they went fast, but thanks to Dobbers list I had lots of choices late to pick up good talent. Scoring for D men is twice what it is for F's...so undertood the issue.
Everyone has holes in their team of some kind...
know your rules and scoring really well and then plan accordingly...one other funny aspect is the draft was an autodraft with no active partiipation...very unusual...will see how it goes...interesting rules...once a week team roster set up 3C, 4W, 4D,2G and you live with the results in H2H....

[Pengwin7]

The key part is:
1. The number of starting goalies. In a 20-team, this should only be ONE.
2. H2H Daily or Weekly. In a 20-team, this should be WEEKLY.

You should definitely focus on G, then LW... if you have the #5-#20 pick, take whichever is stronger. But if it is a START 2G (which it shouldn't be) then you MUST take a G.

[horrorfan]

As well, if you are starting 2 goalies, like Gotlaid suggested, I would be tempted to pick a goalie even if you were the first pick. In addition to the reasons already mentioned, you may trigger a major goalie run early because of this move, and then you will have the option of better forwards for your back-to-back picks in late round 2 / early round 3. If there isn't many goalies left when it's your turn again, at least you'll have one stud goalie and a top forward.

I've only played in 20 team points leagues, but in my experience, having strong goalies and depth forwards has been more important than having strong forwards and lack of goaltending.