Re: How to do research?
I read through alot of this thread and pardon me if it was already mentioned, but something I use fairly often to gauge a player's potential (or abilities at least) is YOUTUBE. You can always find some college or junior games on there, whether it be North American or European leagues. I see that many of the answers here focus on the statistical aspect of things, which is great, but I love seeing what a player can do on the ice as well to better assess the prospect's game going forward.
A good example I can share is when I researched Tyler Johnson 2 years ago. He was flying under the radar and there was only a bit of buzz about him on Dobber, but nothing more. Watching him play for his junior team, I instantly saw that the kid had talent. Had I just based myself on his stats, I would have most likely been turned off by his diminutive stature, thinking that even though the kid had good numbers, he would not be able to make it in the NHL cause of his size. Well the YOUTUBE clips clearly showed that Tyler Johnson had heart and drive and did not shy away from bigger players.
Morale of the story here, is to diversify your research and sources. A good Fantasy GM will be one that can grasp what he can from the available sources and make the proper assessment and predictions based on that. Therefore, more info = better projections; just make sure you get your information from trustworthy sources (experienced writers/scouts/bloggers... with little to no biases)
Keeper league 14 teams (H2H, 20 active players keep 16 NHLers, 16 minors)
Scoring Cats: G-A-PTS-PPG-PPA-(+/-)-HITS-BLK-SHP-SOG-FOW-GWG / W-L-SVS-SV%-GAA-SO
C- Crosby, Barzal, Bennett, Schmaltz, Cooley, Novak
W- Forsberg, Batherson, Nichuskin, Tuch, Konecny, Maccelli, Sharangovich, Bertuzzi, Neighbours, Reichel, Holloway
D- Carlson, Rielly, Klingberg
G- Hellebuyck, Demko, Merzlikins, Vejmelka
Minors:
F: Fantilli, Bourgault, Perreault, Cowan, Ohgren, N. Foote, Goyette, Iskhakov, Denisenko, Tracey
D: Simashev, Willander, Lambos
G: Schmidt, Rodrigue, DiPietro, Gaudreau, McKay