Yahoo Position Eligibility 2011-2012: A Look-Back

[Pengwin7]

For those that use Yahoo!, you know what a crapshoot it is to make an assumption on position eligibility for the upcoming year.
In a positional keeper, it can be important to forecast, balance, and set your keeper roster.

A Case Guide to Yahoo's Fantasy Hockey Player Position Eligibility:

Step 1: Check the Yahoo Team/Player Bio Pages (July/August)
Step 2: Check the Yahoo Fantasy Hockey Playerbase when Yahoo Opens (early/mid September)
Step 3: Changes made during the season.

Here are some noted player changes during 2011-2012.

Step 1---Step 2----Step 3
(The First Position is per Yahoo! Team Rosters - August 15, 2011:

>>>ANA Cogliano C---C---C/LW (Yahoo added LW on Dec 3)

BOS Marchard C/LW---C---C/LW (Yahoo re-added LW on Oct 21)
BOS Peverley C/RW
BOS Seguin C/RW---C---C/RW (Yahoo re-added RW on OCt 25)
BOS Thornton LW/RW

BUF Boyes C/RW
BUF Gerbe C/LW---C-C/LW (Yahoo added LW on Oct 21)
BUF Hecht C/LW
BUF Leino LW/RW---LW---C/LW (Yahoo added C on Oct 21)
>>>BUF Ennis LW---LW---C/LW (Yahoo added C on Sep 22)
>>>BUF/VAN Hodgson C---C---C/RW (Yahoo added RW on Dec 3)

>>> CGY/MON Cammalleri LW---LW---C/LW (Yahoo added C on Feb 15)

CAR LaRose LW/RW---LW---LW/RW (Yahoo added RW on Sep 22)
CAR Ruutu LW/RW
>>>CAR J.Jokinen LW---LW---C/LW (Yahoo added C on Oct 21)
>>>CAR Tlusty C---C---C/LW (Yahoo added LW on Sep 22)

CHI Sharp C---C/LW---C/LW/RW (Yahoo added LW on Sept 22 & RW on Oct 19)
>>>CHI Frolik RW---RW---C/RW (Yahoo added C on Sep 22)
>>>CHI P.Kane RW---RW---C/RW (Yahoo added C on Oct 19)

COL D.Jones LW/RW
COL Porter C/RW
COL Winnik C/RW
>>>COL P.Mueller LW---LW---C/LW (Yahoo added C on Sep 5)
>>>COL Duchene C---C---C/LW (Yahoo added LW on Dec 3)

CBJ Bass C/RW
CBJ Brassard C/RW
CBJ Dorsett LW/RW
CBJ R.Nash RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo added LW on Aug 31)
>>>CBJ Prospal LW---LW---C/LW (Yahoo added C on Sep 22)
>>>CBJ Johansen C---C---C/RW (Yahoo added RW on Dec 3)

DAL Barch LW/RW
DAL Benn C/LW---LW---C/LW (Yahoo re-added C on Oct 21)
DAL Fiddler C/LW
DAL Ott C/LW---C---LW (Yahoo added LW on Dec 28)
DAL Petersen C/LW
>>>DAL Eriksson LW/RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo re-added LW on Sep 22)

DET Datsyuk C/LW---LW---C/LW (Yahoo re-added C on Sep 22)
DET Zetterberg C/LW---LW---C/LW (Yahoo re-added C on Sep 22)
DET Franzen LW/RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo re-added LW on Sep 22)
DET Hudler LW/RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo re-added LW on Sep 22)
>>>DET Holmstrom RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo added LW on Sep 22)
>>>DET Bertuzzi RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo added LW on Sep 22)
>>>DET Filppula C---C---C/LW (Yahoo Added LW on Dec 3)
>>>DET Cleary RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo Added RW on Dec 3)

EDM Hordichuk LW/RW
EDM R.Jones LW/RW
>>>EDM Gagner C---C---C/RW (Yahoo added RW on Dec 3)

FLA Bradley LW/RW
FLA Fleischmann C/LW
>>>FLA Versteeg LW---LW---LW/RW (Yahoo added RW on Oct 21)

LA Parse LW/RW
LA Richardson C/LW
LA/CBJ J.Carter C---C---C/RW (Yahoo added RW on Aug 10)
>>> LA M.Richards C---C---C/LW (Yahoo added LW on Jan 18)

MIN Bouchard LW/RW
MIN Heatley LW/RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo re-added LW on Oct 28)

MON Cole LW/RW---LW---LW/RW (Yahoo re-added RW on Sep 19)
MON Kostitsyn LW/RW
MON/CGY Bourque LW/RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo re-added LW on Sep 17)

NAS Bergfors LW/RW
NAS Smithson C/RW
NAS Spaling C/LW
NAS C.Wilson C/LW
>>>NAS/BUF Gaustad C---C---C/LW (Yahoo added LW on Sep 22)

NJ Elias LW/RW---C---C/LW (Yahoo added C on Oct 21)
NJ Janssen LW/RW
NJ Zubrus C/RW---C---C/RW (Yahoo re-added RW on Dec 3)
>>>NJ Kovalchuk xxx---LW/RW---LW/RW (Yahoo added LW on Jul 23)

NYI Bailey C/LW

NYR Christensen C/LW
NYR Dubinsky C/LW---C---C/LW (Yahoo re-added LW on Sep 22)
NYR Prust LW/RW
NYR Zuccarello LW/RW
>>>NYR Anisimov C---C---C/LW (Yahoo added LW on Jan 16)

OTT Greening C/LW
>>>OTT M.Michalek LW---LW---LW/RW (Yahoo added RW on Sep 22)

PHI Giroux C/RW---RW---C/RW (Yahoo added C on Sep 19)
PHI Nodl LW/RW
PHI Talbot C/RW
>>>PHI D.Briere xxx-C/RW---C/RW (Yahoo added C on Jul 26)

PHX Boedker LW/RW
>>>PHX Doan RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo added LW on Sep 22)

PIT C.Adams C/RW
PIT Dupuis LW/RW---LW---LW/RW (Yahoo re-added RW on Dec 3)
PIT Kennedy LW/RW---LW---LW/RW (Yahoo re-added RW on Sep 22)
PIT Letestu C/RW
PIT Malkin C---C---C/RW (Yahoo added RW on Sep 22)
PIT Neal LW---LW---LW/RW (Yahoo added RW on Dec 3)
>>>PIT J.Staal C---C---C/LW (Yahoo added LW on Sep 22)

SJ Couture C/RW---C---C/LW (Yahoo added LW on Dec 3)
SJ Pavelski C---C---C/RW (Yahoo added RW on Sep 22)
SJ Sheppard C/LW
SJ Wingels C/RW
>>>SJ Marleau LW---LW---C/LW (Yahoo added C on Sep 22)
>>>SJ Clowe LW---LW---LW/RW (Yahoo added RW on Sep 22)
>>>SJ T.Mitchell C---C---C/RW (Yahoo added RW on Dec 3)

STL Backes C/RW---RW---C/RW (Yahoo re-added C on Oct 21)
STL D'Agostini LW/RW
STL McDonald C/LW
STL Oshie C/RW---C---C/RW (Yahoo re-added RW on Sep 22)
STL Steen C/LW---C---C/LW (Yahoo re-added LW on Sep 22)
STL Sobotka C/LW

TB Ritola C/LW
TB Shannon LW/RW
TB Thompson C/LW
>>>TB/COL Downie RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo added LW on Dec 12)

TOR Brown LW/RW
TOR Kadri C/LW
TOR Kulemin LW/RW
>>>TOR Lupul LW/RW---LW---LW/RW (Yahoo re-added RW on Sep 22)

VAN Burrows LW/RW---LW---LW/RW (Yahoo re-added RW on Dec 3)
>>>VAN Lapierre C---C---C/RW (Yahoo added RW on Sep 22)
VAN/BUF Kassian LW/RW

WAS Brouwer LW/RW
WAS Hanson C/RW
WAS Hendricks C/LW
WAS Laich C/LW---LW---C/LW (Yahoo re-added C on Oct 11)
>>>WAS Semin RW---RW---LW/RW (Yahoo added LW on Sep 22)

WPG Little C/RW---RW---C/RW (Yahoo re-added C on Sep 22)
>>>WPG Byfuglien D---D---RW/D (Yahoo added D, ???, on Sep 22)
>>>WPG Burmistrov C---C---C/RW (Yahoo added RW on Dec 3)

[Pengwin7]

Some curious notes (a review of a Yahoo! league: Players>>>NHL Roster Changes>>>Position Eligibility)

July 15. Seems like the NEW re-entry of players. Appears that all NHL players entered with ONE position only. (First player entered, by clicking "BACK", appears to be Kyle Brodziak?)
Also, all the players switching teams can be seen here. Some players even have added eligibility on this date incl: (Franzen & Hudler, RW added... Ott C added... Lupul LW added...

July 22. Rookies like RNH are added.

July 23. Ilya Kovalchuk given LW added eligibility. (Uncertainty about upcoming season?)

July 26. Danny Briere given C added eligibility. (Correcting a mistake? Briere played center in 2010-2011).

July 29. Gabriel Landeskog entered.

Aug 10. Jeff Carter given C added eligibility. Speculation/likelihood that CBJ would play him at center.

*******Aug 25th - YAHOO OPENED *******

Aug 31. Rick Nash given LW added eligibility. Probably somebody looking into CBJ rosters, the first oversight.

Sep 5. Big list of COL prospects entered.

Sep 12/14/15. Big list of prospects entered.

Sep 22. The MAJOR eligibility revision. Included guys being given OLD positions (Buff-D, Lupul-RW, Doan-LW... etc.).
Also included guys who probably had complaints/requests from previous year's email bag! (Malkin given RW, J.Staal given LW, Semin given the LW/RW)

[27Blue]

sometimes they change the player bio pages through the year too. giroux was listed as a rw before christmas, but now he is listed as a center on his bio page. makes you think that he will be a center only next year for sure. others, like backes or benn, are still listed as wingers on their bio pages, so there may be hope for at least dual eligibility with these guys. then again, its yahoo, so nothing should be suprising when eligibility is dished out next fall..

[Pengwin7]

then again, its yahoo, so nothing should be suprising when eligibility is dished out next fall..

We are not suprised... to be surprised... by Yahoo and the Yahoo positions. Yes, true... I agree.

But I'd like to think there may be something that could tip our hats towards what eligibility a player could start with.
In my keeper leagues, there is some value in forecasting a player's eligibility.

For example, I have one pool that is a count 2C/2LW/2RW/4D/2G.
I have Malkin (C or C/RW), Datsyuk (C or C/LW), and Jamie Benn (C or C/LW).
If all three open as C-only... I have too many centers.
Sometimes trading away a center can be very difficult.

Just one example.


Reviewing the list above... it appears that Yahoo entered their original player database on July 15th.
And it doesn't look like a player was stripped of his original position any time between July 15th and Aug 25th (when Yahoo! "officially" opened).
That is helpful information, IMO... and maybe it will show up somewhere else on Yahoo!

Of most interest is the Jeff Carter case.
Jeff Carter was entered in the database on July 15th as RW. (His position with PHI in '10-'11)
Jeff Carter was given dual eligbility C/RW on Aug 10th... but Yahoo! fantasy hockey wasn't open.
Jeff Carter was still listed as C-only on the team pages on Aug 15th.

The grand summary is this:
The Yahoo! hockey pages don't seem to reflect the fantasy positions.
Other people suggested this last year... I was a little stubborn to hear it at the time... but it appears true.
The Yahoo hockey web site & their fantasy hockey player positions (per provider) are NOT related.

[lucifer316]

The grand summary is this:
The Yahoo! hockey pages don't seem to reflect the fantasy positions.
Other people suggested this last year... I was a little stubborn to hear it at the time... but it appears true.
The Yahoo hockey web site & their fantasy hockey player positions (per provider) are NOT related.

sorry im a little slow this morning

i think i am missing the difference between what the yahoo hockey pages are talking about here and the ones from the first post are

in other words what are the team player bio pages then if not part of the yahoo hockey pages

excuse me for my ignorance in this as i dont use much of yahoo itself beyond what i link to from my fantasy pages

[Rad64]

The Yahoo fantasy hockey positions were never related to the positions being displayed in the Yahoo player profiles.

The position updates have always come from their stats provider.

[lucifer316]

The Yahoo fantasy hockey positions were never related to the positions being displayed in the Yahoo player profiles.

The position updates have always come from their stats provider.

ok but then i guess i dont understand step 1 in the original post

[horrorfan]

ok but then i guess i dont understand step 1 in the original post

If you went on the main Yahoo NHL page and searched for players, it would take you to their bio pages. See Iginla's below:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/1453

See the position next to his name. So, Pengwin is stating that, for some players, the position listed there doesn't always match what would come up when viewing on the fantasy player list.

[lucifer316]

If you went on the main Yahoo NHL page and searched for players, it would take you to their bio pages. See Iginla's below:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/1453

See the position next to his name. So, Pengwin is stating that, for some players, the position listed there doesn't always match what would come up when viewing on the fantasy player list.

right so this is the same thing you see if you click on a player from your team etc

ok so then where is it that we are finding out ahead of time the positions they are going to start with or did i misread something

[fantasyhockeygeek]

It should be noted that something very different happened with Yahoo this year: they switched from using their previous provider (Stats Inc, their stats folks) for position eligibility to using NHL.com.

This was new, and a response to all the previous customer complaints about their shoddy position support. Particularly, people using NHL.com links to point out that the NHL themselves had the player listed at a different position than Yahoo -- this is particularly embarrassing if you're the official Fantasy Hockey provider to the NHL, I'd imagine.

What happened? Well, they made the switch on September 22nd after getting an awful lot of grief about it. Fantasy games had already opened, using the positions established by Stats Inc. Since Yahoo doesn't take away position eligibility once a season has started, the result was the enormous cluster**** of multi-eligibility that we saw last year.

I would be very surprised if there was such a huge swath of eligibility weirdness this year. Since Yahoo made that change, I'm personally using NHL.com as my guide now.

[lucifer316]

good info thanks

[kovalchuk17]

i have geno, giroux, and backstrom this season and won easily since i had FWs as a category and had all the good wing-eligible centers that took draws. next season, bbiigg headache if theyre all Cs!

[grindin griers]

Very interesting HPG. I still wouldn't take anything to the bank right now from what is on NHL.com though because PMB is listed as C there but has always played wing for the most part in the NHL. Also, Yahoo never gave him C eligibility this season when they did change from Stats Inc. to NHL.com. So I am assuming for now that there will still be some inconsistencies and we will just have to wait and see if they clear everything up for the beginning of next season.

[arctic_rogue]

Great job Pengwin7. Rep coming your way.

Any thoughts on Jeff Skinner? Did he have C/RW eligibility previously? Or did he just get it this year? Any thoughts on next year for him?

[Pengwin7]

What happened? Well, they made the switch on September 22nd after getting an awful lot of grief about it.

Ooooo... juicy!
Drama in fantasy hockey!!!

Love it. (some REP for this story)
Are there sources out there that tell this story? (I don't doubt you, just like to read up for myself).