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0 Subject: RGFHL Year 10 Draft Recap

Posted by: C.SuperFreak
- [10852917] Mon, Sep 29, 2014, 18:18

pfft, pfffffft, cough, pfft.
Alrighty RGFHL managers. Do you have what it takes to become a future hockey analyst for ESPN, TSN, Sportsnet? I've blown off the dust from this forum so now it's your turn to keep the Rotoguru hockey forum off life support and add some analysis to our 10th Anniversary draft. Don't say I didn't get you anything.

I don't know if other gurupies follow hockey, but it is our only opportunity to teach them a few things or two about fantasy hockey. The upside for us it that we try to understand each managers thought process for the draft and gain some valuable insight for the upcoming season.

It's also a place to look back on our decisions and predictions. Purely optional but if you would like to post your thoughts on this years draft then have at it.

Your best value pick(s):
Your riskiest pick(s):
Thoughts on your own team:
Sleeper pick on your team:
Sleeper pick of the draft:
Name the manager who stole the one player you had really wanted:
Name that player:
Thoughts on other teams:

Predict the top 3 mgrs:
First:
Second:
Third:

Cup Winner:

Other noteworthy items:
1C.SuperFreak
      ID: 44817300
      Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 01:52
Year 10 appears to be the year of the goalie. Six goalies taken in the first round and a total of 21 goalies gone before the 3rd round even started. I can't see anyone dominating this position this year. So it will tighten the race tremendously. I think I dominated 3 of the goalie point categories last year. It does make a difference and it won't happen this year.

I'll have a difficult time defending the title this year. So many good picks snatched from under my nose.

Your best value pick(s):
14.01 Carl Hagelin - Penned to start on Rangers 2nd line with Brassard (C) and St. Louis (RW). Should see some goals and assists filter his way with these guys. If Zucs fails to produce on the pp, Hagelin could step right in and fill that spot. Nothing to lose here.

Your riskiest pick(s):
8.01 The Nuge, and 11.12 Nail - Edmonton has to click this year. Everyone will be paying close attention to Oil country. Nuge has to be healthy and Nail has to shine. Eberle, Hall, Perron need find a way to win. Boom or Bust Edmonton.
My +/- will be horrendous if these two kids don't live up to their potential. I kinda of sacrificed PIM's with these two picks.

Thoughts on your own team:
It also could be boom or bust this year with my crew. I decided to nail down a core d before moving onto the forwards. All my d players should have a positive +/-, more shots, and some good pims and assists. The +'s should offset Ovie's big negatives.

My last 3 picks are iffy at best, Heatley is showing some promise in Anaheim, but I just heard he's having groin issues. Could be an early drop. Richards is the forgotten player in Los Angeles with the addition of Gaborik and the rise of Toffoli. Sutter likes to play all 4 lines so there could be a lot of rotating, sitting, trade rumors with this group. He's another boom or bust player...extremely streaky. Bieksa had a year to forget in Vancouver. He should rebound this year. He'd be the dman with the worst plus minus on my team.
My goalies are not as strong as last year, but adding Jones as Quicks backup should give me a some flexibility when Sutter rests Quick. Mason didn't really stink in Philly, but he didn't stand out. He had a quiet season. Now I'm hoping to see better things from him this year. He's got a good D in front on him. And I'm looking for big things from the youngsters Nuge, Huberdeau, Tarasenko, and Yakupov.

Sleeper pick on your team:
Huberdeau. Florida, starting winger and on 1st line pp. 3rd year in the league. Step up or Step out Jonathan.

Sleeper pick of the draft:
BOOM!!! Did we all hibernate this summer. Cobwebs swept in and grabbed Marian Gaborik in the 3rd Round. The 3rd freakin' round. Did we forget what he did in the playoffs? Yes we did.
Okay I overstated his importance, Gabby is always one shift away from a trip to the IR and prone to taking a week off a more than 3 times in a season. Still a steal in the 3rd round.

And...Gustav Nyqvist...Anyone else have this guy in the crosshairs or more precisely who didn't have this guy in their queue? I should have picked him ahead of Krug. I was going to build my team around him and I thought he'd come back around. I thought a run on D would start, which would have made him available towards the end of the 5th round, it didn't, it backfired...Was I ever wrong. BUST!!!

Name the manager who stole the one player you had really wanted: Mailedfoot

Name that player: 5.05 Nyqvist BOOM!!

Thoughts on other teams:
Mailedfoot just kept picking up quality players throughout the draft;Couture, Nash, Nyquist, Scheifle, Kreider. His D being the only question mark. BOOM!!

I_AM_CANADIAN: He drafted a lot of flexible position players, which can not be underestimated in this roto league. I like that strategy. BOOM!!!

FIlthy: Nice pickup of Richards. He should have no pressure in Chitown, with Kane, Toews and Hossa taking center stage. BOOM!!

Cobwebs: If Mailed wasn't stealing my picks, it was you! Gabby, Green, Lehner, Galchenyuk. Thanks a lot. :) BOOM!!

Taxman: Drafted a lot of quality backup G. I thought Jagrs was a bit of an early pickup, It'll be feast or famine with Zajac and Jagr as they are penned to be the top line for NJD. I saw Jagr in Vegas at the high roller suite in the MGM. BUST :)

Little M: Top notch goaltending and quality picks. Staal is the big question mark. He's a teaser. Iggy, what will he bring to Colorado? Solid RW's. PIM's, shots, +/-. Did you draft the oldest team in RGFHL? ;) Elias, Iggy, Zetterberg, Sedin, Beauchemin....BUST :)

IRA: Hrm, No Oilers but plenty of fish and wild life on his team. He'll be cheering hard for the Islanders and Minny this year. rw needs more depth. Eriksson is in Juliens doghouse as he is not performing like he was in Dallas. C position is loaded. You may have a tough time getting all those guys in position. BUST :)

TommyD; My concern would be the 3 centers from Tampa and the two Oilers. But since I have two Oil myself I am rooting for the Oilers forwards this year and hopefully they'll be very productive. Solid D with Keith, Pietrangelo, Muzzin and Faulk. Weak in the goalie spot. Carolina, & NJ do not have the best d. BUST :)

Predict the top 3 mgrs:
First: Mailedfoot
Second: Cobwebs
Third: I_AM_Canadian / The Dienasty
Bust; SuperFreak


Cup Winner: Anaheim

Other noteworthy items:
A lot of key players moved teams this year.
Kesler in Anaheim. Wolfer should benefit from that move. Wolfer also picked up Nichushkin. Another good pickup in the sixth round. Stole Jaden Schwartz in round 11. That guy had serious numbers last year and just signed recently. BOOM!!!

Perm has a gem in Drouin. It was too bad he got injured as soon as you drafted him. There's a lot of upside to him. It won't hurt with him playing behind Stamkos. Stastny / Gallagher should have big seasons this year. I think you are still missing that 2nd goalie which would have put you in the hunt and your LW might be a bit of a weak spot on your roster. BOOM!!!

The Dienasty and Filthy are the heart and soul of the league. They are very competitive. So it would be a huge dishonour not recognizing their drafting skills and their team management throughout the season. Look at their teams. There is not one player that you'd say is a gamebreaker / must have, but the combination of players they have can quietly accumulate points in every category without you realizing it until it is too late and your looking up at their team. AND never count out The Dienasty. When he's on the rocks he picks up his game. DOUBLE BOOM!!

Welcome Mailedfoot. I hate you already :). Just kidding. Great draft!!
2Ira
      ID: 782467
      Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 03:50
Your best value pick(s):
15.04 Pascal Dupuis
Riding shotgun to Sidney Crosby, this guy fell like crazy. I get the feeling he wasn't on a lot of radars as he was injured for the majority of the year last year. Averaging out his last 3 seasons, he's been pro-rated to being a 56-point player, with an average of a pro-rated +27.
Your riskiest pick(s):
4.09 Loui Eriksson
This year I've stayed away from my classic risky-pick style. In previous years probably half my picks could be considered risky.
Eriksson is risky based on his draft position, taking him in the 4th round ahead of guys like JVR, Marchand and Pominville.
I know he had a rough year last year, but I think he has a chance to really rebound. He was a perennial 70-point player up until last year, and was hindered my Iginla last season. Iginla was playing on the top line with Krejci and Lucic, and Eriksson is expected to slot in this season. If he doesn't screw it up, he'll be back to normal.
Thoughts on your own team:
Honestly, this is the most confident I've been in years. My biggest hindrance in years past has been my goaltending, anchored by the always disappointing Cam Ward. I took a different approach this year, keeping none of my goalies going into the draft, and came away with 2 goalies that are better than any of the goalies I had last year. I think Bobrovsky is a top-10 goalie and will be my keeper for a long time.
I think I did well getting a lot of multi-position players (Johansson, Vanek, Eriksson, Palat, Soderberg, Marleau) as it really comes in handy for injuries.
While I think my +/- will be strong, I see my PIM being very weak. That's not hard to fix though. Also didn't realize I took so many Wild players until CSF point it out. Not that it makes a difference in fantasy hockey.

Sleeper pick on your team:
14.09 Olli Maatta
With Niskanen and Orpik going to Washington, Maatta should have a lot of opportunity for responsibilities, especially on the PP, to increase. If he can get 29 points in his rookie year playing limited minutes, who knows what he can do with an increased role.
Sleeper pick of the draft:
16.05 Derick Brassard (IAC)
I would have taken him wayy earlier if I didn't fill my center position so quickly. Especially with Stepan missing the first month, Brassard will see #1C, top-line PP minutes. Not only that, but JT Miller is now the #2C, meaning even more minutes for Brassard. If he can score 45 points last year as their 2/3C, expect 55-60 this year.

Name the manager who stole the one player you had really wanted:
Can't really say this applies to me this year. I can't think of a time where I was really holding out for a player that got picked just before my selection.
Though if I had to pick one, I'll say The Dienasty.
Name that player:
4.06 Jakub Voracek
If I recall correctly, I was after a winger in the 4th round, and had Voracek at the top of my list, with Hartnell 2nd, and Eriksson a distant 3rd. Voracek got taken 3 spots before me, and then Hartnell got taken 2 spots before me.

Thoughts on other teams:
As CSF pointed out, there isn't really any huge disparities in the goaltending category as there were in previous years. I usually look at this position to determine who the favourite is. I'd say rocketrichard has the best G depth, but not by much.

Not sure why so many teams picked up a 6th defenceman. Compared to forwards, they're much weaker in fantasy value. A few teams could have benefited quite a bit with another forward.

The teams I find to have the most well rounded teams have question marks in net. wolfer (don't like Hiller's situation, and Stalock hasn't beat Niemi out yet), mailedfoot (Gibson still isn't established, and Kuemper has Backstrom and Harding to compete with), Taxman (no true #1 goalie), CSF (not convinced with Mason, and only has 1 other goalie that will play 40+ games).

Predict the top 3 mgrs:
First: The Dienasty
Second: mailedfoot
Third: Taxman / Cowebs

Cup Winner:
I predict a repeat of Chicago vs LA for the cup winner. Whoever comes out of the West will beat Tampa Bay in the final.

Other noteworthy items:
CSF doesn't know what he's talking about with my RW depth.
Perry: Arguably the top RW in fantasy hockey
Vanek: #1LW in Minny, ~60+ point player
Eriksson: Going from #3LW to #1LW, typically a 70 point player
Dupuis: #1RW on Crosby's line. ~55 point player.
I don't see any other team with 4 top-line RWs.
3tommyd
      ID: 28237206
      Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 11:14
Your best value pick(s): I think Bonino has a shot to outperform being picked in the 15 round, just based on his numbers from last year. He'll get a shot in Vancouver as a top 6 and some PP time.

Your riskiest pick(s):Khudobin, not named as the starter, not a strong team, kind of forced into picking a goalie at the time. He may do well but he may implode.

Thoughts on your own team: My goaltending was so bad last year I decided to get rid of all them. I think Schneider will have a bit of a breakout this year. I also tried to get a strong d-core which I think I accomplished Like CSF said I have a lot of eggs in one basket with the T-bay guys but they should be poised for a strong year as a team. I'm going to need help with the goaltending but I'm hoping for higher %'s with sacrificing wins, plus there are still lots of viable options out there. I think I will be strong in goals, assists, pp, +/-,shots but pm's will be low.

Sleeper pick on your team: Vrbata, playing alongside the Sedins he should have a great year.

Sleeper pick of the draft: Wolfer with Schwartz or Mailedfoot with Reilly Smith both fell because of contract issues but are poised for good seasons on good teams.

Name the manager who stole the one player you had really wanted: Well I'll name two Mailed with Kreider and Cobwebs with Roussel. I needed help with pen minutes and had these players targeted.

Thoughts on other teams:

Wolfer: Needs Kesler to really bounce back on his new team. D core is really young and may suffer with +/-. Lots of potential breakout players like Toffoli and Nichushkin. Goaltending is uncertain with Hiller and Stalock.

Perm Dude: Already hit with injuries with Datsyuk and Drouin out. Datsyuk needs to be healthy for him to compete.Pen minutes should be low as his defences are more skilled than bruisers. Lke his goaltending and should be strong in Wins/ SO's.

IRA: Good depth up the middle and Granlund could be ready for a breakout. Lot of risky picks: Erikson,Dupuis and Backstrom especially, we'll see how it works out. Don't like the goaltending especialy hitching up to the Islander's horse.

mailefoot: Probably the strongest draft of anyone. All quality players but I really like the d-core especially the Erhoff pick. Goaltending could be a problem depending on how Gibson, Keumper do.

Taxman: Past his keepers I'm not liking his offence much. Although he has a lot of goalies none of them have a secure spot.

The Dienasty: Might have the strongest goaltending in the league especially if Anderson returns to form. Has a lot of players in new places like Cammaleri, Hemsky who may rebound nicely. D is young and may suffer with +/-.

I_AM_CANADIAN: Well he will definitley win one cat with penalty minutes. Past Giroux and Sequin no big scorers and he will probably need to find a goalie on the waiver wire.

Little M: I like his draft, solid up the middle and good plus minus across the board(well except for Stall). Goaltending is alright but will really depend on Bernier having a strong season.

Rocket Richard: Love the Richards pick, I think he will have a great year as well as the Kane pick, just too much talent to not succeed. Defence is underwhelming but solid. Goaltending is old , this might be the year Howard gets bumped, Smith is not as solid as he once was and Enroth is on a weak team. If they can hold though he has a strong team.

Cobwebs: Probably the stronges keepers next to CSF. Mackinnon, Karlsson and Rask are rocks to build on. Wingers are really young and could suffer with +/-. Defence is strong offensively.If Washington bounces back and some of his players develop like he hopes ( Galchenyuk, Roussel, Kuznetsov,Hertl) then he may win this thing.

CSF: Keepers are so strong it always puts him in a great position to win.Thought Krug was too early and his goaltending is suspect for bulk numbers but should be alright with %'s.

Predict the top 3 mgrs:
1.Cobwebs
2.Mailedfoot
3.CSF

Cup Winner: Anaheim

4I_AM_CANADIAN
      ID: 3833219
      Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 23:04
Your best value pick(s):
Brent Burns @ 5.08 (effectively taken outside the top 100 after you take into consideration the keepers) - This guy is D eligle. Being able to bring 20+ Goal potential, and solid contributions across all catogories. That's value that can't be easily quantified.

Kyle Turis @ 8.05 - Not considered an "elite" player, probably because Ottawa really isn't a major market, but should be able to bring consistent #s. My worry is how good Ottawa will be this year. I'm hoping his +/- doesn't see much regression.

Sleeper pick on your team:
Derrick Brassard @ 16.05 - He just shouldn't have been still available this late. He was the Rangers best player in the playoffs when healthy, and will see plenty of opportunities this year, especially early on.

Name the manager who stole the one player you had really wanted:
Take your pick of Goalies... I was hoping for more "value" goalies, but a lot got sweeped up in the early 9th round. That hurt.
Alex Stalock @ 7.02
Jake Allen @ 9.01

Thoughts on other teams:
Haven't had the time for a "full-analysis" yet. I may repost later some thoughts.

Predict the top 3 mgrs:
First: IAC - After a solid first season, I think I got a handle on what's needed for this year. I think I've got the strongest group of skaters... but I could be in trouble if any of my goalies go through a slump.
Second: The Dienasty. Well ballanced across the skaters and keepers. Should be headed to the playoffs.
Third: A real log-jam of talent... but two stand out: Taxman & PermDude

Cup Winner:
I've been a Rangers fan since the mid-80s, and I must say, that last year was fun, and frustrating. I think we can put together another great effort this year.

Other noteworthy items:
As previously mentioned, last year, I think I drafted "well" but I didn't factor in +/- very well, and that really hurt me. I think I'm competitive in all categories this year, and will probably be able to win PIM with my eyes closed.
5Ira
      ID: 387372612
      Wed, Oct 01, 2014, 01:23
^ Burns may have been passed because he's actually moved back to defence this year. SJ coach has publicly stated, and exclusively been playing him on D this year.
6Cobwebs
      ID: 36843169
      Wed, Oct 01, 2014, 08:03
I started the draft without a plan or cheat sheet, not prepared at all. My first thought was to get Pavelski or Couture but those plans soon went out the door as they were snapped up by wolfer and mailedfoot.
Decided to go with a goalie first because last season I only had one true #1 and struggled to get max games. I had a hard time ranking and picking my D, there are so many to choose from with simular projections, I guess that's
why there never really was a run on D. Two main stats that I looked for in D were SOG and PPP.

Your best Value pick:
12.02 Alex Galchenyuk - counting on a breakout season and added playiing time.
I also liked getting Letang (5.11) and Tanguay (16.02), even if they are injury proned, they have great upside.

Your riskiest pick(s):
6.02 Tomas Hertl - could easily be a bust but since missing out on Pavelski/Couture I really wanted a piece of the Sharks offense and Hertl has great upside.
8.02 Evgeny Kuznetsov - could also easily be a bust, a russian rookie veteran with Trotz as coach doesn't sound appealing, but I'm hoping for a Semin-like first full season.

Thoughts on your own team:
Maybe I have to many young guns. I'm also counting on Trotz to right the ship in Washington and improve defense without costing offense production, we'll see how that goes.
Backstrom is so underrated, people forget that he has had a 101 point season and is only 26 with his prime years ahead of him.
I'm excited to have 3 D-men who are all capable of getting 70+ points;-) I'm also worried that Spezza's +/- won't improve.
All in all I have a pretty good team but with quite a few players with a history of missing games or unproven talent, but it should be enough to compete for the title.

Sleeper pick on your team:
9.11 Ryan Callahan - will have a breakout season playing with Stamkos.
And Zibanejad (17.11) will be the next Marian Hossa, but maybe not this season;-)

Sleeper pick of the draft:
8.01 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (CSF) - a steal, he'll get 70+ points this season.
9.04 Niklas Backstrom (Ira) - really like this pick, has a good chance of being the Wilds #1.

Name the manager who stole the one player you had really wanted and name that player:
1:12 Gabriel Landeskog (CSF) - decided to get Holtby and hoped for Landeskog at the turn, but no such luck:-(
5:05 Gustav Nyquist (mailedfoot) - I bet that we all had our eyes on him. He helped my team down the stretch last season and wanted him back.

Thoughts on other teams:
tommyd: Solid draft as usual. Will be really surprised if he doesn't finish in the top halve. I really like his goalies and he should be thankful of getting Khudobin in round 6.
wolfer: Had a really good draft, not the best keepers but he came out swinging. Waited late to fill his D but did really well and got some great upside there.
PermDude: Don't like his last five picks. Drouin could be huge for him and turn his team into a contender.
Ira: Has some great upside picks in Granlund, Palat, Soderberg. Hopefully his goalie woes is of the past.
mailedfoot: Way to go newcomer, what a way to make an impression. You must have done this before. Fantastic draft. Well balanced team, a top contender.
Taxman: Guilty of the longest reach of the draft, Hornqvist (2.07). Pretty good keepers, but not a fan of his goalies and D-men. An active manager who always competes, so I'm not worried.
The Dienasty: Very solid team, ready to take his title back. Really like his Hemsky and Barrie picks.
I_AM_CANADIAN: Do you really need 7 D-men? Will be top dog in PIM. His goalies will decide his fate, but looks like a serious contender.
LittleM: Some old players, but a steady bunch. Which Fleury and Elliot will we see this season? Usually a contender.
filthy: Very active manager, what doesn't work he'll fix. I like his Richards and Schenn picks. Contender again this season.
CSF: Our reigning champion. The best keepers. Obviously I don't like the Heatley pick, and Hagelin has 1 PPP in 3 seasons. Huberdeau has upside but don't count on it.
If Tarasenko and Yakupov delivers, and Mason is solid, he will be hard to dethrone. The Bieksa pick was very predictable but maybe the steal of the draft.


Predict the top 3 mgrs:
First: CSF, by order of merit
Second: mailedfoot
Third: The Dienasty

Cup Winner:
Montreal, they would have won last season if Price hadn't been run over.
7filthy
      ID: 4157202
      Thu, Oct 02, 2014, 03:50
Your best value pick(s):
Draft value, I'm thinking Grabovski in the 20th round. The chance to get some PP time with Tavares & Okposo is in reach for Grabovski this season. He's shown flashes of great skill in the past and should get first shot with the big guns.

For total value, it's seeming like Brad Richards in the 10th. After locking up some goalies, and picking a few of my personal faves, I was surprised Richards was still there. Pretty fair value if he doesn't line up with Toews and/or Kane, but if he does, this is a jackpot pick for sure.


Your riskiest pick(s):
I think in hindsight I'll regret keeping Johansen over Byfuglien, but Columbus seems to be better off than Winnipeg to me, so I'm hopeful I chose right.

I wanna regret picking Howard and Smith in goal for my first 2 picks, but out of every goalie I had a shot on, I still like them most (disclaimer: Bernier on most other teams would be the obvious pick, but the Leafs exposure I'm bombarded with even out west has grown tiresome over the years). I may end up regretting the strategy of going goalie early but I think as soon as the season begins, I'll remember that goaltending is priceless.

Without any real gambles in my draft, I'd have to say going with Mike Smith again, after he wronged me so many times in the past, is likely my riskiest pick.


Thoughts on your own team:
Obviously I love it right now, and will hate it in a few weeks, then constantly retool.

Goalies- Varlamov keeper, kind of a question mark, but that's goalies for you. Howard(5)/Smith(6) hopefully one of them takes charge as my number two. Enroth(21) is likely to be dropped right away. Might flip-flop though, I do like him.

Defence- Ekman-Larsson(7), Carlson(12), Voynov(13), Schultz(15), Lindholm(17), Vlasic(19). Pretty young crew seems to be the theme. If half these guys can improve, I'll be livin' the dream. Drafted six assuming an injury will happen or at least one will be a dud, as someone previously asked why draft a sixth defenceman. Probably went too big for ceiling and will end up with a couple backfires. Take your pick really. I think Ekman-Larsson will be great, but the others could all be boom or bust for sure.

Forwards- Johansen C/RW(K), Benn LW(K), Duchene C/LW(K), Steen C/LW(8), EKane LW(9), BRichards C/LW(10), Little C/RW(11), BSchenn C/LW(14), Horton RW(16), Hodgson C/RW(18), Grabovski C/RW(20). Eight centre, six leftwing and five rightwing eligible is nice for when injury hits. Benn, Duchene, BRichards all seem pretty easy picks for a huge season. Johansen might get better is what really had me. I think I'm able to handle regression though. Steen was a beast and has always been great when healthy. The great catch! So easy to hit limits in our league, I'll take the elite injury prone guy any day. He really makes the Blues offence tick when healthy. Keeper stats in the 8th round, limited risk even if/when he plays hurt and/or misses time. EKane and BSchenn are going to be allstars many times, I hope this year is when they truly open eyes. I think Horton has yet to peak. Due for a break that's for sure. Little and Hodgson aren't too bad for filler. And I'm really liking Grabovski's situation, as mentioned previously.

Overall, just great. Can't complain right now. Give me a few weeks...


Sleeper pick on your team:
Brayden Schenn. The 2011 Juniors were not his finest moment, this guy will make his presence felt this year. Bank it!


Sleeper pick of the draft:
Aside from Brayden Schenn of course, Eddie Lack in the 19th is a good sleeper. Vancouver will not escape goalie controversy, that's just a given. Nugent-Hopkins in the 12th could be tasty. Ehrhoff in the 11th is in a pretty sweet situation.


Name the manager who stole the one player you had really wanted:
It was more like I wanted more players than the roster will allow. Out of it all, at one point I thought I might be able to fit in Harding as my 4th goalie. I think he's a great late goalie pickup.
Name that player: And since I didn't read the question properly, for continuity's sake, the Tax Defense organization stole my guy!


Thoughts on other teams:
tommyd- the D stands out. looks fantastic. faulk 20th, vrbata 11th are nice value to me. carolina G situation is bold to take on in any form!

roberts- offence is looking good. jones 16th, boedker 14th are nice value to me. similar, calgary G situation is bold to take on in any form!

perm- i don't really see a weak spot or a standout. good mix and pretty fair value all around. luongo 7th, markov 14th are nice value to me. datsyuk just killed me last year, which makes me fear for perm dudes, but maybe datsyuk just wanted to test me last year and i failed by not keeping him.

ira- all the bases are covered, great core. johansson 20th, suter 11th are nice value to me. i think the defensive depth will be tested.

foot- price and 2 potential backups stands out but actually seems pretty good. stewart 17th, ehrhoff 11th seem like nice value to me. a lot of the end of the roster came from off my radar.

tax- emphasis on goalies should work out well. harding 17th, hartnell 8th are good value to me. more depth towards wing and D could be needed.

dienasty- the D and G look real good. Brouwer 19th, Barrie 13th are good value to me. some injury risk types up front could test the depth.

iac- getting both vancouver goalies is smart, i think... lack 19th, goligoski 13th are good value to me. offence looks very good. the vancouver thing is kinda scary.

little- three goalies right away is right up my alley. johnson 16th, williams 14th are good value to me. a few guys that have hurt me before on this team, zetterberg, staal, williams.. good luck!

cobwebs- strong, deep looking team. garrison 14th, hertl 10th seem like good value to me. D and G depth may see a test.

superfreak- some very elite potential here. good depth overall. jones 16th, nugent-hopkins 12th seem like good value to me. kessel and yakupov ruin it for me. kessel just needs to not be in toronto so he can stop being on my tv all the time. yakupov was just the worst gamble for me last year. blacklisted!

Can't wait to laugh at most of this in the new year!


Predict the top 3 mgrs:
First: Cobwebs
Second: Dienasty
Third: Filthy! (fourth year in a row? vegas favourite!)
....Fourth: Tax

Cup Winner: COL

Other noteworthy items: I think I autopicked the whole draft. This is my first real look. A lot of vague, repetitive thoughts. Everything looks rosy, and even at this point! I trended towards younger, high ceiling picks in my drafting and in how I looked at this. Looking forward to another fun season. Cheers. -Rich.
8The Dienasty
      ID: 51859711
      Thu, Oct 02, 2014, 11:54
A decade of RGFHL... Time sure does fly when you're having fun. This is year more than any it felt like managers had their strategy set and were hell bound on sticking to it, regardless of where they got the guys they wanted. Goalies were the theme early on and D towards the middle with big time speculating at the end. For me, PIM's are always an interesting stat to follow as the draft moves along. Fewer and fewer players these days bring that rare mix of offensive production and PIM's reliably over the course of a season (the fall of guys like Burrows and Clowe being examples) so the few remaining guys that do have become keepers, and it becomes a race to grab the ones that aren't.

When i look back at last season for my team, i see that it was basically defined by the injuries to 2 key players (Pekka Rinne and Kris Letang), and one key drop that i made early on (Jaromir Jagr). Rinne hurt the most as he was the anchor to back-to-back RFGHL championship team prior, and Letang was a key cog in the core of my offense. Both guys were essentially unusable and i couldn't find enough depth to replace them. I draft every year for depth, but tried to put extra emphasis on it for this go-around. My impatience with Jagr's slow start led me to drop him early on and i paid for it dearly. This season im also going to practice patience, although the chances of that succeeding i put only slightly ahead of Edmonton's chances to win the cup.


On to the recap.


Your best value pick(s):
I don't really think i got particularly good value out of any pick to be honest. That's how this draft went in general. I got who i wanted about where i wanted him. If i had to pick someone, i'd say 11.07 Ribeiro, Mike (NAS) has potential in the 11th round. He was dismal last year for a variety of reasons, but i like his chances to pick things up near where he left off as a near point-per-game player a long side James Neal. Nashville should rely on Ribiero heavily for their power play and with Shea Weber letting bombs go from the point, those PPP's should come.

Your riskiest pick(s):
1.07 Rinne, Pekka (NAS). It's funny, i had a long struggle to determine which one of Kari Lehtonen and Rinne i wanted to hold onto as a keeper. I liked both of them and whomever i dropped i was hoping to be able to bring back with the 6th overall pick. I decided to keep Lehtonen because i thought the Dallas team in front of him was far superior to Nashville, and i also thought he would be snapped up sooner than Rinne. Lo and behold, Rinne was available with the 6th pick, but it wasn't automatic for me. I looked long and hard at Jimmy Howard and Brian Elliot too, whose teams i like better than Nashville. In the end i took Rinne out of loyalty and hope for a bounce back year.

Thoughts on your own team:
Not my best draft ever, but also not the worst. Lot's of multi positional guys for versatility is nice to have. I targeted Byfuglien, Hemsky, Cammalleri and Barrie early on and to get them felt good. I think the balance is there in terms of roto production, but i over drafted "bounce back" guys. Ribeiro, Franzen, Semin, Cams and Rinne, they're all good if they play to their potential but a few of them miss, im essentially screwed. If they all do their thing, i feel like i can challenge for a 'chip.

Sleeper pick on your team:
Maybe 15.07 Brouwer, Troy (WAS). I like the mix of stats he brings to the table. Hoping new coach Trotz doesn't reduce his role, but in fact i think the opposite may be true, as he's sure to appreciate the harder type of game he brings on a softer team.

Sleeper pick of the draft:
A couple, mailedfoot with 16.08 Scheifele, Mark (WPG). I like his potential for this year in a major scoring role for the Jets. I let him slip because he was in a deep center position. Let him slip too far it seems. Nice snag by mf. 9.02 Toffoli, Tyler (LOS) by wolfer. Toffoli is gonna shine. I figure him to finish over 150 spots above his rank in Yahoo when it's all said and done.

Name the manager who stole the one player you had really wanted and name that player:
Going to play with this a bit and say 0.00 Saad, Brandon (CHI). Yeah, a keeper. I had Saad pegged for a big year and moved him up on my cheatsheet, only to have my hopes dashed when wolfer went and kept him. Didn't see that coming, not so soon. But well done.

Thoughts on other teams:

tommyd - The top end scoring is going to keep him in the pack, but Kudobin and/or Allen is going to have the secure starting gigs for him to take it to the next level.

wolfer - Good balance. But really, really young. I like this team to win it 2 years from now in a walk, but this year, he's going to need Barkov, Boedker, Nickushkin, Stalock and 4 of his 5 dmen to all take the next step at the same time.

PermDude - In the mix. Took a lot of guys i had ready queued. If Luongo can keep his stats in check and win 35, and the old guys stay healthy and give him 80 games each, top 3 awaits.

Ira - The Stepan injury hurts, but there's enough depth here to overcome until he's back. PIM's will be an ongoing issue, but the offense is there, enough to almost make it up. Bobrovsky's gonna beast this year, and pairing him with Jaro Halak from St. Louis would have put him over the top. The NYI Halak im not so sure about. In the mix all year.

mailedfoot - Solid draft. Just lots of a depth all over the place. The only question mark, as mentioned by others, is the goaltending. Can Carey Price carry to load if neither Gibson or Kuemper break through and become starters? If neither can even force a timeshare then it's going to be tough. However, if they do, we may have the winning team here.

Taxman - Big time contender. Top 9 forwards among the best here, D is solid and the goalies even more so.

I AM CANADIAN - Great draft. Was a fan of his draft last year and again this year. Turris, Burns, Brassard and Goligoski were all guys i targeted at various points. To see them end up here makes me think IAC is a dangerous manager indeed. If Miller does anything near what Luongo did as a Canuck this is a top 3 team.

Little M - Tons of established scorers with Jori Lehtera thrown in the mix. MAF and Elliot is a nice one-two punch in goal. This is a team that can win it all if a couple guys bounce back from last year.

filthy - Solid goaltending makes any team a contender, and this team has it. 3 bonafide starters with a track record to match up with a good group of skaters. Brad Richards was a nasty pick. I didn't realize how sweet his 2nd line situation in Chicago was until i saw him go off the board and did a bit more research.

cobwebs - Heavyweight contender. Look at those Centers.. The D i would trade for in cash. It's that solid. Tuukka Rask. Nuff said.

CSF - Those keepers.. It's just not fair. I lament this every year but it's true. Haha. Nuge, Carter and Terrorsenko make up a solid back up crew and the D is an able group too. Love how he snuck Bieksa in there right at the end. He'll bounce back shore up those PIM's. It's been mentioned, but Steve Mason... I owned him last season, for every 3 brilliant outings he had, he would return with 2 turds. Stinking turds. Good luck with that, CSF.

Predict the top 3 mgrs:
First: cobwebs
Second: CSF
Third: mailedfoot

Cup Winner: Los Angeles repeat

Other noteworthy items:
Drop the puck.

9mailedfoot
      ID: 531322718
      Sun, Oct 05, 2014, 13:44
Best Value Pick(s)
I am hoping Craig Smith, Reilly Smith, Chris Stewart, and Mark Scheifele all end up in a spirited contest for this honor. Taken near the end of the draft, I think all of these guys have the potential to be good to great values. Gibson could turn out to be a great value if he can take over the #1 spot in Anaheim.

Riskiest Picks
Gibson, Nyquist, and Zuccarello – Gibson starts the season in a timeshare, some experts are picking Nyquist to regress, and it’s not really clear if Zuccarello can duplicate what he did last year.

My Team
I think I will be able to compete in the skating categories but am a little nervous about my goaltending.

Sleeper Pick on My Team
Probably have to say Mark Scheifele; he figures to center one of the top two lines in Winnipeg with proven scorers as line mates. Preseason indications are looking good for him, so I am hoping for a breakout type season.

Sleeper Pick of the Draft
It will probably turn out to be a goalie; someone like Jake Allen who I could see being St. Louis #1 goalie, or likewise Alex Stalock in San Jose. With the Islanders’ trades of yesterday, Halak’s position looks better to me and he could turn out to be major sleeper.

Stole My Player
I was hoping Holtby would come back to me in second round but Cobwebs snatched him.

Other Teams/Favorites
The league looks pretty balanced to me. But since this is the first rotisserie hockey league I have played in, I am not completely sure of myself and it will be a learning experience. The teams I like right now are Cobwebs (Rask and Holtby look like a potent goalie combo to me and I love Karlsson’s ability to score from the defense position), the Dienasty (solid in goal and well balanced skaters with some nice late round picks like Ribiero, Cammalleri, and Brouwer), and C.SuperFreak (4 great keepers and well balanced otherwise).

Cup Winner
Boston over Los Angeles

Really looking forward to the start of the season; nothing beats a good, intense hockey game. Thanks again to everyone for the warm welcome and preseason mentions; hope I measure up and can contend for the title. Best of luck to everyone.
10wolfer
      ID: 439551219
      Sun, Oct 12, 2014, 21:17
So that's why I drafted Stalock!
11filthy
      ID: 4157202
      Tue, Oct 14x, 2014, 23:25
Autopicked the whole draft.... that's not taking long to haunt me!

More thoughts: Mike Smith didn't take long to remind me why I hate him. Dropped him down the stretch last year and thought maybe he'd changed?!! The horror! Snagged his backup at least!.... I'm more confident in Varlamov bouncing back, but I will be eyeing his backup soon if he's out there and you're thinking about it, look out!.... Mrazek was requested as an addition to draftime for the last round, but I figured Neuvirth was worth an audition, woops! May as well stash Mrazek now, my drafting tells me Howard will blow up soon too.... Offense woke up tonight at least. How about that Jamie Benn! Shakin' the rust in a big way.... When I said Horton was due for a break, I didn't mean his back?!!... I need to not start any goalies in the first couple weeks one of these years.... All for now!
12taxman
      ID: 81018181
      Tue, Nov 18, 2014, 02:18
Wow...I could have won it all this year had the season lasted for 4 weeks. This 7 month $hit really bums me out. W/O top tier goalies, you are simply a spectator. :o(
13filthy
      ID: 4157202
      Sun, Dec 14, 2014, 06:41
Almost 40% of the season down. Time to get splashy!

Hopeful Bernier can get me to the pack in goaltending. Before my offense crumbles without Forsberg would be nice. Maybe some others can step up... Feels like Ramo will do great and Bernier will suck with the way things have gone for me.

I really just didn't think anyone would wanna trade goaltending so I was trying to get a gamble out of the leading goaltending team. I'm really liking Little M's chances to strike in the race this year. Just gave up some strength to attack some weakness, good stuff. Somehow I still think there's time for me to climb back into things, so keep sending offers, I'll counter at least.

In two weeks, I'll take best offer on Mike Smith or cut him, unless he manages to get a win, but even then, I really hate that guy. Just looking for improvements in general now. Varlamov is at low value and I hate trading low, but I'd love to get him out of my life too. Nowhere close to dropping him yet though. Would trade for a non-keeper with upside type. All for now. Good luck and watch out above! Merry holidays to all.
14filthy
      ID: 4157202
      Sun, Dec 14, 2014, 06:48
Did we ever settle on setting change talks for next year? I already forget and will look later anyway, but we had some good talks and near consensus going on some sort of a change, I swear!

Almost time to start planning for the future for this guy.
15filthy
      ID: 4157202
      Wed, Dec 31, 2014, 07:13
Mike Smith didn't make it two weeks. My offense already misses Filip. Weekly rebuild mode is in effect. Varlamov, Richards and Duchene value all still low. I'm a couple weeks from sending offers, but if anyone wants to get the jump on a shakeup, those are the guys to buy low on.

16C.SuperFreak
      ID: 5111473115
      Wed, Dec 31, 2014, 16:47
I was away on vacation. Just getting back now. I think it's time for some changes. Just to freshen it up a bit. I'll set it up for voting sometime in January.

My team stinks. Tarasenko can't do it all by himself.
17filthy
      ID: 4157202
      Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 04:00
Varlamov's back in form, but Bernier has not helped at all. Found a couple ok fillins along the way but still barely seeing the pack.

I have goalies of varying levels that I'd love to package with Richards or Duchene if anyone has interest. I'll usually counter or message with my rejection if I can't quite see a fit for a counter.

Benn, Johansen & Kane/Steen with Varlamov or Howard are looking like my keeper contenders. Anyone else is in play for trade offers. These keeper candidates are in play, but would require some keeper potential coming back. I sent a few offers out, canceled a few after a few days though, so I'm probably not gonna be sending any out for a couple weeks again. Send away if you're feeling splashy.

Running out of time. Hate to give you the filthy jinx (I gave Little M a while back, Genie Bouchard & Milos Raonic last week, most goaltenders I own and the Toronto Blue Jays most of my life just to name a few cases...) but I gotta say foot's team is looking like the favourite now.
18filthy
      ID: 4157202
      Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 02:29
Home stretch. I'm in 9th place, further away from 8th than I am from 12th, but with a one in a billion type thought remaining that I can still podium. Even though it doesn't help my draft spot for next season, I'm still fighting to get up to 8th.... which may result in 12th the way things have gone!

Bernier was definitely a dud for me, Mike Smith even came back for a couple good games, but I need to cut down games played, so I've trimmed my roster so the real contenders can have maximum free agent options down the stretch. Not that I cut much talent. Little and Del Zotto return next week should leave me to cut another decent (or more likely another hurt) player or two.

Kane's pretty much out from keeper contention. Johansen isn't helping his own case. Steen isn't really a comforting keeper either. Howard's playing his way out and Varlamov's playing his way in. Hopefully not playing his way into a late season injury... At least Jamie Benn's been great. Carlson could keep truckin' his way into contention, Ekman-Larsson could finish strong and make me really consider, maybe Huberdeau or Scheifele? Dare I Duchene again? Can't believe I still have him as an option. At least I have some good young options to pick through. Gonna be a real crapshoot!
19taxman
      ID: 81018181
      Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 12:31
Filthy ... in your draft analysis, when you said
" Tax 4th" were you referencing
from the top or the bottom :o(
20filthy
      ID: 4157202
      Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 23:17
I did mean top, but it has become painfully obvious that my crystal ball has some major glitches.

Absolutely love my team finally. Stopped checking my goalie results might be the trick. Smith and Bernier gone, but still getting shelled regularly, sounds pretty accurate.
21mailedfoot
      ID: 531322718
      Sat, Apr 04, 2015, 07:38
That "Filthy jinx" was kicking my butt for a while but I seem to have shook it off in the last week or so...

Home stretch...still some points in play, things are about to get interesting

Kind of feels like the final two minutes where you're trying to protect a one goal lead and the other team's pulled the goalie and got the extra attacker and it's a mad scramble for the puck in front of your net...



22C.SuperFreak
      ID: 190472217
      Mon, Apr 06, 2015, 11:15
Last Week of the season! Can you believe it. Time just flew since New Year. It's been a devastating 3 months watching the Leaf collapse.
The team is so dysfunctional from the management level all the way down to the on ice players. There is no direction at all. It seems the organization is just plugging holes with available bodies and no one is on the same page.
The goal is to win the cup, but the organization can't seem to agree on how to accomplish it.


Anyway...

I have auto-renewed the league for next year.
We should think of making some adjustments based on the suggestions brought forward. I'd like to implement them before we start drafting so we have time to plan a draft strategy based on any changes we make.

I was hit and miss on my projections, but I'm looking good on my top 3 managers final standings.

I've run out of time, but have managed to claw my way to 4th after spending so much of the season at the bottom. My goalies being the biggest weak spot this year (and Kessel) and we all knew it.
It says a lot about the goalie position when everyone jumps on a FA as soon as a starter goes down. I couldn't get one add. e. :(
Goalies are once again a big factor contributing to the standings. 1st and 2nd respectively taking all the juicy goalie points.

Looks like Tarasenko is the real deal! He was a beast.
389 shots for Ovechkin. Are you kidding me!
Rick Nash finally became the Rick Nash everyone was waiting for.
23The Dienasty
      ID: 10831718
      Tue, Apr 07, 2015, 06:45
Good fight at the top for the championship. For the second year in a row I've fallen out of contention in early April.. Gotta figure out a way to rectify that!
24Cobwebs
      ID: 16335126
      Sun, Apr 12, 2015, 07:35
Congrats Foot, well deserved win. Thought that I had a chance with 2 weeks left, rode the Hamburglar to the top, but couldn't stay there. Close but no cigarr.
25I_AM_CANADIAN
      ID: 3833219
      Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 19:28
Congrats Foot! Well deserved.
26mailedfoot
      ID: 531322718
      Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 20:01
Thank you, everyone. I really enjoyed being in the league and am looking forward to next year.
27Ira
      ID: 782467
      Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 02:11
Congrats foot!

I spent about 90% of the season in 8th, and suspiciously rose to 4th in the last week or 2… Haha This feels like my highest finish in this league in quite some time!
28filthy
      ID: 4157202
      Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 04:00
Congrats mailedfoot, you survived the empty net attack! Good job everyone else on another fun season.

I was trying my hardest to get up to 8th, and making decent progress, just ran out of time. To do it over again, I'd still go with Howard and Varlamov, and they ended up not much better than Mike Smith so I just don't know what to think about goaltending anymore. Drafting based on potential linemates was a dud call, Grabovski and BRichards both were horrible value after all. And attempting to project upside, Schenn- horrible. A lot of laughable projections made at the start of the season by me. And the laughs continued throughout the season... (Filip Forsberg would be a nice keeper option had I just given up on goaltending earlier! Stupid trade.. He might have got me over that hump into 8th even??!) Add Johnny Gaudreau and Petr Mrazek to options I'd been considering for keeper earlier, and I'm stuck with some tough calls about my team's future. Jamie Benn might be the only untradeable.

Many of my opinions for the league going forward were mentioned in the other thread already.
29C.SuperFreak
      ID: 190472217
      Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 14:20
Congrats mailedfoot.
Ira, you're goaltending in the last 2 weeks rocketed you to 4th. Pavelec played lights out. Recording 3 shutouts.

Filthy I'll post the proposed changes in a separate thread and include the vote count.

thanks all.
30The Dienasty
      ID: 10831718
      Tue, Sep 15, 2015, 06:07
Nearly time to light this thing up again?
31Cobwebs
      ID: 538181512
      Tue, Sep 15, 2015, 13:19
I'm ready to go
32Perm Dude
      ID: 307141618
      Tue, Sep 15, 2015, 15:55
I'm up for another season.
33Ira
      ID: 387372612
      Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 05:38
I'm in
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