Official Fantasy Hockey Advice Thread

[skyblue12]

thought i'd start up a thread for this, since there's a basketball one floating around and i don't want to continue invading league threads :cheesygri

feel free to post anything about drafting, trades, FA pickups, starting lineups etc here.

[ndrew029]

Should I start the Florida goalies against Washington Friday and Saturday? I originally planned to bench them, but Vokoun is coming off back-to-back shutouts and Ovechkin is injured.

[skyblue12]

i almost never bench my goalies.. unless i'm way ahead. are you talking about h2h or roto league?

[ndrew029]

i almost never bench my goalies.. unless i'm way ahead. are you talking about h2h or roto league?

Roto.

Brodeur is an automatic start every game as my #1. Sometimes I play it safe and don't start my #2-4 goalies when I have a feeling they will get destroyed.

I should get enough combined starts that I shouldn't be forced to start my goalie in a tough situation. Vokoun and Florida have looked good in two consecutive shutouts, but Washington is a much better team than Carolina or St. Louis even without Ovie.

I might try it for tonight, knowing I can bench him tomorrow if things go wrong.

[skyblue12]

Roto.

Brodeur is an automatic start every game as my #1. Sometimes I play it safe and don't start my #2-4 goalies when I have a feeling they will get destroyed.

I should get enough combined starts that I shouldn't be forced to start my goalie in a tough situation. Vokoun and Florida have looked good in two consecutive shutouts, but Washington is a much better team than Carolina or St. Louis even without Ovie.

I might try it for tonight, knowing I can bench him tomorrow if things go wrong.

i think it's safer to bench for roto, you don't really have to worry about getting that extra win or your gaa / sv% blowing up if he has a bad start.. unless he gets another shutout (which i highly doubt, like you said 2 shutouts and playing a team who is second in goals scored / game - even with ovy out) then you should be safe..

[ndrew029]

i think it's safer to bench for roto, you don't really have to worry about getting that extra win or your gaa / sv% blowing up if he has a bad start.. unless he gets another shutout (which i highly doubt, like you said 2 shutouts and playing a team who is second in goals scored / game - even with ovy out) then you should be safe..

Good call. I made the safe play. Benched today. Benched tomorrow.

[matdwyer]

Ok I'll take as much advice as I can :-)

Here is my current roster:
http://imgur.com/LL69K.png

Here is a few of the FA available

http://imgur.com/qfYDt.png

D-men
http://imgur.com/wP9w3.png

C
http://imgur.com/iAvqr.png

W
http://imgur.com/4txHE.png

G
http://imgur.com/hrTMm.png

Now I'm current on top of the league (by 40 points).

I'm open to trying to trade, moving the roster around, etc. I've put in a waiver for O'Reily dropping white for the 9th, but can cancel it now.

My C's are kinda lame, although elias coming back helps that. I think I have wicked W's (Smyth, Gaborik, Parise, Hejduk is leathal). My d is just plain jane (jovanoski & paneuf are solid, the others are bums). My Goalies are starting to do good (osgood & rinne) but smith is iffy.

What do you suggest? I'm looking at any help I can get because I think I can run away with this league... and its $$$$

Thoughts? players that should be traded? anyone to swap?

[ndrew029]

All I can suggest is that you can probably do better than Stajan, Fleischmann, and White x 2. Smith is also sharing a bit more time with Niittymaki than I would like. Try to grab him as a handcuff to Smith because he's looking sharp in net despite a poor Lightning team.

[Vashin]

pick up avery, that should be a no brainer

[matdwyer]

All I can suggest is that you can probably do better than Stajan, Fleischmann, and White x 2. Smith is also sharing a bit more time with Niittymaki than I would like. Try to grab him as a handcuff to Smith because he's looking sharp in net despite a poor Lightning team.

Felischmann has like 61 fantasty points in 3 games since getting called up - looks to be a huge potential player I think.

I agree with Stajan and both whites, but I can't find the right deal or replacement players. I've dropped todd white to pick up Ryan O'Reilly but its on waivers and I'm 9th.

Ian white isn't doing horrible for D-men, but I'd trade him if I could. In regards to smith, I can only have 2 bench players so if I had two bench goalies I'd be SOL for skaters.

And re: avery - PIM not that good in this league, and he's not really a super scorer?

[skyblue12]

i like fleischmann, i have him myself and though he won't be super crazy i think he'll put up respectable points.

i like wisnewski, i'd probably take him over white.

if nittymakki is actually available (i don't see him on the list?) then i'd take him too.

[matdwyer]

i like fleischmann, i have him myself and though he won't be super crazy i think he'll put up respectable points.


I'd say he's on FIRE! I'm having a wicked night tonight

[skyblue12]

Good call. I made the safe play. Benched today. Benched tomorrow.

good thing you benched today too, washington is on a scoring spree in the 3rd

[skyblue12]

canes have signed legace to replace ward for now.. do you guys think it's worth it to pick him up?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-hurricanes-legace&prov=ap&type=lgns

my goalies are fleury, s. mason and conklin :|

[mjl_toronto]

canes have signed legace to replace ward for now.. do you guys think it's worth it to pick him up?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-hurricanes-legace&prov=ap&type=lgns

my goalies are fleury, s. mason and conklin :|

I'm wondering when I should bail out on Ward and Staal (yup, sadly I got 'em both). Nobody seems to want 'em in a trade.

[skyblue12]

I'm wondering when I should bail out on Ward and Staal (yup, sadly I got 'em both). Nobody seems to want 'em in a trade.

it's hard to get anything worth much for them when they're both struggling.. depends really who is on the FA.

[ndrew029]

canes have signed legace to replace ward for now.. do you guys think it's worth it to pick him up?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-hurricanes-legace&prov=ap&type=lgns

my goalies are fleury, s. mason and conklin :|

No. It's no coincidence that no other team wanted him even as a backup the last two seasons. I'm not confident he can outplay Leighton. Not to mention Carolina is terrible. You'd be better off picking up Garon as a handcuff for Mason.

[ndrew029]

I'm wondering when I should bail out on Ward and Staal (yup, sadly I got 'em both). Nobody seems to want 'em in a trade.

I wish I was in a pool with someone that would drop both Ward and Staal. Does your league only have 4 teams? No IR spots?

[skyblue12]

No. It's no coincidence that no other team wanted him even as a backup the last two seasons. I'm not confident he can outplay Leighton. Not to mention Carolina is terrible. You'd be better off picking up Garon as a handcuff for Mason.

yeah i was a bit hesitant on taking a goalie on a crappy canes team right now, besides somebody else pick him up so i don't have to decide anymore :cheesygri

[mjl_toronto]

I wish I was in a pool with someone that would drop both Ward and Staal. Does your league only have 4 teams? No IR spots?

My league has 9 teams and only 1 IR that's being used by Hossa. To give you an idea how bad I've had it, here's my team (currently in last):

Pavel Datsyuk (who was DTD for a while)
Jonathan Toews (also DTD, just coming back)
Zach Parise
Eric Staal
Steve Stamkos
Mikael Samuelsson
Chris Pronger
Dennis Wideman (on another struggling team)
Zach Bogosian
Erik Johnson
Vaclav Prospal
Marian Hossa (on IR)
Steve Mason
Niklas Backstrom
Cam Ward (DTD)

List of top fantasy point free agent forwards:
Ales Kotalik, Alex Burrows, Brendan Morrison, Brenden Morrow, Chris Kunitz, David Clarkson, David Jones, Jakub Voracek, James van Riemsdyk, Jamie Langenbrunner, Jarret Stoll, Kris Versteeg, Mason Raymond, Matt Moulson, Mike Fisher, Mike Knuble, Raffi Torres, Ryan O'Reilly, Steven Reinprecht, Teemu Selanne, Tomas Holmstrom, Tomas Plekanec, Tyler Kennedy, Wayne Simmonds

List of top fantasy point free agent defensemen:
Andy Greene, Andy Sutton, Brett Clark, Brian Pothier, Cam Barker, Chris Phillips, Davis Drewiske, Derek Morris, Henrik Tallinder, Ian White, James Wisniewski, Jaroslav Spacek, Jay McKee, Keith Yandle, Kent Huskins, Kevin Bieksa, Ladislav Smid, Mark Giordano, Matt Gilroy, Robyn Regehr, Ryan Suter, Scott Hannan, Tobias Enstrom, Tyler Myers, Willie Mitchell

List of top fantasy point free agent goalies:
Alex Auld, Andrew Raycroft, Antero Niittymaki, Antti Niemi, Brent Johnson, Dan Ellis, Dwayne Roloson, Jaroslav Halak, Johan Hedberg, Martin Biron, Mathieu Garon, Mike Smith, Pascal Leclaire, Stephen Valiquette, Tuukka Rask, Ty Conklin, Yann Danis

I'm tempted by a few names but having a hard time giving up on my players. It's not 'so early' in the season anymore so maybe I should move, especially since I'm in last.

[skyblue12]

My league has 9 teams and only 1 IR that's being used by Hossa. To give you an idea how bad I've had it, here's my team (currently in last):

Pavel Datsyuk (who was DTD for a while)
Jonathan Toews (also DTD, just coming back)
Zach Parise
Eric Staal
Steve Stamkos
Mikael Samuelsson
Chris Pronger
Dennis Wideman (on another struggling team)
Zach Bogosian
Erik Johnson
Vaclav Prospal
Marian Hossa (on IR)
Steve Mason
Niklas Backstrom
Cam Ward (DTD)

List of top fantasy point free agent forwards:
Ales Kotalik, Alex Burrows, Brendan Morrison, Brenden Morrow, Chris Kunitz, David Clarkson, David Jones, Jakub Voracek, James van Riemsdyk, Jamie Langenbrunner, Jarret Stoll, Kris Versteeg, Mason Raymond, Matt Moulson, Mike Fisher, Mike Knuble, Raffi Torres, Ryan O'Reilly, Steven Reinprecht, Teemu Selanne, Tomas Holmstrom, Tomas Plekanec, Tyler Kennedy, Wayne Simmonds

List of top fantasy point free agent defensemen:
Andy Greene, Andy Sutton, Brett Clark, Brian Pothier, Cam Barker, Chris Phillips, Davis Drewiske, Derek Morris, Henrik Tallinder, Ian White, James Wisniewski, Jaroslav Spacek, Jay McKee, Keith Yandle, Kent Huskins, Kevin Bieksa, Ladislav Smid, Mark Giordano, Matt Gilroy, Robyn Regehr, Ryan Suter, Scott Hannan, Tobias Enstrom, Tyler Myers, Willie Mitchell

List of top fantasy point free agent goalies:
Alex Auld, Andrew Raycroft, Antero Niittymaki, Antti Niemi, Brent Johnson, Dan Ellis, Dwayne Roloson, Jaroslav Halak, Johan Hedberg, Martin Biron, Mathieu Garon, Mike Smith, Pascal Leclaire, Stephen Valiquette, Tuukka Rask, Ty Conklin, Yann Danis

I'm tempted by a few names but having a hard time giving up on my players. It's not 'so early' in the season anymore so maybe I should move, especially since I'm in last.

i bolded the players that i thought really jumped out of the page.. there are also a couple of others..

the only move i would make right away though would probably be wideman for wisnewski. i also might consider dropping ward for nittymaki, who has been really good so far.. but it's a risk. considering ward will be out for a month or so though, you really can't afford to have him continue sitting on your team..

[mjl_toronto]

the only move i would make right away though would probably be wideman for wisnewski. i also might consider dropping ward for nittymaki, who has been really good so far.. but it's a risk. considering ward will be out for a month or so though, you really can't afford to have him continue sitting on your team..

I would think the only move to make right away is Ward, not Wideman. But Boston hasn't proven they're ready to turn around and Wideman is absolutely horrible.

At least I didn't take him until my 8th pick.

[skyblue12]

I would think the only move to make right away is Ward, not Wideman. But Boston hasn't proven they're ready to turn around and Wideman is absolutely horrible.

At least I didn't take him until my 8th pick.

well i don't think wideman will turn it around anytime soon, not just because boston is struggling right now but because i think last year was just a career year for him and thomas was absolutely brilliant. not to mention savard is still out with an injury, so there's really no offense in the boston lineup right now. the anaheim lineup is powered by guys like getz, perry, ryan, and selanne.. i think wisnewski will end up with more points than wideman whether he turns it around or not.. but that's just my opinion :cheesygri

[ndrew029]

well i don't think wideman will turn it around anytime soon, not just because boston is struggling right now but because i think last year was just a career year for him and thomas was absolutely brilliant. not to mention savard is still out with an injury, so there's really no offense in the boston lineup right now. the anaheim lineup is powered by guys like getz, perry, ryan, and selanne.. i think wisnewski will end up with more points than wideman whether he turns it around or not.. but that's just my opinion :cheesygri

Wisniewski is looking great right now, but don't count on him to be healthy for more than 60 games.

Wideman started last season with 5 pts in the first 20 games, then I traded him thinking he was a bust, then he brokeout. This year has obviously been affected by Savard and Kessel not being around and Krejci and Wheeler struggling but I drafted him again and I'll stick with him through the slow start.

I have a lot of patience because I have Lidstrom as well. Not accepting lowball offers for them.

[skyblue12]

Wisniewski is looking great right now, but don't count on him to be healthy for more than 60 games.

Wideman started last season with 5 pts in the first 20 games, then I traded him thinking he was a bust, then he brokeout. This year has obviously been affected by Savard and Kessel not being around and Krejci and Wheeler struggling but I drafted him again and I'll stick with him through the slow start.

I have a lot of patience because I have Lidstrom as well. Not accepting lowball offers for them.

ahah i'm not as patient as you are :cheesygri i can understand the patience for lidstrom, but not for wideman.. i probably would have been fed up and dropped him long ago lol.

[ndrew029]

ahah i'm not as patient as you are :cheesygri i can understand the patience for lidstrom, but not for wideman.. i probably would have been fed up and dropped him long ago lol.

It's not easy to find defensemen that are even capable of 40 pts seasons on the waiver wire, especially in a deep pool. The safe move would be to bench him until Boston gets some of it's players back (at least Krejci and Lucic in the next week or so...maybe wait until Savard returns in December).

[bountyh]

ok a guy is offering me Marc Savard and Chris Mason for Jon Quick

My other goalies are Hiller, Miller and Halak its a rotis keeper league

What do you guys think?

My centers are Stastny,Kesler, O'Reilly and Connelly

I think Quick is Better then Mason but with the Addition of Savard could be better for my team in long run

[skyblue12]

ok a guy is offering me Marc Savard and Chris Mason for Jon Quick

My other goalies are Hiller, Ryan and Halak its a rotis keeper league

What do you guys think?

My centers are Stastny,Kesler, O'Reilly and Connelly

I think Quick is Better then Mason but with the Addition of Savard could be better for my team in long run

who's.. ryan? =\

i would probably do that trade.. mason isn't a bad goaltender, yes he only has 3 wins but his gaa and sv% are both very good. quick has 10 wins but his sv% is under .900 right now.. which hurts.

[skyblue12]

anybody think if i should drop brassard or gomez for pavelksi?

[ndrew029]

anybody think if i should drop brassard or gomez for pavelksi?

IMO, this one is really close. Brassard is the most offensively talented, but Gomez and Pavelski are guaranteed top 6 forward minutes.

[skyblue12]

IMO, this one is really close. Brassard is the most offensively talented, but Gomez and Pavelski are guaranteed top 6 forward minutes.

i like brassard a lot as well, gomez not so much but he's on the top line with gionta and camm so it's hard to drop him.. i guess i'll just leave things the way it is for now.

on another note, i need to drop somebody for d. sedin:

LW / RW - ryan
LW / RW - fleischmann
RW - kovalev
RW - hemsky
RW - justin williams
LW - tanguay
LW - clowe

yeah i have an overload of wingers.. LOL. i'm leaning towards clowe since seto is back and he's taken his spot on the top line.. i dropped tanguay like 1.5 weeks ago and he started doing well again so i picked him back up -_-" kovalev is struggling bad but i don't think i can find it in me to drop him..

[ndrew029]

i like brassard a lot as well, gomez not so much but he's on the top line with gionta and camm so it's hard to drop him.. i guess i'll just leave things the way it is for now.

on another note, i need to drop somebody for d. sedin:

LW / RW - ryan
LW / RW - fleischmann
RW - kovalev
RW - hemsky
RW - justin williams
LW - tanguay
LW - clowe

yeah i have an overload of wingers.. LOL. i'm leaning towards clowe since seto is back and he's taken his spot on the top line.. i dropped tanguay like 1.5 weeks ago and he started doing well again so i picked him back up -_-" kovalev is struggling bad but i don't think i can find it in me to drop him..

I dropped Ryane Clowe so hard earlier this season that the extra E in his name fell off.

I suggest you do the same.

[skyblue12]

I dropped Ryane Clowe so hard earlier this season that the extra E in his name fell off.

I suggest you do the same.

that's.. hardcore LOL dropped :cheesygri hopefully sedin will be back tomorrow though, looks like he's a game-time decision.

[skyblue12]

wow.. steve mason is killing me right now :|

[nfnx]

ok guys what about this one, joe thornton for tim thomas.

my other goalies are pacal l, and halak. i am deep on center but joe will replace gagner and ill be over the top with savard, elias, thornton and stamkos.

there arent many more goalies in the league, so ill need to take one back, either hiller or pavelec.

to comp for the goalie swap, gagner or moulson are the options.
is this fair? or a bad move towards long term goalie points....

[nfnx]

IMO, this one is really close. Brassard is the most offensively talented, but Gomez and Pavelski are guaranteed top 6 forward minutes.

if pavalski centers thornton for long periods of time, its over. hes the clearcut winner.

[skyblue12]

ok guys what about this one, joe thornton for tim thomas.

my other goalies are pacal l, and halak. i am deep on center but joe will replace gagner and ill be over the top with savard, elias, thornton and stamkos.

there arent many more goalies in the league, so ill need to take one back, either hiller or pavelec.

to comp for the goalie swap, gagner or moulson are the options.
is this fair? or a bad move towards long term goalie points....

sorry i'm a little bit confused with this.. so you have tim thomas, and you're trading him for thornton? and what about hiller and pavelec.. they're FA? or they're on the other guy's team? just want to clear things up :cheesygri

but anyway, considering your centers, i think you're already set with stamkos, savard, and elias. goaltending is way too important to be trading them for centers, unless you're REALLY desperate for a center (which i don't think you are). thornton is a great, great player and will probably put up 90 points or so at least.. but considering you only have halak and.. leclaire? i don't think that's strong enough to back your team up.. especially since montreal loves price.

from experience, and i'm sure others will agree, goaltending can win championships. last year, i had thornton, m. richards, spezza, and krejci. overload of great centers, but my goaltending was theodore, lehtonen and rinne. if it wasn't for rinne (who i picked up off of FA) i wouldn't even have made it to the playoffs, because my goaltending was so bad.. and i basically had to rely on winning all the offensive categories in order to win the week.

if pavalski centers thornton for long periods of time, its over. hes the clearcut winner.

if pavelski played with thornton i definitely agree, but right now he's on the second line with marleau and clowe. i was really tempted to take him over gomez because i don't like gomez that much.. but he's been pick up already anyway so i don't have to decide anymore :cheesygri

[flexwong]

that's.. hardcore LOL dropped :cheesygri hopefully sedin will be back tomorrow though, looks like he's a game-time decision.

he won't be. he was sent home early from wednesday's practice, still feeling uncomfortable.

[skyblue12]

he won't be. he was sent home early from wednesday's practice, still feeling uncomfortable.

yeah luckily i read yesterday that he'll probably miss thursday and saturday's games, so i kept clowe for tonight :cheesygri

[skyblue12]

so i still have clowe.. LOL luckily sedin isn't playing until at least thursday so i still have at least a few days to think about it. i think i might end up just dropping grabovski and have like.. 7 wingers on my team :|