Random Sports Ramblings

NHL Draft Strategy

by Eric Berkenpas

Not sure how many of you play fantasy hockey. It certainly doesn't attract appeal like Fantasy Football does, but then again neither does the NHL compared the the NFL. However, if you ask me, Fantasy Hockey is the best fantasy sport. Why? Because Hockey is the greatest sport known to man, duh! And that is a fact. Now that we have that settled, lets talk drafting. I have yet to draft a team this year so I would like to discuss some strategies. Obviously there are almost endless formats your leagues can take so I will focus on the most popular.

Photo cred www.thestar.com

Standard League, Head-to-Head

If you are one of those people who thinks draft order has everything to do with who gets the best team, think again. There are ways to master your draft no matter what draft position you get. The first overall pick will snatch the top player but then they have to wait for everyone to draft twice before they can grab their second player whereas the last pick is the first team to draft two players in a row. If you get first pick, you better get ready to think. Many years, there is a clear cut obvious player that needs to be taken first overall. This year, that is not the case. I am going to propose 5 players who I think could all legitimately land a first overall pick.

1. Sidney Crosby (Pit) - 15G, 41A in 36 Games

2. Alexander Ovechkin (Was) - 32G, 24A in 48 Games

3. Evgeni Malkin (Pit) - 9G, 24A in 31 Games

4. Steven Stamkos (TB) - 29G, 28A in 48 Games

5. Patrick Kane (Chi) - 23G, 32A in 47 Games

Photo cred www.therichest.com

Please note, arguments can be made for other players who are deserving of that top pick, but you can't really go wrong any of these guys. Crosby was on pace to finish with roughly 75 points before getting injured which would have landed him 15 points ahead of Art Ross winner, Martin St. Louis. Can he regain chemistry with Kunitz and Dupuis and can they produce like they did last year? Hard to say, but Crosby will get his points regardless of who he plays with. Ovie woke up halfway through the season last year and scored goals at an unimaginable click. If that Ovie comes to play this year, he has Art Ross and likely a second straight Hart Trophy written all over him. Evgeni Malkin has always been a very inconsistent player (other than is 2011-12 campaign) but we have all seen what he is very capable of. Steven Stamkos has been living under the shadow of Crosby, Malkin and Ovie since entering the league but is in every way as legitimate of a scoring talent as those three. He has immense hockey smarts and always finds himself in the scoring areas of the ice. His wrist shot is second best only to Ovechkin and he is a threat to score at any point when the puck is on his stick. Patrick Kane had his best season last year and with the high powered talent he plays with combined with his nearly unprecedented skill set, the sky is the limit.

Photo cred www.nhlsnipers.com

From there, keep an eye out for guys like Claude Giroux, Nicklas Backstrom, Taylor Hall, Anze Kopitar, Erik Karlsson, Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle, Jason Spezza, Bobby Ryan, Nail Yakupov, Jamie Benn, Marian Gaborik and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who I fully expect to exceed their preseason rankings when it is all said and done.

Goalies: They tend to be the make it or break it aspect to any fantasy hockey team. Let me shoot straight real quick: you will need at least one good goalie if you want to succeed! Goalies are the only position that gives you stats that are consistent and reliable (unless you are in a league using Hits, Blocks, FW, FL, SOG, etc...). Here are my rankings of who I think the top 10 fantasy goalies will be this year:

1. Jonathan Quick (LA)

2. Henrik Lundqvist (NYR)

3. Tuukka Rask (Bos)

4. Jimmy Howard (Det)

5. Corey Crawford (Chi)

6. Sergei Bobrovsky (Cls)

7. Antti Niemi (SJ)

8. Craig Anderson (Ott)

9. Marc-Andre Fleury (Pit)

10. Pekka Rinne (Nas)

Photo cred www.maxpreps.com

Rinne is way over-valued in most leagues. He is one of the best goalies in the NHL, but you have to take into account how bad the team around him is an how effective he will be for fantasy. His wins will be down and he will be facing a lot of rubber so there is a good likelihood his GAA may be higher than usual. Marc-Andre Fleury is the go to goalie in Pittsburgh, a team that will likely compile a ton of wins this year. He tends to have good numbers during the regular season too and since playoff stats have no bearing on fantasy, Fleury is a good bet for 2.50 GAA and 35+ wins. Craig Anderson played a little over his head last year but will still be a solid contributor to your team. Bobrovsky also played a little over his head but the Blue Jackets are a steadily improving team which will most assuredly spell success for the man between the pipes. Corey Crawford no longer has his partner in crime (Ray Emery) with him so he will now be the go-to guy. Can he handle the pressure? I think his numbers will be down from last year, but that's not sayin' much. Tuukka Rask proved last year in the playoffs how good he can be. Unfortunately, he will have to be that good because Boston lost a lot of talent in the offseason. Now for our top 2 guys. Quick struggled in the season last year but recovered just in time to finish strong and put up his normal numbers in the playoffs. Lundvist was also not as good last year, but that is mostly due to the team around him not being as good. He is still arguably the best goalie in the league. The only other guy who can compete with him for that title is Jonathan Quick. Reason Quick is first in my rankings is simple: I think the Kings will be much better than the Rangers this year.

Photo cred www.thestar.com

There are two strategies to take when drafting defensemen. Offensive stats, or minor stats. Offensive stats include G, A, P, PPG, PPA, PPP, SHG, SHA, SHP, GWG and S%. Minor stats are all the other ones that have little to do with the offensive production of the individual; +/-, PIM, SOG, FW, FL, Hits and Blocks. If you draft highly offensive forwards, you are going to need defensemen who get you your other stats. If you draft dynamic forwards who are more geared towards your minor stats, you are going to want to help out your offensive production with high scoring defensemen. You can easily search on your own who the top producing defensemen are. I am going to give you a list of defensemen who are best for the minor stats. These are in no particular order.

1. Dion Phaneuf (Tor) - High hits, blocks and PIMs. Decent +/-

2. Brooks Orpik (Pit) - High hits, blocks and +/-. Low PIMs

3. Dennis Seidenberg (Bos) - High hits, blocks an +/-. Low PIMs. Decent offense

4. Shea Weber (Nas) - High hits and offense. Decent blocks. Low +/-

5. Ladislav Smid (Edm) - High hits and blocks. Decent PIMs. Low +/-

6. Luke Schenn (Phi) - Very high hits. High blocks. Low PIMs and +/-

7. Mark Frasor (Tor) - High hits, blocks, PIMs and +/-

8. Drew Doughty (LA) - High hits and offense. Low blocks and PIMs.

9. Dan Girardi (NYR) - High blocks. Decent hits and +/-. Low PIMs

10. Brent Seabrook (Chi) - High blocks. Decent hits, offense and +/-. Low PIMs.

Let's finish this off with my top 10 players in each position (refer above for goalies):

Center
1. Sidney Crosby (Pit)
2. Steven Stamkos (TB)
3. John Tavares (NYI)
4. Evgeni Malkin (Pit)
5. Nicklas Backstrom (Was)
6. Claude Giroux (Phi)
7. Eric Staal (Car)
8. Jonathan Toews (Chi)
9. Henrik Sedin (Van)
10. Anze Kopitar (LA)

Left Wing
1. Taylor Hall (Edm)
2. Daniel Sedin (Van)
3. Thomas Vanek (Buf)
4. Bobby Ryan (Ott)
5. Alexander Semin (Car)
6. Jamie Benn (Dal)
7. Henrik Zetterberg (Det)
8. Patrick Sharp (Chi)
9. Joffrey Lupul (Tor)
10. Matt Moulson (NYI)

Right Wing
1. Alexander Ovechkin (Was)
2. Patrick Kane (Chi)
3. Phil Kessel (Tor)
4. James Neal (Pit)
5. Corey Perry (Ana)
6. Martin St. Louis (TB)
7. Nail Yakupov (Edm)
8. Rick Nash (NYR)
9. Marian Gaborik (Cls)
10. Jordan Eberle (Edm)

Defense
1. Erik Karlsson (Ott)
2. P.K. Subban (Mon)
3. Kris Letang (Pit)
4. Ryan Suter (Min)
5. Duncan Keith (Chi)
6. Shea Weber (Nas)
7. Justin Schultz (Edm)
8. Alex Pietrangelo (Stl)
9. Keith Yandle (Pho)
10. Mark Streit (Phi)

There you have it. This is not an exhaustive guide but it should provide some help if you are totally lost going into your draft. Feel free to leave comments and ask questions!

Eric Berkenpas is the newest member of Sports Eye View and can be reached at ejberkenpas22@gmail.com