Need Hockey Pool Assistance

Good morning,

I'm selecting players via snake draft in a few hours and was wondering if anyone had a few suggestions of lower level players that they expect will over produce this year. The scoring is one point per goal one per assist. Each GM drafts 16 players, no goalies and it doesn't matter if you take D or forwards... so I'm basically looking for diamonds in the rough at the lower levels. or players that you expect could have a breakthrough year... e.g. Antropov got 59 points this year with the crappy leafs, now he'll be on a line with Kovalchuk (a la Kozlov) so I believe he could get around 70 this year...

any suggestions?

EDIT: looking for players that should hit at least 50 points

Should find some real gems here

DirtyDave wrote:Good morning,

I'm selecting players via snake draft in a few hours and was wondering if anyone had a few suggestions of lower level players that they expect will over produce this year. The scoring is one point per goal one per assist. Each GM drafts 16 players, no goalies and it doesn't matter if you take D or forwards... so I'm basically looking for diamonds in the rough at the lower levels. or players that you expect could have a breakthrough year... e.g. Antropov got 59 points this year with the crappy leafs, now he'll be on a line with Kovalchuk (a la Kozlov) so I believe he could get around 70 this year...

any suggestions?

EDIT: looking for players that should hit at least 50 points

Under-the-radar guys who should be good for 50-60 points:

Antoine Vermette
Shawn Horcoff (people will forget about him because of his injury last year)
Matt Stajan
Justin Williams (see: Horcoff)
Drew Stafford
Claude Giroux
Andrei Kostitsyn
Matthew Lombardi
Rich Peverley
David Perron
Bryan Little
Michael Frolik
Thomas Plekanec
Martin Erat
Kyle Okposo
Todd White
Alexei Ponikarovsky
Mikhail Grabovski
Brooks Laich
Patrick Berglund
Andrew Ladd
T. J. Oshie
Dave Bolland
Jakub Voracek

I'd aim to load up on the St. Louis boys (Perron, Berglund, Oshie), personally. I think that team is going to score in bunches this year.

thanks for the info guys!

Some more names to throw in there:

• P.M. Bouchard -- those Minny players will be flying without Lemaire to clip their wings
  
• Loui Eriksson
  
• Milan Michalek -- will probably get over 60 on the first line
  
• Tim Connolly -- maybe he pulls a Havlat and not his groin, and plays a full season for once
  
• Nathan Horton, if he's still available
  
• Kristian Huselius
  
• David Krejci
  
• Ryan Smith
  
• Chris Drury -- always gets around 60 points
  
• Milan Hejduk -- those 1-year contract extensions are great motivators
  
• Bill Guerin -- with Sykora gone and Talbot recovering, he's the Pens' top right winger
  
• Chris Kunitz -- he's their top left winger
  
• Ryan Kesler
  
• John Tavares -- but don't get fooled into picking him among the 70+ point guys or higher
  
• Claude Giroux -- he's their top right winger if you believe CBS Sports
  

wprager wrote:Some more names to throw in there:

• P.M. Bouchard -- those Minny players will be flying without Lemaire to clip their wings
  
• Loui Eriksson
  
• Milan Michalek -- will probably get over 60 on the first line
  
• Tim Connolly -- maybe he pulls a Havlat and not his groin, and plays a full season for once
  
• Nathan Horton, if he's still available
  
• Kristian Huselius
  
• David Krejci
  
• Ryan Smith
  
• Chris Drury -- always gets around 60 points
  
• Milan Hejduk -- those 1-year contract extensions are great motivators
  
• Bill Guerin -- with Sykora gone and Talbot recovering, he's the Pens' top right winger
  
• Chris Kunitz -- he's their top left winger
  
• Ryan Kesler
  
• John Tavares -- but don't get fooled into picking him among the 70+ point guys or higher
  
• Claude Giroux -- he's their top right winger if you believe CBS Sports
  

This great... I totally agree with you about Minny and I hadn't thought about that.. thanks!

Dave, are you going to let us know whom you ended up picking?

Claude Giroux, David Perron, Derick Brassard, TJ Oshie will IMO 60 points this year.

wprager wrote:Dave, are you going to let us know whom you ended up picking?

sure... I picked 8 of 10.

1) Backstrom
2) Spezza but Iginla was still available
3)
4) Havlat
5) Tavares
6) Frolov
7) Franzen
8) Antropov
9)
10) Kunitz
11) Fisher
12) Todd White
13) PM Bouchard
14) TJ Oshie
15) Vaclav Prospal
16) Hedman

Any people I took too high.. any that you're surprised went so low.

DirtyDave wrote:

wprager wrote:Dave, are you going to let us know whom you ended up picking?

sure... I picked 8 of 10.

1) Backstrom
2) Spezza but Iginla was still available
3)
4) Havlat
5) Tavares
6) Frolov
7) Franzen
8) Antropov
9)
10) Kunitz
11) Fisher
12) Todd White
13) PM Bouchard
14) TJ Oshie
15) Vaclav Prospal
16) Hedman

Any people I took too high.. any that you're surprised went so low.

Kinda hard to tell without knowing the parameters of your pool -- do you have positional requirements, what are your scoring categories, etc. etc. But some general thoughts:

-- I would have taken Iginla over Spezza for sure, especially if PIMs count, if your league makes distinctions between wingers and centres (and between goals and assists). In a straight points league, tho', I think the difference between the 2 will be tops 10 points (in Iginla's favour). Spezza will be a PPG player again this year, I'd say.

-- Unless this is a keeper league, you definitely reached for Tavares. He's a talent for sure, but this is his 1st year in the NHL, and he'll be playing for perhaps the worst team in the league. And if +/- is a category, he may well kill you. I like Tavares for a late pick, but not this early and not in a non-keeper league.

-- You had strong mid rounds; I like all of Frolov, Franzen, and Antropov for 60+ point years. There are some concerns about Frolov, tho'; he seems to be getting the short end of the stick in terms of linemates. If I'm a betting man, Frolov is on the outs in LA and will be gone before the end of the season.

-- Your bottom picks are pretty strong, too, although I would have stayed away from Fisher, but I get that he's a homer pick and that he's had a strong preseason to boot. I'd keep an eye on Todd White. I think he and Peverley are fighting it out for line 2 duties, so if he drops from there, you're going to want to swap him out (if possible). The Hedman pick is pretty risk-free, but if this is a points-only league with no keepers and no positional requirements, I'm guessing you had better options.

Another guy to consider is Marco Sturm. He's almost a forgotten man after missing almost the entire year last year, but if healthy could really put up points in that offense.

DirtyDave wrote:

wprager wrote:Dave, are you going to let us know whom you ended up picking?

sure... I picked 8 of 10.

1) Backstrom
2) Spezza but Iginla was still available
3)
4) Havlat
5) Tavares
6) Frolov
7) Franzen
8) Antropov
9)
10) Kunitz
11) Fisher
12) Todd White
13) PM Bouchard
14) TJ Oshie
15) Vaclav Prospal
16) Hedman

Any people I took too high.. any that you're surprised went so low.

What are the "holes" in rounds 3 and 9?

I guess I should mention this in here: the GMHockey Yahoo! fantasy draft is on for tomorrow at 7 pm EST. If you would like to join, you can find the information around these forums, just make sure you sign up at least two hours before the draft.

Rooney, the parameters of the draft were spelled out in post 1. Straight points, no limits on position, not a keeper league.

That said, Tavares will have a tough time hitting 50 points (you were asking for 50-60 point guys). The average projection is 47 (based on somthing like 10 magazines/websites).

Hedman is projected for 17 points, so I'm not sure what your strategy there was. He does not (yet) have Pronger or Lidstrom's offensive ability. He has 25 points in 82 SEL games over two seasons; not sure if they count secondary assists or not, but even if you double his assist total it's 41 points in 82 games. The NHL is a tougher league, and the Lightning are not MoDo (relative to their respective leagues).

wprager wrote:

DirtyDave wrote:

wprager wrote:Dave, are you going to let us know whom you ended up picking?

sure... I picked 8 of 10.

1) Backstrom
2) Spezza but Iginla was still available
3)
4) Havlat
5) Tavares
6) Frolov
7) Franzen
8) Antropov
9)
10) Kunitz
11) Fisher
12) Todd White
13) PM Bouchard
14) TJ Oshie
15) Vaclav Prospal
16) Hedman

Any people I took too high.. any that you're surprised went so low.

What are the "holes" in rounds 3 and 9?

sorry.. I had forgotten those two picks....

here's who i took...


1) Nikalas Backstrom - WSH
2) Jarome Iginla - CGY
3) Correy Perry - ANA
4) Martin Havlat - MIN
5) John Tavares - NYI
6) Nik Antropov - ATL
7) Alexander Frolov - LAK
8) Johan Franzen -DET
9) Chris Kunitz - PIT
10) Kristian Huselius - CBJ
11) Mike Fisher - OT
12) Todd White - ATL
13) Pierre-Marc Bouchard - MIN
14) T.J. Oshie - STL
15) Vaclav Prospal - NYR
16) Victor Hedman - TBL