Sunday, August 30, 2009

Mailbag: Draft Prospects


"Hi Guys, I'm in a 12 team keeper league. We have 7 stat categories for skaters :Goals (G), Assists (A), Plus/Minus (+/-), Penalty Minutes (PIM), Powerplay Points (PPP), Shots on Goal (SOG) and also we have 6 goalie stat categories: Goals Against (GA), Goals Against Average (GAA), Saves (SV), Save Percentage (SV%), Shutouts (SHO).

We have a 5 round prospect draft coming up, I currently own 3 first round picks (third, sixth, twelve overall) and 1 fourth round pick 42nd overall. The GM with 1st overall has already announced he will draft Tavares, which will leave me with either Hedman or Duchene. My question to you is? Who should I draft with my other 1st round picks? Realistically I'm thinking for 6th about Brayden Schenn, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jonas Gustavsson and for 12 it's between Ryan Ellis and Cody Hodgson (I think he's able to be drafted since he wasn't drafted last year) But I want to know what you would do. Here is my roster.

Centres - Mike Modano, Travis Zajac, Manny Malhotra, Steve Ott
Left Wings - Alexei Ponikarovsky, Henrik Zetterberg(C, LW), David Booth, Alex Burrows
Right Wings - Martin Havlat, Ales Kotalik, Joffrey Lupul, Mikael Samuelsson, Jamie Langenbrunner
Defensemen - Andrei Markov, Zdeno Chara, Shane O'Brien, Paul Martin, Alex Edler
Goalies - Mike Smith, Marc-Andre Fleury
We are aloud 2 centres, 2 right wingers, 2 left wingers, 4 defenceman 1 winger 1 forward 2 utility 2 goalie 4 bench.
Sorry It's kind of long, really appreciate your time!"


Blair

Blair, thanks for the detailed email. Your strategy for your prospect draft seems to be right on target. For the third pick overall Hedman or Duchene is a great selection as each player has a bright future ahead of them. While Duchene offers to help you in many categories as a long term keeper, Hedman is an impact player that has been compared Nicklas Lidstrom and is a mature player at such a young age.

With your sixth overall pick I would target Cody Hodgson. His stock has greatly increased since being drafted last year and has the greatest chance at making an immediate impact. Presently he is slated to be the Canucks number two center and will get the opportunity to play on the powerplay as well.

Evander Kane is a player that you should target with your last first round selection if he should fall. While he is still or two away from playing a full time gig in Atlanta, his style of play offers poolies rewards in many of the categories you have listed. Although Gustavsson is a great selection if he is available with this pick, he is slated as a back-up in Toronto and may struggle to adapt to the NHL.

Mark

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