While each of us enters each fantasy hockey season with similar goals, we certainly take different means of reaching those goals. One strategy, however, that should be practiced universally across the board is having a balanced team. This strategy could and should be applied to football, baseball and basketball, however, since we’re a fantasy hockey website, we’ll focus on the impact and implications on ice right now.
What is a “balanced team?”
When talking about a balanced team, we’re not only talking about the teams that your players play on but the positions that they play as well. It’s important to exercise some sort of balance on your fantasy hockey team as certain formats, categories and team schedules all play a significant role in achieving your fantasy goal.
Overloading on players at a certain position:
One thing that fantasy managers should realize is that center is the most plentiful position in fantasy hockey. There are far more “appealing” players to fantasy managers at the center position than any other position on the ice, especially to those in deeper leagues. It’s very easy to overload at a position like center with all the talent and there certainly are some consequences in doing so. First, only in the deepest leagues will you find slots for 4 left wingers or 5 centers which means those of you in average, every day run of the mill public leagues, having 6 centers on your team with only 2 or 3 slots for centers presents a problem on heavy schedule nights. For those managers in rotisserie leagues, you certainly have to worry about max games as overloading at a certain position will burn up your chances to use that position somewhat quickly.
Overloading on players from a certain team:
Having 4+ players from the same team is going to present a problem for weeks in which the team that represents a fair portion of your roster has a light schedule. If you have 4 Minnesota Wild players on your fantasy team and you’re a part of a rotisserie league, you’ll find that on weeks where the Wild only have 1 game, you might fall a spot or two in the standings. Similarly, for those in head-to-head leagues, you may find that your totals will be lower across the board if you rely heavily on a certain team to get you through the year. Another thing to keep in mind is that if the team you rely heavily upon gets it handed to them, you’re subject to take a fairly big hit in the +/- department. While it’s easier to make up in roto, it’s a nearly impossible category to make up in head-to-head matchups because they are typically only week long matchups.
Benefits of having a balanced team:
Balancing out your team leaves you with less of an opportunity to get burned by max games or the inability to start players on heavy schedule nights. Especially in rotisserie style leagues where it’s important to keep a close on each position, it would be to your advantage to try and keep your max games around even if at all possible. Another advantage is that you have a better chance at competing week in and week out in head-to-head leagues. You won’t get burned as bad as some by scheduling.
How many players from one team is too much?
An ideal amount of players to have from one team is 2. Having 3 players from the same team should be the absolute most for a single fantasy team. Anything over 3 should merit some sort of trade consideration for the best interest of your fantasy team.
Listen everyone: Is it realistic to say that you should have a different player from a different NHL team? Not likely. Are you going to have even amounts of positions spread out over your fantasy team? Not likely with injuries and hot/cold players. However, keeping your team somewhat balanced as the year progresses will certainly pay off down the stretch.
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