Draft Experiment: Goalie Update 4

This is the fourth update in the draft experiment series, for the Goalie Emphasis draft. If you’re unfamiliar with the premise, go back and read the original post: the great draft experiment.

This team was drafted with an emphasis on grabbing a couple top goalies with the first two draft picks and then worrying about other positions later. It has worked marvelously and is pretty much guaranteed 1st place from what it looks like right now.

Click on the image to view its full size (opens in separate window).

The first row is the ranking in each category (this is a roto league) and the second row is the total year-to-date accumulation for each category.

As you can see from the standings, this team is doing quite nicely in pretty much all the categories, not just goalie stats. The wingers have contributed immensely considering none of them were even 1st or 2nd round picks.

Here is the roster:

Pretty much the opposite of the BPA team, this goalie emphasized team is cruising in 1st place right now, where it has been for a few weeks. The second place team (currently 12 standings points back) has already maxed out games for C, LW, and RW. The third place team is almost 25 standings points back and will probably not pose a threat at all.

So far there have only been 10 transactions made on the season, which is good low number. Once the season is over, many factors will be discussed and compared and contrasted against the other draft experiment teams. At the moment though, this is the only team that has already secured a 1st place finish. Providing some evidence as to the importance of goalies in stardard Y! roto leagues.

Nabby and Lundy are the two superstars in goal for this squad. The first two draft picks have done well for this team, as they would for any fantasy team who has both, for sure. The third goalie, Nikolai Khabibulin, has also assumed the starting position (for the most part) out in Chicago since coming off his injury, so that is a bonus. Even though this team is over 20 games behind where it should be in terms of max games usage for the G slots, it doesn’t matter because they make each game they’ve started count. As it stands this team is 1st in wins anyway. It is also 2nd in GAA and 3rd in SV%. If not for injuries to both Nabby and Khabibulin throughout the season, it is highly likely that it would be in 1st for those cats as well. Due to the fact that GAA and SV% aren’t categories that are simple accumulation, trying to catch up in goalie games is irrelevant, as their averages will stay high regardless and the wins category is already in decent shape (2nd place is 8 wins behind). Even if a couple standings points are lost to competitors by the end of the season, there is still enough cushion overall to stay on top, and that’s assuming zero production for the team itself.

The forwards have done nicely considering they were all middle round picks. Some of them have outperformed some much higher picks, especially in terms of point-per-game scoring rate. Semin has one of the highest ppg rates in the league. If not for injury he would surely be right up with his teammate Ovechkin in scoring overall. Other guys like Perry, Vanek, and Gagne have notched some pretty nice stats as well. The centers have been good in their own right. Nick Backstrom is having another solid year playing on AO’s wing and will continue to do so for years to come. Travis Zajac is having a breakout year playing with Devils’ MVP Zach Parise and Langenbrunner on a dynamic line. Ironically, both Backstrom and Zajac were free agent pick-ups. Backstrom was dropped very early in the season because of a slow start and Zajac was not even drafted. Just more evidence of how deep the player pool is at center.

Unlike the other experiment teams, the max games situation at this point is irrelevant. There are several games left at all the forward positions and they’ll be used up just before the season is over, which is perfectly acceptable. The D is slightly behind but since there are two extra D on the roster, there will be no problem using those up. The only cause for concern would be goalie games since there are a lot to spare, but as mentioned a couple paragraphs up, even that is not a big deal because of how well the goalies are already doing.

If this team does not place 1st at the end of the season, it will be due to a massive collapse, which just is not likely. The roster is set and there will probably be no more transactions made. This team should be deemed a success.

Check out the original post: The Great Draft Experiment and also the main page with links to all the teams: http://saucerpass.com/draft-experiment/