This is the fourth update in the draft experiment series, for the Forward 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 good forwards primarily before D and goalies. This strategy is not one that is actually that great usually but currently it is doing all right in the standings. Not at the very top but certainly not at the bottom.
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 graphic above, this team sits in 4th place, which is not terrible. However, the first place team is almost 20 points ahead, so with only a couple weeks left in the season, it seems unlikely that this team will take first. The saving grace could be that there are still games to use for this team, and the 1st and 2nd place teams have maxed out several of their slots already. This will be discussed in further detail towards the bottom of this post.
Here is the roster:
With so few games left in the NHL regular season, it’s time to pull out all the stops. Desperate times call for desperate measures. If you’ve been following this forward emphasis draft team, you’ll know that the biggest problem has been in net. It’s been like that all season long.
There have been several changes at G since the last forward update. The old group was Biron, Conklin, Harding, and Lalime. Since then, Ryan Miller has returned which automatically relegates Lalime to back-up again, and with the Sabres battling hard for the final playoff spot in the East, they will be starting their stud Miller in every game, which effectively nullifies any value Lalime has in virtually all fantasy leagues. Also, Josh Harding was dropped because he simply has not been getting a lot of starts this season, and when he does, the Wild don’t give him much support, judging from his win-loss ratio. Harding is also in a similar situation where his team is battling for one of the final playoff spots in the West and Backstrom should see pretty much all the starts from here on out.
There have been five new additions to the G lineup for this team. Hiller, Anderson, Auld, Varlamov, and most recently Huet who was picked up off waivers, burning the #2 priority. It’s slim pickin’s out there for goalies and with the season winding down, even with Khabibulin probably getting the majority of the Blackhawks starts going forward, Huet had to be grabbed. Also, as mentioned previously in the season, having a high waiver priority by season’s end does not really do anyone any good.
The sad part is, even with seven total goalies on the roster, only one–Marty Biron–is a full time starter, and even Biron has had his problems with Niitty in the background. It is likely too little, too late, for the goalie categories in this league, but at least it’s something.
On the skater side of things, some pretty solid players were dropped, including Kopitar, Hemsky, Elias and Sarich. Sarich was brought in for PIMs but fellow Flames teammate Vandemeer is taking up that torch for now. With so little time left in the season, Elias’ “soreness” and missing games is not helping the team so he had to be sacrificed. As for Hemsky and Kopitar, they were both victims of max games, for the most part. There are only four games to be played at C and Ryan Getzlaf will fill the rest. Iginla and Hossa (both on the Y! can’t cut list) will be taking up the handful of RW games left and Hemsky was the odd man out.
Obviously, the roster has taken on a new look in the past couple weeks, hopefully for the better. With only a couple weeks left, there will likely be no more moves made. Whatever happens from here on out will dictate the finish. It’s up to the “Hockey Gods” out there in fantasy hockey land.
Aside from LW, all the skater slots are slightly over pace. Goalie has an embarassment of riches in terms of max games, with 61 games left to be played even though there are technically only 18 games possible in terms of slots per day. This was a management error over the course of the season, clearly, but there is no use crying over it now.
As mentioned above, the first and second place teams have already maxed out several of their slots. Hopefully they fall significantly in the standings, but that remains to be seen.
It is highly likely that this team ends up finishing 4th place, which is not terrible. It is certainly still a disappointment, of course, but you can’t win ‘em all. Especially considering some of the goalies this team has had to go through. Hard to believe this team drafted Manny Legace…
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/
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