By John Sarianides
Fantasy Hockey season is upon us and with most drafts wrapping up ahead of tonight’s season opener, here are three pieces of advice to drafting a successful Fantasy Hockey team.
1. Go On the Offensive: I have always focused on drafting forwards in the first four rounds. For example, in one of my drafts this weekend, I took Patrick Kane, Alexander Ovechkin, Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrik Laine with my first four picks. Now granted, it is a ten team league but that is a pretty good core of forwards to build my roster around. All four players should score more than 30 goals this season and finish with more than 60 points. Goals and assists equal fantasy points. Loading up at forward and filling in your defenseman and goalies later is a smart move.
2. Grab Puck Moving Defenseman in the Middle Rounds: I don’t usually target defenseman until rounds 5 or 6. Look, the game has changed. Puck moving defenseman that join the rush are the norm now. Gone are the days of the big, rangy defenseman who played in his end of the ice only. You can draft quality offensive defensemen like Mark Giordano of the Flames, Jake Gardiner of the Leafs, Charlie McAvoy of the Bruins or Cam Fowler of the Ducks in rounds five through ten. Don’t reach for Erik Karlsson, P.K Subban or Shayne Gostisbehere in rounds one through four unless you are in a 12 team league and there is a run on defensemen.
3. Stream Goaltending: Truthfully, I won a hockey championship last season without starting a goalie down the stretch. I had Corey Crawford as my number one goalie but he crapped the proverbial bed the last week of the season for the Blackhawks so I didn’t play him. I wouldn’t reach for goaltending. I would wait until rounds eight or nine and grab a veteran. My goalies in one of my leagues are Ben Bishop and Brian Elliott. Not great by any means but both should start 60-65 games and win 25-30 of them. Bishop should be a workhorse for the Stars. Streaming goalies is risky because there are not many quality ones available on the waiver wire but they are too high risk, high reward for my taste. I would rather invest my early picks on forwards who can guarantee me more points consistently.