Campkin gives you his “All-Geek” team – this year’s top fantasy performers

With the season concluding later this evening, I have to say that it has been a lot of fun to have the opportunity to do some writing for Fantasy Hockey Geek and the Dobber Sports Network. Hopefully everybody has enjoyed the articles and used any insight I may have brought to help secure you a victory in your league. Now that the most leagues are pretty much done I want to take the opportunity to look back at some of the players I profiled and present my 2013 All-Geek Team.

Before I dive into it, I would like to clarify that I am not saying these guys are necessarily the best in the league or even the most valuable players in fantasy hockey. If you want to find that, then I would suggest checking out Angus' incredible Prime Cuts series. The All-Geek Team is simply a compilation of players who I profiled early this season who (if you acted on) would surely be helping your team to victory. Without further ado, I give you the 2013 All-Geek Team:

In this article I will be referencing players' value in two league formats: Yahoo! Standard (12 team league 2xC, 2xRW, 2xLW, 4xD measuring G, A, +/-, PPP, SOG, PIM) and Dobber Pro (12 team league 4xC, 4xRW, 4xLW, 6xD, measuring G, A, +/-, PPP, SOG, Hit). All numbers are as of Wed April 25th.

D1: PK Subban

As the first ever Geek of the Week, I will always hold a special spot for PK Subban. Back in September, I wrote about how Subban was severely underrated in leagues of most formats even if you assumed that he wouldn't improve on his 2011-12 production and I added that Subban was especially attractive because he has the upside to provide even more. Well PK didn't disappoint with a Norris-caliber 2013 season, dominating most common fantasy categories with elite production from the back end:

Subban has amassed 36 points in 40 games (74pt pace) with an exceptional 23 of them coming on the man advantage. He is the 3rd overall defenseman in SOG, he is sporting a very respectable +13 and he is continuing to provide PIMs at a high rate, while also chipping in with more than a hit per game. Back in September I suggested "reaching" for Subban in the 4th or 5th round. Today, FHG calculates Subban as the #1 most valuable player in a Yahoo! standard league and the #4 most valuable player in the entire Dobber Pro league. As it turns out, drafting Subban in the 5th would not have been a reach at all – it would have been a steal!

D2: Cody Franson

My Cody Franson article came out in late February when he had already potted 11 points for the blue and white. I wouldn't for a second claim that I predicted his break out season, but I was able to identify his great value fairly early on – he was only 28% owned when the article was published compared to 60% owned today (which is still WAY too low). Let's take a look at how he has come in this season.

Since the article was published, Franson has piled on another 17 points in 27 games (a 52 point pace),while continuing to tack on impressive peripheral stats. For the season, he is the 22 nd most valuable player and 3rd most valuable defenceman in the Dobber Pro League. In a Yahoo! standard league, his value falls to 78th since his PIM contributions are far less than his hit contributions. Even in the Yahoo! standard league though, his ranking places him as the 23rd most valuable d-man which is an incredible return for a guy who was largely undrafted and widely available at the time he was named Geek of the Week.

Defense honorable mention: Dan Boyle (still providing big fantasy value despite lower scoring numbers)

LW: Chris Kunitz

PK Subban wasn't my biggest "hit" on the season then Chris Kunitz certainly was. The Kunitz article came out on Jan 27th, 3 games (and 2 points) into the season. I actually relied mostly on 2011-12 data to show how Kunitz provided tremendous value as a multi-cat guy who was being drafted on average in the 13th round. Let's take a look at how Kunitz now looks coming down the home stretch:

Kunitz has surpassed the expectations of the entire fantasy hockey community. He has continued to provide the solid across the board value that I pointed to in my original article but he has also added a point explosion that I certainly did not see coming. His 50 points put him at 8 th in the entire league surpassing known scoring dynamos such as Backstrom, Toews, Tavares, Giroux as well as both Sedins. Running his numbers in FHG shows us that Kunitz is the 6th most valuable player in a Yahoo! standard league and the 2nd most valuable player in the Dobber Pro League (where I drafted him 145th overall! ) If you were able to draft/acquire Kunitz early on, there is a great chance you are near the top of your league.

LW Honorable Mention: Evander Kane (Personal favorite who would have certainly been my pick if not for Kunitz' ridiculous season)

RW: Alexander Semin

When I wrote my Alexander Semin article, it included games until the end of Feb and he had amassed in 16 points in 19 games and I outlined how that output was tremendous value for a guy who was drafted 140th on average and still available in 13% of Yahoo! leagues. Taking a deep dive inside his shot totals and PP time advised to "treat Semin as a point per game player for the remainder of the season who will score at a 30 goal pace." Since then, Semin has piled on another 28 points in 25 games with nine of those points being goals which is a 29.5 goal pace. Here is how his overall numbers now look:

Semin is coming in as the 13th most valuable player in a Yahoo! standard league. His point per game scoring rate is complimented nicely by over a PIM per game, his shot total is 12 th in the league and he has put up an impressive +14 on a Carolina team that has allowed 27 more goals than it has scored. In the Dobber Pro league his value falls to 42nd overall because of the inclusion of hits, but even as the 42nd best player in the league he is providing huge value compared to where managers were valuing him early in the season. If you were able to buy-low on this guy then you have to be happy with your pickup.

RW honorable mention: Alex Ovechkin (I outlined last week how Ovi is actually the most valuable fantasy player this season, but Semin is a guy who provided elite production at a bargain basement price)

C: Mike Ribeiro

My original Ribeiro article was a bit of a unique one, in that I was using Fantasy Hockey Geek to address the specific needs of my personal keeper team. The article came out before the season started and if you recall, I was trying to find a centre who could help my team that was low on As, PPPs and Hits. Let's see how Ribeiro panned out for me:

Ribeiro has managed to step up in a big way in Washington, scoring at a point per game pace. His 25 powerplay points currently lead the league and his 34 assists rank 4th and he has managed to chip in with over a hit per game as well, which isn't common for a scoring centre. Ribeiro is the 31 st most valuable player in the Dobber Pro league and the 21st most valuable in a Yahoo! standard league and he has done all of this as a guy who had an average draft position in the 12th round. Ribby managed to help me in all of the ways I thought he would and then some. Hopefully he was able to do the same for you.

C honorable mention: Derek Stepan (I struggled on who to pick here since I actually prefer Stepan to Ribeiro, but I had to pick Ribeiro since he came through in the exact categories I was looking for)

And there you have it, the 2013 All-Geek Fantasy Hockey Team. These are all players who were drafted on average in the 8th round or later (or not drafted at all). As I mentioned, these are not the best players in the league but they do represent some of the best value in the league and if you were able to get any of these guys at their ADP, your team certainly benefited from the addition. Let's take one quick look at how these five guys stack up relative to some of the less Geek-friendly (but bigger name) players who were all drafted in the first 7 rounds:

Big Name Player Team

All-Geek Team

You can see from comparing the above scenarios, the All-Geek team outperforms the sample "big name" team in six of the seven most commonly measured fantasy categories. Every single player on the All-Geek team had an ADP that is later than that of each big-name player but they collectively brought more to the table in 2013. This is the power of Fantasy hockey Geek – finding value in your league to have a step up on your competition. In the comparison above, I obviously hand-picked some of the lower value big names to illustrate a point – but imagine if in the first seven rounds of your draft you went with some more high value guys such as (Ovechkin, Rask, Zetteberg, Byfuglien, Backstrom, Boyle, Anderson) and THEN you added the All-Geek Team in rounds 8-12? Your team would be virtually unstoppable.

Again, thanks for reading throughout this season. Hopefully I was able to provide some insight and buy low opportunities to help you all to a league championship! I do recognize that not all of the players I profiled have turned out to be as valuable as these five, so next week I plan on taking a look at a few of the misses to see where I went wrong and why those guys under delivered.

Fantasy Hockey Geek provides great tools for you to identify these types of players prior to your draft and throughout the season. With each of these players on the All-Geek squad, FHG allowed me to identify a great opportunity while they were being drafted late, un-owned and under-valued by rival managers. To find guys like this on your own, you need to get on Fantasy Hockey Geek today!