Geek of the Week – Kevin Bieksa
Terry Campkin
2014-10-05
The Geek explains why Kevin Bieksa has a tonne of upside in PIM leagues.
We've spent a lot of time in recent weeks reviewing draft strategies/outcomes and how Fantasy Hockey Geek can help you to maximize your value at the draft table. For my money, that's the biggest value that FHG provides but FHG is also very good for looking at steady veterans and finding those who may be undervalued amongst your peers. Today we will look at one such player: Kevin Bieksa.
At the age of 33 and with 9 years of NHL experience, Bieksa should be a fairly well known commodity in fantasy circles, which makes me wonder why he is currently being drafted 166th overall as the 94th defenceman in Yahoo! leagues, slightly ahead of Ryan Murray and well behind the likes of Nik Hjalmarsson and Marc-Edouard Vlassic. I can think of a few reasons why this may be: people may question his durability, people may be down on the Canucks in general and people also might question his consistency. All three of these are legitimate concerns. Look at Bieksa's point per game average since he became an NHL regular:
From the chart above, you can see that Bieksa's production has been quite sporadic, ranging from 0.3 to 0.6 points per game. Over the past two seasons he has averaged only .32 points per game.
Here's the thing though: even at 0.32 points per game Bieksa still has value. Let's take a look at what his value was last year in a Yahoo! standard league (G, A, +/-, PPP, SOG, PIM)
| Rank | Name | Pos | G | A | +/- | PIM | SOG | PPP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82 | Brent Seabrook | D | 7 | 34 | 23 | 22 | 149 | 9 |
| 83 | Kevin Bieksa | D | 4 | 20 | -8 | 104 | 167 | 8 |
| 84 | Jakub Voracek | RW | 23 | 39 | 11 | 22 | 235 | 23 |
In a Yahoo! standard league, Bieksa was ranked as the 83rd most valuable player, right around a couple of players who are being drafted considerably higher than him.
So what makes Bieksa so valuable? The answer is easy: he racks up SOGs and PIMs at a rate that is very uncommon amongst defencemen. His 24 points last season are a disappointment to be sure, but he did offer some production and a good portion of what he provided came on the powerplay. The FHG math shows that his high end output in PIM and SOG make up for what he was lacking offensively. Essentially, FHG tells us here that vs. Seabrook, Bieksa’s additional 82PIMs and 18shots are approximately equal to the three goals and 14 assists that he is giving up.
Looking ahead to the coming season, I loaded the Dobber projections into FHG and Bieksa came out around the same area (87th most valuable). This makes sense, given that Dobber isn’t forecasting a major swing for Bieksa.
Related Posts
UPCOMING GAMES
| Nov 17 - 17:11 |
 CAR
| vs |
 STL | |
| Nov 17 - 20:11 |
 VGK
| vs |
 WSH | |
| Nov 17 - 21:11 |
 SEA
| vs |
 NYR | |
| Nov 17 - 22:11 |
 VAN
| vs |
 NSH
| |
Starting Goalies
Top Skater Views
ANA
DAL
COLTop Goalie Profile Views
T.B
WPG
EDM
LINE COMBOS
| Frequency |
 MTL Players
| |
|---|---|---|
| 19.8 | BRENDAN GALLAGHER CHRISTIAN DVORAK JOSH ANDERSON | |
| 18.3 | NICK SUZUKI JURAJ SLAFKOVSKY KIRBY DACH | |
| 18.0 | ALEX NEWHOOK JAKE EVANS COLE CAUFIELD | |
DobberHockey Podcasts
Fantasy Hockey Life: Corey Sznajder
Corey Sznajder of allthreezones.com joins the show to talk about how he tracks microstats and identifies a couple of players they might help them assess. Have a listen! Our show is part of the Dobber Podcast Network and sponsored by Fantrax.com. Email [email protected] and ask to join our free discord. Join our Patreon at Patreon.com/fantasyhockeylife […]
Keeping Karlsson: Matchup Maximizer Week 7
Jeremy subs in to look at the schedule for the upcoming week of NHL action and recommends some players with good schedules that you should consider streaming in to win your head to head matchups.
Keeping Karlsson Short Shifts – Permission To Cut
Jeremy and Shams cover the usual headlines and injuries but get your permission slips out as the second half of the show they cover a litany of suggested players from the Patreon community to give their input on whether it’s ok to cut that big name player off your fantasy team.
Keeping Karlsson: Ovi and Ovi Again
Elan and Brian disagree on what to do about a red hot Alex Ovechkin, celebrate the delayed arrival of one Oiler while waiting for another, consider forgiveness for a handful of goalies, and get panicked about a trio of power-play defensemen.
Fantasy Hockey Life: Kraftser’s Korner
In the first edition of Kraftser’s Korner, TiDy Co-commish and all-around smart guy Kraftser joins Victor to break down some fantasy hockey enigmas. Listen for in-depth discussion on Connor McMichael, Drake Batherson, Jamie Drysdale, and Brock Faber. Our show is part of the Dobber Podcast Network and sponsored by Fantrax.com. Email [email protected] and ask to […]