Vote on the Top Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey Player Riser and Faller (Draft Position, Year Over Year)

Free agency craziness has subsided and temperatures where you live are likely on the rise. But for those who planned on taking a fantasy hockey breather right around now – think again! It's time for the summer Cage Match Tournament!

You'll be voting to decide which NHLer's fantasy hockey draft position will increase the most in 2015-16 compared to 2014-15, as well as that player's counterpart, namely who'll see his draft position drop the most. In the end, we'll match the players you voted as biggest riser and biggest faller against each other, to see just who will have the biggest draft position change among all NHLers.

As with past tourneys, before we get to the players you'll actually be voting on (six brackets – three for risers and three for fallers), I'll go over the "ground rules." Be sure to read them so you can make the most of your vote! And lest you think this will be just a purely fun exercise, it'll also have a fantasy benefit, as after seeing the astute opinions of your fellow DooberHockey readers you'll be able to better predict where to slot these players in your own upcoming drafts.

Ground Rules

1) Skaters only, and just the top 200 Yahoo fantasy hockey draft picks from 2014-15

I've only included skaters who were drafted among the top 200 picks in 2014-15 Yahoo leagues. Why limit it? A good number of DobberHockey readers are in shallow leagues where fewer than 200 players are even owned, so this way everyone should be familiar with all the players. And I didn't include goalies because there weren't enough substantial risers or fallers to comprise a full bracket.

2) Base your voting on a league that counts G, A, +/-, Hits, PPP, SOG as equally weighted categories

While of course all of you play in a wide variety of leagues with different formats (Roto, H2H) and categories (multi-cat, points only, etc.), we have to ensure everyone is on the same voting page. Thus, we'll use equally weighted skater categories from the 2014-15 DobberHockey Expert League: Goals, Assists, +/-, Hits, Power Play Points (PPP), and Shots on Goal (SOG). Of course these categories won't align completely with those that went into 2014-15 Yahoo fantasy drafting, but they go beyond points only without getting into more obscure categories that aren't featured in most multi-cat leagues. Long story short, this can't be perfect, but I believe it's a good compromise.

3) Value the players as you would for a one year league (not a keeper)

You should treat this like you're drafting for a one year league, not a keeper, as if you look at the entire universe of fantasy leagues the reality is most aren't keepers. Plus, this way we can include veterans and youngsters alike.

4) Vote objectively

While you're likely to be tempted to vote for a player who really helped or hurt your team in particular, be sure to cast your vote objectively, rather than subjectively. In other words, to ensure the best results, vote with your head rather than your heart.

How Voting Will Work

Risers and fallers will each have three brackets – Center, Wingers, and Defensemen. Note that each bracket doesn't have the same exact number of players in it; and for players who were eligible both as a center and one or more winger positions, I either slotted them into whichever position would best help balance the number of players per categories or, if possible, to the position they mainly play.

You'll vote for one player in each bracket, with the top vote getter from each bracket – plus the three other highest vote totals from among the three risers brackets and three fallers brackets- advancing to round two (i.e., the quarterfinals), where the remaining six "risers" will face off, as will the six "fallers" who're left. Then in two weeks, we'll have the top two vote getters from the six risers meeting in the risers finals, and the same things happening with the six fallers. The lone survivor among the risers will then battle the lone survivor among the fallers, to crown an overall champion.

Per Dobber, all voting will take place in the Hockey Hockey Hockey area of the Forum. I'll put a direct link to vote for each bracket after the list of players in that particular bracket. Lastly, note that players are listed in each bracket with their 2014-15 Yahoo average draft position after their name, and in descending order of 2014-15 average draft position.