It's time to empty the mailbag for the final time not just in 2020 but also, fingers crossed, before the 2020-21 season begins. For new readers, this is a column where I answer your fantasy hockey questions while also giving advice that should be useful to all poolies even if they don't own the specific players being discussed. As a reminder, if you want your fantasy hockey question answered in the next mailbag, check out the end of the column, where I explain the ways to get it to me and as well as the details you should provide. The earlier you send me a question the more likely it is to be included, and the deeper dive I can provide with my reply.

Question #7 (from Eric)

I'm in a 12-team dynasty league with rosters of 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 2G and four bench spots. Each team gets seven keepers and goalies command a huge premium. For contest, last season three goalies were drafted in the 1st round. But goalie scoring has been slightly tweaked for 2020-21, as the new categories are GS, W, SV, -L, -GA. Here are my goalie keeper choices: Ilya Samsonov, Darcy Kuemper, Jacob Markstrom, and Sergei Bobrovsky. I assuredly want to keep two, but I could also see keeping three as it will be easier to find skaters to plug in than goalies.

Your goalie categories are interesting, in that they both reward (SV) and punish (-L, -GA) goalies who play a lot. I really like Kuemper, who's shown more than enough to prove he's a top tier goalie, what with the highest QS% last season by a wide margin. I also don't trust Antii Raanta's health one iota. After Kuemper it gets tougher, as I can make a case to keep or not keep the other three.

The Caps clearly want Samsonov to take the ball and run with it, as evidenced by signing Henrik Lundqvist, who was going to be more of a mentor than anything else, and now, after Lundqvist had to bow out, with them not rushing to sign another veteran. What worries me about Samsonov are his numbers since coming to North America have been just so-so, and in all his glory years in Russia, he never played more than 27 games. Plus Washington is in win-now mode, so he'll have pressure on his shoulders. And he's only played 26 more NHL games than likely back-up Vitek Vanecek, who fared better in the AHL last season than Samsonov did in 2018-19. All that having been said, Samsonov is the youngest of the four, so keeping him with the potential of hitting a long-term home run is tempting.

Markstrom, after years of waiting in the wings and then easing into the role of a true #1, is now "the guy" for Calgary, a team that figures to be above average or even better for a number of years. But for all his offseason hype his 2019-20 stats were just okay, finishing 11th in Wins and SV% and 22nd in GAA among goalies who played in 30+ games last season. Also, we know from what happened to Bob that post-UFA complacency is a real thing. Still, though, he's a locked-in #1, which is a rarity in the NHL.

As for Bob, his 2019-20 was a disaster that wrecked many a fantasy team's season. Let's not forget that Bobrovsky already had a lousy season in his career, however, with a GAA of 2.75 and SV% of .908 back in 2015-16. What did he do the following year? Win the Vezina! And speaking of the Vezina, in winning two by age 30 Bobrovsky joined a very elite club, with Martin Brodeur, Dominik Hasek and Ed Belfour as the most recent members, and each of them had at least five more 30+ win seasons from age 32 onward, suggesting Bob is primed for a bounce-back and for successful years to come.

If it was me, I'd indeed keep three of these goalies, as chances are third goalie keeper will be worth more than an extra skater. Who would be the one I omit? It's Samsonov. I worry that he's showing he's not well equipped for the North American game, plus Washington's core is ageing and they likely have another couple of years before they need to retool/rebuild. Yes, you might miss out on what turns out to be a great young netminder, but I'll take surer things in Bob and Markstrom over him. Good luck!

Question #8 (from Stephen)

My 10-team keeper league allows us to keep one player at each position, with the remainder of the team being drafted. I currently have Nathan MacKinnon (C), David Pastrnak (RW) and Roman Josi (D) as locked in keepers and need to pull the trigger on my LW, with the choices being Steven Stamkos and J.T. Miller. Our league counts G, A, Pts, PPP, PIM, Shots, Hits, Blocks and FOW as skater categories.

While I still believe a Stammer can produce elite numbers, there is the ongoing injury concern which, now with Kucherov being out for the season, is causing me to hesitate on picking him as my keeper. Meanwhile, JT had a breakout year last season and it is possible that he ascends even higher this coming season if, as expected, he sticks on the top line and maintains PP1 status. His upside is very attractive from a keeper perspective.

So the question boils down to this: move on from Stammer on the basis that his glory-days may now be behind him and bet big on the potential upside that Miller offers, or stick with Stammer and hope that he has another big season in him? What's your take?

It might be tempting to worry about Stamkos due to his age, as well as the fact that the Bolts were able to thrive in the postseason without him, plus him coming back from an injury. But this is a guy who scored at a 90+ point pace in each of the past three seasons, and 95+ in each of the past two! Despite his health problems he could be like Alex Ovechkin and continue to be a top-tier player well into his 30s. And let's also not forget Stamkos came back from a serious injury before when many were prepared to write him off, plus he'll be a bigger focal point with Kucherov out for at least the regular season.

Miller is great too – don't get me wrong. What's especially alluring about him is he has realistic room to score more, as his ice time and SOG rates both still can grow in the normal course. He's also playing on a Vancouver team with a superb core of players who are all under age 30, and, like Miller, have room to improve still further.

What concerns me though is Miller's IPP is lower than Stamkos' while his secondary assists percentage is higher. What this suggests is while Miller can – and should – improve, he might not have what it takes to be a 90+ point player, whereas Stamkos should be able to continue to produce at that level, even if the Bolts are without Kucherov. You also have a nice group of younger forward keepers, so that will balance things if you hold Stamkos. I'm keeping Stammer here. Good luck!

Question #9 (from Glen)

I’m in a bit of a bind with my goaltending situation, as I must pick a third goalie from the following list: Marc-Andre Fleury, Sergei Bobrovsky, or Alexander Georgiev. The goalie categories and scoring are as follows: Wins (0.25), SV % (0.5), Shutouts (0.25). 

With the upcoming condensed season, including back to backs, five games in ten nights, etc., I’m thinking Fleury in a 1B situation could still have value on a stacked Vegas team, even if his long term upside is limited. However, I know the long term upside is limited, which makes me wonder if Bob is the right way to go. Was last year an anomaly? Do you feel he bounces back? Or could Georgiev also be viable as a 1B in New York?

I have Andrei Vasilevskiy and Frederik Andersen as my first and second goalies, so picking the right third goalie gives me protection in case of injury. I’m also going into a rebuild after this season, so I’ll be looking to trade away my goalies for future assets. 

So let me get this straight – you already have Vas and Andersen as keepers? In that case, there might be a lure in holding Fleury, whom you can plug in for spot starts. The issue is, though, that Fleury likely will be done in the NHL after his contract expires in 2022, so he's a temporary fix. Georgiev also is a spot start option on what should be a very good Rangers team. But if it comes down to Fleury or Georgiev, I'd say Fleury has the advantage.

Still, of the three I'm going with Bob since, as I indicated above, on paper, he is a strong candidate to rebound. Plus I like the idea of three #1 guys, as that give you tons of roster flexibility, plus if indeed Bob bounces back to being a top tier goalie then he give you a lot of value when it comes to trading as part of your rebound, whereas Fleury and Georgiev would fetch you next to nothing. Good luck!

Question #10 (from Ben)

I play in a 16 Team, H2H, keep nine league. Weekly roster is 9F, 4D, 2G, plus 5 bench, with categories of G, A, PPP, +/-, PIM, W and GAA. We have a salary cap of $55M and players are signed to three-year contracts at varying amounts in $0.5M increments based on our draft. Without going into too much detail, the draft is a combination of an auction and descending value rounds resulting in players of varying salaries.

I have Artemi Panarin ($7.0M), Roman Josi ($5.5M), Carter Hart ($1.0M), J.T. Miller ($2.5M), Kevin Fiala ($0.5M) pretty much locked in as keepers, and need to keep four of the following: Travis Konecny ($2.0M), Miro Heiskanen ($0.5M), Nazem Kadri ($3.0M), Timo Meier ($0.5M), Pavel Buchnevich ($0.5M), Pierre-Luc Dubois ($1.0M), Jaroslav Halak ($1.0M), and Tomas Tatar ($0.5M).

Salaries are not a huge concern, as they can be worked around when I draft the rest of my team. For better or worse, PIM play an important role in our league and Kadri is on this list because of his ability to contribute in that area. I'm considering Halak as well since he will likely see a good amount of time in the Bruins’ net, which should mean good stats and he’s on a reasonable salary, but I could bump him in favor of a skater who might be in line for a breakout. Starting goalies in our league often go for $9.0-11.0M in the draft. Given all this, which four would you keep?

What I'd do first is decide which players are great on paper and would not be available for anywhere near the same price. The two who fit the bill are Konecny and Heiskanen. So they're two of my keepers.

As for number three, I'm definitely not taking Halak. Yes, he has carved out a very successful niche as a back-up goalie in Boston; but I can't see a case for keeping him over two of these other players, most of whom, to me, represents a better combination of cost and/or upside. Meier also is not a keep given SOG and Hits are not categories; he also had a down season, which means his cost probably won't be much more than $0.5M.

After that, it gets much murkier. Tatar had a great season; however, he likely overachieved given his higher than usual shooting percentage and 53.8% secondary assist rate. I also happen to think others in your league would not covet him, making it so his redraft cost, although above his keeper cost, would not be as far above as the redraft cost of your other options. So I don't think he's a keep.

That leaves Kadri, Buchnevich and PLD for the last two spots. Buchnevich is a lock to me, as not only is he cheapest but I think he could be a point per game player. In fact, he already was one if you combine his first 19 games and last 20 games of the season. And he was sizzling as the regular season ended, with eight points in six games, 19 SOG, and heaps of PP time, in the process solidifying his place on a line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, plus on PP1. So he's keeper #3.

Kadri's PIM are superb, plus the second line on Colorado looks like it will be quite potent and Kadri also has the edge for a spot on the all-important PP1. But is he worth three times as much as PLD? Dubois had a great playoff and is entering his magical fourth year; but he's on Columbus, which is nowhere near the offensive team as the Avs. All things considered, I probably keep Kadri over him, based on what you're saying about PIM plus Kadri's chances of hitting 65 points and 15 PPPts to go along with those PIM. So my four additional keepers are Konecny, Heiskanen, Kadri, and Buchnevich. Good luck!

Question #11 (from Soum)

I'm in a points-only, nine-team, non-cap keeper. After training camp, rosters must be 19 players, of which stats for the best 9F, 4D and1G count. Because I won the league last year, I only get to keep eight players, versus 11 for the other teams. Offseason trading is allowed and has occurred in the past. From the following, who are your eight keeps?

Forwards: David Pastrnak, Auston Matthews, Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Matthew Tkachuk, Anthony Mantha, Travis Konecny, Brock Boeser
Defensemen: Roman Josi, Victor Hedman, Morgan Rielly, Zach Werenski, P.K. Subban, Ivan Provorov
Goalies: Connor Hellebuyck Igor Shesterkin and Carter Hart, for whom I have a no steal clause so I don't technically "need" to protect a goalie

Let me just say this team is STACKED! You'll definitely want to trade the excellent players you can't keep, as no question they'd fit into the top 11 of most if not all of the other teams in your league. Also, you should take some solace in that although you're losing these players you were able to get them in the first place, which is a testament to your skill at fantasy hockey. In other words, if you could build a great team like this once, you can certainly do it again despite only being able to keep three fewer players than all other teams.

I'm not sure what you mean about goalies, but let's start there. Keep Hellebuyck and Hart and you're all set. Try to shop Shesterkin, as the hype surrounding him is high enough that someone will be willing to give you a nice pick in return in hopes of locking down a premier goalie of the future. But you already have two of those, so don't lose sleep over not keeping Igor.

On defense I'm keeping Josi, who made the leap last season and – as I pointed out in my most recent Goldipucks column – whose metrics and data suggest his scoring shouldn't drop in 2020-21. Hedman also has to be kept, as he's scored at a 63+ point pace over each of the past four seasons. Not only has no other defensemen done that, but only four rearguards have done it three times and only another two have done it twice! He's as rock-solid as they come, and a cornerstone keeper. Rielly should rebound, but you simply have too many great forwards to keep him. He's trade bait too, and, as with Shesterkin, you'll get plenty of interested GMs when you put him on the block. You could even dangle Provorov, as although he's all but assured to see his numbers drop what with the acquisition of Erik Gustafsson, some other GMs still might think he's on the fast track to being a Shea Weber or Drew Doughty and will pay accordingly.

As for your forwards, all I can say is they're amazing. Pasta and Matthews are must keeps because they are already the best of the bunch and still could improve given their ages and roles. After that, it gets a whole lot more difficult. You're not going to want to keep Mantha, Boeser, Konecny, or Tkachuk since they are the only ones for whom point per game production is not assured.

Now, all we have to do is pick three from Aho, Svechnikov, Scheifele, Connor and Laine, and I think it's actually not very close. My first cut is Laine, as he's not in a good situation until/unless he gets traded, and I wouldn't keep Scheifele either, as although he's one of only seven players to produce point per game numbers in each of the past four seasons his high was 1.04 points per game. He's an 80-85 point player, without further upside, whereas Aho, Svechnikov and Connor all could be 90+ point players. So Laine and Scheifele go on the block, along with all the great forwards you, unfortunately, can't afford to keep. So my list of eight is Hellebuyck, Josi, Hedman, Pastrnak, Matthews, Aho, Svechnikov and Connor. If somehow I was incorrect and you don't need to keep a goalie, I'd probably go with Rielly as the last keeper. Good luck in your league and in the many trades you'll be able to make to get something for the excellent players you're not able to keep.

Question #12 (from Travis)

I'm in a 12 Team H2H keep four league. Positions are 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 3D, 1UTIL, 2G plus 4 bench. Categories are G, A, +/-, PIM, PPPts, SHPts, SOG, FOW, HIT, BLK. W, GAA, SV%, SO. My roster is:

 
Forwards – Artemi Panarin, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mark Scheifele, Jamie Benn, Brock Nelson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Ryan Strome, Tomas Tatar, David Perron
Defensemen – Brent Burns, Darnell Nurse, Jeff Petry, Mikael Sergachev
Goalies – Marc-Andre Fleury, Tristan Jarry, Anton Khudobin.

My question is, which four do I keep? Teams usually keep at least one goalie and one defenseman. But since now MAF is likely a backup or a 1B, I'm not sure about him as a keeper. And with Bishop hurt, Khudobin will be starter until he's back; but not sure if he's keeper-worthy since he'll be 1B when Bishop is back, most likely. Or even Jarry now that he is the starter. And Burns had a down year; is he keeper worthy now? What do you think?

Let's start with forwards since that's easiest – Panarin and Huberdeau. Right there you get guys who are seventh and ninth in the entire NHL in total points over the past two seasons. That's the kind of locked-in production you want when you can only keep four skaters.

If you want to keep a d-man, it should be Burns. Petry's stats are nice for this league, but you can't keep him over Burns due to name value and redraft. Do I think Burns can get back to 75+ points, or even 70? Unlikely; however, 60-65 seems doable as he had a 53 point pace last season and that was despite a 50.6% IPP after having an IPP of 58-63% in each of the prior five seasons. He also saw his OZ% drop quite a bit. And although part of that was due to San Jose's struggles as a team, it should creep back up again. And my feeling too is he's helped, not hurt, by the presence of Erik Karlsson, as they form a 1-2 punch on the PP and as it so happens Burns' worst stats last season came when Karlsson didn't play, especially three points in the last nine games of the season when Burns had to log 28 minutes a night and play in all situations. With Karlsson back to health, Burns should see an improvement too.

As for your goalies, it's close between Jarry and Khudobin because of your categories. Pittsburgh is all in on Jarry, as not only did they trade Matt Murray but they don't have a back-up goalie who one could even call a 1B. Jarry figures to be among the leaders in appearances, which will help with wins as well as shutouts; but two of your categories – GAA and SV% – reward skill as much as playing time. And we saw from Khudobin during the playoffs that he's capable of shouldering a heavy load. But for all the rightful praise Khudobin received, his GAA and SV% in the playoffs were well below not only his regular-season numbers but those of Jarry as well. Plus, as you said, Bishop should be back at some point, at which time Khudobin should return to being a 1B. It's close, but I'd go with Jarry. If you feel strongly about keeping Khudobin too, swap him in for Burns. Good luck!

Question #13 (from Steve)

12 Team Roto Keeper; 4C, 4LW, 4RW, 6D, 2G, Bench; 3 FA adds per week; 8 Keepers; 10 minors (skaters <83 GP, Goalies <51 GP); Categories: G, A, P, PPP, SOG, FOW, +/-, Hits, Blk, W, SV, SV%, GAA.

My eight keepers are Aleksander Barkov, Mika Zibanejad, Alex Ovechkin, Brady Tkachuk, Patrick Kane, Blake Wheeler, Andrei Svechnikov, John Carlson, and Connor Hellebuyck; my minors guys are Alexis Lafreniere, Quinton Byfield, Jack Hughes, Kaapo Kakko, Kirill Kaprizov, Kailer Yamamoto, Nikita Gusev, Philip Tomasino, Cale Makar, Evan Bouchard, Ilya Samsonov, Ilya Sorokin.

We have a 16 Round Draft. In round 1 I pick fourth overall), in round 2 I pick 17th overall, in round 3 I pick 25th overall), plus I have four picks in each of rounds four and five.

My question is who would you draft 4th overall in our re-draft? The realistic options are (don't worry about the 3 picks before me, as I already know those and have excluded their names): Elias Lindholm, Teuvo Teravainen, Jonathan. Toews, Anze Kopitar, Alex DeBrincat, Darnell Nurse, Ryan, Pulock, Jacob, Markstrom, Semyon Varlamov.

I'll say what most everyone else is thinking after having read that – your team is LOADED. I was wowed by your keepers, then I got to your minors guys and it's like you literally have the best of the best in terms of young players and prospects. And then there are all those draft picks! Your problem isn't figuring out what to do with the 4th overall pick this year, but how many great players you won't be able to keep once your minors guys graduate.

In your shoes, I'm going with a goalie with the pick. Yes, you already have a cornerstone netminder in Hellebuyck plus two in the minors who have high expectations, but the truth is you can never have too many goalies in fantasy, especially given this season when there figure to be fewer guys starting the lion's share of their team's regular-season games plus limited divisional play. Streaming will be very key. You're also amply set in terms of skaters.

The question thus becomes, do you take Varlamov, who'd give you both Islander netminders playing for a goalie-friendly coach, or Markstrom, a clear cut #1 but who could be at risk of a post-UFA letdown? In your shoes, I'm taking Markstrom. For one, even playing on Long Island Varlamov's stats were just okay for 2019-20, and Sorokin is untested. Also, while Samsonov is seemingly being handed the reins as the #1 guy in Washington, I mentioned above he's no lock to be as great as advertised. You need the most proven guy, and that's Markstrom, who also should do better playing in the all Canada division. 

I'll note that you listed 12 minors guys and said that you can only keep ten. Although you didn't ask me which of the ten you should keep, my two odd guys out would be Tomasino and Bouchard, with the reason being you have better options at each position; and notwithstanding what I said above, it's too risky not to keep both of the goalies due to their potential and the limited player pool at that position. Good luck, although with your keepers and plethora of picks I'm not sure you need it.

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One quick note – you'll see I had somewhat inconsistent views about certain players in one question versus another. The reason is due to different circumstances and underscores that what makes sense in one league might not necessarily make sense in all leagues.

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For those reading this now, it's never too early to start providing me with mailbag questions, which you can do in one of two ways: (1) by emailing them to [email protected] with the words "Roos Mailbag" as the subject line, or (2) by sending them to me via a private message on the DobberHockey Forums, where my username is "rizzeedizzee".

When sending me your questions, remember to provide as much detail about your league/situation as possible. Examples of things I need to know include what type of league you're in (i.e., limited keeper, dynasty, or one-year; roto vs H2H; auction – if so, what the budget is – or non-auction), how many teams are in the league, does the salary cap matter, how many players are rostered (and of those, how many starts at each position as well as how many bench and/or IR spots there are), what categories are scored and how are they weighted, plus other details if pertinent. If your question involves whether to pick up or drop a player, give me a list of top free agents available and let me know if the number of pick-ups is limited or if there is a priority system for pick-ups. If you're thinking of making a trade, it would be good to know not only the roster of the other team you might trade with but also where you stand in your categories. If your question involves keepers, in addition to giving me the options for who to keep, let me know if offseason trading is allowed and to what extent it is a viable option given your league. In sum, the key is to tell me enough for me to give you a truly proper answer, and for readers of this column to benefit from the answer/advice I provide. When in doubt, it's best to err on the side of inclusion since I can always omit or disregard things that don't matter.