Welcome back to another edition of the Roos Lets Loose monthly mailbag, where I answer your fantasy hockey questions by 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(s) answered in the next mailbag, check out the end of the column, where I explain the ways to get it/them to me and as well as the details you should provide when sending. The earlier you send a question the more likely it is to be included in the mailbag, and the deeper dive I can provide with my reply.

Question #1 (from Jesse)

I'm in an 8 team, 7 keeper, H2H league with skater categories of G, A, PPPts, SOG, HIT, PIM, BLK, GWG and goalie categories of W, SV, SV%, GAA. I mortgaged the future a bit, leaving me without 3 of my first 4 picks next year. But I also realize I don't likely have the ingredients to win now; as such, I'd nevertheless like to make my keeps and trades (offseason ones are allowed) with the future in mind.

My for-sure keepers are: Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, Victor Hedman, Andrei Svechnikov, and Mika Zibanejad, which leaves 2 spots for the following: Elias Pettersson, Philipp Grubauer, Tyler Seguin, Max Pacioretty, Aaron Ekblad, Tyler Toffoli, and Marc-Andre Fleury. I also have Kirill Kaprizov, whom I can keep without him counting as a keeper due to how few games he's played.

With our league settings, surprisingly Pacioretty would have been my best player this year; but given his age, I'm hesitant to keep him. I know you have written about Pettersson being overrated but I lean towards keeping him and Grubauer. Would you agree? What are your thoughts on Seguin, Ekblad and Toffoli for next year? 

You're correct about my sentiments regarding Pettersson. Nevertheless, he probably makes sense given the other options you have and your desire to look ahead versus the here and now. He has the talent level to succeed, so perhaps he finds a way to do so. My biggest worry though is declining production even as his OZ% has increased, all the way to 75% for this season. That is incredibly high, so much so that there has to be concern about him finding a way not only to succeed but to do so without being so coddled by his team, as it's not realistic for any player to have that high of an OZ% long-term.

Grubauer also makes sense to keep on paper; however, name me the last high-profile UFA goalie who did even okay on his new team. First it was Sergei Bobrovsky who disappointed, then this season it was Jacob Markstrom. I went back a number of years and was literally unable to a single big money UFA netminder who didn't see his game worsen after changing teams and inking a new deal. Although past results aren't indicative of the present/future, that has to be a concern regarding Grubauer. Still, you might indeed opt to keep him and hope he defies the odds. The other option is to seize upon his superb 2020-21 and UFA hype and sell into it. Personally I'd opt for the latter, trying to get Ilya Sorokin, Juuse Saros or Thatcher Demko in return.

I also like Pacioretty as a sell. I talked about him in my most recent Goldipucks column in the entry about teammate Chandler Stephenson. There I noted that dating back to 2000-01 there are only nine other instances of players who, at age 32+, fired 3.5+ SOG per game while averaging 1.05 points per game. But whereas Pacioretty's prior career high in points pace was 76, with him only posting a scoring pace of 70+ twice, the other nine each scored 98+ points in at least one prior season, with several having done so on multiple occasions. If that's not enough to scream overachieving I don't know what is. Given this, and his age, in your shoes I'm looking into trading him in for sure.

Ekblad and Toffoli are both solid fantasy options who've seen improvements from where they were in past seasons. To me, however, each seems like a sell or, in view of your other options, a non-keep.

Even though he became Florida's PP1 QB before getting hurt, Ekblad didn't thrive in the role and his scoring rate for the season was essentially what is was in 2019-20. I think he has more real-life value than he ever will in fantasy. To put it another way, while he only was able to dress for 35 total games in 2020-21, that was enough to show he probably isn't going to become a truly high scoring rearguard, instead being more of a Ryan Suter type, namely good but never great in fantasy.

Toffoli definitely proved he was being held back while in LA. But his career best scoring pace from this season happened to coincide with an unsustainably high shooting percentage, such that I'd likely peg him instead as more of a 60 point player, particularly since he'll be 30 next season, meaning he's not going to get in the normal course.

Fleury could end up being the #1 in Vegas again. Or he could be dealt if Vegas tries to cash in on his strong season and considering that 2021-22 is his last contract year. Either way, and even with the concerns I have over Grubauer, I think he's not a safe keep based on your priorities.

Beyond the five definite keeps, about whom I have no argument, plus Pettersson, who is likely worth the risk under your circumstances, I'd try to trade one or more of Pacioretty, Grubauer, Ekblad and/or Toffoli to land on your last keeper plus some draft picks. Or you can risk going with Grubauer as your final keeper, hoping he finds a way to buck the recent UFA goalie disappointment trend, trading the rest for picks to restock yourself come draft day. Good luck!

Question #2 (from Jeffery)

I'm in a dynasty league where we can protect 8 players from a "steal" that every team gets to make from one other team – that is, every year each team gets to "steal" one player from another team but also has one player "stolen" from their team. My team is rebuilding, with a goal of contending in two or three seasons. I'm allowed to protect Cody Glass, Alexis, Lafreniere, Nick Robertson, Owen Tippett and Alexander Holtz for free due to their games played. The players from which I need to choose 8 to protect from the steal round are: Tyler Seguin, Rickard Rakell, Kevin Fiala, Jakub Vrana, Dillon Dube, Anthony Duclair, Jeff Skinner, Janne Kuokkanen, Ilya Mikheyev, Alexei Melnichuk, Veini Vehvilainen. Who would you protect and leave exposed, again keeping in mind my rebuilding plan/timetable?

You only need to not protect three of what I count as 11 players? Given those you have to choose from, it seems this is a very deep league. Accordingly, players you shouldn't keep are those who are poor producers without any realistic upside; and fortunately I think you do have three who fit the bill.

My first non-keep would be Mikheyev. Toronto seems to have soured on having him occupy a top six spot, which has rendered him virtually useless and, at the same time, destroying his trade value even though he plays for the high profile Leafs. The next is Skinner. Yes, his contract makes it so he should continue to get chances; however, he's taking a path similar to that of teammate Kyle Okposo and there is little hope he rediscovers his game given what we've seen over the last two seasons and with him set to turn 30 during the 2021-22 campaign. For the last non-keep, as difficult as it might be to potentially lose a goalie in what seems to be a very deep league, I think Vehvilainen doesn't make the cut. He's 24 and objectively has done nothing to show he's better than a depth/AHL goalie.

In terms of your rebuild, I'd plan to trade Hronek next season, as although as I've said before in my columns he's tracking the career trajectory of Cam Fowler (or Alex Goligoski or Tyler Myers), I'm sure some GM in your league will assign him more value due to potential he or she sees in him. Accordingly it's best to trade Hronek sooner rather than later, before it becomes apparent that he's likely at or near his realistic ceiling. Rakell will be a UFA after 2021-22, so he can be traded either during the season or the offseason, whenever hype is highest. Seguin you also want to turn into assets as I worry between his age, coming back from injury, and the emergence of Roope Hintz he might be deemphasized. Don't rush to move him – try and wait until he plays at a level where others can be convinced he's still the Seguin or old. Most likely Duclair should be traded too at some point; but he doesn't have the same name value as the others, so you'll need to do so when he's on a hot streak, even more so than Seguin. Good luck!

Question #3 (from Yung)

I'm in a 16 team, non-cap, keep 31 league. Normally we have rosters of 38 players (no IR); however, to deal with the craziness of this season we expanded to 41, which means I need to drop ten players. Our categories are G, A, Pts, PPPts, SHP, PIM, +/-, GAA, SV%, SO.

My issue is I missed the trade deadline for our league and as a result I have too many keepable assets. Offseason trading is allowed; however, my fellow GMs must sense the quandary I'm in, as I've not had much success shopping players except for Tom Wilson and Dougie Hamilton, both of whom I'd rather keep. Also, the plan under which I've been operating is a 4-5 year rebuild, and I'm roughly at the halfway point. My roster is:

F – Adam Beckman, Andrew Copp, Alex DeBrincat, Jake DeBrusk, Pavel Dorofeyev, Robbi Fabbri, Morgan Frost, Aleksi Heponiemi, Arthur Kaliyev, Ondrej Kase, Vitali Kravtsov, Kirill Marchenko, Andrew Mangiapane, Alex Newhook, Cole Perfetti, Lucas Raymond, Jason Robertson, Marco Rossi, Tim Stutzle, Andrei Svechnikov, Troy Terry, Tage Thompson, Tom Wilson, Zayde Wisdom, Kailer Yamamoto

D – Adam Boqvist, Erik Brannstrom, David Farrance, Adam Fox, Nicolas Hague, Dougie Hamilton, Zachary Jones, Mikko Lehtonen, Ryan Merkley, Moritz Seider, Shea Theodore

G – Justus Annunen, Yaroslav Askarov, Mackenzie Blackwood, Pavel Francouz, Alexei Melnichuk

To make matters worse, not only do I have to cut ten players, but I have five picks this year in the top 33. With my 31 keepers that will leave me with two open roster spots to try and ensure I field a legal roster week to week next season unless a lot of prospects take a step forward.

Any suggestions on what I should do?

This team looks like it has the right pieces for a rebuild, although perhaps you might be more like four seasons away from contending rather than two or three, as you don't have a lot of guys age 23-26 who project to be in their sweet spot in a couple of years. At this point probably best to push ahead with what you have rather than try to expedite things, as that could risk the whole thing falling apart. I'm not sure why you're worried about fielding a "legal" roster – is there a penalty if you have players on your roster who aren't playing actual NHL games? If so I can understand why you'd be concerned. Otherwise, however, I don't see it as a negative or an impediment to your master plan.

I'm not surprised to hear that other GMs are most interested in Wilson and Hamilton. Wouldn't you be if you were them? And guess what – I'd think strongly about moving both.

Yes, Wilson is a monster in this league; however, his value likely won't increase much from where it is now. Plus, by the time you're emerging from your rebuild he should be on the decline given his rough and tumble style and no longer having a strong supporting cast. Trade him and don't look back.

Hamilton is 28 years old, so he too likely won't pay dividends for you one you're done rebuilding. The issue is whether his value is high enough now to trade him, as although he had 31 points in 36 games to end the season he started with 11 in 19, so his season-long stats aren't as superb. Also, your league does not count SOG, where he shines. He's a UFA, so there's hype now; however, he could be great on a new team and perhaps even more valuable this time next season. Then again, this is a guy who could be on his fourth team by 2021-22 and has had questions about his dedication. Given your dilemma it probably does make sense to field offers for him. Worst comes to worst you just reject them and hold Hamilton with the intent to move him just before or during the season, or even this time next year.

As for your drops, I'll go position by position. Blackwood and Askarov are must keeps. Melnichuk could be in the San Jose picture this season, and Annunen might have a path to the NHL if Philipp Grubauer opts to sign as a UFA elsewhere. Then again, both didn't fare well at the AHL level so it might be they end up as merely depth goalies. Francouz has experience and had a solid season; however, he's signed only for this coming season and it's doubtful he's put into the position to be the starter for a team like Colorado which should be competing for the Cup. Probably best to hold Francouz on the off chance he ends up being the starter, at which point you could ransom him off. Therefore, Annunen or Melnuchuk would be a non-keep, probably Melnichuk as he's older and San Jose looks like a team that's got several years of struggling ahead of it.

On defense, I see the surefire keeps as Boqvist, Brannstrom, Fox, Hamilton (if not traded), Seider and Theodore. Lehtonen is 27 years old and not very highly regarded. I see him as an easy drop. Hague is an NHLer already and faring okay, so probably he should be kept. Of the remaining three I think Jones is the odd man out, as from where I sit he's not as highly touted as Merkley or Farrance.

At forward, the locks to keep are DeBrincat, Frost, Newhook, Perfetti, Raymond, Robertson, Rossi, Stuetzle, Svechnikov, Wilson (if not traded), and Yamamoto. I'm getting rid of Kase, as he's no longer that young and injuries clearly have taken their toll. It's a long shot he even becomes an impactful NHLer at this point. And guess what – the same can basically be said about Fabbri, so he too isn't a keep. Copp had a great 2020-21, and it surprises me he can't be moved in a league this deep. If you can't trade him though, I'd not keep him as it's not clear he's as good as what we saw and he likely will be post-peak once you emerge from your rebuild. I'm also not keeping DeBrusk either, as his best season is an outlier due to his SH% and he's not forcing the issue on the Bs. Yes, they'll need someone to step in once their older players retire; but it doesn't appear DeBrusk has what it takes to become an impactful player in the NHL. Troy Terry also might not be worth a spot, as although unlike the others he hasn't reached his breakout threshold, I'm still not sold given what he's done thus far.

If it seems like I'm "picking on" the older players that's not intentional – I'd like nothing more than to recommend you keep them as most are in that age 23-26 sweet spot. However, it doesn't make sense to hold them given what they have to offer now and, more importantly, once you're emerging from your long rebuild.

The remaining forwards are all legitimate prospects, although Wisdom doesn't have the pedigree as the others. That being said, he's also the youngest. Still, I'd probably let him go. The last non-keep would be Beckman, Dorofeyev and Marchenko. Probably I let Marchenko go, as there's a non-zero chance he stays in Russia, whereas the other two are already in the AHL.

The ten drops would be Melnichuk, Lehtonen, Jones, Kase, Copp, Fabbri, DeBrusk, Terry, Wisdom, and Marchenko. If you disagree with any of those, feel free to swap them out for one or more of the "close call" guys I discussed above. Yes, this leaves your team very young; however, hopefully by trading Wilson and/or Hamilton (plus perhaps Copp) you make you can get some "sweet spot" guys who are good to very good now and project to be great in a few years when you're emerging from your rebuild.

One final thing to keep in mind is the idea – noted in your question – that when you're rebuilding it can seem difficult to get proper value for the players you trade. After all, your fellow GMs are smart enough to sniff out your plans and, accordingly, will do their best to play hardball. You hold more cards than you might think though, as the number of teams actively rebuilding usually is outnumbered by those who are trying to strengthen their core to put themselves in a position to win. One of the best ways to help one's team is to make deals with rebuilding teams to get players who can help them win now, even if it means parting with players who will pay dividends in the future. Although the offseason often isn't the best time to trade as part of a rebuild, since teams aren't actively competing, you should still do your best to get a buzz going for your guys and pit the competitive GMs against each other, making it so they want to make a deal with you or risk losing out on a valuable asset. Good luck!

Question #4 (from Adam)

I'm in a 12 team, keep 6 league where a player's keeper cost is based on his draft position and decreases by 2 rounds each year until 5th round cost, then by 1 round each year. So a player who was drafted in round 14 would need to be kept in round 12, and one drafted in round 5 kept in round 4. Any free agents are kept at round 18. Our draft is 19 rounds, giving each team a roster of 25 players. Categories are G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, HIT, BLK; GS, W, GAA, SA, SV%. Active line-ups are 2LW, 2RW, 2C, 4D, 2Util, 2G.

I embarked upon a rebuild year last year and acquired a lot of high value young players to the point where I am now struggling to decide which to keep. Here is my list of players with the current keeper cost for each in brackets. Given how the league keeper rules work, I think the value driver is holding onto guys who were drafted later so they'll be cheaper assets for years to come.

Keeper locks – Nikita Kucherov (8th), Vincent Trocheck (17th); Probables – Jason Robertson (18th), Shea Theodore (8th), Conor Garland (18th), Drake Batherson (18th); Other Choices – Ryan Graves (10th), Cole Caufield (18th), Jordan Kyrou (18th), Jack Hughes (13th), Anthony Mantha (18th), Ty Smith (18th), Noah Dobson (18th), Joel Farabee (18th), Jordan Greenway (18th), Eeli Tolvanan (18th), Yegor Sharangovich (18th), Kaapo Kahkonen (18th), Spencer Knight (18th), Jeremy Swayman (18th).

Note that I acquired 4 picks in the 18th round, so keeping multiple players there is not an issue. I also have two 8th round picks to allow me – if you agree – to keep both Kucherov and Theodore.

What do you do in my situation? Do you keep the six I have as locks and probables? If not, who do you replace and why?

This is an interesting league in that rebuilds are going to be difficult because only six players can be kept each season, plus the need to keep everyone earlier year after year. On top of those factors, your draft is only 19 rounds and free agents need to be kept at round 18. Also, although your roster size is 25, your starting line-up consists of only 14 of those 25, which is a low percentage. What this adds up to is you can't amass a stockpile of young players and wait 3-5 years for them to pay dividends. Also, with quite a few highly touted players available as free agents based on them being retainable as 18th rounders, if you don't keep a youngster you might still have a realistic chance to draft him in a late round or even just pick him up again, in both cases negating the need to keep him.

Given all this, and your players, how best to proceed? I think you should keep one or two cornerstone players, trade guys now who can net you nice returns, and then keep the cream of the crop among your numerous 18th rounders. One cornerstone is Kucherov for sure. The question is what should you do about Theodore? He's not the best in terms of multi-cat and, at round 8, isn't cheap. And really you need to think of him as a 6th rounder, as that's what he'd be going into 2022-23, which is likely the earliest you'd be looking to contend. I think you put out feelers to see if teams are interested in trading for Theodore, getting either a better bargain player in return or a top draft pick.

For certain Trocheck should be traded. I covered him in a Goldipucks column, where I noted that it's just not feasible for him to score at the level he was producing. Sure enough he came back to earth as the season wore on (six points in his last 13 games, with four of those points coming in two games). The time to trade him is ASAP, and he should attract plenty of interest given his multi-cat prowess, bargain round, and bounce back stats, netting you perhaps a top tier goalie in return. Move Hughes too; I'm not saying he won't pan out, but at round 13 he's not enough of a bargain given your other choices.

I'd also consider trading Robertson. Yes, he looked great in 2019-20, however, he's less valuable in a multi-cat league and he likely will be on the outside looking in when it comes to PP1, as wingers like Jamie Benn, Joe Pavelski, and even Alexander Radulov would appear to have the upper hand when it comes to the #1 man advantage unit. Although Robertson likely solidified a spot in the top six and figures to be a very good player for years to come, the hype around him now is so high that it almost mandates you trying to move him, especially when you consider the last handful or so rookie wingers who had the best first year outputs (William Nylander, Clayton Keller, Yanni Gourde) all have failed to live up to early expectations. I'd take an approach similar to Theodore and see what the interest is in Robertson and take an offer if one wows you.

Depending on how many trades you make and how many rosterable players you receive in return, you might have as few as one keeper to decide. If indeed you have only one keeper left and you don't obtain a goalie in trade, then probably the player to keep has to be Kahkonen, as Minnesota can only protect him or Talbot in the upcoming expansion draft, and Kahkonen played well enough to perhaps hand him the reins, especially after what the Wild saw when Carolina did just that with Alex Nedeljkovic and how well it worked, plus the surplus of cheap veteran UFA goalies that will be available and can be brought in as insurance.

To me, the other potential keepers who have the most lure include Batherson and Farabee, each of whom I also covered in Goldipucks pieces (see here and here). They've shown they can be explosive scorers and are very solid in IPP. I see big things from them, and soon. Garland also is intriguing as he scored at a 65-point-pace and had among the highest percentages of primary points in the NHL, all while on the Coyotes.

Caufield could have home run potential but I just don't think we've seen enough to merit keeping him over these three who are more proven and have similar if not even higher upside. Smith's lure is he's a defenseman where, if you don't keep Theodore, you could need help, but he too just isn't in the same echelon as Batherson, Farabee or Garland.

I realize I've presented a lot of options. I think the keys are to move Trocheck now, take what you can get for Hughes, and then dangle Theodore and Robertson in hopes of getting wowed. Maybe as part of any deal(s) you move some of your surplus draft picks too in order to get an upgrade? If all goes well you should be able to contend if not next season then in 2022-23. Good luck!

Question #5 (from Gerry)

I'm in a 10 team, H2H league with categories of G, A, P, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG HIT, W, GAA, SV% SHO. Rosters are 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 2W, 1F, 5D, 2G, with 7 bench spots, 5 IR spots, and 1 N/A spot.

I won the league this year with the following roster: 

C – Connor McDavid, David Krejci, Chandler Stephenson, Auston Matthews, Joel Eriksson-Ek 

C/LW/RW – Yanni Gourde

C/LW – Leon Draisaitl, Jared McCann

LW – Nick Ritchie 

LW/RW – Andrei Svechnikov, Andre Burakovsky, Anthony Duclair, David Perron, Alexander Radulov, Nikolaj Ehlers, Tyler Bertuzzi 

RW – Pavel Buchnevich 

D – Dougie Hamilton, Cale Makar, Roman Josi, Mikhael Sergachev, Tyson Barrie, Filip Hronek

G – Alex Nedeljkovic, Jack Campbell, Spencer Knight, Carter Hart, Frederik Andersen.

While I would love to retain most of this roster as is, we are only allowed 8 Keepers. Right now I am leaning towards keeping McDavid, Draisaitl, Matthews, Svechnikov, Hart, Josi, Hamilton and Makar. While trades are possible before our redraft, owners tend to hold very tightly to their picks. As such, what is your recommendation in terms of keepers?

One thing that immediately strikes me is you won with goalies who were cobbled together and despite Hart's miserable season and Andersen's subpar, injury-filled campaign. Given this, plus the size of the league and the other options you have, I think you might not want to keep any goalies. After all, I don't see a situation where any other team keeps more than one, leaving plenty to draft plus those who every season come from nowhere like Campbell and Nedeljkovic did for 2020-21.

The rest of your keepers seem solid. Josi had a down year; but he should bounce back and deserves to make the cut. The question is which skater to keep in lieu of Hart, and four names jump out – Ehlers, Buchnevich, Perron, and Barrie. Ehlers succeeded despite suboptimal deployment and could experience huge gains if paired with a top center for an entire season or if he somehow finds a way to get onto PP1. Buchnevich already has a great even strength spot but has largely been omitted from the PP1 picture. We also can't ignore Buchnevich's streak of scoring gains with each season, and the likelihood he's not maxed out given his age and numbers. Perron had a superb 2020-21; however, that may have been due at least in part to the absence of Vladimir Tarasenko. Then again, he'll still have a home on PP1 and in the top six, so he might not see his numbers slip much. Barrie should be on a new team; but that might not be a major issue, as this is a player who's scored at a 62+ point pace in three of his last four seasons.

For a team like yours with a solid core and which has to be considered a favorite again, it's hard not to be tempted to choose Perron because of what he brings to the table for right now. Ehlers and/or Buchnevich might end up producing similar to Perron, or even better if their deployment improves, plus they each represent a younger keeper who could be a cornerstone for years to come. Barrie can be let go as you have great depth at defense and he might be poised to decline what with turning 30 before next season. I know picks are hard to come by, but he might be able to net you something.

If it was me, I'd gamble on Buchnevich or Ehlers, as Perron probably would get you one or at most two more seasons of solid production, but also could come back to earth. Who do I favor of the two? It's as close to a coin flip as I can envision. Probably I go with Ehlers, as he did what he did despite almost two minutes less ice time overall and a half minute less PP time versus Buchnevich, meaning Ehlers should have more room for organic scoring gains. Beyond that, Ehlers offers dual winger eligibility, whereas Buchnevich is only a RW, so that's a potential tie-breaker as well. But if you prefer Buchnevich I can get behind that too, or even Perron if you feel strongly you need him and his seemingly highest downside plus also dual winger eligibility. Good luck!

Question #6 (also from Gerry)

I'm in a 12 team, H2H each category league with the following categories G, A, +/-, PIM, GWG, SOG, DEF, STG, STA, W, GAA, SV%. Rosters are 4C, 4L, 4R, 4D, 2G, plus 5 Bench and 2 IR.

I came in 6th place this season – my best finish to date – with the following roster: 

C – Evgeni Kuznetsov, Mark Scheifele,

C/RW – William Nylander, Reilly Smith, Carter Verhaeghe 

C/RW/LW – Yanni Gourde 

C/LW – Claude Giroux, Taylor Hall, Jakub Vrana, Jared McCann 

LW/RW – Valeri Nichushkin, Craig Smith, David Perron, Nino Niederreiter

RW – Joonas Donskoi 

D – Neal Pionk, Matt Dumba, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Morgan Rielly, Torey Krug, Shea Weber

G – Andrei Vasilevskiy, Connor Hellebuyck, Alex Nedeljkovic.

We are allowed 6 Keepers. Offseason trades are possible. Am I on the right track, or do I need to blow things up? Right now, I would keep, Vasilevskiy, Hellebuyck, Scheifele, Nylander, and Hall. I'm unsure who would be my sixth keeper. Who would you put on your keeper list?

First off, I think you have to trade Hellebucyk or Vas. You have nine skater categories versus only three for goalies, so I think you're in "too much of a good thing" territory owning both. I'd offer each of them to the league and see who wows you the most. I've also talked in many columns about how Scheifele caught fire for about 30 games but after that was his usual 80-85 point self. He too might be worth trying to move. If someone blows you away, then trade him without hesitation. If not though, then an 80-85 point keeper is fine to have for your team, although him being a pure center is not ideal.

I think room needs to be made for Krug as a keeper. Consider that he tallied nine points in his final seven games of the season, with five being with the man advantage. It seems like he was taking a while to get adjusted and finally had done so. Yes, his deployment is not as it was in Boston; however, he's still really solid and, in your case, a rightful keep.

Nylander and Hall aren't superb keepers; but given your choices, I probably can't argue with the idea of retaining them. Perron, in this case, probably makes sense, as although – as noted above – he could see his production drop amidst a full season of Vladimir Tarasenko in the picture, he's also potentially capable of posting 75-80 points again. Keep in mind, this is a player who cumulatively over the past four seasons averaged more points per game than the likes of Gabriel Landeskog, Kyle Connor, Jake Guentzel, Mathew Barzal and Matthew Tkachuk.

The one area where I'm not sure is you list "Reilly" as a defenseman, and I can't tell whether that refers to Mike Reilly or is a typo and meant to connote Morgan Rielly. If it's the latter, then he deserves to be in the keeper or trade conversation. Frankly, I think he has more value in trade than he offers to your team as a player, since his still recent enough big season and his high-profile team entice other GMs more so than they should. Maybe use him in a deal with your goalie or Scheifele as a sweetener? If no one bites, then a case could be made to hold him over Krug, Nylander or Hall. I think I like Krug better of the two, so if room is to be made for Rielly, I'd keep Hall as the risk/reward guy or Nylander as the one with low downside but less upside. On your team, probably the risk/reward is wisest, so keep Rielly over Nylander, or don't if you prefer not to. It's close enough to go either way.

Your keepers will be one of Vas and Hellebuyck, the player you obtain by trading the other, Scheifele or the player you obtain for trading him, Rielly, unless he's traded, Hall, Krug, and Perron. Or you could swap Nylander in for Rielly if you feel strongly about that as your preference. Good luck!

Question #7 (from Mike)

In a keeper with points for G, A, PPPt, SH, GWG, I was offered Elias Pettersson straight up for Andrei Svechnikov. How do you feel about both players moving forward, and would you make this trade? I can see pros (both are young, budding stars) and cons (Petterson injuries, Svech inconsistency and not playing with Aho all the time) for each player.

Of these two, I like Svechnikov. What he did at age 19 (2.7+ SOG, 0.9+ Points Per Game, 10%+ SH%, .35+ Goals Per Game) has been accomplished by exactly one winger dating back to 1990-91, a guy by the name of Jaromir Jagr, with the centers who also did so being Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos and Eric Lindros. To be in the company of those players and not have any other teen do so speaks volumes as to his potential. Also, his struggles – if you can call them that – in 2020-21 came when stuck on a line with the likes of Jordan Staal and Warren Foegele. When he played with Sebastian Aho, he scored at better than a point per game rate. Yes, Carolina seemingly wanted to roll with three balanced lines at ES; but with the result not being a Stanley Cup and the chemistry between Aho and Svech (Svech tallied 70% of his ES points while skating with Aho despite only taking the ice with Aho for about 60% of his ES shifts), it's seemingly only a matter of time before the two are skating together much more.

Pettersson worries me. Yes, he got hurt this season, so we can't tell for sure how he would've fared if he played all 56 games. But let's keep in mind this is a player who had the worst scoring rate of his career despite – as noted above – starting a jaw-dropping 75% of his shifts in the offensive zone. He also took as many SOG per game and had the same overall ice time and even more on the PP as he did in 2019-20. In fact, no NHL forward averaged more PP time per game than Pettersson's 4:24; yet he managed only one PPPt every 5.2 games, whereas among the other ten forwards who saw 4:00+ of PP time per game, all but two averaged at least one PPPt per every three contests, and the two who didn't – Patric Hornqvist and Gabriel Landeskog – still were able to average better than one per every fourth game.

Petterson has just one player comparable with regard to his early career, as looking at forwards since 1990-91 who, in each of their first two seasons, averaged less than 2.5 SOG per game, but had a 15%+ SH% and a 0.9+ points per game average, the only other player to meet all the criteria was Paul Stastny. After an early career run of strong seasons, Stastny slowed, and in Stastny's case he didn't even have the bloated OZ% of Pettersson.

I've said it before – Pettersson still has a chance to be a special player. He appears to have ample talent and as such could be among a precious few NHLers to become a superstar. However, seeing this comparable and knowing what it's taken in terms of OZ% for Pettersson to do as well as he had, I'd rather put my eggs in Svechnikov's basket, even in a points-only league where Svech's SOG (I assume SH refers to shorthanded, not SOG) and Hits are meaningless. Good luck!

Question #8 (from Dave)

What is your projection for Bowen Byram for the 2021-22 season? And do you assume Colorado will lose a defenseman in the expansion draft?

Tackling the second part of the question first, the Avs could well lose a defenseman, as they'll be forced to protect Erik Johnson due to his no movement clause. Cale Makar and Samuel Girard are locks to be protected, leaving Devon Toews as the unknown and Ryan Graves as almost assuredly not protected. If I had to guess, I'd say they protect Toews as it was with him as defensive partner that Cale Makar shined this season. That having been said, if they do protect Toews, they could lose the likes of Nazem Kadri, Joonas Donksoi, or Valeri Nichushkin, so it's far from a lock they go that route.

What they decide might have a lot to do with their opinion of, and near term intended role for, Byram. The issue with Byram is he played 17:31 per game in 19 contests for 2020-21, yet saw nearly no PP time or shorthanded duty. It's difficult for me to envision him stepping into Toews' role right away if indeed Toews is lost. Perhaps the plan is to use Graves or Johnson as a stopgap with Makar until such time as Bowen is ready, perhaps later in 2021-22 or 2022-23?

Most likely Bowen remains a third pairing guy in 2021-22, producing 25-30 points. If you own Byram, patience will need to be practiced until a spot in the top four opens for him, and perhaps even longer before he truly figures things out.

After all, of the 282 instances dating back to 2000-21 of a defenseman scoring at a 50-point full season pace, a grand total of just six were by those younger than age 23 and only 14 by those younger than 25. Granted, all six of the "under 23" instances occurred in the two most recent seasons by the likes of Makar, Girard, Quinn Hughes, Adam Fox and Rasmus Dahlin; but this data underscores defensemen, even those with the pedigree of Bowen, can, and usually do, take a good bit of time before they make a fantasy impact. Good luck!

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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 start 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.