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 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 DobberHockey Forums)

I notice that often in your answers you talk about things like what percentage of a position comprises a team's line-up, or what percentage of categories apply to goalies/skaters, plus things like how many keepers there are versus drafted players, whether to keep younger/older players, etc. How important do you consider those data points? How can we use them to improve our teams?

Although I think the significance of these factors can vary, they should always be assessed. Here is how I would recommend doing so.

The first thing I always do is determine how many total players will be kept in a league among all teams. Where this helps for the most part is in deciding whether you might need to embark upon a rebuild. For example, in a 16-team league where ten players are kept, one would expect each team to have about six players in the top 100. As such, if a team doesn't have more than a couple of top 100 guys, a rebuild might be in order, while if all ten of the team's keepers would qualify as top 100, then chances are other teams won't have as many and those teams would be looking to upgrade via trade, giving the team with a surplus of top guys a chance to perhaps move some of its older keepers for younger ones so as to ensure a continued cycle of winning; more on old vs. young below.

After that I examine goalies, often the number that starts is low compared to the impact they have in the standings. For example, if just two goalies start, versus 13 skaters, that means goalies comprise 13% of a team's line-up, but if goalie categories in that same league are weighted at 30%+, keeping at least one goalie is likely necessary and prioritizing goalies during the draft is more important than normal. Although, one should try and not reach for goalies, choosing instead to tier them and wait until nearly all from a tier have been drafted before pulling the trigger on one come draft day. Let's say for example a league allows only up to three total keepers per team; then unless categories for goalies are worth 40%, most teams wouldn't keep a goalie at all, except perhaps if he was among the very best of the best. Given how unpredictable goalies have become though, for leagues with fewer keepers my advice when it comes to netminders is think before you keep.

On the other hand, the more keepers there are the more I aim to get a mix of positions. Why? Say it's a 16 team, keep 12 league; if you don't keep at least a couple of d-men and a goalie – or even two – you could be forced to reach to get goalies or rearguards, where there is less depth. This is also somewhat true for wingers, where, if a winger and center are projected to have similar stats, it's nearly always prudent to keep the winger over the center, which is the deepest position in fantasy.

What about old vs. young? Far too often GMs assign lower value than they should to players on the other side of 30. But if a player is performing well and shows no signs of slowing down, it's smart to keep him, provided of course you get a bit of balance by keeping some younger guys. The fewer the keeps, then in general the more willing you should be to keep older players.

Another factor is if the league has a minors/farm keeper system, as in most cases that means a team can use more of a risk/reward strategy on young players, and, in turn, can keep more older players due to the farm/minors system acting as a feeder. Don't get so obsessed about age in drafting, as you still have to build a successful team, so avoid the temptation to reach for too many fresh faces over proven entities, as while you might think you'll be shaping a powerhouse team for the future, the reality is that fewer prospects pan out than expected, and you don't want to be stuck in a perpetual rebuild.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, you need to know the tendencies of your leaguemates. Who reaches for goalies, or defensemen? Who always tries to draft young guys, versus who sticks with tried and true veterans? Are there any "homers" who covet guys from their local team? If you know that information you can better assemble your keepers, make trades in your favor, and draft prudently. I could go on and on about this subject, but you get the idea. Good luck!

Question #2 (from Joel)

In my 16 team league, skater cats are G (3), A (2), PPPts (1), SHP (1), PIM (0.6), HIT (0.1), BLK (0.4), while goalie cats are W (3 points), GA (-1), SV (0.2), SO (2). Five players are kept by each team: 3F (forward positions don't matter), 1D, and 1G. Rosters are 10F, 4D, 2G and all count toward stats, i.e., there is no bench or IR.

I have 6 candidates for the 3 forward keeper spots: Nathan MacKinnon, Aleksander Barkov, Mika Zibanejad, Filip Forsberg, Brady Tkachuk, Andrei Svechnikov. I think Zibs is easy enough to rule out, and I consider Barkov and Mac locks, which leaves what I feel is a tough decision between Tkachuk, Svech and Forsberg for the final spot. The HIT and PIM from Svech and Tkachuk are tough to ignore; however, Forsberg had such a dynamic year and it could be a while before Svech and Brady get close to that level of scoring (if ever). Who would you lean towards of the three for the final forward keeper spot? In case it matters, my other keepers are Igor Shesterkin and Roman Josi

Let's start with Forsberg. Although he's still young enough to have seen a big jump in scoring in the normal course, what we can't ignore is the timing, which was on the eve of him becoming a UFA. When someone rises to such an unprecedented scoring level just as he's set to get a huge payday, alarm bells should go off. Add to that his SH% being 18.9%, compared to 12.0% for his career upon entering the 2021-22 season, and suddenly his goal total "should've been" only 27 rather than 42. And while it stands to reason some of those non-goals would've been repackaged as assists, if none had, then his scoring rate drops from 100 to 82, which, if we go back to 2017-18, wouldn't have been unprecedented. Also, he got hurt, just like he always does. If there is concern that he might not put forth the same effort level after signing a fat UFA deal, there has to be as much if not even more worry that he might miss even more games rather than try to play through ailments. Long story short, Forsberg is someone whose 2021-22 production should be looked at with a good bit of skepticism.

As for Tkachuk and Schevnikov, although neither one has been playing that long, I'm a bit concerned by both never having an overall IPP of 70%+ in any of their seasons to date. This means when they play with less talented players, they aren't able to carry their line, while if they skate alongside the best players on their teams, they don't find a way to consistently factor into scoring. By comparison, Brady's big brother Matthew had an IPP above 70% in each of his first two seasons, and then lo and behold he cleared that threshold again in 2021-22 despite playing with the very talented Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm. I worry that both of these guys could stall in the 70s in terms of scoring.

Does that mean I don't keep either Svech or Tkachuk over Forsberg? It's a lot closer than I'd have first thought, even accounting for Forsberg's scoring to inevitably drop. That, plus Forsberg's Band-Aid Boy status, probably makes it so he isn't one of the keeps. As for Svech vs. Tkachuk, Svech has room to see more ice time and Carolina is a more potent team; however, Tkachuk is locked into a top line spot at ES and on the PP, plus is better in all the banger categories by a decent margin. It's very close, but I think I'm going with Tkachuk, as his team should still improve and, with that, so too will his scoring just in the normal course. Plus I like his upward trajectory in 2021-22. Good luck!

Question #3 (from Adam)

I won my 12 team Yahoo H2H league, which has details as follows: five keepers (maximum of one G), rosters of 3C, 3RW, 3LW, 4D, 2G, 5 Bench (only one goalie allowed on the bench, i.e., no team can own more than three goalies), 1IR, 1IR+ (for COVID-related absences – not sure if this will be kept), 1IR for season ending keeper, which, if used, means the player has to be kept the following season and cannot be activated again this season even if he is active in the NHL. Categories and scoring are as follows: G = 4.0, A = 2.0, +/- = +/-0.5, SHG = 2.0, SHA = 1.0,Wins = 3.0, Losses = -2.0, Shutouts = 3.0, Saves = 0.125, Goals against = -0.25.

Offseason trades are not permitted and rosters are frozen until after our league draft, so I have to pick my keepers from what I already have. It’s a snake draft, with the non playoff teams in a lottery for the 1st to 4th picks and the playoff teams in a second lottery for picks 5 to 12. We draw the draft order, then we can decide on keepers a few days before the actual draft. During the season, we can trade for players only (no draft picks) and are capped at 40 waiver claims (3 max per week). Notable players who are on my roster are as follows, with the player’s 2021-22 rank indicated for reference, along with, where applicable, rankings for D and G, and with the understanding that some players – notably Jack Hughes – would've been rated a lot higher had they played more games:

F: Kevin Fiala (28th overall), Mika Zibanejad (35th), Timo Meier (53rd), Jordan Kyrou (59th), Andrei Svechnikov (62nd), Brayden Schenn (96th), Anze Kopitar (102nd), Jack Hughes (132nd)

D: Victor Hedman, (49th overall, 3rd among d-men), John Carlson (81st, 4th among d-men), Quinn Hughes (127th, 10th among d-men), Noah Dobson (187th, 17th among d-men)

G: Ilya Sorokin (51st, 12th among goalies), Marc-Andre Fleury (63rd, 15th among goalies)

The other players I own are Nick Suzuki, Jakub Vrana, Anders Lee, Arturi Lehkonen, Matty Beniers, Ivan Provorov, and Mike Smith.

Looking at my keeper options, I suppose I won because although I didn't have any of the best of the best players I had a lot of solid value – that is, I had a very deep and balanced team. One option would be to go young, keeping both of the Hughes brothers, plus Svechnikov, Sorokin, and one of Fiala, Meier, and Kyrou. On the other hand, I could skew older, swapping in Zibanejad, Hedman, and Carlson for three spots. Also, one thing I noticed during the playoffs was that my defense was a huge difference maker, scoring double what my opponents' rearguards did. Considering how well my defensemen performed during the playoffs, I could triple down on that advantage and keep Hedman, Carlson, and Quinn Hughes.

Which five would you keep?

When you win a championship, usually you will want more rather than fewer keepers, and this is not an exception. If you had ten keepers you still might have a tough final couple of picks. As it stands you have only five, and, as you noted, there are several directions you can take. The fewer the keepers the more – as I noted in my answer to the first question – I tend to advocate for keeping those who'll fare best, rather than worrying too much about age. In your case, five players are kept from a roster of 20, meaning 25% of your players are keepers. That's neither very high nor too low. Theoretically, the 60 best players will be kept amongst the 12 teams, making it so you do need to hold onto guys who'll deliver results more so than those who'll do okay for the time being but be poised to help you more in the future.

This means I'd probably not go young, as I feel like although those players are fine, they aren't the best you can do. I get that numbers don't lie and Kyrou was a beast even without tons of ice time or a spot on PP1, meaning things theoretically could only get better, but I feel like he cooled enough in the second half as to be a better redraft than most of your other top forwards.

Conversely, if Fiala was that good despite not getting a spot on PP1 until essentially close to the end of the season, he's very valuable. Plus, he's so predictable – you just start with him on your bench until he heats up, then reap the benefits once he ignites. If this season was any indication his slower starts will be shorter and his monster production will come earlier. He's a must keep.

I also feel like Carlson and Hedman are mandatory holds as well. Yes, they aren't getting any younger but they have among the best combination of deployment and team offense of any d-man. But do you keep Hughes too? I'd say reluctantly no. Just 30% of your roster is defensemen, making it so keeping more than two would seemingly give them too much weight. I realize they were difference makers for you in the fantasy playoffs; however, with Carlson and Hedman as your foundation, you don't "need" Hughes as much as you do a top forward.

Then there's Svechnikov. I know you said – in our back and forth when I asked you questions to help me better frame my answers – you consider Svechnikov a lock keeper. But why exactly? As I noted above, he's not come close to being a point per game guy and you have no banger categories in your league. I like Meier better, not just based on your league ratings last season but due to Meier being locked into the top line and top PP for San Jose. As I've said previously, often it's best to get the guy who's on a bad team but more of a "the guy" type than a player on a better squad but who is not a vital part of that team's offense. Svech is still young and could break out, however, he's not made a leap in scoring or ice time plus, his IPP has been below 70% every season, as I noted above. I think you need to let Svech go.

The question then becomes, is Meier better than Jack Hughes? It would've been great to see how Hughes fared if he'd played all season, but for him to rank as high as he did despite missing over 30 games is remarkable. Unlike Svech, he's made big strides plus still hasn't even hit his 200-game breakout threshold. Jack Hughes seems like someone you don't want to risk losing, as he's great already plus helps balance out the older d-men who you should keep. Meier also concerns me due to his team and how he cooled considerably as the season wore on. I like Hughes over him.

That's four right there. The last spot, to me, is Sorokin. Yes, Lane Lambert is supposedly a Barry Trotz clone; however, if so that would only help a goalie like Sorokin. Plus, Lambert might not employ the goalie timeshare system that Trotz stuck to even as it became apparent that Sorokin was head and shoulders above Semyon Varlamov.

Beyond that, looking at Sorokin's stats in his second season versus those of Igor Shesterkin, Sorokin seems even further along, with better than a two-thirds rate of quality starts in both his seasons and not having more than one in seven starts be really bad starts in either season. In fact, dating back to 2007-08, which is when Quality Starts were measured, no other goalie played 50+ games and had 35+ quality starts within his first two seasons in the league. Signs seems to be pointing to Sorokin being an elite netminder, and the Islanders coaching change might be a best of both worlds for him.

In sum, my keeps are (1) Fiala, based on how well he did last season despite mostly playing on PP2 and having pretty lousy centers, meaning he should only get better, (2) Hedman and (3) Carlson, as for now they still offer locked in elite numbers, (4) Jack Hughes, who is on the verge of greatness and almost managed to finish in the top 100 in your league despite missing over 30 games, and (5) Sorokin, who is poised for greatness. Yes, no Svech or Meier hurts, but I think this is the best five. Good luck!

Question #4 (from Levi)

I'm in a 12 team, H2H league. Roster size is 19 (2C, 2LW, 2RW, 1F, 4D, 1UTIL, 2G, plus 5 Bench), with 5 keepers and categories of G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, HIT, W, SV%, Saves, GAA. Keepers are based on the round you drafted them, or, if acquired by free agency or waivers, in the 15th round. If two keepers are from the same round, one moves to the next, later draft spot, such that two 15th rounders would become a 15th and a 16th, three would become a 15th, a 16th, and a 17th, and so on.

I see myself as having 12 viable keeper options, each of which would be a round 15 keeper unless otherwise indicated: Igor Shesterkin, Kirill Kaprizov, Cale Makar (12), Jack Eichel, Tim Stutzle, Andrei Svechnikov, Moritz Seider, Carter Hart, Carey Price, Timo Meier (13), Matt Duchene, and Mathew Barzal. I'm pretty set on Shesterkin, Kaprizov, and Makar. Typically I have kept 3F, 1D, and 1G; but I'm open to other approaches. My main dilemmas are picking two of Stützle, Eichel, and Svechnikov, and whether Seider might be worth it over Makar (Seider is a multi-cat beast plus this way I'd get every keeper between rounds 15-19). Lastly, good goalies on good teams are super hard to come by. So if Philadelphia actually retools well or Price manages to continue his career and gets traded to a better team, I'd consider throwing them in the mix too. Who would your 5 keepers be?

First things first – Cale Makar is the best defenseman in any keeper league, period. As such, the question is never whether to keep another defenseman over Makar, but rather if that other defenseman should be kept in addition to Makar. Beyond him, Shesterkin and Kaprizov are easy keeps, as you correctly identified. As for whether to keep a second goalie, in a keep five it would take a lot for me to do so, and Hart and Price don't come close to checking that box. I know you indicated good goalies on good teams are coveted; however, does this mean teams in a keep five are keeping two netminders? I find that hard to believe. Even if it's occurring, Hart and Price don't come close to being worthy enough given their current situations, so the last two keepers should indeed be skaters.

I suppose there's a universe in which you decide to go young with the last two keepers, as Makar, Shesterkin and Kaprizov are both amazing for the present but also would be superb building blocks for the future. If you could roster them with Stutzle and Seider, you could have a superb team in a couple of years. On the other hand, you have Meier and Svechnikov who also are not very old yet seemingly offer you more immediate value, plus it's tough to play the waiting game in a keep five. There's also Eichel, who, if he returns to his old self, could be as good as Kaprizov if not better.

I feel like you need to keep Eichel. The chance he that regains his elite status makes it so you can't let him slip through your fingers. Even if somehow he fizzles, I still think it was a risk worth taking. The question thus becomes whether to keep Stutzle, Seider, Svechnikov, or Meier for the final spot.

I think the first omission is Seider. He did well and seems poised to be a monster; however, in a league where only 60 players are kept he doesn't quite pass muster. The last spot is really tough. Stutzle's season-long totals are deceptive, as he finished with 31 points in his final 27 games and he also chips in nicely with hits and PPPts. Meier ended with just 29 points in his final 39 games and plays for a team that looks like it will struggle; but he's a top dog and a SOG machine, plus hits a lot. Svech I covered above; however, here he stands out a bit more. I'd probably go for Svech, as Stutzle's scorching end to the season will be masked by his overall total, making him easier to draft, while Svech is a triple threat with his PIM, SOG and HIT. The keepers are Makar, Shesterkin, Kaprizov, Svechnikov and Eichel, although if you really don't have faith in Eichel, you could swap in Stutzle or Meier for him. Good luck!

Question #5 (from Mike)

I'm in a 14 team keeper where skaters get 1 point for each goal or assist plus an extra 2 points for a hat trick, while goalies get 2 points for a win and an extra 2 points for a shutout. Rosters are 10F, 4D, 1G active, plus 5 reserves. We keep 9 players for this year, but only 8 next year, and 7 the following year. My roster at the end of 2021-22 consisted of: Kevin Fiala, Andrei Svechnikov, Lucas Raymond, Nick Suzuki, Phillip Danault, Drake Batherson, Anton Lundell, Jamie Benn, Boone Jenner, Matt Boldy, Reilly Smith, Alexis Lafreniere, Quinton Byfield, Marco Rossi, Rasmus Dahlin, Evan Bouchard, Thomas Chabot, Vladislav Gavrikov, Jake Oettinger, and Jeremy Swayman. Who would your 9 keepers be? Would you make any trades, especially guys you see as poised to disappoint or who are overvalued? What's your sense of Svechnikov's long term upside?

Looking at your team, you simply don't have enough top end talent to compete in 2022-23 and, from the looks of it, 2023-24 either. Given that, when it comes to keepers you'd ideally have guys who stick out as being too old to likely still be of use to you once your team emerges from its rebuild; but the few older players you have aren't going to be a keeper for anyone. Does that mean you shouldn't make any trades? Not necessarily. You actually have too much young talent; and you need to turn the young guys into more impactful players due to the shrinking number of keepers in the next two seasons preventing you from being able to wait for some of them to make an impact.

Players who would likely be deemed keepable in this league, whether by you or – if traded – another team, are Fiala, Svechnikov, Raymond, Suzuki, Batherson, Lundell, Boldy, Lafreniere, Byfield, Rossi, Dahlin, Bouchard, Chabot, Oettinger, and Swayman. That's 15 guys, which means you want to do several two-for-one deals. To make that happen, you will need to include a carrot in the form of a player who can have an impact now and/or has high name value, which is pretty much everyone except for Byfield, who I believe is not going to take a while to fully pan out plus is not enticing trade bait.

Who should actually be traded? Definitely Svechnikov, who I've covered in questions above and who, even if he manages to up his scoring, is not best suited for this league. Despite that he has huge name value, making him perfect to trade. I'd package him with Lafreniere, who I fear is on the way to disappointing. I'd also not be hesitant about trading Lundell, as his profile was raised by being on Florida but the reality is it could be a while before he ends up being an impact player, and that's if he even becomes one, as he could end up pigeonholed like Jordan Staal was. I'd offer him and a choice of one of your two goalies.

I'd also deal Chabot, who doesn't quite seem to have it in him to become that truly elite offensive defenseman. Yes, he's the top dog on a fast improving team, but I still see him as a long shot to hit 60 points, whereas I view that as the downsides for Dahlin and Bouchard in their primes. With him I'd also trade Rossi, as you already have enough Wild forwards and it concerned me that even with Minnesota having a dearth of talent down the middle he still spent the entire season in the AHL. Also, as a smaller player he might take a while to hit his stride – longer than you want to wait. Yet like Lafreniere he still has enough name value to obtain a decent return, especially when coupled with Chabot. Lastly, I'd offer one of Batherson or Suzuki, plus Raymond, for a major asset. I like Raymond a lot, but I think you have better keeps, as I'll list below.

Who do you want to try to get in return? Guys who are proven but also in the age 23-27 sweet spot range. By doing so you've turned 15 potential keepers into 11 and made major strides to improving. In addition to the four players you get in those two-for-one deals, I'd keep Fiala and Boldy for stacking, the goalie you don't trade, as well as Dahlin, Bouchard, and whichever forward you don't trade of Batherson and Suzuki. I think that is your best path forward. Good luck!

Question #6 (from DobberHockey Forums)

How do you see the Boston goaltending situation unfolding over the remaining the seasons that Linus Ullmark is under contract? Can Jeremy Swayman become a true #1 any time soon?

You want to talk goalie timeshare? Look no further than the Bruins, where Ullmark and Swayman both logged exactly 41 games this season, with each starting exactly 39. Keeping in mind that Ullmark was injured for about a week, he actually started more games during which he was available. Also, it was Ullmark who started a stretch of ten games out of 13; yet that also meant Swayman was leaned on more over the rest of the season. Come playoffs, Ullmark was given the nod in game one, but Swayman manned the crease for the last five games of their first round series, including the pivotal game seven.

This timeshare might not have been the intent though, as Ullmark's worst two quarters were Q1 and Q3, which also happened to be when Swayman was playing his best, whereas Swayman faltered in Q2 and Q4, which is when Ullmark stepped up. In other words, this may have been a goalie split more so due to how each was playing versus it being a deliberate plan. Something else to keep in mind is when Tuukka Rask attempted his abbreviated comeback, it was Swayman who was dispatched to the AHL, although it's not like the Bs really had much of a choice. Still, it does mean that the Bs realize which of the two is the higher paid, more experienced goalie.

Can Swayman force the issue enough to take over? Ullmark is paid a good amount, but not so high as to make him impossible to potentially sit or, more realistically, trade. Still, for the Bs to trade him a year after signing him – I just don't see how it could occur. Then again, Ullmark doesn't bring a ton to the table, as yes, he's a good goalie who has played for parts of seven seasons, but his two playoff starts this season were the first of his career and his 41 games played marked his career high. Looking at the 13 goalies with a higher 2021-22 cap hit than Ullmark, just Igor Shesterkin didn't have at least a dozen playoff starts to his credit prior to 2021-22. As for what Swayman's potential trajectory might be, he's just the second goalie in the history of the NHL to have played 50+ games by age 23 with a collective SV% of .920+ and GAA of 2.25 or less, with the other being some guy named Henrik Lundqvist, so there's that.

Most likely the Bruins see this situation as a luxury rather than a curse. The tandem helps them best compete during the remaining "win now" team phase, but also allows them to not risk having Swayman fall into a Carter Hart spiral, as they know it's him, David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy who will need to lead them into the next era of success. In other words, if the Bs were worse now, then that might have them roll the dice with Swayman. Since they're not in such a position, they're likely going to run with both, at least for 2022-23, with Swayman being more likely to seize the job with each passing campaign and all but assured to be starting by 2024-25, which is the last season Ullmark is signed and when the Bs might look to move Ullmark to further bolster their future.

My advice would be if you own one, try to own both. If you can only pick one though, I'd focus more on Swayman in leagues where the categories reward excellence, i.e., SV% and GAA, as much if not more so than playing volume. In keepers, I'd try to land Swayman, if not for the Lundqvist comparison in and of itself then for the reality that at worst he'll be "the guy" in three seasons, with a chance he could seize the job sooner if his play is strong or if the Bs decide to commit to their future and want to restock their cabinets, which Ullmark could help them do. Good luck!

Question #7 (from Sergey)

I'm in a 30-team, salary cap, keeper league, where each team also can keep up to 10 minor players (defined as players with <150 games played) without consideration of their salary. Rosters are 19 players, with starting line-ups of C, LW, RW, D, D, U, U, U, G, G, plus 9 bench and the 10 minors players. There is no set number of keepers, but each team can only spend up to $24M of its $73M total cap on keepers. My minors eligible players are Wade Allison, Will Borgen, Rasmus Sandin, Riley Stillman, J.J. Moser, Ryan Lomberg, Simon Benoit, Jack McBain, Nicolas Meloche, Liam O'Brien, Connor Ingram, Ilya Konovalov, Erik Portillo and Arvid Soderblom.

We give fantasy points for almost any stat, including Shifts, Takeaways, and times a player is named first, second, or third star, although goals (3.5 FP), assists (2.5 FP) and PPP (2 FP) are most relevant. But it's also notable that both hits and blocks (0.5 FP each) are more weighted than SOG (0.1 FP each), plus fights (4 FP) count. So "banger" players are highly desired.

My three most likely keepers, with their 2022-23 cost and 2021-22 FP/game, are: Frederik Andersen ($4.5M; 9.94 FP/G), Valeri Nichushkin (UFA; 5.88 FP/G), and Ryan Hartman ($1.7M, 5.83 FP/G). After that I'm torn on which three of these four to keep: Filip Forsberg (UFA, 7.38 FP/G, which, to give you an idea, was 17th among all skaters), Tom Wilson ($5.167M, 6.31 FP/G), Rasmus Andersson ($4.5M, 5.52 FP/G), and Jakob Chychrun ($4.6M, 4.27 FP/G but was 6.2 in 2020-21). So the idea is I'd try to keep six players for the $24M I'm allocated, although that might have to change depending on the deals Forsberg and Nichushkin sign.

Should I keep Forsberg because it will be impossible to find this kind of production given that I don't have any draft picks in the first four rounds for this coming season? Or do you expect significant regression to the 5.2 FP/G he had in 2019-20 and 2020-21? I like Wilson, who's my longest tenured keeper; but I’m worrying about wear and tear with his style and his role on a team with an aging core. I'm also unsure about Andersson, mainly in terms of whether he can keep his PP1 spot; but his contract is very nice and has four more years. And I really like Chychrun as a bounce back. Who'd be the three you keep?

I'm glad you mentioned the lack of draft picks, because I think that's probably the most important piece of information. With you having no picks in rounds 1-4, that means 120+ players will have been selected in addition the likely ~150 or so players who figure to be kept, give or take a dozen or two depending on how your other 29 GMs approach the $24M keeper limit. But no matter what, you'll be looking at slim pickings by the time you finally get to pick in round six. Given this reality, it'd be difficult to envision your team competing, even though you said your team finished 6th for 2021-22. I just think the draft pick hole you dug yourself is too deep from which to emerge this season, even if your keepers are above average, which they likely would be.

Accordingly, I say you should try to clean house, trading Forsberg, Nichuskin, Andersson and Andersen for younger guys to get in position to compete in a couple of seasons. Keep Chychrun and Hartman plus, to trade once he's back from injury, Wilson, and then the player(s) you receive back in your deals. Or if you trade just for draft picks, then keep your best options in terms of possible trade bait or future dividends. As for minors guys, you don't have a lot of immediate strength, so I'd keep all the goalies, plus your five best other guys. With 20% of your roster consisting of netminders and there needing to be 60 starting, you have to keep all minors goalies and hope for the best. The potential payoff is too significant.

If you're not on board with my plan to embark upon a rebuild, then the guy I likely wouldn't keep is Andersson. I would've said Wilson; but with his injury, you'd get improper value if you were to try and deal him in the offseason. Trading Andersson seems safe because I have a difficult time envisioning him doing any better he did in 2021-22, and even then he basically was "worth" a little more than one FP for every million he counts against the cap, which is decent but not great, especially given that Chychrun almost approached Andersson's FP average in what likely was Chychrun's worst possible season. Plus, it's quite possible Andersson loses his plum PP1 gig to Noah Hanifin, Oliver Kylington or Juuso Valimaki. Or to put it another way, I see Andersson as a Jared Spurgeon, Nick Leddy or Cam Fowler type, namely a very solid top four d-man but one who gets PP1 time due as much if not more so due to lack of other viable options than his actual skill. Trade Andersson if you can; but if not, then drop him without too much trepidation. Good luck however you decide to proceed!

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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.