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 Liam)

I’m in a 12 team, keep 4, H2H each category league counting G, A, PIM, SOG, STP, HIT, BLK, W, GAA and SV%, for a total of 10 scoring points.   I could use your advice in selecting my keepers.

The options I’m considering are as follows: Cale Makar, Andrei Svechnikov, Jake Guentzel, Elias Pettersson, Dougie Hamilton, Jack Hughes, Nazem Kadri, and Igor Shesterkin. In my mind, Makar and Svechnikov are locks; but I'm not certain about the other two choices. Note also that I only have three picks – 35th overall, 55th, and 71st – in the first six rounds of our draft after trading several away to make a deep playoff run.

Unfortunately, Liam didn't indicate what roster sizes are, how many start at each position, and if forward positions matter. As a reminder, when sending me questions please be sure to err on the side of inclusion in terms of providing information, as I can always omit anything that's not actually pertinent and what you might not consider important just might end being key to my answering your question(s).

One clue that the missing information might have provided is why Shesterkin isn't considered a lock. Yes, I realize that goalie categories only account for 30% of scoring; however, Shesterkin is the Makar of netminders; and even if it's a 1G league, and despite there being only four keepers, Shesterkin has to be a lock. He's just too good on paper to not retain, as, of course, is Makar. But can the same be said for Svechnikov? I'd consider Hughes more of a "must keep" than Svech, as Hughes had 48 points in his last 36 games before getting hurt, and that was without a lot of talent skating alongside him. Hughes doesn't even hit his breakout threshold until this season either, and still has realistic room to see gains in ice time, SOG, and PPPts. To me, he's a cornerstone keeper.

Is it Svech as the fourth keeper? If not him, it'd be Pettersson, whose season-long totals obscure that he finished red hot, with 40 points in his last 34 games and 25 – plus 56 SOG – in just his last 19 contests, coinciding with his 200 game breakout threshold and portending the greatness many expected from him all along. The question thus becomes – by how much would Pettersson need to outscore Svechnikov to make up for the major edge that Svech provides in banger categories?

If I knew roster sizes, I could assess how easily banger stats could be provided in the aggregate – that is, rather than keeping Svech for his good but not great points instead keeping EP and picking up PIM, HIT, and BLK via other players. The larger the roster and starting line-up sizes, the more it becomes tempting to keep Pettersson over Svech. It's so close that what I'd likely do is package Svech and Pettersson to get a difference maker like Kirill Kaprizov, Mitch Marner or Alex Ovechkin. In other words, rather than having to make a difficult choice between the two – instead use them to upgrade your final keeper and walk into your league's draft with what arguably would be the four best all-around keepers on any team in your league. If trading won't fly, the decision as to which of the two I'd keep of the two would depend on the aforementioned unknown information. Good luck!

Question #2 (from Simon)

I'm part of a H2H dynasty league that just finished its first season. We can keep as many players as we want, up to a total of 23, no more than four of whom can be goalies. If a team keeps 23 players, then it doesn't draft anyone, whereas if it keeps fewer it gets to draft however many are necessary to get to 23. I would draft 5th.

Rosters are 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 4D, 1Util, 2G, 7 Bench, 3IR+, and 2 NA, and categories are G, A, P, +/-, PPP, GWG, SOG, FW, HIT and BLK for skaters, and W, GAA, SV, SV% and SHO for goalies. Only players who are on the actual NHL's IR list are eligible for IR+ spots, such that if a team has no players on IR it can only have 23 on its roster, whereas if it has three or more players actually on the IR then the permitted roster size is 26, with the extra player(s) coming from the free agent pool and the team then having to drop a player once an IR+ player comes off "real life" IR.

It just so happens that I ended the season with 3 IR+ players, hence 26 players being listed below, rather than 23. So at minimum I'll need to shrink that to 23, or even lower if I want to draft anyone. My end of season roster was as follows, with my recollection of forward position eligibility/eligibilities noted in parentheses:

F – Sebastian Aho (C), Timo Meier (LW), Roope Hintz (C, LW), William Nylander (RW), Joel Eriksson Ek (C), Bo Horvat (C), Jesper Bratt (LW, RW), Teuvo Teravainen (LW, RW), Chandler Stephenson (C, LW), Tim Stutzle (C, LW), Tanner Jeannot (RW), Valeri Nichushkin (RW), Lucas Raymond (LW, RW), Jack Hughes (C), Alexis Lafreniere (LW), Kent Johnson (C)

D – Adam Fox, Moritz Seider , Shea Theodore, Zach Werenski, Miro Heiskanen, Jake Sanderson 

G – Igor Shesterkin, Connor Hellebuyck, Ilya Samsonov, Linus Ullmark

As you can see, I went young, hoping to build a squad that not only will be able to compete in a couple of seasons but remain a solid team for a while. So do I stick with this and drop the older players? Or do you think I need to strike a better balance? Among the guys I'm leaning toward dropping are Eriksson Ek, Teravainen, Stephenson, Jeannot, Nichushkin, Johnson, Sanderson, Samsonov and Ullmark, with the specific players depending on what approach I take.

Also, would you dip below the 23 player mark to be able to draft one or more 2022 draft picks plus other non-retained players? Because I draft 5th overall I'm not sure I'd be able to get one of the "big three" 2022 picks; so perhaps I just opt not to draft anyone and retain 23 guys?

Because it's a new league, I'm not sure how active the offseason trade market will be. But my sense is the GMs are inclined not to do deals unless they emerge the clear winner. And for the record, I'm very open to trading, even if maybe I come out on the losing end, rather than dropping guys who I think would make other teams too good if put into the draft pool.

I think this is a very good team to have in a new league, as indeed you're not far competing yet poised to be excellent for quite a while. But there is such a thing as being too focused on youth; so that should be kept in mind when deciding the path to get to 23 – or fewer – players from the 26 you have now.

The first question should be whether to dip below 23 in order to give yourself room to draft one or more players. With you set to pick fifth, and the way your roster is constituted, I'm not sure there is merit to doing so. Your team is that good already, and you don't really need to get younger; plus, whoever else is left to draft other than 2022 picks likely would not be an upgrade over what you have now. The way I'd proceed is with the mentality that you'll end up at 23 players – not less.

As for cuts or trade material, in a 2G league when you have Shesterkin and Hellebuyck, keeping even a third goalie, let alone a fourth, seems unnecessary. But if all 12 teams have four goalies, or just three, that would make Samsonov and Ullmark more valuable than in a league where – say – only 25 or so goalies are kept. Or to put it another way, with you having these four goalies, there must be a couple of teams without even two decent goalie keepers who might be eager to obtain one of these two. Use that to your advantage and trade one or both, most likely Samsonov to seize on his Toronto hype.

But losing one or both goalies, especially if getting a player in return, won't solve your roster size issue; so I think you could add others to the trade package. Bratt, to me, would be "safe" to trade in that his value is likely at or near its peak. The issue is he isn't a big name, so I'd worry you wouldn't get a proper return. Same with Teravainen, as he's likely hit his ceiling and if anything his production may be slipping. And Stephenson played very well even once Jack Eichel debuted and likely has a PP1 spot now that Max Pacioretty is gone; yet he too would not be an asset for which another team would pay proper value. Nichushkin could be an option to capitalize on his UFA buzz, except he just might be this good, as due to his size he needed to get to game 400 before he truly broke out. In short, you have skaters who either don't make sense to trade and/or wouldn't net proper return, such that you should just keep them.

In the end, I think you trade both of your two youngest guys – Sanderson and Johnson. If your team is this young, chances are at least a couple of others aren't, and, in turn, they would be eager to grab one of these guys given their future promise. Truth be told, I'm not sure you need them more than the rest of the guys you already have.

I'd put Ullmark, Samsonov, Sanderson, and Johnson on the block with the aim to get getting one player in return for all four. Or if you can only do a two for one or three for one deal, you just drop the guy(s) you're unable to trade, putting you at the 23-player mark which I think is where you should be. If you can't make a trade at all, then drop all but Samsonov and hope he excels in Toronto. Good luck!

Question #3 (from Roberto)

I am in a 10 team, keep 15 (plus two "farm" players, who must have played <80 NHL games) league where goals and assists are worth 1 point each, goalie wins are 2 points and shutouts are 1 extra point. We start 14F, 4D and 2G, plus have 10 Bench spots. Two keys with this league are (1) we are only allowed to make 25 bench to roster switches during the season, and (2) there are no free agent pick-ups. I'm finishing a rebuild and am now at a point where I actually have more keepable players than spots. Here are the 12 I consider "locks:"

F: Johnny Gaudreau, Jack Hughes, Tim Stutzle, Timo Meier, Drake Batherson, Mathew Barzal, Jordan Kyrou, Tomas Hertl

D: Cale Makar, Victor Hedman, Mortiz Seider

G: Thatcher Demko

Farm: Lucas Raymond and William Eklund

That leaves 3 spots open for the following players: Tony DeAngelo, Zack Werenski, Noah Hanifin, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell, Dylan Strome, Alexander Holtz, Bo Horvat, Travis Konecny, Cam Talbot, Cal Petersen. The problem, from where I sit, is that arguably the three best players (DeAngelo, Werenski, Hanifin) are all defensemen, yet if I kept them all I'd have six for four spots, and as I noted above it's not like I can move them freely in and out of the line-up due to the 25 move limit.

Do you agree with my "locks," and if not, who would you not keep and swap in? And either way, who do you see as my last three keepers?

I can see the logic behind your "locks." If you were open to trading any of them though, then from where I sit, the candidates would be Kyrou, Batherson, DeAngelo and/or Seider.

I believe Kyrou is at or near his realistic ceiling given his ice time and the team for which he plays. If, as expected, the Blues keep rolling three scoring lines and keep Kyrou on PP2, I can't see how he does better than he did in 2021-22, especially given he had IPPs, overall and on the PP, of 80%+. And with IPPs that high, If somehow he was plopped onto PP1, chances are his PP IPP would drop, as could his IPP overall if he was a top line staple, resulting in no added points or even fewer. But I also think Kyrou opened the eyes of many poolies in 2021-22 and they likely will think he could continue to improve. Batherson is not at his best in points only and likely will slip to PP2; plus, as I write this, there is still some question as to whether he was involved in the 2018 Canada WJC incident, which, if he was, could result in a lengthy suspension. Seider is not at his best in points only. He had a superb rookie season; but I believe he projects to be more of a "complete package" type of defensemen whose real life importance could work against his fantasy value. I fear he could end up like Darnell Nurse or Ivan Provorov, where, as Detroit improves, they could want Seider to play tougher minutes. More on DeAngelo below.

The lure in trading Seider is then two of Werenski, DeAngelo and Hanifin could be kept. I'd rank them as Werenski first (25 points in his last 26 games plus managed 11 goals despite hitting a combined 13 posts and crossbars), then Seider, then DeAngelo (he will get all the PP time he can handle but how good will Philly be), then Hanifin (he finished with 20 points in his last 20 games; but Rasmus Anderson looks to have a lock on PP1 and the Flames added MacKenzie Weegar). Hanifin seems like a redraft given his disguised production; but deciding between Seider and DeAngelo is tough. Probably the safe play is keeping Seider, meaning DeAngelo could be traded to avoid the issue you astutely identified about too many defensemen without being able to freely shuffle them into and out of your line-up due to the cap on roster moves. The other option would be to put both Seider and DeAngelo on the block to see what you can get for each. For sure Seider would have more lure than DeAngelo in the eyes of the other GMs in your league, and that's where Kyrou and/or Batherson could come in, as if one of them was moved with DeAngelo that could be enticing. Play around with trade permutations and see what transpires.

Assuming you do player for player or players for players trades, then you will need two more keepers. If you do no trades, and opt to keep DeAngelo and Werenski, then you'd need one more keeper. Given your choices, I'd try to make trades where you get back more players than you move, as I'm not thrilled about your other keeper choices. If I had to rank them though, I'd go with Horvat first (26 points in his last 24 games and locked into PP1) then Konecny (Philly will have no choice but to lean on him, and his metrics were unsustainably unlucky in 2021-22). I see both as good bets to tally about 65 points, which is a cut above the rest of the choices. You could also go risk/reward and keep Talbot, although if you look at 2021-22 data, Anton Forsberg outperformed him almost across the board, so I'm not sure Talbot would be a good keep. Perhaps, then, you include Talbot as part of a trade package too? Good luck!

Question #4 (from Dave)

After reading Dobber's 12 dynasty picks from the 2022 draft, I wasn't very optimistic about any of them making a near term impact. That made me wonder – who do you believe will be the best Calder eligible players for 2022-23?

Before I offer my thoughts, let me remind everyone to order the 2022-23 Fantasy Guide, which will have an entire section devoted to this specific topic, not to mention information galore that will position you to win your fantasy leagues. There's a reason why Dobber has been at this so long, and a lot of it has to do with his invaluable Fantasy Guide, the 2022-23 version of which will be released on Friday August 5th and is available to order here. I'll also add that prospects are not my strongest suit, which is all the more reason to look to the Guide for information on those with the best odds to win the Calder for 2022-23.

As for my thoughts, predicting the Calder winner I look for one of two things. Either I want a player who has talent plus a great opportunity on a weaker team (think Mortiz Seider), or someone who could walk into a role surrounded by stronger players (think Michael Bunting).

For the former, Matty Berniers and Shane Wright will likely be given every opportunity to succeed for a Seattle team that struggled when it came to scoring goals in 2021-22. Similarly, I think William Eklund will be able to stick with a still weak San Jose team and secure a top six spot, and, like Berniers, showed in a small sample size that he seems very much NHL ready. Mason McTavish is still another who was able to whet the appetite of poolies not only with what he did in his brief NHL stint but over the rest of the season in juniors and then even suiting up for Canada at the Olympics. McTavish also has the benefit for playing for Anaheim, which, while improved due to the signings of Frank Vatrano, Ryan Strome, and John Klingberg, should be eager to give him every opportunity to succeed at the NHL level this season.

Owen Power falls more into the second category, as Buffalo is likely to be vastly improved but not so much as to prevent Power from getting meaningful minutes. Yes, Rasmus Dahlin will be the top dog when it comes to PP1 and blueline offense; however, Power should be able to contribute as well. Another defenseman who could land in a similar spot is Jake Sanderson, who has Thomas Chabot as the go to guy for the Sens; but the Sens got so much better in the offseason that Sanderson could make noise even if he's not running PP1. Another Sabre – Jack Quinn – could make waves, but only if he's able to slot into the top six, which, again due to how much better Buffalo has become, is no guarantee. Yet based on what we saw from Quinn in the AHL he might be tough to hold back. Calen Addison also is intriguing because the Wild don't really have a PP1 QB, with the spot being occupied by Jared Spurgeon more so out of default than due to him being a gifted offensive defenseman. Addison, although not as talented as Seider on paper, could walk in and seize PP1 just like Seider did on Detroit. There's also Cole Perfetti, who, by Q4 of 2021-22, was most frequently skating with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kyle Connor. If he can keep that gig, he could sleepwalk to the Calder. Marco Rossi also is a candidate to get put right into a scoring role as a rookie, although if you read my most recent Forum Buzz column, I don't think he is a good bet to succeed, but that's just my take. I really like the chances of Alexander Holtz, who earned his stripes by succeeding at the AHL level and is not the type of player who'd be at risk of being slotted in the bottom six. He could ride shotgun to Jack Hughes, which would be one of the best gigs not only that a rookie could ask for, but any forward in the entire NHL.

If I had to pick the top three nominees right now it'd be Holtz, Eklund, and Addison. For the winner I'll go with Addison, which would make it the first time in 60 years (!) that a defenseman won the award in two consecutive years. Good luck!

Question #5 (from B)

I’m in a 12 team Roto Dynasty league, with categories of G, Defenseman Goals, A, PIM, PPPts, SHP, Hit, BLK, Takeaways/Giveaways, FOW, Faceoff %, W, SV, SV%, GAA. Each team has 24 players on its active roster, plus 6 reserves and each day we play 4C, 7W, 5D, 2G. We get to keep up to 13 players, with mine likely being Aleksander Barkov, Jack Eichel, Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider, Kirill Kaprizov, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Zach Werenski, Thomas Chabot, Erik Karlsson, Jacob Chychrun, Igor Shesterkin, and Ilya Sorokin.

We also have a minor league system of 6 players that we get to carry for free up to 26 regular season games, then they have to be inserted into our active roster. I am unsure who to keep from my minor league players, with the choices being Marco Rossi, Matty Berniers, Wyatt Johnston, Alexander Holtz, Lukas Reichel, Scott Morrow, Scott Perunovich, and Strauss Mann. I see Rossi/Berniers/Johnston/Holtz as locks for me, leaving two spots to pick between Reichel, Morrow, Perunovich and Mann. Which two would you keep, or would you swap out any of my locks? Note that I am also able to "rookie" one of the following players this year, Vasily Podkolzin or Philip Tomasino, I’m not sure which to "rookie;" what do you think of their outlook?

I agree that Berniers and Holtz, the latter of which you just saw above is someone I see as a likely Calder nominee, are locks. I'm not as fond of Rossi as most, since, again as explained at length in my most recent Forum Buzz column, although there are a number of successful undersized wings in today's NHL, including Mats Zuccarello on Rossi's own Wild, the same cannot be said for centers. Beyond that, as a small statured player, Rossi might need until game 400 to break out. Let's put him as a maybe for now. I also think Johnston is a good pick, as he has positional versatility and should be NHL ready in time for spots in the top six to be there, whether it's playing on a line with younger players Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson, or with the old guard like Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Either way, I like his versatility and team, so he makes the cut.

With only 72 minors players kept, I think that Mann should not be one of them, as even if he somehow finds a way to factor into the San Jose goalie picture, the team should be pretty lousy for a while. You have better options. Perunovich is one of them. He's well older than the rest, but I think that will work to his advantage. He has succeeded at every level thus far in his career, plus St. Louis doesn't have a young blueline, giving Perunovich a real chance to be a top four defenseman fairly soon. Much the same could be said about Carolina too; however, Perunovich's maturity and NHL readiness is better than Morrow's, so I'd put Perunovich in as one of the six, but not Morrow.

With Mann and Morrow out, that means Rossi does make the cut. So too does Reichel, whom I like because he'll be a lock for a scoring line in Chicago, a team that is now without forwards who scored more than half the team's goals in 2021-22.

As for Podkolzin and Tomasino, with Filip Forsberg staying in Nashville and the team not losing anyone from its top nine and even adding Nino Niedereiter, Tomasino's situation is, if anything, worse, and he has little chance of being able to penetrate the top six any time soon. Podkolzin, on the other hand, was skating with Bo Horvat by Q4 and not looking out of place. Talent-wise they are likely comparable, but the edge in opportunity goes to Podkolzin, which is who I'd pick. Good luck!

Question #6 (from Andrew)

I’m in a keeper where each team can roster 20-23 players (12F, 6D, 2G start), plus can have a farm of up to 12 players who all must be on ELCs. We can keep as many as we want from year to year, provided our roster is cap-compliant based on the NHL cap (i.e., $82.5M for 2022-23) and using AAV, not actual salary. Scoring is G (1 for a F, 1.5 for a D), A (1), PPPt (0.5 for a F, 1 for a D), SHP (1 for a F, 2 for a D), GWG (1), OTP (1 for a F, 2 for a D), SOG (0.5 for a F, 1 for a D), Shots (0.1), HIT (0.1), PIM (-0.1), W (2), SOL (1), OTL (1), SO (2), Goalie Assist (2), Goalie Goal (5), SV (0.03), L (01), GA (-0.1).

I'm still relatively new to this league and tanked for two seasons before making a bunch of trades this past year to attempt to win. I need to get cap compliant and am looking for your opinion on who to keep or to trade, although it is worth noting that all other teams are above the cap so it will be tough to trade expensive guys. Note also that I only have three picks – 1st, 5th, 18th – in the upcoming rookie draft, in which only players who are on ELCs or drafted but yet to sign a first contract can be selected. We also have two midseason waiver drafts for non-ELC players, for which I have two first round picks.

My team is: Johnny Gaudreau ($9.75M AAV), Sebastian Aho ($8.46M), Nicolaj Ehlers ($6M), Jake Guentzel ($6M), Andrew Copp ($5.625M), Evander Kane ($5.125M), Bryan Rust ($5.125M), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($5.125M), Cole Sillinger ($1.633M – ELC), Tage Thompson ($1.4M), Matt Boldy ($1.325 – ELC), Brandon Hagel ($1.5M), Arthur Kaliyev ($1.035M – ELC), Jakob Pelletier ($0.863M – ELC), Adam Beckman (0.894M – ELC), Alex Turcotte ($2.44M – ELC), Hendrix Lapierre ($1.105M – ELC), Quinton Byfield ($3.544M – ELC), Roman Josi ($9.059M), Cale Makar ($9.0M), Mikael Sergachev ($4.8M), Evan Bouchard ($1.596M – ELC), Timothy Liljegren ($1.4M), Scott Perunovich ($0.750M), Connor Timmins ($0.850M), Josh Mahura ($0.75M), Calen Addison ($0.91M – ELC), Ville Heinola ($1.075M – ELC), Jacob Markstrom ($6.0M), Jake Oettinger (RFA).

Adding up the AAV of your choices, it totals approximately $97.5M, not including Oettinger. So you need to shed about $15-20M. Also worth noting is Thompson will likely get a big raise for 2023-24, which also is when Sergachev's huge new deal kicks in.

My view is as enticing as ELC guys are, I'm more open to not keeping some of them here than if it was a non-cap keeper, in which case those guys could be snatched up and never made available again. With that in mind, I'm not keeping either Turcotte or Byfield. Both could pay dividends, but maybe not for a while and they're each considerably more expensive than Kaliyev, who seemingly looks like he's more ready to make an impact. Those two are drops, and that sheds just under $6M.

The next cut for me is Copp. Detroit is going to be much better this season; but make no mistake, this is Dylan Larkin's team, with Copp's ceiling being no better than that of a second liner at ES and on the PP. Yes, Copp's scoring pace has risen for six straight seasons; however, he needed 18 points in 16 games for the Rangers to keep that streak intact and yet still only scored at a 60-point pace. Even if Detroit improves, Copp won't be playing alongside Artemi Panarin like he did in the Big Apple, so he is another cut, bringing the total savings now to $11.5M.

I'm also not keeping Sergachev. As long as Victor Hedman keeps chugging along, Sergachev is basically a point per every other game d-man who also chips in nicely with peripherals, other than PPPts. With his big raise looming, and lack of realistic upside for 2022-23, I think he can be safely dropped, getting you to just over $16M in savings.

But since you will want to keep Oettinger that means you'll have to offset his salary, and I think that comes via dropping either RNH or Rust. In RNH you have a player who is blessed with PP1 time and gets lots of points there; but his scoring at even strength has started to lag. He's also a band-aid boy to boot. As for Rust, I think his numbers were boosted by a UFA push; but ostensibly he should still be able to do what he did again, what with the Pens not losing him, Evgeni Malkin, or Kris Letang. The concern is if Rickard Rakell, who now makes essentially as much as Rust, could push him aside. And to make it an even tougher pick, RNH and Rust have remarkably similar peripherals to go along with their virtually identical salaries. If it was me, I'd keep Rust, as he's guaranteed to play with Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby at ES, even if he somehow is elbowed off PP1, whereas RNH has not played alongside Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl very much. Plus, Rust had a scoring pace of 79+ points in two of his past three seasons, while RNH has only once bested a 69 point pace, and that was three seasons ago.

My last cut is RNH, which should get you to where you can afford Oettinger. If somehow though you need to shed another $1-2M, the players I'd be most open to cutting are, in order, Liljegren, Lapierre, Beckman, Timmins and/or Mahura. Good luck!

Question #7 (from Magnus)

I’m in a 16 team keeper, points only league with rosters of 23, of which the ten top forwards and 4 top defensemen are scored. with my goal being to win this season or next. I have to cut two of the following players: Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, Jakub Vrana, Joel Farabee, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Casey Mittelstadt, and Carter Verhaeghe. Which two would you not keep?

Right off the bat I'm not keeping Mittelstadt. The frequency at which he seems to get injured has gone from a nuisance to a genuine concern in terms of it not only standing in the way of his development but also with regard to the team gifting him a top six role when there are no shortage of other youngsters eager to strut their stuff. He also turns 24 in November, which, although still young, is old enough for doubt to creep in more so than previously. Is it realistic that Mittelstadt sill nevertheless becomes a fantasy asset? Absolutely; yet at this stage he's, if anything, a redraft given the other choices.

As for the other cut, Verhaeghe shed ice time every quarter in 2021-22 and finished with ten points in his last 21 games, despite playing mostly with Aleksander Barkov, which he might no longer do given the addition of Matthew Tkachuk. Verhaeghe was great in the playoffs; but that came despite even less PP time than he averaged during the regular season and a shooting percentage of 27.3%. Verhaeghe will hit his 200 game breakout threshold in 2022-23; however, I think that even with the benefit of playing for the offensive powerhouse that is Florida and perhaps still finding a way to see some top six action at times, the 58 point pace we saw from him in 2021-22 is likely about the best he can realistically do.

Conversely, Horvat, as noted above, had a very strong last third of the season, with 26 points in 24 games, plus has a locked in spot on PP1, which Verhaeghe will never get on Florida. Although Horvat's scoring rate over the past four seasons has been 61, 57, 63, and 61, Horvat had seen his scoring rate increase for five straight seasons before it stalled and stands to become even more of a focal point if/when J.T. Miller leaves.

In the end, I'd bank on Horvat over Verhaeghe, mostly due to the PP situation plus the fact that Horvat is such a key asset for Vancouver whereas Verhaeghe, although a fine player, is merely a cog in the wheel in Florida. Bottom line, don't keep Mittelstadt and Verhaeghe. Good luck!

Question #8 (from Jesse)

I'm in an 8 team, keep 7, H2H league with rosters of 4C, 4LW, 4RW, 6D, 8Bench, 2G, 1Util and with categories of: G-A-PPP-SOG-HITS-PIMS-BLK-GWG-SV-SV%-WINS-GAA. I believe I have too many viable keepers and will attempt to trade one or more, although that might not be doable. My list of potential keepers are: Igor Shesterkin, Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov, David Pastrnak, Victor Hedman, Aaron Ekblad, Andrei Svechnikov, Mika Zibanejad, Jacob Markstrom, Nicolaj Ehlers and Max Pacioretty. I feel comfortable letting Patches and Ehlers go back into the draft pool, but I'm having a hard time dropping two of Zibanejad, Ekblad or Markstrom. I would add Svechnikov into this, but plan to keep him given his age, peripherals, and the hope he takes another step. Given the trend of NHL teams having goalie tandems, having two surefire starters in Markstrom and Igor is tempting. Do you see Markstrom having another Vezina caliber season? Which 7 would you keep if I can't make a trade? If I can swing trades though, who do you think has more perceived than actual value out of this group? 

Looking at the goalie issue first, they comprise 13% of your starting line-up but their categories account for 33%. With seven keepers, 2/7 equals 28%, or pretty close to 33%; so if you have two netminders who are locked in starters like Shesterkin and Markstrom, I think they both merit keeping. That having been said, Markstrom's season-long stats disguise that they were bolstered by an outstanding first quarter, and he was also shaky in the playoffs. I still think he's keeper material; but I might try to seize upon his high perceived value and put him on the trade block.

I also feel Ekblad is definitely trade material. I covered him in my last Goldipucks column, where, in sum, I pointed out that Ekblad's secondary assist percentage was sky high; and had it been more reasonable, or had Florida scored at a more normal rate, Ekblad's scoring rate in both cases would've been 63 points, not the 77points it actually was. I also worry he's becoming a Band-Aid Boy. To me, he's the perfect player to try and trade in terms of actual vs. perceived value.

Pasta falls into the same boat. His two 100+ point seasons are recent enough to be well remembered; yet things have changed enough to believe they won't be replicated. For one, Pasta did what he did in those two seasons thanks to averaging at least a PPPt per every other game in both campaigns. Since then though, he has 40 in 120 contests. With Boston's PP falling from third and second in the league in Pasta's two big seasons, to ninth in 2020-21 and then 15th in 2021-22, it's clear that what was boosting Pasta's scoring is no longer applicable. If you don't trade him, he'll still give you 80-90 points; but if you do move him, he might still be able to fetch you 100 point perceived value.

As for Ehlers and Patches, you'll get no argument from me about not keeping them. It's not a slight against either – they just don't measure up when compared to the others. As for Svechnikov, you're one of many who's said they see him as a key keeper. My concern is his scoring just hasn't shown signs of improving. Also, Carolina is stingy with ice time even for its stars like Sebastian Aho; and Svech keeps getting limited ice time. I realize a counterpoint is if he does get the ice time then he'll do better, but that's an if in both regards. I would not hesitate to offer him in trade to see if you're wowed.

The surefire keepers are Shesterkin, Kucherov, Kaprizov, and Hedman. I'd add Zibanejad there too, as I fear people see his 2019-20 as an outlier, so they wouldn't give you proper value for him in trade, unlike Markstrom, Ekblad, Pasta, and Svech. Zibs did look like that 2019-20 version of himself in the 2022 playoffs, so perhaps he rises again. At worst though Zibanejad is a point per game player with very nice peripherals.

Ideally, what you need to do is turn Pasta, Ekblad, Markstrom, and/or Svechnikov into three players rather than four, which I think shouldn't be difficult. If you only want to do one for one deals, allowing you to keep one of them, I'd try to hold Markstrom, as he should still be very solid and he's an unquestioned #1 who will get you 60+ starts and 35+ wins, which is pretty huge in today's NHL. 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.