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 Dwayne)

My team has been in an extended rebuild since I entered this league 2+ seasons ago. The league is a dynasty 10 team, H2H with categories of G, A, Pts, +/-, PPP, SOG, HIT, BLK, W, GAA, SV and SV%. Rosters are adjustable daily with 3C, 6W, 4D and 2G active, plus 5 Bench, 7 minors (minors are eligible to move to the active roster; if they are minors at the beginning of the season, they remain so for the entire season), and an IR of up to 3 players. As I write this, I have the following roster:

C – Dylan Cozens, Mason McTavish (M=minors eligible), Vincent Trocheck, Marco Rossi (M), Alex Newhook (M), Cole Sillinger (M)

W – Jesper Bratt, Roope Hintz (also C eligible), Alexander Holtz (M), Kirill Kaprizov, Clayton Keller, Jack Quinn (M), Cole Perfetti (M, also C eligible), Seth Jarvis (M), Phillip Tomasino (M)

D – Cale Makar, Rasmus Dahlin, Neil Pionk, Alexander Romanov, Calen Addison (M), Brandt Clarke (M), David Jiricek (M)

G – Jacob Markstrom, Marc-Andre Fleury, Anton Forsberg, Mackenzie Blackwood, Yaroslav Askarov (M), Matt Murray (IR)

Are changes required for this squad to challenge the top teams in a few years? When Murray returns, do I drop him or Blackwood? Should I look to move on from any youngsters that have disappointed so far this season (e.g., Rossi, Newhook, Sillinger, Holtz, Quinn, Tomasino) or remain patient? Do I try to move a C for a W to obtain better balance? If so, which C should be targeted? Given unpredictability at the position, and long runway generally required, I grabbed a couple of older and somewhat more reliable starting goalies with the plan of figuring out netminders on a year-to-year basis, with only Askarov being very future looking. Do you agree with that goalie strategy? By the way, I have two first round picks next year with the hope of winning the Bedard lottery.

I think for the time that's elapsed you've done quite well for yourself. Kudos! I'll answer the goalie question first by saying that I'm not at all opposed to skewing a bit older when it comes to netminders. Young goalies pan out at such a low rate – more on that when I answer the next question – that banking on them as part of a rebuilding plan is normally not a recipe for success. Plus, goalies tend to be able to remain at or near the top of their game into their 30s, unlike most skaters. I'm not here to tell you that Fleury will be in the mix once your team figures to compete for the title; but at worst he's a stopgap solution who can – and should – be traded when the opportunity to do so presents itself, most likely this season after he finds his game. As for the other netminders, Markstrom should be fine to hold for several seasons, Forsberg is poised to be the starter for Ottawa next season regardless of how well UFA to be Cam Talbot does upon returning from injury. Blackwood, on the other hand, is a guy I'd try to unload ASAP, although his injury last week might stand in the way. Why? Because he's not just a perpetual injury risk, he's also not good. When looking at GAA, SV%, losses, and shutouts among goalies over the last 25 years who, like Blackwood, played 125+ games by age 25, his comparables are Ondrej Pavelec, Brian Elliott, J.S. Aubin, Kevin Weekes, and Dominic Roussel. Not a pretty picture.

But by some miracle Blackwood has looked not horrible in the early going. Use that to get rid of him as soon as possible. If need be, add a sweetener in the form of one of your youngsters, as I don't object to the idea of trading one or even more of them. After all, the reality is for most young players their hype value will exceed their actual long-term value. If you can get decent value for Rossi, he's who I'd put at the top of the trade list, as you have to go all the way back to Daniel Briere and Derek Roy more than a decade ago to find centers as short at Rossi who were ever point per gamers, with the best of the bunch since then being the likes of Tyler Johnson and David Desharnais. If Rossi somehow does fulfill the lofty expectations that accompany him, it probably won't be for a while, as the breakout threshold for guys who are as diminutive as him is usually around game 400. Package Blackwood and Rossi and see if you can land a player like Clayton Keller, Nikolaj Ehlers, or Tyler Bertuzzi, each of whom is likely not so coveted as to be untouchable but still should be doing quite well by the time your youngsters start to hit their stride.

I wouldn't stop there though. I'd trade one or even two more youngsters. Again, the issue is they are put on such a pedestal right now; but so few actually pan out to an extent where you'd not say to yourself later that you wished you'd have traded them while they still held significant value. Who to trade though? Probably Jiricek, as Columbus has more than its fair share of blueline youth, and perhaps Newhook, as although I've liked his IPP prior to this season I'm worried about his SOG volume, or, more appropriately, lack thereof, plus even as Newhook is struggling there should be teams eager to snatch him up after seeing what Nazem Kadri did last season and envisioning the same from Newhook as Colorado's #2 center. Do you have to trade them now? No, but I'd dangle them to see if you get dazzled. For these two I'd maybe try to get another of the three I mentioned, and maybe you could aim even higher for the likes of Pavel Buchnevich, Troy Terry, or Kevin Fiala.

Guys I wouldn't trade though, under any condition, are Holtz, who I think will eventually get put into a spot to have significant success, or Addison, who will have plenty of time to prove himself while the Wild are under a cap crunch, after which he'll be entrenched, and Perfetti, who is playing more like a veteran than a guy who's still a newcomer to this league, plus is in the right place at the right time as Winnipeg is still talented but has some aging core players into whose roles he can step. As for the rest, I'd consider moving any of them either in lieu of the deals I already suggested or as another separate deal, since I believe you have enough young talent to be able to help fill the cupboard of other less prospect-heavy teams while at the same time expediting your rebuild Good luck!

Question #2 (from Mike)

This offseason, I replaced the last place owner of a 16 team, keep 12 with 20 minors (<150GP for skaters and <82GP for goalies), weekly H2H – with daily line-ups – category league. We start 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 6D and 2G, with 5 Bench. Scoring categories for skaters are G, A, SOG, PIMs, Hits+Blocks, Special Teams Points, GWG (including shootout winners) and for goalies are W, SV, SV%, SO. My question is about how much priority I should be giving D and G. Right now, in addition to a huge stockpile of draft picks, I have 14D and 9G, with the ages of the D being 22, 22, 20, 22, 32, 29, 23, 22, 22, 19, 20, 20, 21, and 22, and six not currently in the NHL, while for my goalies their ages are 36, 28, 25, 22, 20, 25, 23, 24 and 25, and five are not currently NHLers. What do you think of the age ranges and number of players I have at each position? Goalies comprise only 11.7% of starting line-ups yet their categories account for 36% of scoring, and three goalie categories are volume-based. Defensemen are seemingly key too, accounting for 40% of all skaters. Do you think it's a wise rebuilding strategy to do what I've been doing, or should I not focus so much on D and/or G?

Let's start with goalies. No question they have significant value based on the categories and due to three of their four categories rewarding high volume starters. The issue is very few goalie prospects actually make an impact. Need proof? Look at this list of the top 50 goalie prospects from five years ago. Two of the top ten are impactful goalies now, but just as many were complete busts, with two others being fringe NHLers at best and the rest skewing toward less good than more. In fact, of the 50, not even ten are currently true #1 goalies. And while the jury is still out on some, that's still a pretty bad ratio of hits to misses after a five year period, worse – I'd guess – than for skaters. What this stresses is stockpiling young goalies in hopes of hitting a home run is going to be a losing proposition far, far more often than not; and even when it succeeds, it often requires a lot of patience.

Am I going so far as to say it's entirely wrong to bank on goalie prospects? No; however, I think that as part of this team's strategy it's not wise for more than half the goalies it owns to not be in the NHL, which is how things stand as of now. The good news is although it's not exactly a secret that goalie prospects are risky, many GMs can't help but be blinded by the hope of locking down the next Igor Shesterkin, Jake Oettinger, or Ilya Sorokin and thus would be willing to make trades with you to take on some of your goalie prospects. I'd make it your mission to winnow down your number of non-NHL goalies to two or at most three, trading the one(s) you see as having name value but also at risk of not panning out. No need to rush to do so; however, no need to drag your heels either.

As for defensemen, I like that only one is still a teen, since that puts them closer to being able to make an impact. Plus, if you want to trade some, I think guys age 20-22 will net you more in return than teens, whom other GMs rightfully worry will usually take too long to make an impact. By trading guys past their teens, you can spin it as you having already held them through much of their development and that they're now primed to be NHLers, which, in fact, the majority already are. Would I trade any? Almost assuredly, as a total number closer to 12 is where I'd want to be.

What do you ask for in return? As usual, you want players in that sweet spot of age 22-27 who are in the NHL to stay and are likely to have many successful years ahead of them. It's never easy to get GMs to let go of players like that, but try to grab guys who GMs might be concerned about yet realistically still could do well, like Filip Chytil, Kirby Dach, Jesse Puljujarvi, Yegor Sharangovich, Jakub Vrana, Conor Garland, Jakub Chychrun, Adam Boqvist, Ivan Provorov, or Alex Nedeljkovic.

I also might consider taking on at least a few veterans, not to hold and build around but to try and flip either toward the end of this season or next. Far too often rebuilding teams refuse to even entertain the idea of owning any older players, even temporarily, when in actuality they are wise to rent since you won't get attached to them and will have an easier time parting with them when the right time comes. Good luck!

Question #3 (from Adam)

I joined an 8 team weekly H2H full keeper for this season. Rosters are 4C, 4LW, 4RW, 6D, 3G, 3 Bench, 3IR, 2IR+. We can keep 21 players, corresponding with our number of lineup spots. Trades can involve players or draft picks. Starting next year, the three bench spots will be for prospects only.

Skater categories are weighted as follows: G(3), A(2), +/-(1), PPG(1), PPA(1), SHG(2), SHA(2), SOG(0.1), HIT(0.2), BLK(0.2) while goalie categories consist of W(4), L(-2), GA(-1), SV(0.2), SO(4). After our draft and a few weeks of waiver moves, my lineup, as I write this, consists of the following players:

C – Tyler Seguin, Anze Kopitar, Elias Pettersson, Mark Scheifele

LW – Mason Marchment, Evander Kane, Kirill Kaprizov, Timo Meier

RW – Bryan Rust, Mikko Rantanen, Patrick Kane, Troy Terry

D – Victor Hedman, John Carlson, Thomas Chabot, Josh Morrissey, K'Andre Miller, Tyson Barrie

G – Ilya Sorokin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Thatcher Demko

BN – Eric Comrie, Vincent Trocheck, Travis Konecny

IR+ – Miro Heiskanen (DTD)

IR – Tyler Bertuzzi (IR)

During the draft, older players were faded by the bulk of managers, so I seized upon what I thought was a great opportunity and drafted them at what felt like excellent value. For example, in our snake draft where I had the last pick in round 8 and first in round 9, I got Patrick Kane and Carlson. I took Rust in the 16th, Kopitar in the 20th and Trocheck/Seguin in the 22nd/23rd, as other examples. As I write this though, I'm 0-2, although the poor showing of my goalies has been primarily responsible. I think the team is built for contention right now, but admittedly I'm new to this type of format. What's your assessment? What suggestions would you make?

First off, your netminder struggles should not be an ongoing issue. Do I think you've got the best trio of goalies in an eight-team league? Almost assuredly not; however, I think they won't be huge difference makers in either a positive or negative direction.

Looking at your skaters, my take is your defensemen appear better than they'll actually prove to be. I don't trust that Barrie will remain relevant over the course of the season, and Chabot, despite every year receiving top tier deployment, doesn't seem to be cut from a scoring cloth. Carlson and Hedman are solid; but there's only one way for their production to go, and that's down.

What I like best are your wingers, as collectively they should get you point per game scoring, which is pretty good considering that last season only 18 wingers averaged a point per game while skating in at least 41 contests. So in an eight team league that means you should have maybe three or four, while you actually have eight. Yes, I realize that when I say they should collectively score at a point per game level I don't mean each of them; however, aside from Marchment I could see the rest each posting 75+ points, with Kaprizov, Patrick Kane and Rantanen all pushing 100. And you offset the lack of banger output of Terry and Patrick Kane with Meier and Evander Kane. Very solid.

Your centers are definitely below average for an eight-team league though. Yes, Scheifele is one of only two pure centers – Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby being the others – who has posted point per game or higher scoring in six straight seasons; however, he never does much better than that, and I don't see how this season will differ. Kopitar also chugs along nicely; however, point per game output is unlikely. Trocheck and Seguin are at best 70 point guys, while Pettersson might go nuts or disappoint, you just never know.

I'm trying to land on guys you could move who would put you in a better position, and it's tough. I do think Carlson – despite slipping in your draft – still has name value which exceeds his actual value, and so does Rantanen's. I can see a universe where I try to flip them for a point per game downside center like Mika Zibanejad plus an up and comer like Roope Hintz, then maybe you move Kopitar separately, getting what you can for him.

As a plan B for acquiring a center, you could trade Carlson (or Hedman) and Demko for someone like Aleksander Barkov or Sebastian Aho plus a goalie like Connor Hellebuyck, who has rediscovered his game, or Frederick Andersen, who has a great gig even though his injury history is iffy and he's a UFA after this season.

After the trade(s), let things unfold and see how they go for a while. If need be, tinker more in a month or two, selling high if possible on guys like Barrie and Rust. But I'd say between upgrading your centers by moving a couple of players now, and your goalies finding their games, hopefully that should be more than enough to jumpstart your team and put it into contention. Good luck!

Question #4 (from Paul)

I'm in a 12 team, H2H, keep 19 league with rosters of 4C, 4LW, 4RW, 6D, 2G, 4 Bench, 1 IR, and 1IR+, and categories of G, A, Pts, +/-, PIM, PPPts, SHP, GWG, SOG, FOW, FOL, HIT, BLK, W, L, GA, GAA, SA, SV% and SO. I'm the two-time defending champion and my roster, as I write this, consists of:

C: Patrice Bergeron, Sidney Crosby, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Josh Norris, Tim Stützle, Wyatt Johnston

LW: Carter Verhaeghe, Kirill Kaprizov, Pavel Buchnevich, Dominik Kubalik

RW: Tom Wilson, Matthew Tkachuk, Adrian Kempe, David Pastrnak, Fabian Zetterlund

D: Gustav Forsling, Brandon Montour, Ivan Provorov, Jacob Trouba, Alex Pietrangelo, K’Andre Miller, Thomas Chabot

G: Jacob Markstrom, Jordan Binnington, Logan Thompson, Vitek Vanecek

I decided to change my strategy for goalies a few years back because of the uncertainty (and, for me, unpredictability) of that position, targeting lesser-touted goalies with great opportunities rather than lose years waiting for possible future phenoms. I've fared pretty well with that so far, being able to pick up Binnington right before St. Louis won the Stanley Cup. And using this philosophy, I was able to pick up Thompson in this years draft and add Vanecek from waivers right after. I was worried for a bit; but now I think I'm in pretty good shape, as most teams own 3-5 goalies so these four are at least in the middle of the pack.

My concern is two of my centers are Bergeron and Crosby, who aren't getting any younger, with it not even clear if Bergeron will play after this season. So I've had trade talks with one of the other GMs who might be getting impatient on Quinton Byfield and is in quite a mess with his goalies. So far the discussions have led us to Thompson for Byfield and MacKenzie Weegar, or Vanecek for Byfield and Andrew Mangiapane. Both offers feel like definite wins for me, especially given how little I invested to obtain both Thompson and Vanecek. But if I trade even one goalie, I'll be even thinner at the position compared to the rest of the league, which is a concern given that two goalies account for a third of categories versus 18 skaters for the other two-thirds. And with Markstrom aging, I fear being left in a complete goalie void.

What are your thoughts on these possible deals for Byfield? What is your estimation of the future of the goalies involved? I think Byfield will pan out and has a relatively clear path on the Kings roster. Thompson is in a sweet spot right now, but I'm not a big believer in the Knights' future. Vanecek I feel can outplay his competition and grab starting duties on a potentially great team going forward. Should I maybe try to get rid of Binnington?

From the wire, I would be able to add Filip Gustavsson, who I like in general but even more so given the team he's on. Does his availability sway your opinion at all?

I'll answer your specific questions as well, but I wanted to focus first on one thing you wrote, namely where you said you were more open to trading Thompson or Vanecek given how little you'd invested in them. In almost any league other than ones where keepers are determined by the round in which a player was drafted, it is usually best not to dwell on what a player cost you, whether in terms of a draft pick, via a trade, or as a free agent move.

Why not? Because once a player is on your roster, it should not matter how he got there. I've seen many GMs – including in one year leagues – stubbornly refuse to drop or trade a significantly underperforming player they selected in an early round because they feel they invested so much that they either have to get that level of return or need to wait for the player to turn things around, which might never happen. It's the same with a player who was cheap to obtain but has done incredibly well, where a GM is eager to trade him because they fear his performance might not be sustainable or because they can use him to get a "better" player in trade.

Once a player is on your team, how he got there should not cause you to be more or less likely to make a move involving that player. After a draft ends, it should be ancient history. Wipe it from your mind. The same applies if you get a player via a pick up or cheap deal. Trust me that if you dwell on the costs you paid to get your players, you'll be doing your team a disservice in the long and short run.

Tying this to your questions, just because Vanacek and Thompson are worth a lot more now than what you "paid" to get them should not make you more inclined to trade them. All that matters in making that decision is their realistic outlook and how the move(s) would affect your team. In this case, it boils down to whether the deals are fair on their face, not factoring in what you "paid" to get the two.

The focal point for each contemplated deal is Byfield, who, although now 20 years old, just doesn't seem much closer to making a significant impact in the NHL from where I sit. Also, from reading my answer to question #1 above, you know I make a big deal out of the fact that centers as short as Marco Rossi have a poor track record of success, with us having to go back a over a decade to find any who were strong fantasy contributors.

Well guess what – centers as tall or taller than Byfield, who's 6'5'', haven't had good results either. Yes, Tage Thompon is looking superb; however, it took him until age 24 to start to connect the dots. As for the rest, a total of 16 centers who were 6'5'' or taller played 200+ games in the 2000-01 to 2021-22 timeframe, with a mere one – Mats Sundin – averaging above a point every other game, and everyone else not even coming close to the threshold. Although past results are not predictive of the future, plus Byfield could always be shifted to wing, I find this data concerning to say the least, and even more so given that Byfield hasn't exactly looked primed for near term success and is still young at age 20.

Here's the thing – yes, Bergeron and Crosby are grey beards and you're right to think about what to do when they're no longer starring for your team; however, you have more than enough skater depth to replace them. In fact, I'll go so far as to say your skaters would be above average in a 12 team league; in a 16 team one they're superb, probably the best in your league by a wide margin, and likely a large part of why you're a two-time league champ.

What you don't have, however, is a surplus of goalies. Despite Thompson and Vanecek having cost you so little, I'm not trading either one – or Binnington – in a deal where the centerpiece coming back to you is Byfield. Don't get me wrong – I'm not saying there isn't a deal that could come along which would make Thompson, Vanecek or Binnington expendable, but I think Byfield is not the guy I'd use one of them to get. If you still want Byfield, despite what I wrote above, use one of your skaters instead.

If you like Gustavsson, who I do think has a chance to be groomed to be the Wild netminder of the future in a couple of seasons, I'd make room for him by dropping Zetterlund or via a two for one skater deal which will get you a center plus leave you with an open roster spot. I can't see a world in which Gustavsson wrests the starting job away from Marc-Andre Fleury this season or even in 2023-24, so you would need to be prepared to play the waiting game if you did get Gustavsson. Good luck!

Question #5 (from Jonah)

As I write this, Seattle, Chicago and the Islanders all sit within the top ten in team goals scored per contest, while the Flyers are in the top five in goals against per game, none of which I think anyone saw coming. Can any of these teams keep this up long term?

Let's start first with the Flyers. I know that the book on John Tortorella is he makes an immediate impact on his team yet over time "loses the room." But looking back, he's never had a team he's coached fare better in terms of team defense in his first season of 70+ games coached than the team did the prior season, which surprised me. So that alone is cause for concern. A lot of the success is based on the resurgence of Carter Hart; however, if we look his disaster of a 2021-22, he only allowed 22 goals in his first nine games, before imploding. We might be seeing a hot stretch from Hart that won't last. It would be one thing if Hart had only experienced one poor season, but two atrocious campaigns is a lot tougher to ignore. Long story short, I'm not buying the Flyers as a good bet to continue their defensive success over the course of 2022-23.

As for the teams lighting the lamp, I give the Kraken a good chance at sustained success. Bringing in the likes of Andre Burakovsky and Oliver Bjorkstrand not only improved the team but it also sent a message along the lines of "hey, you guys can do more." Add to that a healthy Jaden Schwartz, a blossoming Matty Berniers, veterans playing well, and blueline contributions from Justin Schultz and Vince Dunn, and I think they can mostly keep up this pace, with perhaps a small drop off.

As for the Islanders, for sure there is a sense among the players that they can take chances and be more active on offense now that they've been unshackled from the Barry Trotz regime, which prioritized defense. But Lane Lambert was an assistant under Trotz for years and likely realizes that if the team is going to make noise in the playoffs they will need to win with defense. Although I'm not necessarily saying the bottom will drop out from under them in terms of scoring, I think we'll see them fall back to the middle of the pack or lower as the season wears on. If you can sell high on anyone other than Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson, especially in one year leagues, you should consider doing so.

As for the Hawks, they've seemingly found the right mix of veterans, reborn players, and young guys showing up. No one expects them to succeed, so the pressure is off; and they are able to play a wide-open style knowing they won't get top tier goaltending. I could see them continuing to do well, yet I do worry the younger players will hit a wall, so their output could wane as the season drags on, yet with a good chance that the squad stays in the top half for team offense. Good question!

Question #6 (from Jim)

I am fortunate to own Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Calen Addison in several of my leagues and am pleased with their output so far, except they're killing me in +/-. Can it be Marc-Andre Fleury is this bad? If not, what's happened to the team to cause it to go from scoring 0.68 more goals per game than they gave up last season, to giving up a half goal per game more than they're scoring?

Yes, the Wild had nine players who were +20 last season; however, despite faring worse in terms of goals allowed thus far this season, the brunt of the pain is being felt by those three, who, as I write this, are a collective -22, while if we look at the – again, as I write this – nine other players who've scored three or more points, they're a collective +10 and only two of them are minus players.

It's not an issue of shorthanded goals being scored against them, as they've given up just one. What we need to do is look at the 5×5 team shooting percentage when those three are on the ice. Of course we can't compare this season to last with Addison, but we can with Zuccarrello and Kaprizov, and for both the difference is significant – 6.8% for Kaprizov this season versus 11.8% last season, and an even worse 5.4% for Zuccarello this season versus 11.4% in 2022-23. Addison's by the way, is 3.1%, which is very low for an offensively-inclined defenseman, so seemingly he's affected as much if not more so.

That, right there, is the culprit. What has happened is the trio's scoring is still at or near expectations, so I don't blame you for thinking it was goaltending to blame. In fact the trio should be faring even better in the scoring department, which, once it occurs, should not only push them back into plus territory, but also result in even better production. So as crazy as it sounds, all are buy lows right now, before the floodgates open. Good luck, although owing those three you might not need it!

Question #7 (from Darren)

I know it's still very early; however, both the Avs and Oilers are having issues in net. Do you think the Oilers would push Jack Campbell aside in favor of Stuart Skinner for the long haul? And what would Colorado do if neither Alexander Georgiev or Pavel Francouz is the answer?

If you ask me, I think Colorado was at worst complacent and arguably arrogant in thinking it could find success with the likes of Georgiev, who, mind you, has never had a quality start percentage above 50% prior to this season, and Francouz, who's hasn't been the model of success or good health of late. It was one thing to win with Darcy Kuemper, who was a legit NHL starter; but these two are showing thus far that they might not be good enough to keep Colorado in games, which is a problem unless the Avs can score over four goals a contest like they did in the playoffs last season; even that might not be enough. It would not surprise me to see them deal Samuel Girard to get a veteran netminder in an effort to try and stabilize at the goalie position.

As for Edmonton, let's remember that until a couple of seasons ago Campbell was a first round bust. He received his big deal this offseason arguably more so due to the lack of other UFA netminders, and his great 2021-22 start, than him being "worth" what they paid for him. I can see a universe in which they turn to Skinner if need be, either in hopes he's the answer or to light a fire under Campbell. Yes, Campbell would be a very expensive back-ups; but if it's what the team sees as its best path to winning a Cup while its stellar forwards are still in their prime, they likely wouldn't hesitate to do so.

If I'm a Georgiev or Francouz owner, I'm worried, as I just don't see either one getting the job done. Colorado might have too much invested though, both in terms of Georgiev and other players, to shake things up; but a universe does conceivably exist in which Colorado makes a big move and gets a stopgap netminder for 2022-23, such as a UFA to be like Jonathan Quick, Semyon Varlamov, or James Reimer. Does that mean owners of Georgiev and/or Francouz should grab Varlamov, Reimer or Quick if they're unowned in their leagues? It would be a very high risk but potentially high reward play, and I'd say it depends on what the rest of their goaltending looks like and if they think there is any chance the team might indeed push the panic button. Plus, the issue would be which of them to get, as no one is going to be able to stash all three nor would they want to do so. If I had to bank on one of them getting dealt to the Avs – and again, that would be a long shot yet not impossible to envision – it'd be Varlamov, who has history in Colorado and is very much a lame duck back-up for Ilya Sorokin, who seems every bit ready to take on a larger role. 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.