It has been over two weeks since I first mentioned an all-new Goalie Guild feature exclusively for those at DobberHockey. Usually I’m very quick to release these things, but for this particular beastly and intimidating service, I had to take my sweet, sweet time. So after some excruciating hours in front of the computer, along with the close tracking of specific struggling goalies, I’m proud to launch the Fantasy Goalie Flow Chart.
Did you see the thread I started last Sunday in the School of Block forums about Roberto Luongo and the main issues surrounding his slow start? If you didn’t, I highly suggest reading it, because over the last week, it has been proven that crease crashing and traffic in front of the net - and subsequently a goalie’s depth in the crease - is a major factor in fantasy goaltending so far this season.
Although it may not directly impact your goalie’s value in every game, the dynamics of overall net presence and depth in the net must be understood in order to make even better fantasy goaltending decisions. Do your goalies challenge shooters effectively? Do they get run into more than once or twice a game? Are they complacent, or do they have a fierce side to them? And how strong are the defensive efforts in front of said goalie?
One of the biggest obstacles in a backup goalie’s career is playing consistently in very limited chances. For Josh Harding, this is the one thing that has plagued both he and his fantasy owners for years. He has only played in 60 games in just over four seasons (started only 45), due in large part to the strong play of Niklas Backstrom. As a result of Harding’s sporadic play, his fantasy value remains virtually non-existent until he’s traded or Backstrom gets injured.
Nothing is constant, nothing is pure, nothing comes easy and nothing is for sure. In almost every game so far this season, goalies have been prone to more bad bounces, heavy collisions, puck mishandlings or lop-sided shot totals than I care to remember. Whether it was Craig Anderson battling with Patric Hornqvist in Nashville, Mike Smith being nearly decapitated by Jamie Langenbrunner’s knee, the “Khabi-boo-boo” mishap against Calgary or Carey Price punching a hole in the wall after a 7-1 loss in Vancouver, I’ve learned it’s time once again to expect the unexpected.
In just three frenzied days of action, five goalies have walked away with two-game winning streaks, including Craig Anderson, Miikka Kiprusoff, Ray Emery, Marc-Andre Fleury and Carey Price. And unless you watched all 23 games so far, you probably resorted to box scores and recaps to see how your goalies fared. But since they don’t tell the whole story on a goalie’s performance, you might be wondering where to go from here.
Thanks to some great pre-season coverage by the NHL Network over the last week, I was able decipher a handful of goalies that are already heating up for a red-hot start to the regular season. Although these exhibition games were meaningless in the standings and filled with prospects and rusty veterans, things like positioning, body movement and rebound control still reveal a lot when it comes to how a goalie might start the regular season.
With only ten days left before the regular season begins, you should have a solid grasp on which two goalies will act as the foundation for your fantasy teams (or have already drafted them). And even though there’s really no such thing as an “easy” pick these days, it’s fairly straightforward as to which goalies will be taken through the first ten rounds.
A prospect can improve at an incredibly fast rate when someone that mastered the position at the NHL level is constantly providing that prospect with feedback. Especially with a position like goaltending, one that relies on non-stop progression and refinement, having a goalie consultant that understands the nature of the game (especially in 2009) and can relate to today’s elite puck stoppers is the most important factor in developing the goalie depth chart.
We’re all aware of the three-year trend that exists within Nashville’s goaltending regime. It started with Chris Mason taking over Tomas Vokoun at the tail-end of the 2006-07 season, then continued with Dan Ellis taking over Mason in the second half of the 2007-08 season. Then the trend was perpetuated again when the lanky Pekka Rinne took over Ellis’ job last year, which resulted in the rookie phenom starting all but two games in March and April.
When it comes to drafting goalies in a simple one-year fantasy league, ranking your top goalies of choice is a routine tradition. It’s fairly easy to slot guys like Roberto Luongo, Marc-Andre Fleury and Martin Brodeur high on your pre-rankings. But with all of the unproven and relatively unknown “starters” this season, what direction do you take for the second and third goalie on your team?
