z-Archives (other articles)

I have a few general rules when it comes to building a team in a fantasy hockey keeper league. One of the more important ones is to not plan beyond a two or three year window. You are not building a real NHL club, and too often fantasy hockey poolies place an emphasis on youth and prospects over proven veterans with gas still left in the tank. So using my general rule, take a look at your team(s). Can you realistically say you will have a shot at winning the league at some point within the next two or three seasons? If not, time to scrap the rebuild and start adding proven NHL talent.

Over the past week, very little free agent goalie movement took place. But this was an expected occurrence, as spots get filled quickly and many goalies that had fantasy value last season turn up homeless. Such is the situation currently facing goalies like Ray Emery, Marty Turco and Pascale Leclaire, along with some solid AHL goalies like Tyler Weiman and Mike Brodeur.

This offseason edition of the Top 100 Roto Players brings you hockey enthusiasts an excellent new series: “Hockey Analytics” by Doran Libin. Better known as Big_DL on the DobberHockey forums, Doran delivers a quality piece (and introduction) on the benefits of advanced metrics. Under the Poolie Journals title, we are handed a chance to explore a new side of analyzing statistics, giving us a great advantage over our fellow managers and competition. Be sure to check it out on page 19.

Now that you got your fill on defensemen, it is time to showcase a few deserving forwards who excel in the combined ‘Hits’ and ‘Blocked Shots’ department. Forwards are a very different breed than defensive defensemen and blocked shots are not very forward friendly.

I’ve had a fairly busy offseason in my head-to-head keeper league. I shipped out Justin Williams for Steve Ott last month, and last weekend I pulled the trigger in a bigger trade, moving out Martin Brodeur, John-Michael Liles, and a draft pick in our dispersal draft in September for Loui Eriksson and a lower pick in the same draft.

More information about the Ultimate Fantasy Pool is here.

During the first five days of free agency, the goalie storyline centered around new opportunities for Mike Smith, Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov. But over the last five days, the storyline has focused on the shifting situations of many top-flight prospects, including some that poolies have been harvesting for months, maybe even years.

Shea Weber's future in Nashville, Erik Cole's fantasy impact in Montreal, a sleeper defenseman for 2011-12, and more.

When the free-agent carousel started spinning on Friday, most goalies maintained their backup roles on different teams. But a select few – Mike Smith, Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov – were given a new chance to let freedom ring as starters. This is a perfect theme for today, since I’m celebrating Independence Day here in the USA.

Small prospects need not apply.

Picking fantasy prospects is risky enough without drafting undersized players.  Undersized means any player 5’10 and under, who doesn’t have the frame to reach at least 190 pounds. These criteria would still encourage you to draft stocky players like Derek Roy, Marc Savard, Kimmo Timmonen, Mark Recchi and Brian Rafalski who all reached at least 190 pounds in the NHL.