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This column is a part of the Province newspaper's "Replace the KB" blogging competition. Give it a thumbs up here!

There are few certainties in the world of hockey each and every season. Daniel and Henrik Sedin will be near the top of the scoring race. Tim Connolly, Ales Hemsky, and Sami Salo will keep their respective team doctors busy. Teemu Selanne will continue to defy father time, and Pierre McGuire will remind us why every single young Canadian is the next Bryan Trotter/Joe Sakic/Steve Yzerman/all of the above.

There will always be disappointments, and this year is no different. Some proven stars are off to brutal starts, and some inconsistent players are unsurprisingly struggling. Let’s get to the first quarter LVP’s (Least Valuable Players) at each position.

The hysteria surrounding the upcoming 2012 draft class has started as the CHL Subway Super Series is underway and the Under-20 World Junior Hockey Championship is quickly approaching.  The 2012 draft class has been deemed “deep” by most experts as it features several high profile forwards and plenty of defensemen with top four upside.  As exciting as the current crop of upcoming NHLers is there could be even more hype surrounding the 2013 NHL draft class when this time rolls around next season.

Some people say I’m too optimistic, that I think every goalie will do amazing things if they simply get the chance. At times, this is true. It is my nature to see the best in pro-level goalies, so I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. More often than not, they prove me right (Ray Emery, Brian Elliott, Al Montoya, Josh Harding, Kari Lehtonen).

Finding the balance between youth and experience is a difficult process in any keeper league.  GM's, for whatever reason, tend to put too much value into owning young potential superstars, which can disrupt the main goal of winning your pool.  A salary cap league is no different, but there is a rather large benefit in finding that 18 or 19 year old that can step directly into the NHL and make an instant impact.

This article was originally published at the Canucks Army. It also was submitted to the Province newspaper for their writing contest this month - please go to this link and give it a thumbs up.

How many franchise defensemen are there in the league right now? I count five (Zdeno Chara, Nick Lidstrom, Duncan Keith, Shea Weber, and Chris Pronger). There are a few more right on the cusp, like Drew Doughty, Keith Yandle, and Kris Letang. Each of the 30 NHL clubs carries anywhere from six to eight defensemen, meaning there are approximately 200-220 defensemen in the NHL at any given time. Less than three percent of the total defensemen are by my definition franchise material at this moment in time.