It’s quite simple, really. Jonas Hiller and Ryan Miller, two of my Top-10 Fantasy Goalies, have been killing poolies this past week. Miller was lit up for three goals in less than ten minutes last night against the Flyers, while Hiller suffered a meltdown against the Capitals on Tuesday in a 5-4 OT loss. Were these just ghastly “off nights” for the elite goalies, or were these games a sign of something more foreboding?
It can be difficult to find that goaltender who is going to produce big numbers without eating a big chunk of your cap space. Generally, a goaltender who is firmly entrenched as a number one and can be counted on, year to year, for a solid GAA and SV%, is paid like one. It's extremely important to find a balance between your first and second goaltender. There are goalies out there who face different situations that create a more risky situation, but provide value as they tend to be paid as one. Saving two to three million dollars on a goalie such as Kari Lehtonen, who carries baggage like a Hilton, is a big risk, but one that can pay off and be the difference between a competitive team and simply showing up.
Below is a list of some of the better bargains in the NHL. Jump on them while you can as goalies aren't easy to come by and grabbing an under the radar goalie can pay large dividends in the future.
On Monday forum member mvp0207 asked the question: Myers or Kulikov? As I was diving in to answer his question I realized that this would make for the perfect Cage Match. His league has the standard 6x4 H2H rotisserie format and while it is a one year league I will answer his question for both the one year and keeper scope. You ready? Let’s do this.
There are a couple of key indicators to look for in terms of predicting success for a goaltender. There’s your basic goals against average (GAA), save percentage (SP) along with overall win/loss record. Of the three mentioned, GAA and overall record could be directly influenced by the skill of the team in front of them. For example, if a team is highly offensive (Washington, Detroit, or San Jose), their goalie is going to pick up more wins than a team that struggles offensively (Minnesota or Columbus). On a similar scale, GAA could also be affected by the team’s selected style of play (St. Louis, Phoenix, or Nashville), versus the run-and-gun style of Washington/Tampa Bay. One true indicator to determine how well a goalie is playing is to examine their save percentage. If a goalie stops nine shots in every 10, he owns a .900 save percentage. If he stops 27 in every 30 he also maintains a .900 save percentage. In the end, save percentage rarely lies about how well a goalie is playing.
I'd like to introduce "FrozenPool Forensics", a weekly 'hard hitting' column dedicated to uncovering and analyzing data found by my tools. There are many powerful FrozenPool tools available to subscribers. Naturally, hardcore fantasy fans enjoy unearthing hidden gems via FrozenPool on their own. That's part of the fun right? Stay the course guys, you're doing great. This week's article wasn't intended for you. Before delving into deep stat geekdom, let's hit the basics.
Before the season started, there was a faint buzz in Philadelphia about some kid out of college that might have a shot at making the team. The Flyers roster already had some pretty impressive names penciled in for the top-nine though, so the odds that some unknown collegiate graduate would make the team in an offensive role were low enough for the majority of the NHL community to completely ignore any stories out of Philadelphia on this Matt Read character. As the preseason games began, Read began to open the eyes of those who ignored him, leaving many to ask, “Just who is Matt Read?”
Line combinations are the agony and ecstasy in fantasy leagues. General Managers live and die by mix and matches done by NHL coaches since the stone-age, it seems. What we are going to do today (and every week) is analyze various line combinations and pairings to give you the best chance to succeed in your fantasy hockey leagues. Yes injuries will play a role and as the season rolls along those impacts will have a correlation to line combinations.
Q&A runs every other Sunday and today we look at what to do when you have too many centres, along with how you can approach trades in a keeper setting. Maybe now is the time to target P.K. Subban, among others...
Although he's already 27 and he has never lit up the AHL in scoring, blue liner Corey Potter might be the most unknown fantasy "prospect" in the NHL right now.
After a decent start to an already riveting 2011-2012 campaign, taking two thirds of my choices, I’m looking to maintain or dare say increase that pace! Last Saturday’s trip into Boston made for quite the visit. I witnessed the defending champs in all their glory, taking the Leafs to school with TD BankNorth Arena chanting in unison “Thank You Kessel!!” with feverish aplomb. (Insert “Aren’t you a Leafs homer?” comment here..shhhh.)
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