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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.