2007/2008 CP Fantasy Hockey Points Pool

[Pagal4321]

Hey guys,
Since I know fantasy hockey is a hot seller, I've made a points pool too. 8 F, 4 D, 2 G......and you can only make 5 moves during the year. There is no room for bench players either. 1 point for a goal, assist and win and 3 points for a shutout.
Draft is Sunday September 9th, 2007 at 8:30 PM MST. 20 spots, first come first serve again.

1. Pagal4321 (The Pagal)
2. Azure (Azure!)
3. SebC (SebC's scorers)
4. Suave (Suave)
5. DFF (Displaced Flames Fan)
6. Super-Rye (Super-Rye)
7. FurnaceFace (FurnaceFace)
8. VANFLAMESFAN (VANFLAMESFAN)
9. MagicallyAdept
10. TimSJ
11. swo2k1 (swo2k1)
12. Eddie Bronze (14 Bronzemen)
13. Cerebral (Cerebral)
14. Abandonded (Ontario Opinion)
15. simonsays (simonsays)
16. WessThompson (Minelab Maniacs)
17. Iowa_Flames_Fan (Kind of a Big Deal)
18.

[Azure]

I'll take one!

[SebC]

I'm in... actually I think I misread the original thread, but two pools works for me.

[Suave]

I'm in. Thanks again for getting all these fantasy leagues set up Pagal.

[Displaced Flames fan]

uh---yeah.

[Super-Rye]

I'm in. Can't get enough fantasy sports!

[Frequitude]

Hrmmmm. Damn, I'm not around that night. This would be my first points pool but I think I'll have to pass. Excellent work dude.

[FurnaceFace]

1. Pagal4321
2. Azure
3. SebC
4. Sauve
5. Displaced Flames fan
6. Super-Rye
7. FurnaceFace

Anyone know if there is a limit to the number of fantasy teams you can have? It's going to be a busy year between all the NHL and NFL leagues.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Im in.

[Pagal4321]

You can only have 4 of each sport...unless you are in a PLUS league. But 4 free leagues per sport is the max.

[SebC]

This thing filled up way faster last year when it was posted in the 'Fire-on-Ice' forum. For the record... I called third, so no change to the numbers. VFF is 8th.

[MagicallyAdept]

can i join?

[TimSJ]

sure sign me up

[swo2k1]

If you still have room, I'm interested.

[Eddie Bronze]

Pagal, how are you doing this? Are you just adding this stuff up yourself or have you set this up on a website like Yahoo or something. I'll go in it if I know what site it's running on.

[FurnaceFace]

Pagal, how are you doing this? Are you just adding this stuff up yourself or have you set this up on a website like Yahoo or something. I'll go in it if I know what site it's running on.

Yahoo

[Cerebral]

I'll join - I'd like to be involved in a league where less team-maintenance is needed. :)

[Abandoned]

I'm in :w00t:
Everyone ready to lose ?

[simonsays]

Count me in if there is still some room.

[WessThompson]

Did I miss out?? Or can I still get in??

[Pagal4321]

4 more spots left!!!

[pacde]

Id like to join Pagal, if there is a spot open

[Aeneas]

If you are not full, I would participate.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

I've never done this before, but I'm interested if there's still room.

[Save Us Sutter]

I'm in if there's still room

[Pagal4321]

Annd this league should be full.
Let's have a good draft tonight boys/girls.

[Eddie Bronze]

Two questions.

How is the order determined, by how we signed up in this topic, or will the league randomly arrange them?

Once the live draft starts, how much time do we have to make each pick?

Thanks!

[Pagal4321]

Draft order will be determined randomly 30 minutes before the draft starts.
And I beleive it's 90 seconds per pick.

[Abandoned]

well that was a fun draft guys , good luck for the upcomign season and thanks for making the draft fun.

go flyers go!... ha ha

[Pagal4321]

That was a fun draft guys.....feel kinda bad for VANFLAMESFAN though...

[Cerebral]

Nice draft guys, really good turnout!

[Aeneas]

I won't pick an Oiler, I won't pick an Oiler, I won't pick an Oiler....oh rats!

[Abandoned]

and i managed not to pick a olier , sweet :)

but yea i think w ehsould keep this thread updated with talk about are season.

poor poor vanflamesfan.

[Pagal4321]

Also....can we all post our team names (if they aren't brutally obvious)
I will update the first post, so people can discuss trades easily.

[Eddie Bronze]

That went way faster than I was expecting! Good luck to everyone, but I regret to inform you that Tanguay's gonna win it for me, beaatches!!!!!!!!!!

TEAM NAME: 14 Bronzemen

[SebC]

Okay... so at the end of the draft I had one forward spot left, clicked on Mueller but didn't hit the draft button on time. Yahoo didn't take him but instead took Brent Burns, who I had in my cue but ended up as my fifth defenseman. So don't block my waiver transaction! Thanks all.

And Pagal, if you see fit to give me back my transaction, and put me back to 2nd in the waiver priority list, and have the power to do so, thanks. If not, I respect your decision as league commissioner.

Edit: the only person this actually applies to is the person who runs the team New Model Army. For the rest of you, Brent Burns will be up for grabs in 3 days.

[Abandoned]

All i can say is go flyers , Lupul , Biron , Gange , Timonen :)

Team name , Ontario Opinion , don't ask cause i don't know.

What risks do you guys think you took and who was your best/favorite pick ?

My risks were, Clark and Kozlov , both Washington players , both could play with very skilled team mates , but both could also end up playin gon dead beat lines.

my favorite pick was eaither Biron or Kaberle , both good do very well for me and both were taken out of the blue kinda.

[Pagal4321]

Well did Mueller go undrafted??
I don't mind just dropping burns and putting Mueller on your roster....as long as no one has any problems with such a move on my part.

[Abandoned]

^ im cool with that.

[SebC]

Well did Mueller go undrafted??
I don't mind just dropping burns and putting Mueller on your roster....as long as no one has any problems with such a move on my part.Yup. In that case if anyone wants Burns they should be able to get him for free as well... in order of draft picks after mine. And then let the domino effect begin! :)

[SebC]

Favorite picks: White, Johnson, Nabokov
Worst pick: Straka... just saw why it raised some eyebrows. With Gomez and Drury brought in, he's been shunted down the depth chart as a centre. Hopefully he gets slotted into the top two lines as a left wing.

[FurnaceFace]

That's kind of odd it allowed you to select a player in a position that was already full. Seems like that shouldn't happen, program is missing a check somewhere. I don't care if you swap, it shouldn't have happened in the first place in my books.

It should be interesting to see how everything shakes out. VFF...I can only shake my head...why wait on the goalies?

Now on to the head to head draft on the 20th.

[FurnaceFace]

Favourite picks...I dunno...Fedotenko is playing top line, Modano, Jokinen (both). Getting Thornton at 4th made me pretty happy.

Riskiest is Aucoin.

Worst is whoever gets hurt first...which is hopefully not the above. ;-)

[SebC]

Pagal, do you need me to cancel my waiver claim for it to allow you to make the swap, or are you all-powerful?

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

OK--I'll admit it now, at the start of the season....

I feel shame for taking Luongo instead of Crosby. I swear there was a rationale that made sense to me at the time--but man, what a dumb move that was. It was only half way through that I realized what a good season Luongo will need to have in order to match Crosby's probable numbers....

But part of it was that I thought there might be some serviceable scorers still available at # 19 overall--not realizing I wouldn't pick again until # 36. Still.... very bad pick--and I will accept any mockery from all of you now. Just get it out of your systems.

Team Name: Kind of a Big Deal

[SebC]

I feel shame for taking Luongo instead of Crosby.What's really funny was that I had already decided to post "didn't see that coming" in the chat before you made your pick, but it was supposed to be sarcasm.

[Pagal4321]

Pagal, do you need me to cancel my waiver claim for it to allow you to make the swap, or are you all-powerful?

Cancel it please...I am not all-powerful.

[Eddie Bronze]

OK--I'll admit it now, at the start of the season....

I feel shame for taking Luongo instead of Crosby. I swear there was a rationale that made sense to me at the time--but man, what a dumb move that was. It was only half way through that I realized what a good season Luongo will need to have in order to match Crosby's probable numbers....

But part of it was that I thought there might be some serviceable scorers still available at # 19 overall--not realizing I wouldn't pick again until # 36. Still.... very bad pick--and I will accept any mockery from all of you now. Just get it out of your systems.

Team Name: Kind of a Big Deal

It's a tough spot to be in because you wanted a goalie and you knew you wouldn't have a shot at one of the 'big 3' if you didn't take him then. As far as taking guys out of order, we all did it. The best goalie won't get you more than 80 points, how many players will score more than that? Really, a goalie shouldn't go in a pool like that until the second round at the earliest, but there is such a premium on them that you pretty much take the best one whenever you can.

Same thing with d-men. 70+ d-men go in the draft, but maybe a little more than half of them will put up stats that are decent. That makes the strategy important and makes you want to take them before forwards who will get 40 points more because you know you only have a few chances at a good one.

[SebC]

Cancel it please...Done. Edit: I'm also signed out of Yahoo now, if that makes a difference.

[Pagal4321]

Done and done!

Risks: MacDonald (that early), Zubrus, Sykora and Big Baby Bert.
Favorite: Kipper, Turco, and getting Weight that late. Thanfully DFF needed a d-man.

[SebC]

Done and done!That's odd... signed back in to check and nothing's happened.

Edit: and I'm really sorry about this mess.

[Pagal4321]

That's odd... signed back in to check and nothing's happened.

Edit: and I'm really sorry about this mess.

Go check your roster for tomorrow's date, not today's. Then it should be done.

[Super-Rye]

Well I couldn't make the draft so I did a pre-draft ranking. I'm pretty happy with the team I ended up with although my defense could come back to haunt me. My goaltending duo is pretty good, depending on Vokouns health of course. Should be interesting.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

What's really funny was that I had already decided to post "didn't see that coming" in the chat before you made your pick, but it was supposed to be sarcasm.

ha! Well, I guess I made things a little interesting. In my defense, this was my first time ever. And it was a blast, even if I got my ass handed to me a little.


And, as Eddie said, I knew that was my last shot at a top 3 goalie--but if I'd done the math I would've taken Crosby and let the chips fall where they may, regardless of draft order, etc.--I just got it in my head that I needed one of the big 3 in my pool.

[SebC]

Go check your roster for tomorrow's date, not today's. Then it should be done.Sweet thanks.

So that should make Brent Burns available to on a free transfer (in order):

Displaced Flames Fan
swo2k1
Super-Rye
Pacde Flames
Suave
MonkeyMonkeyFireTeam
FurnaceFace
simonsays's
Cerebral

[Eddie Bronze]

IFF, don't kick yourself for that. You have a team that's good enough to win it all. I think the teams are all balanced pretty well except for the goalies on VFF's team.

[SebC]

IFF, don't kick yourself for that. You have a team that's good enough to win it all. I think the teams are all balanced pretty well except for the goalies on VFF's team.Azure is in the same boat as VFF. I took goalies at 17 & 20 but lack high-end scoring because of it.

[Pagal4321]

IFF, don't kick yourself for that. You have a team that's good enough to win it all. I think the teams are all balanced pretty well except for the goalies on VFF's team.

You mean you don't think he'll win with Rinne and Sabourin???

But looking at his forwards, it is a rather impressive list!!

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

IFF, don't kick yourself for that. You have a team that's good enough to win it all. I think the teams are all balanced pretty well except for the goalies on VFF's team.

Thanks bud. For me, a lot depends on Marleau and on whether Vanek can earn that big paycheck.

Luongo getting 40 shutouts won't hurt either!

The weird thing is, I have Luongo and Ohlund, and I came close to taking Salo (somebody picked him) and Pyatt (took Vermette with my last pick instead.) But it means that part of me may actually end up rooting for Vancouver occasionally....

[SebC]

I'm counting on the Rangers: Lunqvist, Straka, Gomez.

[Eddie Bronze]

Totally overlooked Azure's goalies.

I still see Josh Harding, Mike Smith and Ilya Bryzgalov on the list of available players (a few other decent ones there still as well), I think these guys are better options than any of the four they have. Sorry guys!

IFF, Vermette is a guy I have on my pool list as potentially breaking out this year. With Peter Schaefer gone, he could end up on the second line in Ottawa. He's a possible 50 point scorer this year.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

IFF, Vermette is a guy I have on my pool list as potentially breaking out this year. With Peter Schaefer gone, he could end up on the second line in Ottawa. He's a possible 50 point scorer this year.

I hope you're right--I've always liked what I've seen from him--though truthfully, he just seemed like a better option than Taylor freaking Pyatt, when it came right down to it!

It is weird that Pekka Rinne and Dany Sabourin got picked but Josh Harding didn't. I'd guess that Harding will see more action than either.

[Eddie Bronze]

12 goalies were drafted in the first two rounds. So you'd have either taken the first guy on your own list, or the 13th. Puts it into perspective a bit. I always have and always will maintain drafting first sucks. I'd always rather be right in the middle because you are not watching so many players get taken from one pick to the next.

[SebC]

I like the look of Suave's and Cerebral's teams.

[SebC]

12 goalies were drafted in the first two rounds. So you'd have either taken the first guy on your own list, or the 13th. Puts it into perspective a bit. I always have and always will maintain drafting first sucks. I'd always rather be right in the middle because you are not watching so many players get taken from one pick to the next.Yeah, but 23 forwards were taken in those two rounds... I'd estimate the difference between Crosby and the 24th ranked forward at 50 points, and the difference between Luongo and the 13th ranked goalie at about 25 points, so Crosby is still by far the better pick. I think #1 is the best spot to be because Crosby could easily be 20 points better than the #2 pick... although two picks in a row does kind of suck because it's hard to prepare for your 2nd of the two picks, especially when the draft moves as quickly as this one did.

[Eddie Bronze]

I can't argue that Crosby is the guy you should take first, but I'm trying to help IFF feel a bit better about his pick! Haha!

[SebC]

Man... looking at last years team:

Place 15th/20, and with Jagr and Briere.

But then:

Berard: 3 points
Meyer: 8 points
Samsonov: 26 points
Jason Williams: 32 points
Leclaire: 9 points

If anyone on my team this year finishes that low, it will either be because of a totally unexpected injury, or either Mueller or Erik Johnson doesn't get the minutes I'm hoping. But the chance of having five players under 35 points? Slim to none. We'll see how this team compares.

[SebC]

I can't argue that Crosby is the guy you should take first, but I'm trying to help IFF feel a bit better about his pick! Haha!I know you are, and I'm not helping! :p

Nobody wants Brent Burns?

[SebC]

Just curious: what do people think of my Mueller and E. Johnson picks in the final two rounds? Will they play enough and score enough to be worthy choices?

[Eddie Bronze]

Just curious: what do people think of my Mueller and E. Johnson picks in the final two rounds? Will they play enough and score enough to be worthy choices?

Johnson is a good pick because of position. I think a lot of those d-men that got taken at the end won't be getting guys more than 20ish points, maybe 30 if some of them are lucky. So if he gets some ice time on that Blues PP, you never know. Worth a risk for sure.

Mueller I'm kind of surprised by but I tend to stay away from guys on teams like the one he's coming in on. Such a mess around him. I probably would have went for more of a safer pick like Peter Schaefer or if I was going for a younger guy who could break out I'd have went for Clowe in SJ or Stafford in Buff. Just my opinion though!

[Cerebral]

I like the look of Suave's and Cerebral's teams.
I took a few pretty big risks that could either pay off or result in my losing (unless I can find some decent waiver wire players). Both Connolly and Havlat have major injury concerns but they also both have the potential to finish near the top of the league in scoring. Connolly in particular could light it up this year now that Briere and Drury are gone.
I know you are, and I'm not helping! :p

Nobody wants Brent Burns?
I'm debating between him and Ranger right now.

Just curious: what do people think of my Mueller and E. Johnson picks in the final two rounds? Will they play enough and score enough to be worthy choices?
Mueller is damn talented offensively but it's tough to get a read on what will happen in Phoenix. He has the talent to have a Stastny-like season but it could depend on just how bad Phoenix is.

Erik Johnson could end up being a great pick, he's lighting it up in a prospect tournament right now with 3 goals in 2 games. You don't often see big defencemen like Johnson put up big offensive numbers in their first season but the opportunity could be there on the powerplay with Weight, Kariya and Tkachuk as a potential first unit.

[SebC]

My reasoning with the Mueller pick is that he could potentially be on the top line with Doan and Reinprecht, say, and if he does then I've hit a home run with my last pick. If he isn't going anywhere... then I can drop him onto the waiver wire and pick up one of those free agents. And I'm second in waiver priority. Upside of the move is that he could outperform those guys by 20ish points. Downside is that the guy I'd take of waivers instead gets taken by the guy who's first in waiver priority for some reason and I have to take my second choice, so maybe 3 points? The way I see it it's actually a low risk move, because he's easily replaceable if I need to drop him. The biggest danger is actually that I hold onto him too long expecting him to improve and he doesn't.

Just checked and St. Louis really lacks right-shooting defensemen. EJ will very likely be on their top PP.

[SebC]

Oh man... there's still a defenseman there who could be a waiver-wire steal. Also, Azure and VFF should have paid more attention when drafting their goalies!

[Cerebral]

My reasoning with the Mueller pick is that he could potentially be on the top line with Doan and Reinprecht, say, and if he does then I've hit a home run with my last pick. If he isn't going anywhere... then I can drop him onto the waiver wire and pick up one of those free agents. And I'm second in waiver priority. Upside of the move is that he could outperform those guys by 20ish points. Downside is that the guy I'd take of waivers instead gets taken by the guy who's first in waiver priority for some reason and I have to take my second choice, so maybe 3 points? The way I see it it's actually a low risk move, because he's easily replaceable if I need to drop him. The biggest danger is actually that I hold onto him too long expecting him to improve and he doesn't.

Just checked and St. Louis really lacks right-shooting defensemen. EJ will very likely be on their top PP.
Your analysis in terms of Mueller seems fairly sound. To be honest, you should get a pretty good idea of how he fits in during training camp. He'll likely get an audition on the top line with Doan and it will remain to be seen how he plays in that role. He's a damn good young player (easily one of my favorite prospects out there) and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he puts up some decent numbers this year.

Johnson definitely has a chance to line up on the top powerplay unit. St. Louis is loaded with older veteran players (who are always difficult to assess) but they have the pieces to have a very good powerplay this season.

Oh man... there's still a defenseman there who could be a waiver-wire steal. Also, Azure and VFF should have paid more attention when drafting their goalies!
Is that Kuba that you speak of? :D

I was debating between him and Ranger and ended up settling on the youngster.

[SebC]

Is that Kuba that you speak of? :DNope. Someone much less well known.

As for Mueller, I'm having second thoughts. Trying to decide what his upside is. Can he hit 70, given that Doan has never done it? Unlikely. Because if his upside is in the 50 range, might as well go for somebody who I know will hit that mark.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

I can't argue that Crosby is the guy you should take first, but I'm trying to help IFF feel a bit better about his pick! Haha!

Well, thanks for trying!

I'm curious--a lot of people seemed to be seeing their top choices disappear before they got to pick. For you guys, who's the player you most wanted that someone else picked before you had a chance? For me it was Briere--I have a sort of feeling he's going to put up some pretty big numbers in Philly.

[Eddie Bronze]

IFF, I wasn't even that psyched on picking Briere because I'm always scared by guys who just signed big deals like he did. A dip in production for the first year of that deal is seeming to become the norm. But he should be playing with Gagne and he's got the 8th best PPG rank since the boys came back from the lockout. Of the top 25ish of that group though, he's the only one on a new contract.

I would say, considering Marian Hossa is playing for a new contract and was taken one spot ahead of me, I was really hoping he would slip one more spot, so he was the one I wanted once we were far enough into it.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

IFF, I wasn't even that psyched on picking Briere because I'm always scared by guys who just signed big deals like he did. A dip in production for the first year of that deal is seeming to become the norm. But he should be playing with Gagne and he's got the 8th best PPG rank since the boys came back from the lockout. Of the top 25ish of that group though, he's the only one on a new contract.

I would say, considering Marian Hossa is playing for a new contract and was taken one spot ahead of me, I was really hoping he would slip one more spot, so he was the one I wanted once we were far enough into it.


I suppose in that case you won't think much of my taking Vanek in the third! I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope, though.

If you don't want Briere, I'll give you Vermette for him... ;)



Re: VFF's goalies--it sounds like they were picked automatically for him by the computer, since he wasn't there... tough break. At this point, he might want to switch it up a little, though--there are better choices amongst the remaining backups, I think.

[FurnaceFace]

who's the player you most wanted that someone else picked before you had a chance?

Suave grabbed Nylander three picks before I would have. No idea if Abandonded and Monkey would have grabbed him but he got close enough I started hoping.

Abandonded also grabbed Cam Ward 2 spot ahead of me, but Kolzig could have a decent year with an improved team around him and since GAA is a non factor in this league he's a decent second goalie.

Army grabbed Radulov when I had him around the top of my list but I highly doubt he would have made it through everyone to me.

[Pagal4321]

DFF Grabbed Giguere RIGHT before I was going to grab him. I let out a few curse words. Langkow was also taken a few spots before I was going to grab him.

[Aeneas]

I really wanted Nylander. I also almost picked Horcoff (and would have) had not someone taken him! Whew, bad enough I have Roloson.

Obvious but I wanted a good goalie too, but they went early!

New Model Army is my team.

[Abandoned]

nvm

[Abandoned]

Suave grabbed Nylander three picks before I would have. No idea if Abandonded and Monkey would have grabbed him but he got close enough I started hoping.

Abandonded also grabbed Cam Ward 2 spot ahead of me, but Kolzig could have a decent year with an improved team around him and since GAA is a non factor in this league he's a decent second goalie.

Army grabbed Radulov when I had him around the top of my list but I highly doubt he would have made it through everyone to me.

I had allready had him on my draft now button or what ever you may call it , so even if it had got by sauve you wouldn't of been able to grab him.

so yea don't worry about it.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

It may be too early to even discuss this, but....

those players who ended up without a no. 1 goaltender may be interested to know that I would consider moving Manny Fernandez if there was another mid-tier player swap involved. Let me know: Fernandez is probably good for 30 more points than, say, Pekka Rinne.

[Suave]

Overall I am happy with my team. Nylander and Jagr are my favorite picks. I’m really hoping that Jagr can get back over 110 points this year. I think I could have still waited another round to take each of my goalies and still be in the same position. As long as they both stay healthy then I should be ok. And one of my favorite parts of drafts is when you take guys that others want; it makes the Nylander pick all that better. But then again I felt the same way after Frolov got picked.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

I also almost picked Horcoff (and would have) had not someone taken him! Whew, bad enough I have Roloson.



I have Hemsky--I gather Cerebral wanted him.... ;)

Now, instead of finding it funny when Hemsky skates around the offensive zone dangling the puck and refusing to shoot--I can find it annoying. Goody. :mad:

[Cerebral]

I have Hemsky--I gather Cerebral wanted him.... ;)

Now, instead of finding it funny when Hemsky skates around the offensive zone dangling the puck and refusing to shoot--I can find it annoying. Goody. :mad:
I was looking at Hemsky but I really wasn't sure where I was going to take him. He has the talent to be a 90+ point guy but whether he can do that with Penner and Gagner/Horcoff as linemates remains to be seen.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

I was looking at Hemsky but I really wasn't sure where I was going to take him. He has the talent to be a 90+ point guy but whether he can do that with Penner and Gagner/Horcoff as linemates remains to be seen.

Well, he's got a lot of ability--he's a shifty stickhandler--and I don't pretend to have watched him 82 times last year, but in the games I saw, it seemed like he's often excessively fancy in the plays he's trying to set up--and not only waits too long to shoot, but sometimes waits too long to pass as well. It looks pretty when it works out, but it can leave your teammates standing around watching you when it doesn't.

It'll help me out if he can put it together this year. I didn't take him until round 6, but there weren't a lot of better options by then. I basically figure the best case scenario is Huselius numbers--like 70-80 points-ish.

I just hope he gets 'em all in games not played against the Flames...;)

[Eddie Bronze]

I suppose in that case you won't think much of my taking Vanek in the third!

Big difference for Vanek is, he is going to have the exact same linemates he had last year, in the exact same system. I do not expect him to put up the numbers he did last year, but not a significant drop. Something like what Brad Richards pulled last year after signing for big money. He sucked me in after a huge year two years ago and I took him high in all my pools last year and then he let me down! But I still believe in him.

Briere has 100% new surroundings, but also has Simon Gagne on his wing. That could/should be deadly.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Big difference for Vanek is, he is going to have the exact same linemates he had last year, in the exact same system. I do not expect him to put up the numbers he did last year, but not a significant drop. Something like what Brad Richards pulled last year after signing for big money. He sucked me in after a huge year two years ago and I took him high in all my pools last year and then he let me down! But I still believe in him.

Briere has 100% new surroundings, but also has Simon Gagne on his wing. That could/should be deadly.

I know that people around here have high hopes for Briere--and Philly fans are.... kind of intense. There may be a little bit of a pressure-cooker situation--not sure how that will affect Briere. I personally think he's the real deal.

In fact, I'll be honest--the linchpin of my failed "pick Luongo" strategy was that Briere might still be available at #19. He wasn't--so the fact that I didn't get to pick again until #36 was a bit moot, I guess. In fact, the more I think about it, I'm happy Marleau fell that far. Other than that first pick, I think I did okay for a first-timer.

[SebC]

For those of you who don't know... there are no trades in this league. You can try to trade through waivers, but those ahead of you in waiver priority might have something to say about that.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

I was looking through the list of undrafted players, and there are still some interesting names that no-one took a chance on. What are your guys' thoughts on someone like Patrick Kane--do you think he'll make the team out of camp? Dale Tallon made some comments that sounded pretty positive for an 18 year old...

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

For those of you who don't know... there are no trades in this league. You can try to trade through waivers, but those ahead of you in waiver priority might have something to say about that.

Thanks for clarifying that. I promise--this is the last time I'll use the "noob" excuse. :)

[Eddie Bronze]

What are your guys' thoughts on someone like Patrick Kane--do you think he'll make the team out of camp?

Chicago's been a mess for a while so you never know, they might just be that stupid. I don't know how he'd do but I tend to believe not so well. He looked very skinny at the draft, so he might have issues similar to what Boyd had in trying to stay at the top level. I think Kessel numbers are what you'd get from him but that's just a feeling, nothing to really base it on. Could be completely wrong.

[Eddie Bronze]

I just logged in tonight because I'm setting up another team with my friends in NS and it says Cory Stillman has been dropped by 119 teams. WTF?

From two days ago:
Cory Stillman, for example, said his right shoulder is now fine.

“It’s probably in better shape than my left shoulder is,” said Stillman, who played in 43 games last season. “The doctors are great, they can go in and fix it. I have 100 percent strength and mobility.”

Did something happen?

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

I just logged in tonight because I'm setting up another team with my friends in NS and it says Cory Stillman has been dropped by 119 teams. WTF?

From two days ago:
Cory Stillman, for example, said his right shoulder is now fine.

“It’s probably in better shape than my left shoulder is,” said Stillman, who played in 43 games last season. “The doctors are great, they can go in and fix it. I have 100 percent strength and mobility.”

Did something happen?

I suspect it's as simple as Stillman being auto-picked for people's teams, and they decided they didn't want him because of his shoulder history--justified or not. Clearly nothing has changed in recent days--but if you'd planned to stay away from "injury-prone" types, and you log in and see Stillman, you might get spooked and drop him.

FWIW, I saw that Aucoin was dropped by 59 teams. Probably the same reason.