Missing The Guy You Want At Your Fantasy Hockey Draft

 

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He did it again didn’t he. The guy right before you in the draft took the player you were eying. Now you are scrambling hoping to make a decent recovery pick.Or perhaps you thought a guy would slide back to you in the next round only to see him snatched up two picks later.

OK, it isn’t the end of the world. Luckily you decided to buy the FHC’s Hockey Pool Playbook. This hockey pool guide contains all the write-ups, data and information you need to recover in situations like this. It will enable you find sleepers, identify potential busts and even find bargain bin replacements for big name guys.

Just to prove my point here are three examples (Note this is looking at redraft leagues only).


You wanted: Phil Kessel.The fantasy owner right before you took the Leaf’s leading scorer to add to her roster. OK, so if you are a Leaf fan I can’t help you there. There isn’t a “bargain bin” Leaf player to fill-in for Kessel on your fantasy team. You could argue for Lupul seeing as he should be directly tied to Kessel’s success.

However, you can probably take another “star” player this round and grab Mikko Koivu a round or two later.

3 year avg. GP G A Pts PIM SOG
Phil Kessel 78 33 34 67 22 306
Mikko Koivu 69 17 42 59 43 189


Unless you are in a league that rewards Shots on Goal you will find Koivu to be an adequate replacement for Kessel in every regard. If he stays healthy the addition of Parise should lift Koivu past Kessel in points. Our fantasy guide projects Kessel to 79 games played and 71 points. We still aren’t convinced that Koivu can stay healthy a whole season, but that doesn’t stop us from rating him just one point behind Kessel.


You wanted: Drew Doughty

His strong Stanley Cup Playoffs have you dreaming of more. In a redraft league though you can probably get equal value at a later round by drafting Mark Streit.

3 Year Avg. GP G A Pts PPG PIM +/- SOG
Drew Doughty 78 12 33 45 6 64 10 150
Mark Streit 82 9 39 48 6 47 -14 168


Outside of Plus/Minus Doughty has been equaled at almost every column for the past three years by Streit. As a matter of fact our projections in the Fantasy Hockey Guide actually give the yearly edge to Doughty for this upcoming season by only four points.


You wanted Carey Price

So you are a Habs fan that wanted their backstop on your fantasy team only to see him go just before you by a Bruin’s fan as a spite pick. Your best revenge on missing out on Price? Take the best player available in this round and stick it to him by grabbing Kari Lehtonen. Price’s potential to breakout is much higher.

3 Year Avg. GP GS SO W L OTL GAA
Carey Price 68 67 5 32 28 9 2.65
Kari Lehtonen 64 64 4 33 23 8 2.44

Price will undoubtedly start more games next year, but that is the only area he has dominated. Over that time Lehtonen boasts more wins, goals against average and is only averaging one shutout less per season. Based on this data and the advice from our team of experts we project the sole difference between the two next year will be three more shutouts for Price with each goaltender winning 31 games. Sure Lehtonen seems to come with a bigger injury risk, but if you missed out on Price or just hate the idea of drafting a Hab . . . he is a decent replacement.
If this interests be sure to purchase your Hockey Pool Playbook as soon as possible or even better become a Season Ticket Holder.
By Matthew Perry
Follow me on Twitter: @StatOMatt