As the playoffs roll along I'm going to take a few moments to recap another portion of the past NHL season, this portion being my participation in the Yahoo Fantasy Hockey Leagues that I was in. This year I was in 5 leagues in all, four of them using points given based on how you ranked against the other players in a number of categories such as goals, wins, and so on. The last one was my first ever head-to-head league which I joined along with a number of other listeners of the Puck Podcast. Overall I would say that it was a successful season (outside of one league which was horrid), finishing 1st in 2 of the 4 points leagues and finishing 1st in the head-to-head league as well.
At the beginning of the year I felt that I had really strong teams, and in fact I did but the strengths were a bit surprising for me. There were a number of leagues that I felt my goaltending was really strong, however with Rask losing his starting job and Niemi struggling right out of the gate there were some road bumps along the way in goal. I also thought I had some good players picking up some New Jersey forwards thinking that they would have a good season. They however were horrible early in the season though and that hurt as well. I actually managed to get Alex Ovechkin in a couple of leagues as well which I thought would have been huge boosts, and while he did well he wasn't the fantasy stud I had hoped he would be this year.
Overall there are a number of things that affected my leagues this year. Injuries played a key role in things as I had numerous players injured off and on throughout the season. I had a couple players such as Zach Parise who I drafted high but played very few games. Players playing under expectations such as Rask losing his starting job also had impacts. In one league I had a good number of Avalanche players on my roster, 4 or 5 in fact, and while the Avalanche were flying high and scoring at the tops of the league that particular team was leading its league as well. When the Avalanche started their free fall so did that team and they dropped from 1st to 4th by the end.
Going into next year I picked up a few things this year to remember. First, goalies are important and are worth getting somewhat early, and you want to have three to be able to get to your max games (or four in head-to-head to get more games in each week). Picking up late round goalies may find you some gems but will also generally leave you picking a backup or goalies that may be more likely to lose their jobs during the season or have sub par stats. In my league in which I finished 10th I was 11th of 12 people in every one of the four goaltending categories which was a huge part of my poor finish. Pick up at least one or two goalies early on even if you have your eye on a sleeper or two later in the draft.
Do some research into players ahead of time. Know who will be available and who might be worth a good late pick. Know if someone is battling for a starting job or if they are going to be sent back down or a regular scratch. Knowledge truly is power when it comes to picking your team, and while some luck is involved knowing your players is a lot better than picking at random. Also try not to saturate your team with players from one team unless you're sure about doing so. A team slump could hurt your standings while in head to head leagues a team that doesn't play much in a given week leaves you shorthanded against your opponent.
Injuries happen and that is just a part of the game. Be prepared to drop someone though and pick someone else up, however also be prepared to pick up a dropped star prior to their return if they are getting close to coming back and can put up big numbers for you. On a similar note be prepared to pick up surprising players early and don't wait as others may jump on the chance as well. You have to be prepared. Also, players will go through highs and lows and while it is a bit of a guessing game if you can guess right about what players are just in a low you may be able to get them cheap or free before they go on a high, and a player you feel is playing above his level you may be able to trade for a bigger piece before he drops off again. A good example of the latter would be if you had J-M Liles at the beginning of the season when he was playing well and getting points you could have gotten a good return in a trade prior to his point production dropping off. It is a bit of a guessing game and you will guess wrong at times but use your gut and your head both. Don't second guess yourself either, what happened happened and you just need to move forward.
Players who play multiple positions are very valuable in any league. This one is pretty simple but in a head-to-head league if you have a guy that can play Center or Wing you can use that player in either category based on if you have a couple of Centers or Wings to play in the other spots. In a points league they can be used to help get you to the max games cap for those positions when you have injuries or the like by playing in either spot. While a player that can be put into two spots isn't necessarily more valuable than a bigger producer in just one spot, he does hold more value than someone of comparable statistical value who is only a one spot guy.
Certain players are worth being drafted high, then you can find comparable players everywhere down the draft. This is especially true when it comes to defensemen. There will be some defensemen that are worth taking in early rounds, however after that focus more on forwards and goalies as defensemen will be available in later spots that are worth picking up. This also applies to your "bench" type players generally. Also in head-to-head leagues forwards will be worth more than defensemen generally because they will naturally tend to have more points. Have a spare defenseman of course, but given the choice between the two go forward in that type of league.
Be aware of players joining new teams where they will take on a bigger role or have new linemates. These players can often be good pickups. The best such example could be Byuflign (sp?) for Atlanta this year, and while he might be the extreme example he went there and became one of the best defensemen you could have on your fantasy league this year but yet he was drafted very late on average when he was drafted at all. Rookies can fall into this category as well, though they are a bit more risky. A rookie may or may not stick with a team and may or may not produce for you. You could end up with a Jeff Skinner who was a solid pick in Carolina or a Tyler Seguin in Boston who was regularly a healthy scratch.
Overall this year was a highly successful one for me, though I think I could still do better. Next year I think I'll play in another heads up or two and drop a points game or two, and of course get in the Puck Podcast league once again. I'll also use my experience to the best of my ability and hopefully I can go from 3 of 5 wins to 5 of 5.
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