Fantasy Hockey Primer
A few tips to dominating your fantasy hockey league
-Don't overpay for goalies
With a condensed 48 game schedule, top tier goaltenders will likely get a lower percentage of starts. Guys like Henrik Lundqvist, Jonathan Quick and Pekka Rinne still have great value, but overall, you should be subtracting about 10-15% from goaltender value across the board. In a 10-team standard league that drafted last Thursday, I was able to get Jimmy Howard in the 3rd, Ryan Miller in the 6th and Antti Niemi in the 13th.
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-Defense wins championships on the ice, but not in fantasy
In 2011-12, there were only 10 defensemen ranked in the top 100 players. Don't waste high draft picks on Dmen (I wouldn't even bother drafting Erik Karlsson, unless he somehow fell to the 3rd round). Dmen will never give you a ton of goals, so in a standard head-to-head league you're better off drafting forward depth and combing the waiver wire for streaking defenders. When selecting your Dmen, focus on guys with high assist totals and ones who get a lot of power play time.
-Forgive and forget
With the CBA's amnesty clause, we may see a handful of quality players switching teams. Marian Hossa, Johan Franzen, Dany Heatley and Martin Havlat are all bigger name guys who may be finding new homes in the next couple weeks. In theory, players who are bought out will have the option of taking lesser contracts and playing in, potentially, better situations. Keep an eye on how things go down.
-Be proactive
More so than ever, you should be looking to make deals. This fantasy season will be more of a sprint, so a few bad weeks could keep you out of the playoffs. Make sure to be staying on top of the waiver wire and to focus on buying low on superstars who have early season struggles.
Stay tuned for more fantasy hockey coverage.
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