The Case Against Forwards… Or Why I’ve Changed my Opinion on Goalies

Henrik Lundqvist (Photo credit: Robert Kowal)

So it’s February 11th. The season is almost 70% over, and the trade deadline is approaching. There is plenty of the typical speculation of which teams will be buyers or sellers. Which players are likely to be dealt and where they may go as well as their potential impact. But most importantly will any of these players have any additional fantasy impact.

This means that the trade deadline in your fantasy league is approaching as well so what should you do? Well you should look to address your biggest needs. Most likely it’s too late to make a significant impact but a small jump up the standings is still worth something when it comes to bragging rights.

As for me I’m finding it difficult to make any moves of late. Sure the waiver wire is still dominated by me. I may not have made the most moves but I’ve made the best moves. Currently the only players on my roster that are owned in less then 99% of leagues are scoring sensations Sam Gagner, Kyle Okposo, Tyler Bozak and Martin Hanzal. I’ve also added Kurtis Foster and his booming shot from the point to my already stacked blueline.

Finding players like these guys on the waiver wire isn’t that difficult especially in leagues that count PIMS and hits as categories because there are always a couple of managers that stash away a fighter or a hitter on their roster in hopes of dominating those categories. Often times at the expense of the other more common and frankly most important offensive categories.

Which brings me back to my difficulties in making a trade. I would love to acquire another goaltender for my team- having just parted ways with Sergei Bobrovsky. The biggest issue is that managers are often unwilling to deal with the team atop the standings even if they stand to gain the most ground.

Let’s face it, if I add another goalie to my team it’s not likely to be a stud goalie like Jonathan Quick or Henrik Lundqvist because their owners aren’t willing to part ways with them and I’m not willing to pay the toll to acquire them. So I’ve set my sights a little bit lower to the lower tier of starting goalies.

I’ve targetted Craig Anderson (whom I love because he’s a Senator). His wins alone is the main reason why he’s a target of mine even though his GAA and SV% would likely cost me a spot of two in the standings.  I’ve offered a handful of trades of lower end offensive options to his owner. Cody Hodgson, Kyle Okposo amongst others weren’t deemed to be “enough” to acquire his services.

Ultimately it’s not a big deal and has taught me something that I will employ next season in my drafts. Draft a third goalie. Sure I only “need” two goalies but a third goalie will make a big difference in the long run. Currently my goaltenders have combined to start just 72 games. My combination of Roberto Luongo, Tim Thomas and Sergei Bobrovsky (formerly of Team Vandenbrand fame) have guided me to 46 W, 2.33 GAA, .925 SV% or in other words 26.5 pts out of a possible 36 in the goalie categories. All this despite having fewer starts then all but two teams in my league.

A third goalie like a Craig Anderson would be best served a plug and play guy in favourable matchups. An extra 10-20 wins with 2.40 GAA and .920 SV% would be more then enough to help capture a top three finish in all the goaltending categories. Something that I had not considered during my drafts.

A strong offense has pushed me to 78 points of a possible 84. Or put in other terms I’m first or second in every category but PIM (where I rank fourth. )

So what does this all tell me?

I know that given a working computer on draft day and great pre-rankings (just incase) I can build an offensive strong enough to beat anyone. I’ve also learned that I must take a third goalie to compliment my selections of the elite netminders.

Next season my personal rankings will be drastically different then they were this season. Sure the power forwards like Jamie Benn, Milan Lucic etc will still be ranked higher then most will surely rank them but after the elite scorers (Evgeni Malkin, Steve Stamkos, Pavel Datsyuk, Claude Giroux,  Daniel and Henrik Sedin ) my top ten will likely include Henrik Lundqvist, Jonathan Quick, Jimmy Howard, Pekka Rinne. Of which I will draft one of those goaltenders and if another is available to be in the second round I will grab them.

With so few goaltending stats to be had giving yourself an immediate advantage by drafting two of the best goalies is the way to go. There are so many more stong offensive options in the mid-late rounds that you can make up for it. After all guys like Adam Henrique, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Sam Gagner, Milan Michalek, Radim Vrbata come along each and every year and help to fill the void left by not drafting players like Geno or Stammer.

Filling in the rest of your roster from the third round to the tenth round is the most vital part of the draft. After using my first two selections on goalies I will be in a huge hole when it comes to filling the net. But I have no worries. Grabbing the underrated guys like Johan Franzen, the much maligned Jason Spezza, Patrice Bergeron, David Backes, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Eric Cole, Brad Marchant, Matt Moulson etc and working the waiver wire like an extended bench will make up for the lack of stud scorers.

Throw in a handful of solid reliable blueliners and a couple break out perfomers (yes I know impossible to predict) and you’ve got yourself a contending team.

For those reading this that play in leagues with me it doesn’t matter if you know my intentions ahead of time the hardest thing for you is to try to stop me from winning.

My team as it currently stands is –

Pavel Datsyuk

Ryan Kesler

Johan Franzen

Jason Spezza

James Neal

Jamie Benn

Ryan Callahan

Patrick Elias

Kyle Okposo

Sam Gagner

Tyler Bozak

Milan Michalek

Martin Hanzal

Dan Boyle

Erik Karlsson

Dion Phaneuf

Ian White

Dennis Wideman

John Carlson

Kurtis Foster

Tim Thomas

Roberto Luongo