These two young D-man headed into last season as two of the most highly regarded prospect D-men. Both were coming off amazing seasons. Rundblad was ripping up SEL and Elliott was doing the same in juniors. Expectations were sky high for them (Rundblad was #1 in Dobber's prospect D-man rankings, Elliott #6) and they were in Calder talks before the season (especially Rundblad).

It was quickly noticed, however, that Rundblad's defensive game wasn't at NHL-level and he needed seasoning in the minors which he got, once he was traded to Phoenix. As the promise of Karlsson-Rundblad duo running Ottawa's PP turned into Rundblad having to fight with OEL, Yandle, Gormley and other Coyotes' young D-men, so did the hype stop. Rundblad became quickly the forgotten fantasy stud D-man prospect.

Meanwhile Elliott continued to raise to the top prospect D-men according to many. But was his rookie season really that much more impressive than Rundblad's? The expectations were just a lot less higher and it was known that his game needed more seasoning. Elliott's NHL-career started impressive but as the season went on he struggled and found himself in back in the minors. Still his season is being looked at more impressive than Rundblad's - but was it really that?

Rundblad had 7 points in 30 NHL-games between Ottawa and Phoenix and 16 points 30 games in AHL. Elliott had 13 points in 39 NHL-games with Colorado and 14 points in 30 games in AHL. Points wise their rookie seasons were more or less identical. What separates them is +/- (Rundblad was -30 compined in NHL and AHL, Elliott was +7). But that can be a deceiving statistic and is very team related.

This year Rundblad has started with 7 assists in 7 games in AHL while Elliott is pointless in 7 games.

Elliott has raised to being the top D-man in Dobber's rankings while Rundblad has fallen all the way to 16th place.

They're only 4 months apart in age and were drafted in the same draft class. They also have similar size and both struggle at the defensive end while having top-end offensive skills. So to me they're fairly comparable D-men.

So my question is, which of these two young prospects would you rather own in your keeper league? Has Rundblad really deserved the fall in ranking and in hype (seems like a lot of people already consider him as bust) after his rookie year and was Elliott's rookie year really that good to put him the best prospect D-man?

So, Rundblad or Elliott?

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UHL Pittsburgh Penguins

24 Team Fantrax Salary Cap H2H Dynasty League Daily
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, SOG, Hits, Blks, FOW
W, GAA, SV, SV%, SO
23 Man Roster - 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 1G, 4BN, 4IR
27 Man Minor Team

C- Tavares, Stepan, Hodgson, Shaw, Bjugstad
LW- Ryan, Perron, Downie, Killorn, Paajarvi
RW- Wheeler, Simmonds, Coyle, Frattin, Rinaldo
D- Schultz, JJ, Bogosian, EJ, Josi, Cowen, Muzzin
G- Lehtonen

F: Granlund, Silfverberg, Jensen, Dalpe, Bowman, Knight, Fasth, JAM
D: Beaulieu, Koekkoek, Gelinas, Pysyk, McCabe, Irwin
G: Nilsson, Nilstorp, Ramo, Berra, Brossoit, Gibson

I would take Elliott for his talent/potential, but also for two other primary reasons, team and competition for opportunity.

Colorado IMV is a team on the rise, has some good offensive talent and, besides EJ whose own future is up in the air, Elliott has the best chance to sieze the main offensive D-man spot on their roster.

Runblad, on the other hand, is on Phoenix whose future is unknown, is offensively challenged and he has to compete with Yandle & OEL not to mention Gormley et al.

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12 Team Keeper - 12F, 6D, 3G, 3 Bench (Keep 9 -Bold)
$250 Cap (+3 0-9; +4 10-19; +5 >20)
WW = $20

F: Ovechkin(53), Hall (23), Couture(29), Benn(10), Galchenyuk(1), Duchene (10), Ribeiro(1), Tlusty(20), Pacioretty (15), Berglund(1), Roy(1), Tarasenko(20)

D: OEL(4), Shattenkirk(5), Phaneuf(1), Timonen(20), Doughty(16), Kindl(20)

G: Miller(45), Bobrovsky(20), Price(20)

G, A, +/-, PPG, PPA, GWG, SHG, W, GAA, SV%, SO

in their draft year i drafted rundblad 7th overall and elliot went 8th in our pool. i now own both. i think elliot is less risk but i like rundblads top end more.

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10 team Keeper Roto League
4C-4LW-4RW-6D-2G-5bench-unlimited farm.

C= crosby,m.koivu,malkin,zajak,grabovski,j.jokinen,
LW= ovechkin,nash,s.gagner,dubinsky
RW= downie,hemsky,callahan,voracek,perry,mueller
D= green,doughty,phaneuf,wisniewski,girardi,karlsson
G= rask,lundqvist,ward,price

FARM=kreider,grachev,petrov,enroth,kuznetsov,ennis ,rundblad,bjugstad,radulov,montoya, adam,t.erixon,cowan,s.elliot,j.faulk,cormier,petro v,orlov,stone,eakin,grigorenko,silfverberg,brodin, atkinson

--G,A,P,PPP,SHP,GWG,PIMS,+/-,SOG,hits,FOW,blocks-Wins,GAA,SV%,saves,SO

I think these two guys are goind to be good NHLers but I gave the nod to Elliott because he doesnt have the stiff compettion for playing time that Rundblad does.

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Derek Reese - Future Hall of Famer
Studs N Duds - Sunday's

12 Team NHL Salary Cap Dynasty
H2H, Salary Cap 82mil, Player actual salaries
G,A,PTS,GWG,PIM,SOG,STP,HT,BL,+/-,W,GAA,SV,SO
Starters: 12 Forwards, 6 Defense, 2 Goalies

F - Stamkos, Perry, E.Staal, Voracek, J.Staal, Simmonds, Ott, Downie, J.Jokinen, Eller, Nielson, Prust
D - Martin, Faulk, Brodie, Ellerby, M.Weber, Stone
G - Bobrovsky, Halak
Bench - Brunner, Brodie, Strachan, Khudobin, Lindback, Neuvirth, Ramo

Prospects - Calvert, Forsberg, Etem, Namestinikov, Kreider, Cundari

Elliott is the safer bet IMO but personally, I'll gladly take Rundblad.

Elliott was overhyped (not saying Rundblad wasn't) to the extreme because based on his age/supporting cast/league he was playing in, his stats weren't all that impressive.

I prefer Elliott for a few reasons:

1. Competition - If Elliott is capable of putting it all together, he will be the top offensive D on an emerging Avs team. Rundblad will be behind Yandle and OEL and has some other nice competition to contend with.

2. Skills - While Rundblad is a silky smooth offensive player, there were a handful of times last year where Elliott showed ELITE offensive play (not good, but elite). Neither player were capable of holding a full-time job in the NHL last year but Elliott showed flashes of brilliance.

3. Shooting - Elliott has an amazing wrist shot and loves to join the rush with speed and fire the biscuit. Rundblad reminds me more of a Tomas Kaberle type who excels at the transition game and loves to pass.

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6-GM, Wk-H2H, Keep 40
START = 13F, 6D, 2G
F Pts = G (2), A (1), PP/SH (+1), GW (+2)
D Pts = G (3), A (2), PP/SH (+1), GW (+2)
G Pts = W (3), OTL (1), SO (+2), SV (.10)

F: Backstrom, Kopitar, Perry, P.Kane, Spezza, E.Staal, Nash, Vanek, Couture, B.Ryan, Eberle, J.Staal, D.Brown, Lucic, N.Horton, Backes, Tarasenko, van Riemsdyk, T.Ennis, B.Gallagher, Armia, Teravainen
D: Karlsson, P.Subban, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, Doughty, Yandle, Chara, Kronwall, J.Johnson, Myers, J.Faulk, E.Johnson, A.Larsson, J.Morrow, S.Elliott, M.Rielly, Ceci
G: Price, Rask, M.Smith, Hiller