Which side would you prefer, looking at a 3 year window.

Thorton/Datsyuk/Callahan/Backstrom (MIN)

vs

Backes/Schultz/Gagner/Downie/Dubnyk

Scoring cats and team in the signature. Do I send out the youth for a shot at it this year and next? Does that return make my team good enough for a shot this year and next? Week 1 turned out quite poorly for me.

Thanks for the input.

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12 Team H2H Yahoo Dynasty League

G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, GWG, FOW, HITS -- W, GAA, SV%, SO

3C - Backstrom, Stepan, Roy, Krejci, Bozak
3LW - Neal, Hall, Ladd, JVR
3RW - Horton, Callahan, Pominville, St. Louis, Atkinson
4D - Doughty, Phaneuf, Faulk, Campbell, Schultz
2G - Ward, Dubnyk

Farm - Anders Lindback, Mikhail Grigorenko, Joe Colborne, Charlie Coyle, Jakob Silfverberg, Matt Hackett

I prefer the Thornton side.

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12 Team Keeper, Keep 17, Keepers
Roster: 4C, 3RW, 3LW, 5D, 2U, 3B, 3IR, 4G (Start 2)
Stats: G(3), A(2), +/-, PIM(0.5), PPP(2), SHP(3), GWG(2), HITS(0.1), BLKS(0.2), W(3), L(-1), OTL (1), GA(-1), SV(0.2), SO(3)

C: Crosby, Tavares, Nugent-Hopkins, Johansson
LW: Hall, Parise, Silfverberg, Skinner, Conacher, Jokinen
RW: Seguin, Hossa, Wheeler, Burns, Pavelski, Yakupov
D: Doughty, Fowler, J. Johnson
G: Schneider, Hiller, Fasth, Nabokov

I also prefer the Thornton/Datsyuk side. As good as Schultz looks, those guys are still very very good.

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16 Team H2H League, Keep 23/25
Stats: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, W, GAA, SV%, SHO
Start: 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 2F, 6D, 1G

C: Crosby,Hodgson,Brassard,Couturier,Kadri,Mueller
LW: Hall,Burrows,Clowe,Bailey
RW: Malkin,Iginla,Skinner,C.Smith,Gaborik,Pavelski
D: Letang,Faulk,Hamonic,Boyle,Irwin,Muzzin,Diaz
G: Lundqvist,Luongo,Schneider,S.Mason,
Farm: F.Andersen,Armia,Ceci,Grubauer,Khudobin,Kostka
Lack,Murphy,Nilsson,Orlov,Peters,Pickard,J.Schultz ,Stone,Thomas,Vatanen
2010 WJC Pool Champion

I'm not sure about the 3 year window thing, that's a long time. If we are looking at this year and next, I absolutely do this deal. From a keeper perspective, it's Big Joe and Dats for Schultz. Ya, losing Backes hurts, but not that much. Gagner, Downie and Dubnyk all have questionable futures. Backstrom for Dubnyk, I'd do that fast to. I'd pull the trigger on this.

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13 team partial keeper league. Keep 10 plus 2 Rookies; 27 player roster, 20 starters; 12-F, 6-D, 2-G, 7 Bench, no positional requirement, no salary cap. Yahoo Roto Scoring Cats: Skaters - Pts, G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG; Goalies - Wins, GAA, Saves

F- Stamkos, Crosby, Bobby Ryan, Roy, Skinner, Yakupov, Granlund, M Koivu, Berglund, Elias, Justin Williams, Dubinsky, Marleau, Lupul, Brunner, Perreault, Lapierre

D- Goli, Ehrhoff, Hedman, Campbell, Kindl, Bieksa

G- Rask, Ward, Pavelec, Khubodin

Thanks for the replies. REP where I can.

The thing with Backes, is that he contributes across the board. G/A/PIM/Hits/FOW, and he's RW eligible, which really helps push the FOW up there.

I love the guy as a fantasy asset. Bringing Callahan in helps offset that a bit, but I'm worried about how much longer Big Joe and Dats remain fantasy relevant.

Having Hackett in the wings offsets the risk of Backstrom by a slight margin, although Harding is still in the way there. But Minnesota should be a solid team and provide some wins this year.

What are the worries with Dubnyk? I've been waiting for him to take the reigns for a while, and this seems to be his chance.

I have no problem making this deal if I get a shot at winning this year and maybe next. Is this enough to really make me a contender?

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12 Team H2H Yahoo Dynasty League

G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, GWG, FOW, HITS -- W, GAA, SV%, SO

3C - Backstrom, Stepan, Roy, Krejci, Bozak
3LW - Neal, Hall, Ladd, JVR
3RW - Horton, Callahan, Pominville, St. Louis, Atkinson
4D - Doughty, Phaneuf, Faulk, Campbell, Schultz
2G - Ward, Dubnyk

Farm - Anders Lindback, Mikhail Grigorenko, Joe Colborne, Charlie Coyle, Jakob Silfverberg, Matt Hackett

Thornton side.
Backes has nice hits... but those are easy to replace in most leagues... and you get Callahn. Plus, Backes' huge value is tied to his RW-eligibility in FOW leagues. Eventually... someday... hockey statistic providers will get it right and make all the actual centers (Backes, Datsyuk, Giroux, Malkin, etc, etc, etc....) as C only.

While I'm certainly not sitting in the Oiler's GM's office, there has been no shortage of rumour that Edmonton is in the market for a quality goalie. I don't think they see Dubnyk as the starter they need today. What they would like is a quality proven veteran keeper with Dubnyk backing up. The most prolific rumour is Gagner + to Van for Bobby Lou. Regardless, I think the Oilers have to do something and do it quick if they are to be legitimate contenders. I'm not knocking Dubnyk and I don't think the Oiler's are necessarily down on him, it's simply a matter of he is not ready and there are question marks. Let's put it this way, would you rather have Luongo or Dubnyk? I think the Oilers make a deal to address their starting goaltending.

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13 team partial keeper league. Keep 10 plus 2 Rookies; 27 player roster, 20 starters; 12-F, 6-D, 2-G, 7 Bench, no positional requirement, no salary cap. Yahoo Roto Scoring Cats: Skaters - Pts, G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG; Goalies - Wins, GAA, Saves

F- Stamkos, Crosby, Bobby Ryan, Roy, Skinner, Yakupov, Granlund, M Koivu, Berglund, Elias, Justin Williams, Dubinsky, Marleau, Lupul, Brunner, Perreault, Lapierre

D- Goli, Ehrhoff, Hedman, Campbell, Kindl, Bieksa

G- Rask, Ward, Pavelec, Khubodin