I\'m in a large league of 720 players picked. The only ways to really make up ground is to grab players ahead of time and hope they develop enough to be traded. Out of these remaining FA in our league from 2007 who do you feel has the most value and might be worth grabbing. I\'m torn on whether any are worth grabbing since they\'re all fairly far away.

Right now I have Shattenkirk on the roster and have potential spots being held by Jaroslav Hlinka and Kontiola.

D-Man
Ellerby
Plante
Shattenkirk
Blum
Smith

F-Ward
Gillies
Sweat
MacMillian
White
Perron
Nash
Pacioretty
O\'Brien

Post edited by: SabresEdge, at: 2007/07/23 12:27

Post edited by: SabresEdge, at: 2007/07/23 19:38

Sorry can\'t help you. That league is way too deep for me and puts my knowledge of players to shame. Did you buy Dobber\'s prospect guide? It was also a bit too deep for me.

__________________
Too many leagues this year... I think I own every player somewhere.

arent the second group of players forwards? just curious curious because thats been confusing me for a while.

The players I know a bit about:

Ellerby - saw him play with Kamloops, I think, I get him confused with ellington from Everett, was never all that impressed, he never took over a game. I should tell you I think kamloops is a dirty team and this could be clouding my judgment on Ellerby.

Plante - big kid, very good saw him play with the hitmen, I\'m not sure he\'ll be an offensive d-man but I dont have his stats in front of me.

Blum - I\'m a Giants fan and have seen a lot of Blum. He\'s a mature player and handles physical play well. Good decision maker and puck handler, potential future PP qb. Personally I question his skating ability, he seems to be a bit of an awkward skater. He\'s also behind a plethora of good young d-men in the Nashville system, including Franson a former teammate. The best thing for Blum could be the departure of much of the Giants D from last year. This could force Blum to step up and really develop. We\'ll see what he\'s really made of this year or whether it was just from playing with the likes of Mikkelson, Thelen, Franson and Festerling on one of the best D-cores I\'ve seen in my limited experience with junior hockey.

Smith - I dont know a lot about him but I\'ve heard really good things. Most media were very excited for the Wings with this pick, my understanding is that he has a huge upside.

As for the forwards;

Perron - saw him play at the memorial cup. Doesnt seem like much of a team player, in that he seemed to get frustrated with his teammates. Hell of a stick handler, guy oozes skill. A little on the small side, but like was a joy to watch dance on the ice.

Backlund - Anything I write about Backlund you probably already know. I\'m a Flames fan so I was happy when the Flames got him, although I think Esposito would\'ve worked as well. Another player with a big upside but he also started to have knee problems last year. Basically he\'s high risk, high reward.

Gillies - don\'t touch him. He\'s not gonna be a top notch forward at the NHL level. I\'d take him on my team if I was a NHL GM but not as fantasy hockey owner. He\'ll be a third liner maybe second line grit, wont put up big points. He\'s a character guy, possible future captain, I\'d go to the trenches with him.

Sweatt - From what I\'ve read/heard about this kid is speed, speed and more speed. That makes him perfect for the new NHL. I can not however recall hearing much about his scoring abilities, doesnt mean they dont exist.

That\'s the best I can do hope it helps.

If I could there are 3 other Giants who all went in the past draft Repik, Sexsmith and Machacek. I think you should consider Repik and Sexsmith if they\'re available. I think Sexsmith has a chance to be a top notch NHL goalie, at 17 he backstopped the Giants to the memorial cup and won. He\'s very technically sound and seldom rattled. As he matures and gets better physically I think he may become the next top notch goalie to come from the WHL. Repik has skill, magician with the puck maybe overstating it but he brought us to the edge of our seats in vancouver a few times in the last couple years. If he continues to play like he did during the playoffs and the memorial cup he\'ll succeed at the next evel. Consistency may be a problem. Machacek could be a sleeper, I\'d compare him to a Ryan Smyth type player, which is probably gaudy praise for him. Has no fear plays along the boards and in front of the net, does the dirty work, and not without skill. His skating does need to improve though. He\'d be my sleeper.

Yes I bought Dobbers prospect guide. You have to support Dobbers and it was very helpful and added info to my current knowledge.

I live in the US though, so I don\'t get to see a lot of the CHL prospects first hand so I like to hear from people that have seen them.

You can only read so many reports.

Big - Your write up was a huge help! ... Unfortunately I had Repik pegged, but he was drafted in the late first round in my league! I figured he would have went undrafted personally.

I like what I have read on Smith and Sweatt as they seem like two guys that may make it to NHL in under 3 years.

I\'ll read up on the Goalie from the Giants when I get a chance.

But again thank you for the post .. I gave you a +1 for your thought out post!

Post edited by: SabresEdge, at: 2007/07/23 19:43