I'm pretty sure I'll be left with this decision tonight in my draft, and I'm not sure which way to go.

12 team, H2H, with W, L, SV, SVP, GAA, SO as GT cats.

I have Steve Mason going in as my keeper.

Others: Datsyuk, Getzlaf, Perry, Toews.


I'm hoping Bobby Ryan falls to me, but if he doesn't I'll probably take one of Price or Emery.

With Mason taking SVP, GAA and SO leads, I need help with W, L, SV. Emery could help there.

Thoughts?

I think Emery is older, right? He has looked very sharp for the Flyers and with Boucher having a groin injury, you've gotta think Emery is going to get even more starts than we all originally thought, which was a lot...

If this were a one year pool, I'd go Emery, since I think Price is still young and may have an inconsistent year. There were a lot of changes in the Montreal locker room and any time you bring in that many new bodies...chemistry takes a little longer to mold together.

Keeper league, I'd take Price. You can't argue his talent and it may be next year or the year after, or it may be this year, but eventually he's going to be well worth having on your roster.

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@tlucarelli on twitter

It is a keeper league, but I'm pretty happy with Steve Mason as my goalie of the future.

If you can only protect a small number of players, like 5, each year, you're probably going to protect Mason CLB again. In this case I would draft Emery as he'll post very good numbers in the cats you mentioned. Going the other way and picking Price would give you a great trade asset. Not sure if this helps or not.

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(1) 15 Team Keeper G , A, OTG =1 / W=2 OTL=1 SO=4
Count Top 10 Fwds 4 Ds 2 Gs Protect 15
Fwds: R O'Reilly, Kopitar, Parise, Carter, Franzen, Stamkos, Backstrom, Van Riemsdyk, E Kane, Pavelski, Granlund, Kreider, McDonald
Ds:Enstrom, Leddy, Green
Gs: Bernier, Rask, Lindback,
(2) 16 Team Keeper Pts only Count top 10 Fwds 4 ds 2Gs Protect 15
Fwds: Zetterberg, P Kane, Benn, Franzen, Weiss, Ennis, R O'Reilly, Neal, Sharp, Conacher, Nyquist, Brunner, Hanzal, Umberger, Vermette
Ds: Letang, S Weber, Karlsson, Brodin, Gilbert, Nikitin, I White
Gs: Ward, Brodeur, Gustavsson, Lehner, Poulin

Bingo.

By keeping that few amount of players...it's essentially the format of a 1 year league, minus a handful of really really talented guys. Basically, whoever you select, you will not end up keeping anyway. In this format, I'd go with Emery.

__________________
NHL credentialed writer for Columbus through thehockeyguys.net and dobberprospects.com

@tlucarelli on twitter

2 questions:

1. Do you play positions or are all skaters lumped together? (I notice you have 3 C as keepers)
2. Can you keep 2 goalies?

If you answer yes to both of those questions, I would go with Price hands-down. I would love to have a Mason/Price combo for years with that kind of goalie stats. Swing a deal for some picks for your awesome group of C; Toews looks like the expendable one in the short-term.

I answered without knowing your forward cats, but when goalies are worth 7 cats, goalies seem like a premium.

Otherwise, 1-year, Emery looks like he will get the bulk of the starts with Boucher on the IR. If you nab Price, you will most likely have to handcuff yourself with Halak this year.

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C, C, W, W, W, W, Ut, D, D, D

I can only keep one goalie, otherwise, yes, I'd probably grab Price or Varlamov.

Offensive cats are G, A, P, P/M, PIM, PPG, PPA, SHG, SHA, GWG

Keeper rules are 4, or 5 if you forfeit your first - which I did to keep Toews.