Hello again all,

Our pool just had its version of the draft lottery and I will have the second overall selection in this September\'s draft. Its a 12 team league (1G or 1A are worth 1pt) and we have a mix of keeper players (mine are currently Thornton and Pronger), prospects which we have the rights to for a few years (among my current list is Sid the Kid - thank you very much) and players whose rights only last for the season. As with everyone\'s pools, the details are even more complicated but you have the flavour.

Given the value goaltending has in my pool I would like to choose the best available keeper (ie one whose rights aren\'t already owned by someone else) and that would be M.Kipprusoff but as my pool is based in Calgary I expect that he will, yet again, go first.

My dilemma is who to take next?

My first thought would be one of V.Lecavalier or J.Spezza (or even Briere or Savard). We dress 3 of 4 drafted centers so with Thornton and Crosby already on board I should be dominant up the middle but it is a long wait for that next pick and the elite players at other positions will be dropping like flies while I wait.

On left wing I could take Zetterberg (fyi Heatley and Ovechkin\'s rights are already held). On right wing I could take St.Louis, Alfredsson, Selanne or Gaborik (again Iginla, Hossa and Jagr\'s rights are already owned by others - did I mention I have Thornton, Pronger and Crosby locked up, I did - good - I just want it clear that I\'m not complaining).

There is even an arguement for taking a defenseman such as Gonchar or Visnovsky (I already have Pronger and Lidstrom and Niedermayer\'s rights are held by others). Our pool requires that you play 6 of your 8 drafted d-men so with 12 teams drafting 8 d-men (not to mention players on everyone\'s prospect list) the top-end blueliners are quite valuable.

Last season, thanks to Dobber and all of you guys, I won my pool but in some respect it was the bottom end of my draft and some judicious trades that really helped. I\'d love to knock some of my top-end picks out of the park this season so I\'d welcome any input.

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L - St.Louis#, Hall, Clowe / Ryan
C - Crosby#, H.Sedin, M.Koivu / B.Richards
R - Eberle*, Callahan, Burrows / Selanne
D - Yandle, Markov, Green / Souray*
D - Doughty, Weber, Visnovsky / M.Staal*
G - Schneider^ / Rinne
TGs - Burrows, Clowe
IR - G - Smith
(# FPs, * RFAs, ^Prospect)

P3 - R Mueller, D Larsson
P2 - D Rundblad, G Schneider
P1 - C Barkov

Highlanders, FunHL Predator Cup Champions 1992, 1993, 2007, 2013
There Can Be Only One!

I don\'t see how you can pass on Spezza with his ppg. He should top the century mark if he\'s healthy. The only way I pass on Spezza is if there are comparable wingers on the board, since center is a more saturated position and you should be able to grab a good 70-80 center in the later rounds.

Dobber\'s top 300 players is a good guide.

For goalies I like Nabakov who might start 70 games this year and should put up huge numbers.

The only dmen I might reach for is Ryan Whitney or maybe Gonchar if keeper value isn\'t important but I wouldn\'t draft them ahead of Spezza.

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http://www.torontohockey.net

You have the offense - and had the right idea.
Too early for a DMan - Get yourself a top goalie.
Who else is available beside Kipper?

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2010 - 2011 Signature Team
RFHL: Founded 1989 Rochester, NY
10 Man Keeper League
G, A, PTS, 2W+OL, SV%, GAA
C: Tavares, Kopitar, Benn, Roy
LW: Hall, Vanek, van Riemsdyke, Nyquist
RW: Seguin, Carter, Yakupov, Tarasenko
D: Green, Fowler, Elliott, J.Schultz, Streit, Wisniewski
G: Price, Ward

Thanks guys.

Loki,

The big guns, Brodeur and Luongo, are already gone (as is Turco and Miller). Nabokov is available (sort of - the team owning his rights can \"match\" my bid on him and select him with their next available pick). Its not a bad option to keep his rights owner honest but while I like Nabby, I\'d perfer Kipper. In my mind the other goalie option, with far less of a track record, is Lundqvist in New York. Under our pool\'s complicated GAA based points system his value is almost identical last season to Kipprusoff\'s and is just behind Luongo. Hasek, Emery, Vokoun and Giguere are all available with no strings attached.

Still, I\'m leaning towards Spezza as you suggest but as a bit of a Sens fan I\'m always cautious about being persuaded by emotion.

I agree that 2nd overall is too early to start to jump on the d-men but I think one of the reasons I was able to win last year was that I had a dominant defense. I finished the season with the following top 6 (and hence playing) defensemen: Pronger, Gonchar, McCabe, T.Kaberle, K.Timmonen and Souray. I certainly feel that I can\'t leave my first \"wraparound\" picks (numbers 23 and 26) without finding a top-flight partner for Pronger.

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L - St.Louis#, Hall, Clowe / Ryan
C - Crosby#, H.Sedin, M.Koivu / B.Richards
R - Eberle*, Callahan, Burrows / Selanne
D - Yandle, Markov, Green / Souray*
D - Doughty, Weber, Visnovsky / M.Staal*
G - Schneider^ / Rinne
TGs - Burrows, Clowe
IR - G - Smith
(# FPs, * RFAs, ^Prospect)

P3 - R Mueller, D Larsson
P2 - D Rundblad, G Schneider
P1 - C Barkov

Highlanders, FunHL Predator Cup Champions 1992, 1993, 2007, 2013
There Can Be Only One!