This here is round one of the Lemieux Bracket. Remember, this poll is for a points only keeper league. Make sure you get caught up by reading the article on the front page to see the full bracket but for now cast your votes and comment away, we want to hear what you have to say!

Here are links to the other polls this round:

#1 Steven Stamkos vs. #8 Bobby Ryan
#2 John Tavares vs. #7 Marian Gaborik
#4 Phil Kessel vs. #5 Tyler Seguin

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I went with Benn here. I feel like Kopitar has been around awhile (he's still just 24 versus Benn being 22), but he just hasn't consistently put up the numbers I keep hoping he will. He gets the hot stretches, and he's surrounded by even more talent than before. I think Benn has the ability to create more scoring than Kopitar on an individual level and I think we're still just seeing the tip of the iceberg that is Benn.

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Team 1:10 Multi-Cat Roto league

C- Malkin,Giroux,Thornton Galchenyuk, Schenn, Berglund, Eller
LW- Hall,Ovechkin, E.Kane Saad
RW- Seguin, Stewart, PAP
D- Subban,Phaneuf Keith, OEL, Hedman,
G- Pavelec,Hiller Lindback, Theodore, Lehner

Team 2:24 H2H League Multi-Cat

C- Lecavalier, B. Schenn, Ennis, Belanger
LW- JVR, Leino, Bissonnette, Whitney, C. Bourque, Nodl
RW- Kopecky, Langenbrunner, Doan, Versteeg, Mayers
D- Doughty, Burns, Souray, Sarich, Lovejoy, Potter
G-Pavelec, Enroth

Tough call but went with Benn. I do think Kopitar has 90+ talent but it's been awhile now he's been stuck around 75-80 and just hasn't been able to break through. I'm not sure Benn has that upside but I'll take him for the chance he can go higher than Kopi.

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20 Team Dynasty (points per) - G (25, 50 for defense) A (25) PIM (3) +/- (5) PPG (15) SHG (25) OTG (15) GWG (25) HTr (50) GP (2) HIT (1) BLK (1) Use actual NHL salary

F: Malkin, Tavares, E. Kane, Parenteau, Havlat, Tarasenko, Galchenyuk, Brunner, Boyes, Kruger, Helm, M. Martin, Bergenheim, Carcillo, Stajan

D: Green, Ehrhoff, Ekman-Larsson, Coburn, Daley, Postma

G: Fleury, Mason, Montoya

Farm: Grigorenko, Grimaldi, Kucherov, D. Shore, Hartikainen, Stransky, Kerdiles, Joensuu, Pageau, Murphy, Ceci, Klefbom, Thrower, Donovan, Ekholm, Lehner, Dansk, Poulin, Nilsson, Andersen

With bias, I voted for Anze Kopitar since I have him in a keeper league. If he ever "wakes up" though, I think he would leave Benn in the dust.

VERY interesting one here. I like Benn though even considering it's a points only.

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12 team H2H Keeper
G,A,PP,PIM,SOG
W,GAA,SV%,SO
C:Giroux,Zberg,Marleau,Kadri
LW:Ovi,Neal,Pach,Benn
RW:Perry,MSL,Wheeler
D:Yandle,Subban,Edler,OEL
G: Lundqvist,Miller,MAF

12 Team H2H
R,2b,3b,HR,RBI,AVG,SB,BB,K,E
W,L,SV,HLD,K,ERA,WHIP
C:Buck
1B:Santana
2B:Kipnis
3B:Zimmer
SS:Tulo
LF:Marte
CF:McCutch
RF:Pence
Util:Ozuna
SP:Cain,Moore,Latos,Kennedy,Ryu,Guthrie
RP:Henderson,Rivera,League,Gregerson,Herrera
DL:Hart,Anderson,Bailey

Close matchup. Points only i decided to go with the pure upside and voted Kopitar, but i could flip a coin

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Florida Panthers Team Coverage

Kopitar is more proven and has higher points upside. Got to go with him.

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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, Rinaldo
RW- Wheeler, Simmonds, Coyle, Frattin, Boyes
D- Pietrangelo, 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

Shocked that so many are gonig with Benn. This is his first season of really producing, while Kopitar has done it for a couple in a row now and has a higher ceiling. Looks like Benn is the 'sexy' pick.

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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

Agree with Kofax here...surprised so many went with Benn...remember this is a points only match-up. I think over the next 10 years in a points only format...Kopitar wins at least 7 of those seasons. Benn will have better peripherals perhaps...but Kopitar here in a heartbeat for me.

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12 Team Keeper (max 4 years) ($270 RLD)
Start 12 F, 6 D, and 2 G weekly
STATS: F (G,A,GWG) D (G,A,+/-) G (W,GAA,SV%)
FWD - Ovechkin, Tavares, Eberle, Neal, Hall, Iginla, Couture, Ennis, Tarasenko, Stepan, Weiss, Granlund, Boyes, Hanzal, Backlund, Baertschi,
DEF-Karlsson, Boyle, Shattenkirk, Carlson, Burns, Ekman-Larson, Josi, Larsen
GOAL-Rask, Schneider

One consideration here is that Kopitar has been getting prime offensive minutes with LA's best "offensive" players. Meanwhile, Benn was not top 6 last year (3rd center behind Ribeiro/Richards) and has been paired with Ott most of this season. And yet he still produces.

This and the aforementioned point regarding different trajectories of their careers. If they were stocks, Kopitar has not met his "earnings" expectations, and Benn is still in growth mode.

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30-Team H2H Points-Based Keeper
G, A, PPG, SHG, PIM, GP, W, GA, SV, SO
Start: 10 FWD, 6 DEF, 2 ENF/UTIL, 2 GOL
Bench/Reserves: 4 spots
Keep: 16 (if playoff team) or 17 (if not playoff team)

FWD: J. Spezza, J. Benn, L. Eriksson, M. Ribeiro, M. Fisher, B. Morrow, A. McDonald, M. Hejduk, S. Gomez, T. Vincour
DEF: E. Karlsson, D. Byfuglien, A. MacDonald, J. Cowen, P. Larsen, S. Robidas
ENF/UTIL: S. Thornton, K. Barch
GOL: A. Niemi, M. Brodeur
RESERVES: S. Clemmensen (G), R. Bachman (G), R. Peverley (F), B. Mikkelson (D)