I currently have Parise/Malkin/E Staal/Backes/Desharnais(R), as my keepers... I can keep HOWARD instead of Staal or Backes... BUT, there are plenty of goalies available in the draft and the value of forwards are probably better than Howards.

That said, most teams have goalies so they tend to grab forwards (aside from elite goalies available, if any). These are the goalies available in the draft: (stats: G, Sv, SV%, GAA, SO. 14 teams. Full league stats in sig).

Most teams roster 2-3 goalies. I own 3 picks in the first 15 draft picks ((Picks 3,14,15) I want 2 goalies and 1 forward), so I plan to target the following in bold... I plan to take Bernier really late and dump him on my bench. He qualifies under a weird rookie rule for under 150GP.

Note: I want a) a solid reliable goalie to get starts from (kipper-ish)... then I don't mind gambling with #2 and #3. Last year I ran howard+varlamov+schneider to start, added Elliot... moved him for Halak. Ended w/ Howard/Broduer/Halak for playoffs

--Imagine will go early--
Howard
Mike Smith
Miikka Kiprusoff
Jaroslav Halak
Antti Niemi

--Imagine will go mid--
Niklas Backstrom
Craig Anderson
Martin Brodeur
Pavelec
Jose Theodore
Brian Elliott

--Imagine will go late--
Lindback
Evgeni Nabokov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Varlamov
Michal Neuvirth

--Imagine will go end or undrafted--
Tomas Vokoun
Jonathan Bernier
S Mason
Emery
Giguerre
Khabby
Clemmenson
Harding
Lehner
leighton
garon
scrivens
montoya
Johan Hedberg
Jonas Gustavsson
Allen York

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Keep4+rookie under 150gp (14 teams): G,A,+/-,PIM,SHP,PPP,GWG,SOG,FW, W/GAA/SV/SV%/SHO [Keepers: E Staal, Parise, Backes, Malkin, (R) Desharnais]

- Some people are like slinkies, they don't seem to have a purpose but bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs... -

If I'm only picking one from each group...

Group 1: Tough call for me between Kiprusoff and Smith. Kiprusoff will probably have more wins but I think Smith easily takes the saves category. Plus I'm typically not as fond of Kiprusoff in general so I should probably state that as a personal bias. I'd lean towards Smith here.

Group 2: Nik Backstrom for me..good opportunity for him with the recent additions.

Group 3: I like Varlamov over Lindback. Varlamov has already proven he can handle a starting workload and I have a hunch that Colorado will be a greatly improved team this year.

As for the undrafted guys, if you do snag Nik Backstrom i'd grab Harding as a handcuff..aside from that though I like Garon's chances to get a decent number of starts as a backup. Vokoun could be a decent gamble..and obviously Bernier if moved.

Hope this helped

Great points B0ndon. Early season I stack a lot of extra goalies on my bench (just incase)... for the first few weeks of a season. We use only 2 goalie slots but we have some bench players. That said, if I do end up w/ backstrom I'd grab harding.

Vokoun could be a good late season acquistion, i'll have my eye on him regardless.

Garon should definately get starts. Not to say lindback is trash, but i don't see him jumping into a 70 start goalie or anything... especially with a guy like Garon to back him up.

I have always liked Varlamov. I imagine his confidence is also up this season off the late season/championship success.

Given Halak's injury in the post season, I would take a flier on Elliot if the cost is low.

As for smith, I like the team game PHX plays... good defencive systems give good goalie stats whether they lose DOAN or not.

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Keep4+rookie under 150gp (14 teams): G,A,+/-,PIM,SHP,PPP,GWG,SOG,FW, W/GAA/SV/SV%/SHO [Keepers: E Staal, Parise, Backes, Malkin, (R) Desharnais]

- Some people are like slinkies, they don't seem to have a purpose but bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs... -

For what it's worth, I have a very strong hunch that Backstrom is going to have a good season.

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Yahoo weekly starts 12 team league, keep 17 plus farm

GS, W, L, SV, GAA, SV%, SO G, A, P, +/-, PIM, SOG, GWG, PPP, SHP, HITS, FOW

3C: H. Sedin,Stepan, Stastny, R. Johansen, Hanzal, Anisimov,
3LW: Burrows, Vanek, Ott, Lupul, Dubinsky
3RW: Doan, Pavelski, Brown, Okposo,
6D: Franson, Doughty, Voynov, Subban, Markov, Gonchar, Karlsson
1Util:
2G: Price, Emery


Farm: (< 100 games): S. Elliott, J. Bernier, Galchenyuk, Etem, Eakin, Atkinson

Group 1: I'm going to say Halak is the best choice here. His numbers were unreal last season and I think he will get more starts after Elliott faltered in the playoffs. The Blues add Vladimir Tarasenko to what is already a very good team. If the Coyotes retain Doan, Smith would be my second choice. If not, I would go with Kipper after Halak.

Group 2: I like Backstrom and Pavelec here, but Minnesota is more likely to make the playoffs than Winnipeg so Backstrom is the more logical choice. People didn't realize how well Backstrom played this past season, he had a .919 SV% and added 4 shutouts. Bring in some excellent two way players in Parise and Suter, then those numbers will only get better.

Group 3: I agree with the others on this one, Varlamov is the best choice. Its kind of funny how his numbers greatly improved once his mother came to Denver, but whatever works, right? My second choice would be Evgeni Nabokov, I love what the Islanders are doing.

Group 4: Wow, this is a tough call. I think Emery is noteworthy mostly due to the fact that Crawford is a HUGE wild card. It seems unlikely Bernier is going anywhere right now, but if he does move, he would be my first choice. I actually think Clemmensen will be pretty solid after watching the Panthers new style this past year.


I hope that helps.

__________________
macv@dobberbaseball.com
DobberBaseball Columnist- http://baseball.dobbersports.com/ind...layout=default
Detroit Red Wings coverage
Twitter- @MacVincent1

Backstrom has become a bit underrated lately. I have always thought him to be a good goalie... with Parise/Suter added... his numbers can only improve. Those are huge defencive upgrades.

Does anyone see concern over Halak's injury? I got this off ROTOWORLD news;
"Jaroslav Halak hasn't fully recovered from the high-ankle sprain that ended his participation in the 2012 playoffs.Halak sustained the injury in Game 2 of the Blues' first round series. "He's still experiencing a little bit of ... I don't want to say pain, but a little discomfort when he does some movement," Blues GM Doug Armstrong said. "The injury lingers, and for a goalie, because of the movement that's necessary, it takes a little longer than maybe for a skater. But we've had a lot of time on our hands, so it hasn't been an issue. We expect him to be cleared by July 21 and he thinks he'll be ready to go. He's not coming back (to St. Louis) until August, so we're happy with his progress." In other words, he should be fine for the start of the 2012-13 campaign. Jul 16 - 11:06 AMSource: St. Louis Post-Dispatch "

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Keep4+rookie under 150gp (14 teams): G,A,+/-,PIM,SHP,PPP,GWG,SOG,FW, W/GAA/SV/SV%/SHO [Keepers: E Staal, Parise, Backes, Malkin, (R) Desharnais]

- Some people are like slinkies, they don't seem to have a purpose but bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs... -

Didn't Craig Anderson come on strong at the end of last year?

He had one terrible game on Feb. 7 and looked pretty solid after that. I think he's my pick in that group instead of Backstrom.

Backstrom was a top-flight goalie, but he's not getting any younger and I just don't trust that back of his.

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12 H2H w/ daily changes.
G,A,+/-,PPP,SOG,W,GAA,Sv%.
Keep 6 (5 F/D, 1 D/G) Start 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 3D, 2Util, 2G

C: Getzlaf, Bergeron, Roy, Boyes (RW)
LW: Kovalchuk (RW), Vanek, Lucic
RW: Gaborik, Callahan, C. Stewart, Tarasenko, Chiasson
D: Yandle, Doughty, Goligoski, Carlson
G: Fleury, Varlamov, Markstrom
IR:

That's the only thing you should take away from this report.

__________________
macv@dobberbaseball.com
DobberBaseball Columnist- http://baseball.dobbersports.com/ind...layout=default
Detroit Red Wings coverage
Twitter- @MacVincent1

The only thing making me cautious of taking Halak here is taking GS and SV into account, I like Halak in most setups because I still think he'll get approximately 55 starts with the possibility for more, but Smith and Kiprusoff are like as close to locks as you can get to starting close to 70 or more because their teams rely on them to win games.

I'm pretty sure Kiprusoff and Smith each had like 700+ more saves than Halak last year

But yeah I wouldn't worry about Halak's health issue he has time to rest up and it sounds like he's expected to be fine in time for the season.

we don't use GS, BUT... since we use SV... obviously it helps to have more starts... but if they are low quality it does damage to sv%/gaa.

I used Elliot much of last season and destroyed people in sv%/gaa... i got my SVs from rocking 3 solid goalies. You can always pad the SV stat by using multiple 1a/1b type starters. Not as effecient obviously but not the end of the world.

also, doesn't matter if halak IS iffy at the start... he is a solid goalie and i'm in a h2h. As long as he rocks the 2nd half i'm fine.

Ya, Anderson isn't a bad bet either. I'd gamble on him. Obviously depends on who drafts what but sounds like I have some good options for my various goalie tiers...

__________________
Keep4+rookie under 150gp (14 teams): G,A,+/-,PIM,SHP,PPP,GWG,SOG,FW, W/GAA/SV/SV%/SHO [Keepers: E Staal, Parise, Backes, Malkin, (R) Desharnais]

- Some people are like slinkies, they don't seem to have a purpose but bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs... -