...and so am I. Our league did its annual draft yesterday. It's a Yahoo H2H, 12 team, one-year league with the standard categories (G,A,+/-,PIM,PPP,SOG,W,GAA,SV%,SO). I think I did fairly well even though I drafted 9th, which seems where the elite talent starts to drop off in the 1st round. Here's how it went...

Round 1 Pick 9 Alex Ovechkin LW
Round 2 Pick 16 Tuukka Rask G
Round 3 Pick 33 Johnathan Toews C
Round 4 Pick 40 Ryan Miller G
Round 5 Pick 57 Alex Pietrangelo D
Round 6 Pick 64 Joe Pavelski C/RW
Round 7 Pick 81 P.K. Subban D
Round 8 Pick 88 Dustin Brown LW/RW
Round 9 Pick 105 Pavel Datsyuk C/LW
Round 10 Pick 112 Kevin Shattenkirk D
Round 11 Pick 129 Ryan Callahan RW
Round 12 Pick 136 Chris Kunitz LW
Round 13 Pick 153 Oliver Ekman-Larsson D
Round 14 Pick 160 Blake Wheeler RW
Round 15 Pick 177 Mikko Koivu C
Round 16 Pick 184 Tomas Vokoun G

My initial thoughts:

1) Damn! How did AO fall to me at #9?!? I was sure he was going to go right before me at either #7 or #8. But I think the guy who picked right in front of me (#8) panicked a bit... I know he really wanted a goalie as his first round pick. Believe it or not, Quick went #1 overall. Then Lundy went 5th overall. He had his eye on Rinne, but he was picked right before him at #7. So I think he made a big mistake taking Howard at #8, which allowed Ovie to slide to me at #9. As long as he has some sort of bounce back year, I'm thrilled.

2) I dig my defense. Unlike leagues with hits and blocked shots, I really didn't feel like I could wait too long to scoop up quality D-men. Like some poolies put goalies into "tiers", I assembled a "tier 1" of defensemen and waited as long as I could before I thought they'd be all gone. After I grabbed Pietrangelo in the 5th round, I disiplined myself to grab another d-man with (almost) every other draft pick. Suprisingly, Subban and Shattenkirk stuck around long enough for me to take them too.

3) It's too bad this league does PIMs instead of hits. With Ovie, Brown and Callahan, I'd crush that category. While I have a handful of guys who can get 50-70 PIMs, I really need Subban to stay healthy and do his thing (100+ PIMs) to compete in that category. Wondering if I need some more sandpaper...

4) Goalies seem good... Am hoping that Tuukka lives up to the hype, but maybe I could have gotten better value with a positional player here and pick up a MAF, Ward, Bryz later in the third or fourth round. I'm also hoping Vokoun steals more than just a few starts from MAF, especially if the season is condensed with a few more B2Bs...

5) Am wondering if I'm going to be a little short in the scoring cats (G,A,PPP). Could my grab the defensmen strategy backfire on me here? I think the line-up has nice ballance, but maybe not enough firepower...

Anyway, I looked at Pengwin's entry level draft recap to see the "hot" and "cold" picks:
http://forums.dobbersports.com/showthread.php?t=139728
...and even though our league doesn't use hits, I think I did not too shabby. If you have any thoughts on what I should concentrate on to bolster the staff, or if someone jumps out at you as "trade bait", fire away. Hopefully, the lockout will end and I'll actually get to manage this team...

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WISCONSIN YAHOO! 1 yr, 12 teams, H2H
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, W, GAA, SV%, SO
Daily starts: 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 2G, 4BN, 2 IR
Used 23/25 moves
--------
C) Giroux(RW), Datsyuk(LW), Bergeron, Peverley
LW) Ovechkin(RW), Pacioretty, Stalberg
RW) Perry, Iginla, Okposo
D) Pietrangelo, Subban, Phaneuf, Karlsson
G) Rask, Khudobin
IR) Spezza

incredible value in rounds 11-15!

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http://twitter.com/robsintheshed

ESPN - 12 Team H2H Keeper League, 25 Players - 13 Keepers
(G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, GWG, W, GAA, SV%)
Keepers
C: Tavares, Benn, Stepan
LW: Galchenyuk, Parenteau, Ryan.
RW: Brunner, Conacher.
D: Pietrangelo, Subban, Schultz.
G: Price, Dubnyk.

ESPN - 12 Team H2H Keeper League, 24 Players - 10 Keepers
(G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, PTS, W, GAA, SV%)
Keepers
C: Duchene, B. Richards
LW: Skinner, Ovechkin,
RW: Ryan, Eriksson
D: Subban, Shattenkirk,
G:Halak, Quick

That's a really good draft. Love the OV pick (steal), Miller is better than where you got him IMO, Your young D are all favorites of mine as well. The only pick that I could say I would likely have made differently is Toews. Don't see the third round value with him. And yes if hits were a cat, you'd own. Kunitz and Wheeler add to a gritty group of OVY Brown and Cally. Too bad

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2nd Year 12 Team Dynasty H2H, Daily Starts
G, A, +/-, PIM, SOG, Hits, PPP, SHP
W, GAA, Sv%, Svs, SO

C: B.Richards, J.Pavelski, D.Roy, A.Killorn
LW: I.Kovalchuk, D.Heatley, R.Clowe, B.Dubinsky
RW: C.Perry, M.Gaborik, B.Wheeler, B.Boyes
D: A.Pietrangelo, P.K Subban, N.Kronwall, C.Franson
G: R.Miller, S.Varlamov, A.Khudobin, B.Elliott
IR: J.Spezza, E.Karlsson

Prospects: Galchenyuk, Johansen, Kuznetsov, Teravainen, Dumba, M.Foligno, Orlov, Pickard, Ramo

deadly team you drafted there.
rask and miller are guys id rather than howard.
callahan is a steel that late.
ov at 9th is ridiculous.

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10 team Keeper Roto League
4C-4LW-4RW-6D-2G-5bench-unlimited farm.

C= crosby,m.koivu,malkin,zajak,grabovski,j.jokinen,
LW= ovechkin,nash,s.gagner,dubinsky
RW= downie,hemsky,callahan,voracek,perry,mueller
D= green,doughty,phaneuf,wisniewski,girardi,karlsson
G= rask,lundqvist,ward,price

FARM=kreider,grachev,petrov,enroth,kuznetsov,ennis ,rundblad,bjugstad,radulov,montoya, adam,t.erixon,cowan,s.elliot,j.faulk,cormier,petro v,orlov,stone,eakin,grigorenko,silfverberg,brodin, atkinson

--G,A,P,PPP,SHP,GWG,PIMS,+/-,SOG,hits,FOW,blocks-Wins,GAA,SV%,saves,SO

1. Ovechkin at 9th overall is terrific for you.
2. Personally, I have Rask at the top of Tier 2 goalies (Quick, Lundqvist, Rinne being Tier 1). Coupled with Miller, your goalies are solid. Vokoun as insurance is a nice touch.
3. Love the Datsyuk, Wheeler and Koivu picks at those points in the draft.

You should be proud, you drafted yourself a very good squad!

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SIODL: 12-Team H2H Limited Keeper League
Back-to-Back Defending Champ!

Rosters: 3C, 5W, 5D, 1U, 2G, 9B, 2IR
Keep: 4 F, 2 D, 1 G, 1 U (F or D)
Skater Stats: G (3), A (2), +/- (0.3), PIM (0.4), PPP (0.5), SHP (1), GWG (1), SOG (0.3), Hits (0.1), FW (0.05)
Goalie Stats: W (5.5), Saves (0.25), GA (-2), SHO (2)

Tentative Keepers:
F1: Crosby
F2: Tavares
F3: Backstrom
F4: Perry
D1: Weber
D2: Pietrangelo
G: Rinne
U: Parise

Trade Bait: Krejci, Wheeler, Voracek, Streit, Franson, Crawford

Yeah, I struggled with that Toews pick. Kopitar, Staal and even B. Richards went just ahead of him and I felt I needed to grab a top center with a little run going. Backes and Backstrom were still available... and those might have been better options.

For some reason, I'm having a hard time justifying picking Backstrom that early because of his head injury. But that same logic would apply to not picking Toews too... I know it's dumb.

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WISCONSIN YAHOO! 1 yr, 12 teams, H2H
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, W, GAA, SV%, SO
Daily starts: 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 2G, 4BN, 2 IR
Used 23/25 moves
--------
C) Giroux(RW), Datsyuk(LW), Bergeron, Peverley
LW) Ovechkin(RW), Pacioretty, Stalberg
RW) Perry, Iginla, Okposo
D) Pietrangelo, Subban, Phaneuf, Karlsson
G) Rask, Khudobin
IR) Spezza

Thanks for your thoughts all... Any cats seem a little weak? I'm thinking maybe goals...

__________________
WISCONSIN YAHOO! 1 yr, 12 teams, H2H
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, W, GAA, SV%, SO
Daily starts: 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 2G, 4BN, 2 IR
Used 23/25 moves
--------
C) Giroux(RW), Datsyuk(LW), Bergeron, Peverley
LW) Ovechkin(RW), Pacioretty, Stalberg
RW) Perry, Iginla, Okposo
D) Pietrangelo, Subban, Phaneuf, Karlsson
G) Rask, Khudobin
IR) Spezza

That is an extremely solid team for a 12 team league. H2H is not my thing but overall I don't think you have much to worry about. Goals may be a little soft (which version of Ovy shows up will be a huge factor for you) but you have a lot of guys capable of hitting 25-30.

I don't mind the Toews pick as he is a 70 pint guy with a good G and A split and doesn't really lack in any cat. It would be interesting to see who else went in the third and fourth after your pick.

I am also betting big on Rask this year.

The one guy I would look to move/upgrade on is Datsyuk - great value for where you got him and clearly other guys in your league don't think too highly of him right now, but if he has a good start you may be able to move him for someone who helps a little more in the G, PIM and SOG department.

Just some quick thoughts. Well done.

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14 team roto(3C,3RW,3LW,5D,2G,5B,1IR-82 max games)
Cats-G,A,+/-,PPP,PIM,SOG,HITS,FOW,BLKS,W,SV%,GAA,SAVES

C-Toews,B. Richards,Hanzal
RW-Voracek,Stewart,Versteeg
LW-Benn(C),Clowe(RW),Pacioretty
D-Pietrangelo,Doughty,Burns,Ehrhoff,Gonchar
G-Rask,Lindback
B-Emery,Havlat,Coburn,Atkinson,Fiddler

7 team roto(3C,3RW,3LW,4D,1U,2G,4B,3IR-86 max games)
Cats-G,A,P,+/-,PIM,PPP,SHP,GWG,W,SV%,GAA,SO

C-Crosby,E.Staal,Pavelski(RW)
RW-Iginla,Clowe(LW),Wheeler
LW?E.Kane,Pacioretty,Semin(RW)
D?Letang,AP,Subban,Shatty
U-Getz
G-Rask,Ward
B?Kipper,Voracek,Moulson,Burns

I think it's a very good team, I actually don't see any flaws.
If it is a "daily" start league, I probably would have liked to see you get a 3rd goalie that is a #1 guy... but if the NHL season actually smashes a schedule to 82games - Vokoun will be seeing a lot of starts.

A+ (and I don't hand those out often)