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Fantasy Hockey Draft Kit 2015

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Fantasy Hockey: Players to WatchBy Isaac Edwards

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Early round picks in fantasy hockey are obviously important, but when you get to later rounds, this can be the difference of winning and losing. Underrated players are just as good as well known players, in fact, they can be even better because they can be drafted in later rounds, and you can make trades for them for little cost. Here are some players you should watch out for while drafting your Fantasy Hockey team. Nick Foligno (Columbus Blue Jackets) I know he isn't incredibly underrated, but I feel Nick Foligno doesn't get the amount of credit he deserves. In 79 games this past season, Foligno had a career year, with highs in both goals (31) and assists (42) for a respectable 73 points. I'm not sure that I would take him over Sidney Crosby, but he's a guy you could steal late first round, or beginning of the second. With the recent arrivals of Brandon Saad and Rene Bourque, and the help from guys like Ryan Johansen and Scott Hartnell, Foligno's going to have extra support on offensive, so you can expect another 70+ point season from the newest Columbus captain. Keven Shattenkirk (St. Louis Blues) Coming off of a year which saw the 26 year old score a career high in assists with 36, I truly believe that Kevin Shattenkirk is the most underrated offensive-defenseman in the NHL. He's no Erik Karlsson, but he plays solid defense, and as I said above, is a good offensive-defenseman. Shattenkirk is also a good player in the +/- category with a career +/- of +38. In the PIM category, he can also help you. He had 52 PIM's last season, and has 206 in his 338 game career. Don't take him over a guy like Erik Karlsson or Drew Doughty, but I'd highly suggest you take Shattenkirk if you're in need of defensemen. He should still be on the board. If you can't draft him, I'd suggest you try and trade for him. He should be available for little cost. Scott Hartnell (Columbus Blue Jackets) Going back to the Jackets, Scott Hartnell is a guy who you'd want to have if PIM's is a stat category in your fantasy league. He can get points (60 last season) but more importantly he can also get you penalty minutes, which could possibly get you a win instead of a loss in a match-up. Last season he had an even 100 penalty minutes, and in his career he has just over 1550 in his 14 year career. I wouldn't take him in round one or anything, but if he's available in later rounds, I'd scoop him up. He should be available in the later rounds, and if he isn't, most teams should be willing to part with him for fairly cheap. Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals) Like most players who are on this list, I wouldn't take him over a player like Carey Price, but if Braden Holtby is available and you still need a number one goaltender, I wouldn't hesitate to draft Holtby. He's coming off of a breakout year, which saw the 25 year old post a .923 SV% and a GAA of 2.22, along with a career high in shutouts with 9. Along with his stellar numbers, the Capitals are also putting together a great team, that is going to help out on defense, while also giving Holtby the goal support he needs. If you could get Holtby along with another solid starter, you should consider yourself set for goaltending.

Fantasy Hockey: Drafting A TeamBy Isaac Edwards

In order to draft a good Fantasy Hockey team, it seems like you have to have a high draft pick in order to draft good; which can certainly help, but does having a later pick in the draft really effect you that much? Sure, having a guy like Sidney Crosby or Steven Stamkos on your team can be a huge difference maker, but if you know what you're doing the entire draft, you shouldn't have to worry a whole lot. I'm going to be using the example of having a fantasy league that has 12 teams in it. If you're in a league that has more or less players than that, don't worry, just take what you can from it. I find that my favorite kind of draft to do is a snake draft. For those of you who don't know what the snake draft is, say if you got stuck with the 12th (last) pick in the first round, you wouldn't have to worry because you would be getting back-to-back picks. The last pick in round one, and the first pick in round two. To make it a little easier to understand, it goes like 1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1 and so on. So you're in a snake draft, and lets say you have pick #6. Dead smack in the middle. You shouldn't be able to get a guy like Crosby, but maybe a guy like Tyler Seguin or Claude Giroux is still available (I was going to say Patrick Kane, but that seemed like a bold prediction). In the first round, you should always go with a top line forward who's bound to get you a lot of points. Worry about getting a goalie or defenseman in later rounds, I'll get into that a little later. Round 1 I just said this, but again, you should always be better off grabbing a guy who's going to be the core of your team, and gets you the majority of your points (I'll use Seguin and Giroux as examples again). It always helps to have a solid goaltender like Carey Price, but a good forward is always going to get more points for your team than the goalie. If you are in a bigger league with 12 or so teams, and you have a later pick, then a good offensive defenseman like Erik Karlsson or Drew Doughty might be a better option if you can't draft a quality point scorer, and then rebound with a solid second round pick. Don't get me wrong, having a defenseman who can get around 50 points a season is something you should be happy with, considering defensemen can be a challenge when you're in later rounds. I still believe that you should never take a goalie in the first round, but that's just my opinion. Round 2 Really big named players are probably gone by this point, but that doesn't mean players like Anze Kopitar or Max Pacioretty are completely off the table. You can still get a great player for your team in the second round, and the same thing in rounds three and four. So you should probably go with the same game plan for the second round, unless you have a later pick in the second round. In that case, depending on what's available you might want to start looking at goalies. Carey Price might not be there, but Tuukka Rask, Jonathan Quick, or Henrik Lundqvist are just names that should certainly be on the table. I wouldn't draft a goalie over a guy like Nick Foligno or somebody like that, but you should keep an open mind. Round 3 This is when you should start looking at defensemen/goalies. For example, say you drafted Alex Ovechkin and Ryan Getzlaf in the first two rounds, you should have a strong offense going for you, so you should start to buckle up on your back end. If you decide to go with a defenseman, if you could get Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, or P.K Subban (those names come to mind) in the third round, I would definitely consider that a steal. But they most likely won't be available at this time. Whenever I'm drafting a team, I might go for a goalie, just because when they start to go, they go quick, so you might need to get one while they last. A goalie I would recommend if bigger names aren't available would be Washington's Braden Holtby. He's coming off of a strong playoffs, and he also had a strong regular season with a GAA of 2.22, a 9.23 SV%, along with 9 shutouts. Obviously don't take him over Carey Price or any elite like that, but make sure you're going to draft the best available player for your team. Round 4 If you took a goaltender in round three, then you'll want a defenseman. If you took a defenseman, you'll probably want to look into a goalie. Now I already said what you could do for goalies, but there are a ton of underrated defensemen for fantasy hockey. A guy who's normally a solid defensive-defenseman in the NHL like Shea Weber or Zdeno Chara won't be the best option for you. Yes, they're great defensemen, but you want a guy who's going to be getting you lots of points. A favorite of mine is Kevin Shattenkirk of the St. Louis Blues. He's very underrated, so he should still be in the un-drafted section, but he can be a killer for your team. In 56 games last season, he had 8 goals and 36 assists, along with a +/- of 19. He plays solid defense so he'll help your +/- (I always have that as a stat in my leagues, I'm sure most people do as well), and he's going to help you get points, which can help a lot. Rounds 5+ There's generally around 20 rounds in a Fantasy Hockey League. Maybe more, maybe less. In my league last year we had 22 rounds. It takes a while, but it's worth it. Make sure you get lots of offense, because this is going to be your main source of points. But also, don't forget to grab defense along the way. I don't know how many times I've been hurt because of drafting really solid offensive players, but not having anybody on my back end. The same thing goes for goalies. Try your best to grab a solid starter, and then get either a solid back-up like Martin Jones, or another starter like Mike Smith who isn't the best goaltender in the league, but is still solid enough to help you out. Extra Tip I know this is going to happen quite a few times during this years' fantasy hockey season, so I'm going to put my word in. If you get the first overall pick, don't take Connor McDavid over anybody else. I agree, he has great potential, but taking him over Crosby or Ovechkin would be a dull move. He's never played a minute in the NHL, and though doubtful, he could turn out to be a complete bust. If you really wanted him that bad, maybe take him in the 2nd round at most.

The draft is my favorite sporting time of the year. It’s just fun to see a new team that one now owns. Here are some tips! - Editor

Top 6 Fantasy Hockey RankingsBy Isaac Edwards

With the Fantasy Hockey season inching closer and closer each day, players need to start thinking about who they're going to be taking in the first round. This is where you look at Crosby, Toews, Stamkos, Ovechkin, and all of the NHL's brightest stars. A 12 team league is generally the most common size, so that's how I'm going to be basing my selections. If you're in a different size league, don't worry, just take what you can from it and adjust accordingly. Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) Whether you think Crosby's the best player in the league or not, I would draft him over anybody else in the league. He's had five 100+ point seasons, and was on that pace during the 2013 lock out season when he had 56 points in 36 games. I'm sure he would've reached the century mark in points several other times as well had he had been healthy. So that alone should be enough to draft him first overall. But when you add Phil Kessel to the team, look out. There really isn't much else too say about Sid. It doesn't matter if you're a fan of the Philadelphia Flyers or the Arizona Coyotes. Don't let your feelings on him effect your team! Phil Kessel (Pittsburgh Penguins) Before you exit the page, please hear me out. I don't know if you expected Toews, Stamkos, or Ovechkin in the #2 spot, but Kessel is going to be scoring a lot of goals, and getting a lot of points when he's playing with Crosby and Malkin. You can expect him to be an every night kind of guy, as he hasn't missed a single game in 5 years. As soon as I heard that Pittsburgh was possibly interested in Kessel, I thought that he'd be scoring at least 50 next season, and I still believe that. You can take whoever you want, but I personally would take Kessel second overall. Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) If there's one stat Alex Ovechkin is consistent with, It's goal scoring. He's scored 50+ goals six times, 60+ once, and his lowest goal total in any season has been 32, which is still a respectable number. In past years, I'd be a little hesitant to take Ovechkin, just because he's been known to be a little lazy in his own end, so his +/- rating wouldn't be where you'd want it. But now that things are starting to come together in Washington, I believe he'll be an all around great player, who will score 50+ goals once again. You shouldn't be upset if you draft Alex Ovechkin in the first round. Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning) This past season he was second in goal scoring in the NHL next to Ovechkin with 43. If he didn't break his leg early in the 2013-14 season, he probably would've had his third season with 50+ goals. In the 37 games he did play, he still managed 25 goals. Like Phil Kessel, you can usually expect him to be playing every night for the Lightning, because in his last 6 seasons, he's played in every game for five of those seasons. I'm sure he would've been a perfect 6/6 had he have stayed healthy. Like Washington, Tampa Bay is starting to throw a serious team together, so with the help from guys like Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and really just about everybody on Tampa's roster, Stamkos is going to be having another successful season. Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars) Coming off of a career year which saw Benn win the Art Ross trophy with 87 points, you can expect the Dallas Stars' captain to have more years that are even better than this one. The dynamic duo in Dallas with Benn and Tyler Seguin is one of the best in the NHL, so you can expect them to feed each other all year long. Like other players on this list, Benn is a fairly consistent player in games played, so you don't have to worry about that. Dallas is improving their team, so the addition of Patrick Sharp is certainly going to help the Stars' offensive side. I have him ranked 5th on my list, so if you have the 5th pick in your draft, and you decide to take Benn, you probably won't get Tyler Seguin to complete the duo, but I would strongly suggest trying to get Seguin along with Benn however you can. John Tavares (New York Islanders) Coming off of another great season, you can't go wrong with John Tavares. He's coming off of a year that he scored a career high in goals (38) and 48 assists for 86 points. With the Islanders throwing a great team together, Tavares is going to excel in the points category. The Islanders have a great defensive pairing in Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk, and Tavares is going to have help on offense with Kyle Okposo, Frans Neilson, and everybody else. I only have Benn ranked higher because he has Seguin with him, but Tavares could just as easily slide into that spot.

“I personally would take (Phil) Kessel second overall.”

Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) When he was taken 1st overall by the Avalanche during the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Nathan MacKinnon had extremely high expectations cominginto the new season. He met those expectations in his first year, producing 24 goals, and 39 assists in 82 games for 63 points. Colorado had managed to make the playoffs that season, and although they only played in 7 games, the rookie still managed 2 goals and 8 assists against the Minnesota Wild. Coming into the 2014-15 season, everybody expected the same, if not better numbers from MacKinnon, but instead, he was cursed with the famous Sophomore Slump. His numbers went down drastically, as he only managed 14 goals and 24 assists, and looking at other numbers, they were down as well. His +/- dropped from a +20 to a -7, and he only managed to tally 3 PPG's. Unfortunately for MacKinnon, an ankle injury kept him to 64 games, so that's one reason you can pin on his poor numbers, but in reality, he wasn't exactly playing to his expectations prior to the injury. If he can stay healthy, you can expect Nathan MacKinnon to play like he did in his rookie season, if not, better. Milan Lucic (Los Angeles Kings) During the day of this years Entry Draft, the Boston Bruins announced that they had traded Milan Lucic to the Los Angeles Kings. If Lucic can play to his potential, the Kings made themselves a steal of a trade. At 6"4 and 235 pounds, Lucic is no stranger to the physical side of the game, but he also has a nice scoring touch, and is an absolute boulder in front of the net. Lucic will be a big help in getting the Kings back into the playoffs, and making their name heard once again. His career year came in the 2010-11 season (which ironically was the year he one the cup in Boston). Lucic scored a high in goals with 30, and tagged along 32 assists for 62 points. The following year he put up 61 points, just shy of his previous season, and then had pretty successful season during the next two years, scoring 27 points in the lock-out season, and 59 points in the 2013-14 campaign. This past season wasn't a terrible one for Lucic, but like most of the Bruins' players, It's one he's like to forget. He managed 44 points in 81 games, which isn't horrible, but the most noticeable thing about the tank was that he wasn't doing what makes him who he is; fighting. In the lock-out season, he had 75 PIM's in 46 games. This season, he had 81 PIM's in 81 games. So if he can bring back his physical game, and continue to get points, the Kings and Lucic both will be a serious threat to the NHL. Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins) At 38 years old, It's no secret that Chara's age is beginning to show. He's a former Norris Trophy winner, and also has a Stanley Cup to his name. He's also the biggest man in the NHL at 6"9, 255 pounds. Over the years, he's been a great defenseman, playing both sides of the rink to perfection. He's stayed fairly healthy over the years up until this past season when he injured his knee, and was only able to play in 63 games. Over those games he could only score 8 goals and 12 assists which don't look nearly as good as his 17 goals and 23 assists from the previous year. Boston relies on "Big Z" for lots of things, and most recently their Power Play. They decided to get the big man to stand in front of the net to screen the goalie, and It's worked wonderfully. This technique was also used in the 2013 ECQF's against Toronto in their game 7 comeback. Chara still has 3 years left on his contract, and he's said that he would like to finish this contract off, and hopefully sign another deal. Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes) These past few seasons haven't been kind to the Carolina Hurricanes, and the same can be said about their captain Eric Staal. When Carolina won the Stanley Cup back in 2006, Staal was a huge contributor all season long scoring a career high in both goals (45) and assists (55) in the regular season, and notched 9 goals and 19 assists in 25 games during the post season. The following year wasn't as impressive, but he still managed 30 goals and 40 assists, and then 15 points in 18 games in the playoffs. Up until the lockout season, Staal was very consistent, and scored in between 70-82 points a season. And during the lockout year, he was on pace of doing that again when he had 53 points in 48 games. The past two seasons haven't been terrible for the Carolina captain, but they haven't been good either when you compare these numbers to his old ones. In 2013-14, Staal put up 61 points, and then dropped again to 54 points this past year. Again, these numbers aren't bad, but I'm sure if you asked him, he'd love to get back to scoring 70+ points a year. Unfortunately, I can't see Staal getting a ton of points this season if he stays in Carolina. However, if he's either traded to a contending team some point this season, or if he signs with a different team as a UFA, then I could certainly see him getting back to his old ways. If he stays with the Hurricanes, the best I could see him getting would be around 55 points. If he gets traded, depending on where and when he does, I could possibly see him getting around 70-80 points. Alexander Semin (Montreal Canadiens) If Alex Semin can go back to playing how he did with the Washington Capitals a few years ago, the Montreal Canadiens made a steal of a signing when they gave Semin a one-year deal worth $1.1M. But as of now, Semin will remain as a wild card player, as nobody really knows what to expect from him. In the past he's shown that he can score around 70-80 points in a season, but this past season with Carolina he only managed to get 6 goals and 13 assists for a lousy 19 points. Obviously Montreal's a better team than Carolina, so he's going to be playing on better lines with better players. I've read that he'll be seeing ice time with Max Pacioretty, and that's obviously a bonus. But even if he doesn't, he's still surrounded by good players who will help his all-around game. I can't see him getting 80 points like he has in the past with Washington, but 50 points is definitely reasonabl

5 Players Looking for Bounce-Back Seasons

By Isaac Edwards