Fifth Avenue Forum

Ew, Jake Allen is awesome. That's a good add.

If you want a long shot goalie for your farm, as I don't think things are looking so hot for Laurent Broissoit...Alex Lyon from Philadelphia. If it's easy to do, maybe make that swap...if it's tough, forget it...but he's caught my eye a couple of times now...

Yeah, Brossoit will likely be replaced by someone I draft in the later rounds this year, he's just a holdover from last year when it looked like he might back up Talbot this year. The guys I was planning to target as G prospects this year were Alex Nedeljkovic and Ilya Sorokin. Even those guys might be a little too deep for this league.

But the Lyon information is useful for my other league, which goes much deeper and guys like the aformentioned are already owned.

Any other new under-the-radar goalies to go after @meow ?

I'm assuming Igor Shestyorkin is already grabbed...? He's looking tremendous...Nedeljkovic is also really tracking up, he's awesome in the playoffs last year on a middling team...

Shestyorkin is available in both leagues, actually.

In the deeper league, Saros is actually available and can be drafted in the pro draft since he played 1 NHL game last year. I just hate goalies under 6'...seems like Rinne could really hit a wall soon, though.

Shestyorkin is superb, but Russian goalies give me the willies.

Saros looks about 5'8" in the crease, but he is one of the best point to point movers I have ever seen. I agree with mikey that Rinne has a wall coming up soon. He's played a ton of high level hockey and despite him being a big guy, he relies on reactionary saves and does not use his size all that well. I would scoop Saros up if you can.

What about Jon Gilles? I believe Elliot is on the last year of his deal and Chad Johnson blows.

I have a pretty big man-crush on Mackenzie Blackwood. He is kind of a Matt Murray clone. Same size. Same demeanor. Same polish. Both read plays well.

Tampa has two tremendous AHL goalies in Gudlevskis and Wilcox.

Are any of these guys available or do I have to dive deeper into org charts?

Thanks. Gillies and Gudlevskis are owned, but Blackwood and Wilcox are not.

Shestyorkin is superb, but Russian goalies give me the willies.

Saros looks about 5'8" in the crease, but he is one of the best point to point movers I have ever seen. I agree with mikey that Rinne has a wall coming up soon. He's played a ton of high level hockey and despite him being a big guy, he relies on reactionary saves and does not use his size all that well. I would scoop Saros up if you can.

What about Jon Gilles? I believe Elliot is on the last year of his deal and Chad Johnson blows.

I have a pretty big man-crush on Mackenzie Blackwood. He is kind of a Matt Murray clone. Same size. Same demeanor. Same polish. Both read plays well.

Tampa has two tremendous AHL goalies in Gudlevskis and Wilcox.

Are any of these guys available or do I have to dive deeper into org charts?

I'm assuming Igor Shestyorkin is already grabbed...? He's looking tremendous...Nedeljkovic is also really tracking up, he's awesome in the playoffs last year on a middling team...

Are you guys believers in Markstrom turning into something? I don't really like Vancouver much at all going forward, but I could add Markstrom for 4 years pretty cheaply because his owner needs to offload those years.

Markstrom seems to have turned the corner...but Vancouver is years away from making the playoffs I would think...they will probably finish last this year...

I'm luke warm on Markstrom and ice cold on Vancouver.

Thanks, guys.

Preferred fantasy prospect (with an eye towards hits as a good tiebreaker): Sebastian Aho, Christian Dvorak, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Clayton Keller?

Ooh, that's tough...I can't ever account for hits, so I won't, but I like all those guys...Aho and Keller can really shoot it...PLD is gonna get a shot pretty soon and Dvorak is gonna be free to play in the desert with a real strong young group of forwards there...I think Carolina is building something nice actually, they're building it the right way, so the "value" pick is Aho for me...the best prospect overall is probably PLD...

I'm luke warm on Markstrom and ice cold on Vancouver.

Anything to see in Magnus Hellberg? Raanta signed for another year and Shestyorkin would seem to suggest he doesn't really have a place, but he's available in our pro draft having played one game in 13/14, so would be a flier for the farm with the last pick in the pro draft. I can probably find a better flier, though.

No!

I'm rather intrigued by Alex Killorn this year. Tampa gave him a huge contract considering the cap constraints they're facing, so I have to believe they envision him having a top-six role. Considering the other 5 members of the top six will be Stamkos, Kucherov, Palat, Johnson, and Drouin, that's a plum gig. I am scraping the bottom of the barrel for LW in one of my leagues because I traded so many picks, so I was excited to get Killorn to fill my third LW slot. It's rolling back around to me now, and it looks like I am going to be able to grab Namestnikov to back up he Killorn selection. If there's a different player on Tampa likely to work into the top six, I would think it would be him.

Yes!

Any strong opinions on Rickard Rakell?

He had a nice little season last year with 20/23 to go along with 121 hits. But how much room for growth is there? He seems like a sure bet to be in Anaheim's top six, maybe even playing with Getzlaf. The contract numbers being discussed would suggest there's a case being made by his camp (obviously) that he has the potential to be more. There's a lot of room for his ice time to climb, so could he be a 60 point guy one day?

Also, will he end up being a winger?

Like the player a lot. Could be the LW for Getzlaf-Perry certainly.

Like the player a lot. Could be the LW for Getzlaf-Perry certainly.

Yeah, I tend to agree. I'm debating his Rakell + Parise for my Lucic. Considering it because I don't see any reason to be bullish about Lucic sticking with McDavid long term. Lots of bodies there, and I imagine they'll go with what works, with a preference for Lucic working out there because of the money, but Lucic ultimately not being a good fit for McD.

Your take?

I'm buying Lucic for this season because I think McDavid might win the Art Ross...with or without help...so I'm buying him now, but not future of course...

I can't figure out Minnesota, so I can't comment on the trade really...but I would definitely be in the Rickard Rakell business if I had a choice in the matter...but those (apparently) sweet, sweet PIMs from Lucic being McDavid's personal bodyguard...

Blah, yeah. That's kind of my thought too. Lucic was always going to be a sell for me at some point this year, either capitalizing on the pre-season McDavid buzz or the first x weeks/months of McDavid-led success. I guess I don't think Parise and Rakell is enough for me to do it now when I expect the value to increase a bit yet. Thanks for continuing to engage in what has become the Kraftster nagging for fantasy advice thread!

It helps keep me engaged and gets me thinking...as I tend to just wing fantasy hockey drafts on pre-existing knowledge, so this conversation gets me thinking and gets me talking to others and ends up helping me...so it's never a bother...

Not entirely related...but i used to wing hockey drafts...not for futures picks, but for vet players. I watch so much less now that its getting hard to do this...which means ill probably have a powerhouse haha...or an awful team.

Yeah, that's kind of the reason I'm asking about every single little player whose value I have reason to mull over. I'm very fearful that the past couple years and the next 2-3 will be the last that I do well in my fantasy leagues because when I have to start investing in the next generation of players, I should be due for some whiffs given how little I watch these days.

I watch and will continue to watch enough for all of us...I got you guys covered...

I've got a guy really trying to get Frank Vatrano from me, so I want to take advantage of that because he's just a farm body for me.

His latest offer: Tomas Tatar, Bryan Little, Cam Fowler, a pick for Mika Zibanejad and Vatrano.

So, Fowler sucks (fantasy). He's no better than waiver replacement level. So he's a nothing. I am going to take out the pick and ask him to bump up to Nick Leddy. The problem with Little is he's a center only, and he'd be my 5th, so it will be hard to get him into my lineup on busy nights and Ill lose some games played there. He's a hair above replacement level if he plays like last year but a decent enough amount if he regains 14/15 form.

What I want to ask about is Tatar vs. Zib and Leddy vs. Pulock/Boychuk/etc.

On the surface, I like Tatar's upside more than Zibanejad. Zib will hit more, let's say to the tune of making up 5 points on Tatar. So, now and long term, will Tatar outpoint Zibanejad by 5 points or more?

Leddy, I've been trying to acquire for a couple years because I had hopes that he would raise his offensive game. He finally did that in the second half next year, but now Pulock should be on the roster, and he still doesn't necessarily look like a team's PP1 QB other than out of necessity. So, is Leddy a 40 point guy from PP2 time and playing good 5v5 hockey on a team that should score? Or does he still yet have some offensive upside to the tune of 50+ because he wins the job on the top PP in Brooklyn?