Since I started this site I have been asked to clarify my philosophy on building my fantasy team. Our keeper league is a 12 team league using a rotisserie points system based on the following categories:
Goals/Assists/Points/plus-minus/PPP/Wins/GAA/SV%
No penalty minutes. My philosophy on that can be seen here.
We are allowed to protect 10 players per season. C/LW/RW/2D/G 1 prospect and 3 utility spots.
Our minor league system consists of 5 players. They can be placed on your minor league roster as long as they stay under their games played limit (Skaters 50 GP/Goalie 35 GP). Once a player has been called up he is no longer eligible for the minor leagues.
The league has gone over some minor tweaks over the years and continues to change for the better. It is fairly competitive and contains 7 of the original 13 owners.
Over the past 5 years my philosophy has been basically the same, it has undergone some minor tweaks from the experience gained running the same team, but the core has remained the same.
During my initial season I went into the draft prepared, but I had not established a blueprint for future success. Being a novice in a keeper league I attacked it like I did any other pool I had been in.
My initial draft landed me core players that are still contributing to my continued success, whether through trades or contributing to my team today. Players like Marian Hossa, Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen, Martin Havlat, Martin St. Louis, Dan Boyle and Andrei Markov formed the core of the original Peter North Stars.
Because I wanted to win in year one I targeted emerging players in their mid to late 20s who would retain keeper value while giving me a chance to win right away. It almost worked, but I made a huge mistake in addressing my goaltending needs in the draft with the acquisition of Patrick Lalime. This miscalculation cost me the title as I lost the pool by 2 points, the difference was 16 goaltending points, this might not seem like much, but I had maxed out my 82 games and the first place squad had only played 70. Patrick Lalime had cost me the pool. With this lesson being learned, before the season was out I traded Patrick Marleau in exchange for Roberto Luongo. I had shored up my goaltending for the forseeable future.
Patience was also an issue in year one. I had drafted Olli Jokinen hoping for a breakout season and when he struggled into the new year I lost patience and dealt him for proven 80 point scorer Mike Modano. Unfortunately for me Modano suffered the worst season of his career and limped to 44 points. Olli Jokinen caught fire in the final quarter of the season and put up 29 points in his final 29 games. Once again, an error that cost me the title. It was the second lesson that I learned that helped in my blueprint for future success.
During our second season we implemented a minor league system to avoid the top owners poaching young prospects with late round picks in the redispersal drafts. With an amateur draft in place, we assured that the bottom feeders had access to the elite level prospects as they entered the league. With this disadvantage I began to place increased emphasis on scouting the prospects entering the NHL.
An injury plagued second season allowed me to establish the final component of my blueprint. When it became apparent in early January that I had no chance to win a championship, I made an assessment of my core and dealt the players who I could not protect or had value to those in contention. I attempted to deal them early enough in the season in order for them to affect my final standing. This philosophy provided me with a last place standing and first pick in the amateur and redispersal drafts, as well as extra picks to reload for a championship run.
As my blueprint began to take shape I determined that in order to succeed you needed a core of players in their prime, strong goaltending, patience, dedication to investing in youth in order to compensate for the players I would lose every year, calculated risks on the waiver wire and the conviction to bail on a season should first place be out of reach.
In order to compensate for late round draft selections I try to identify 4-5 breakout players. I then draft as many as possible knowing that 2-3 will not breakout, 1-2 will and I can use them for A. trade bait or B. they become a part of the constant turnover of my core. The 2008 season yielded me Mike Richards and Brad Boyes and the 2009 season has provided me with Mikko Koivu and Bryan Little.
This blueprint has worked to a 1st,2nd,4th and a last place finish.
This season I am in first place and have put together a very strong core that should position me as a contender for the next 5-6 years. For 5 years I have tracked my moves and acquisitions and I will show you how the 2008-09 Northstars were built.
Through the draft
A strong initial draft is still reaping rewards for the 2009 Northstars. Dan Boyle and Martin St. Louis are the only original Stars, but players like Hossa, Iginla and Havlat helped in the acquisition of current impact players.
The 2003 Draft yielded great value with St. Louis at the 70th pick and Boyle at 120.
During the 2004 lockout our league still participated in an amateur draft and with a swap of picks I was able to grab the late blooming Andrei Kostitsyn.
Probably the most frutiful draft pick I made was Carey Price with my final pick in the 2005 Redispersal draft, it is not often you can select a franchise goaltender at pick 90.
Trade Acquisitions
The biggest deal I have made in five years was the Sidney Crosby deal I made last season. It is amazing to look back and see all the moves I had to make to bring that deal to fruition. From beginning to end it involved 7 different Northstars. Draft picks Hossa, Boyes, Kessel, Havlat, Brule, Seabrook and waiver wire steal Kari Lehtonen ultimately lead to the acquisition of Sid the Kid. This move shows the importance of drafting well. Although Hossa, Stall, Boyes and Redden looks like a hefty price, with the protection rules we have in place, I would have lost Boyes and Staal for zero return. Because I had an abundance of desirable assetson my roster it made me a desirable trade partner. In the end the deal essentially became Hossa and Redden for Crosby, that deal is a no brainer.
Dealing Iginla was a tough decision, but I decided to get younger and figured 2-3 years down the road that Parise could be as productive as Iginla. I was the defending champion and to give myself any chance at a repeat I needed to acquire some early picks. It was a painful deal, but I still think it will payoff down the line. As for PIMs, they were not a factor in my decision because my league does not use them.
My lack of patience with Olli Jokinen was a factor in losing the 2004 title, but I was fortunate to make up for my initial error by turning Modano into Marleau and then flip Marleau for one of my franchise cornerstones. Luongo at the time was stuck on a terrible Panthers team and we started in a points league. After our initial season we switched to a rotisserie based league increasing Luongo's value. Had we run a rotisserie league from year one, I may not have been able to acquire Luongo.
Midway through this year's draft I recognized a weakness along my backline and made attempts to acquire Scott Niedermayer. He was sitting on a roster of a rebuilding owner but I could not convince him of the merits of any of my players, so I brokered a 3 way deal. The rebuilding owner got a youthful asset in Phil Kessel and I had to relinquish my first pick Morrow to shore up my defense. Fortunate for me with Morrow going down for the season.
Looking at my roster after the draft I realized that my utility spots were very reliant on two unproven players in Mikko Koivu and David Perron. I wanted more reliability for a championship run and decided I had enough depth to sacrifice a can't miss prospect like Zach Bogosian. The owner who I was dealing with was an expansion team in a full rebuild and I threw in a first round amateur pick (most likely in the 10-12 range) to complete the deal. Jokinen is a hired gun and I will not be able to protect him after this season, so the risk will be worth it only if I win.
Waiver wire acquisitions
The Waiver wire is very important to any owners championship aspirations. Especially early in the season when players who have flown under the radar are readily available. I generally use the waiver wire for prospects and like to load up on players who I have identified as possible sleepers. If I see them showing signs of a breakout I will pick them up and generally give them a 3-4 week run to convince me they are for real. I repeat this process throughout the season and it generally pays off with a prospect or two per season. Last season landed me Mike Richards and Brent Burns. Richards has turned into a top 2 round selection and has been a great value pick. This season outside of Knuble (who is there to fill a RW void), I have had some success with Bryan Little and will continue to utilize him in a utility role or for future trade bait.
Minor League Affiliate
One of the keys to my continued success is loading my farm team with prospects who will be able to replace the talent I lose due to our protection rules. I have used my farm system to acquire assets through trade (Bogosian for Jokinen), and I have used my farm system to allow myself to trade players to fill weaknesses because of an organizational depth (Kiprusoff followed by calling up Carey Price). It is integral to keep your farm team stocked with strong prospects. In a keeper league you cannot win without one.
There are other formulas that will lead you to fantasy success, but this blueprint has been very beneficial for me. It has allowed me to be competitive on a yearly basis and has set me up for future success because of my youthful core.
If you have any questions, I can be reached @ fantasysensehockey@yahoo.ca
