Fantasy Hockey Friday: Everyone Into Position

By John Cullen

Very few pools pay no regard to position. Even my mortal enemy, the “select ‘em and forget ‘em” pool will often divide its players into their respective defensive and offensive roles. So it’s a wonder that position often doesn’t get discussed when we look at fantasy hockey. Everyone seems to have a different idea of what works and what doesn’t, and I’m not sure there’s any one right way, but there are some general things you should keep in mind when considering positional players’ roles on your fantasy squad. This column is going to look at a few different ways you can get the most effectiveness out of your squad in a number of different positional formats, both working with the team you have and how to play the wire effectively.

1. If your pool employs a bench, keep an even number of players from each forward position. I think this should mostly go without saying, but unless your pool has a maximum games played for each position, you shouldn’t keep more than one extra at any given position on your bench. So for example, if you have a bench of 3-5 players, you shouldn’t have 2 of those 3-5 be left wingers. The best way to accrue points is to maximize the number of games played by team, and you simply can’t afford to leave that many man-games on your bench at the expense of an extra position. The only position I allow for two bench spots to be taken by(in the case of 5 bench spots) is goalie, which brings me to...

2. If your league has 4 or more bench spots, seriously consider benching two goalies. I know that quality goaltenders can be few and far between especially now that teams are putting up 4-6 goals a game pretty regularly. That said, if you aren’t benching two goalies, someone else will. And so will someone else. And probably a few other guys. While keeping three very good goalies might allow you to solidify a place among the statistical categories(GAA/save percentage) leaders, you will have a very small chance of placing in the top half of both wins and shutouts, and that’s to say nothing of injuries. If you have a key goalie go down and only one on your bench, I can guarantee you won’t find much on your wire if the pools I’m in are any indication, and again, we’re talking about the difference between a winner and a loser.

3. If your pool starts 3 or more defensemen, don’t bench any. Defensemen are a common argument in fantasy: some guys swear their victories come from a strong defensive core, others will wait until the 10th round before they even consider drafting a rearguard. My personal belief is you can’t win a pool without an elite d-man**, but after one main one, the need for any more is suspect. That said, some guys will go so far as to put defensemen on their bench, and unless your pool only starts 1 or 2 d-men, statistics show this isn’t justified. Typically you can’t expect a D3/D4 to get you more than 25-30 points and either a decent collection of PIMs or a solid plus-minus, particularly if there are 10 teams or more in your league. Right now on your waiver wire, I guarantee you can find a winger that can offer you at least 40-45 points and some solid auxiliary statistics as well. I think guys feel like they can’t have a bench without putting every position on it, but you’re wasting time switching d-men in and out of your line-up. And if you have a d-man you feel is worth benching and that will score 40-45 points, then I feel bad for the rest of your team because you drafted wrong my friend. Way wrong.

4. Really utilize your utility position by drafting/picking up an extra winger. For the last 4 or 5 years, centre has been the deepest position in fantasy, and the prevailing thinking has been that if there’s a utility position available, it allows you to draft an extra centreman, since there are often quality centres left late in drafts. I’d like to see that mode of thinking shift, and here’s why. Left wing has been the shallowest of any fantasy position in recent years but with the emergence of some elite LW(Ovechkin, Morrow, Kovalchuk, Parise, etc.) I think both LW/RW are equally tough spots to fill. Why not, if you have a utility position, draft a winger who might score 5-10 points less than that solid centreman left for some security? If you have a LW or RW that goes down with injury or is slumping, you could end up in some real trouble trying to scour the wire for an available player at either of those positions. Quality centremen are available almost year-round, even in deeper pools. It also allows you more flexibility when it comes to making trades. Generally speaking, most poolies are happy with their centre group, and it’s hard not to be when there are so many very good centremen in the NHL right now. Most won’t feel they need to upgrade there and you very rarely see centre-for-centre trades in fantasy. To make deals, you need to be flexible at the wing positions, so some smart drafting or free agent pick-ups will allow you to maximize your utility position in case of injury, or to make that key trade later in the season.

5. Always check position eligibility changes. Most people I know pool at Yahoo!, but no matter where you pool, there will be somewhere that updates position eligibility, for example, if a guy regularly plays both wings, or plays centre and a wing, he will gain the ability to be plugged in at either spot. Find out where this list is, and check it religiously. To have someone on your team you can swing at more than one position is a huge asset to your team and your ability to maximize your number of games played, which as we know is extremely important.

**--a couple shocking statistics about elite defenseman:
1. Each year, Yahoo! tracks which players are most common to winning teams. These MVPs are available to look at under the “Research” tab. Last year, Shea Weber was most common to winning teams, belonging to a whopping 37% of winning teams. This year, you’ll find three defensemen in the top 10, Dan Boyle at #6(owned by 21.4% of top teams), Drew Doughty at #9 and Chris Pronger at #10(both with 17.2% ownership). The number of forwards in the top 10? Also 3. You’ll find 5 more D in the top 25. Think an elite d-man isn’t important?

2. Last year, Alex Ovechkin was the #1-ranked fantasy player with his absurd goal and shot totals. The leader the year before? Dion Phaneuf. That’s right, of every player in the NHL, Dion Phaneuf’s 60 points, 182 PIMs, and +12 rating(along with a ridiculous 263 shots on goal from the point) made him the most valuable player in all of fantasy(using the standard categories of G/A/plus-minus/PIM/SOG/PPP). So think twice before you wait til the 10th round to draft that first d-man.

The Saturday Slate

Your weekly guide to goalie sits and starts. If my “start” goalies record a win and a peripheral statistic of either 2.00 GAA or less, or .920 save % or higher, I take one point. If they record one of the two, I take a half-point. If my “sit” goalies take a loss and post either a 3.00 GAA or higher or a .900 save % or less, I take one point. If they take either one of the two, I take a half. For the year, I have 13.5 of a possible 20 points, recording at least a half-point in 17 of 20 games thus far. In the event of a starting goalie not playing the game, I will assume their backup’s stats.

START

Craig Anderson v. Vancouver: While Anderson’s been having a few struggles, the match-up for him on Saturday looks all in his favor as Vancouver has been struggling--both on the scoreboard and in the standings. Vancouver’s earned its reputation as a team that will struggle to score over the last few seasons and averaging just over 2.5 goals/game should bode well for the NHL’s leading goaltender.

Ryan Miller @ Philadelphia: Earlier in the year I wrote about playing streaks, and that sometimes playing the end of a streak is just as important as playing the middle of one. The Flyers are on a 5-game winning streak, but playing their 5th game in 8 days has to catch up eventually. Ray Emery will experience a letdown after hosting his old team the Sens and facing one of the best goalies in the NHL right now could be a recipe for disaster for the Flyers.

SIT

Varlamov/Theodore @ New Jersey: Washington’s piled together a series of very inconsistent results in the wake of Ovechkin’s absence, and with Ovie looking like he’s out for another Saturday Slate, neither goalie can be considered a great play here. New Jersey is on a torrid pace right now behind some excellent play from their stars and even if Washington ekes out a win, it will be at the expense of some bad goalie numbers from their struggling goalie tandem.

J-S Giguere @ Detroit: With Anaheim playing back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, it’s likely Giguere will see his first action of the year Saturday, and his first coming after comments made this week where he said he would rather retire than serve as incumbent Jonas Hiller's back-up. I can’t say a start at Joe Louis Arena with all that self-made pressure put on Giguere would be the dream for the goalie or the struggling Ducks. Detroit’s beginning to find their scoring touch, particularly when it comes to scoring at key times, and I'd leave Giguere on the bench until his play starts doing the talking, rather than his mouth.