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Cheap Thieves Draft Recap


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Plan A going into the draft was as follows: Use my first overall pick to grab defenseman Erik Johnson with the sixth overall pick if available. From there, the plan was to use all of my remaining picks on offensive defensemen to add to my already strong core of young forwards. At the entry draft, I went in with just three defensemen. The plan was to try and get two top end defensemen and fill the rest of my team with junk and cheap goalies. Something like Lidstrom/Blake. Luckily I had a plan B. E. Johnson went at #3 in the draft so with the sixth overall pick in the draft I took forward Kyle Okposo, NYI. With my second pick, I drafted my first ever junior player and it happened to be a defensemen. I chose defenseman Mark Katic hoping that he will come out of nowehere like Erik Johnson did last year. He is currently projected to be the fifth overall pick in next years NHL entry draft. I continued to pick defensemen and ended up with the following players from the AHL entry draft:1st Round: F Kyle Okposo, NYI. 2.002nd Round: D Mark Katic, JR 3.00 (you pay extra when drafting juniors)3rd Round: D Marc-Edouard Vlasic, SJ. 1.004th Round: D Keith Seabrook, Was. 0.504th Round: D Alex Goligoski, Pit. 0.505th Round: D Brett Skinner, Ana. 0.255th Round: D Marc-Andre Gagnani, Buf. 0.255th Round: D Kris Russell, Clb. 0.25 I'm pleased with the players I acquired but was hoping to nab Bob Sanguinetti, NYR and could have taken Jakub Voracek, JR with my first pick instead of Okposo. We'll see how that ends up. Right off the bat I knew that it was very unlikely that I'd be able to acquire two top d-men in the draft since Lidstrom's price climbed over 18.00. The same with Blake and Numminen. So instead, I decided to be patient and rather than add a superstar, go for a deeper defense. To further bolser the defense, I also made a trade that I'm happy with, acquiring Roman Hamrlik, CAL. after the draft in exchange for the rights to Marcel Goc, SJ. Here is what my defense looks like now:D Roman Hamrlik CAL $9.25D Sandis Ozolinsh NYR $8.25D Adam Foote CLB $4.75D Toni Lydman BUF $3.00D Derian Hatcher PHI $2.00D Brent Seabrook CHI $1.50D Tom Poti NYI $1.25D Karlis Skrastkins COL $1.00D Greg DeVries ATL $0.50D Josh Gorges SJ $0.25D Aaron Ward NYR $0.25 At forward, I made very few moves adding a couple of depth players. I also called up F Alexander Semin, Was. and F Petr Kalus, Bos. from the farm. Here is what my forwards look like:F Keith Tkachuk STL $11.75F Simon Gagne PHI $3.25F Alexei Kovalev MON $2.50F Henrik Sedin VAN $3.25F Raffi Torres EDM $2.00F Alexander Semin WAS $2.00F Olli Jokinen FLA $1.50F Corey Perry ANA $1.00F Mike Johnson MON $0.75F Petr Kalus BOS $0.50F Ryan Malone PIT $0.50F Jason Pominville BUF $0.50F Vernon Fiddler NAS $0.25F Lee Stempniak STL $0.25F Eric Belanger CAR $0.50F Jason Chimera CLB $0.25F Jussi Jokinen DAL $0.25 The real steal of the draft, though, is what I was able to accomplish with my goalies. Early on, the typical top end goalies where going for well over 4.00. I waited patiently while others where blowing their load on the likes of Alexei Yashin and Mathieu Dandanealt and was able to come away with an awesome set of goalies:G New York Rangers $2.00 2.53G San Jose Sharks $3.00 2.82G Vancouver Canucks $2.00 3.03 I have the rookie of the year in New York and also have Luongo back in his new home. Not to mention a very strong team in San Jose that plays very responsibly defensivley and boasts two top goaltenders of their own. This trio is a big improvement upon last season. My farm team is the real prize. Now I'm hoping to get lucky with some of these younger defensemen. If so, I will have a potential dynasty on my hands in two to three years. For the time being, the Cheap Thieves are clearly the second best team in the division and look like an excellent bet to make the playoffs. Here is what my farm team looks like:DEFENSE:D Danny Richmond CAR $0.25D Dustin Kohn NYI $0.25D Mark Katic JR $3.00D Marc-Edouard VlasicSJ $1.00D Keith Seabrook WAS $0.50D Alex Goligoski PIT $0.50D Brett Skinner ANA $0.25D Marc-Andre GagnaniBUF $0.25D Kris Russell CLB $0.25FORWARDS:F Stephen Weiss Fla $2.00F Andrei Kostitsyn Mon $2.00F Bobby Ryan ANA $2.00F Benoit Pouliot MIN $2.00F Anze Kopitar LA $2.00F Jack Skille CHI $1.50F TJ Oshie STL $1.00F Niklas Bergfor NJ $0.50 Anze Kopitar will likely see action with the big club this season as Belanger moved to Carolina and he is the second center on LA's depth chart. Stephen Weiss "should" be on the roster, but will remain on the farm due to Olli Jokinen's presense in Florida. Kostitsyn barely missed making the team this year, and with Ribiero going to Dallas he'll likely get called up as well. Nicklas Bergsfor also impressed in camp and may see action later in the season.

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Sanguinetti might just be the steal of the draft. I couldn't believe that he was available when it got around to my first round pick (17th overall). The only downside to this guy is that he isn't that great defensively, but who cares in the AHL? He could very well be another McCabe, I'm extremely pumped about picking him up. The Goc/Hamrlik trade was a good one for both of us.... long term I think I"ll have got the best of it (I'd be extremely surprised if he doesn't turn out to be a consistent 20 goal/60 point scorer), but if you can use Hamrlik to get a championship either this year or next then it'll have been well worth it obviously.Ozolinsh might just end up being the steal of the free agent draft if he plays like he did for the last month of the season last year. If his personal problems (i.e. the bottle) are actually sorted out he could very well be top ten in d-man points. I would have gone to $10 for him but I couldn't afford it, I'm really surprised that the two of us were the only ones interested in paying anything over $4 for him.

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the Bruins actually had the NHL office make a ruling on Petr Kalus that gives them the right to send him to the AHL instead of returning to junior hockey. Sounds like he'll be spending quite a bit of time in the minors, if in boston it would be on the 4th line.Do Providence Bruins stats count?

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1. you are still ridiculously overpaying for tkachuk. is there any way to move him for a comparable, yet cheaper, player or a huge prospect? his best years are clearly behind him, and i think he is too slow for the "new" NHL.2. brent seabrook at $1.50 is currently your best defensive bargain. 3. you should be playing stephen weiss right now. what does jokinen have to do with it? can you only play one guy per NHL team?4. you're getting a sick deal on jokinen.5. your goaltending is also sick for the price.6. i don't know how your league works stats-wise, but why do you keep adam foote at almost $5? what good is he, fantasy-wise, save PIMs, and even there he's not that great...the guy was -14 on a joke team with only 22 points last year. i would move him for a prospect. or, try to package him with tkachuk and get a real star, though i don't know who in their right mind would go for that.

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Canadian Gothic will finish ahead of the Cheap Thieves this season.
the truth ..this is what Daniel MeansI couldnt get Blake or Lidstrom so i settled for junk dmen..now i am scared of the mighty mustangs...Have u heard of Kyle Wellwood
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Canadian Gothic will finish ahead of the Cheap Thieves this season.
Don't be silly young man, you are starting to sound like the resident AHL crack pot Serge.
1. you are still ridiculously overpaying for tkachuk. is there any way to move him for a comparable, yet cheaper, player or a huge prospect? his best years are clearly behind him, and i think he is too slow for the "new" NHL.2. brent seabrook at $1.50 is currently your best defensive bargain. 3. you should be playing stephen weiss right now. what does jokinen have to do with it? can you only play one guy per NHL team?4. you're getting a sick deal on jokinen.5. your goaltending is also sick for the price.6. i don't know how your league works stats-wise, but why do you keep adam foote at almost $5? what good is he, fantasy-wise, save PIMs, and even there he's not that great...the guy was -14 on a joke team with only 22 points last year. i would move him for a prospect. or, try to package him with tkachuk and get a real star, though i don't know who in their right mind would go for that.
1. Alexei Yashin went for about $15 at the draft. If I let Tkachuk go, he would have went for at least $13. You are wrong about him being too slow for the new NHL. Yes, he is slow, but on the power play he is a monster since guys can't use their sticks anymore to take them down. All aging free agents in our league are overpriced and alll of the young talent is snapped up early.2. Yup. 3.You should check out how our league works at www.alternativehockeyleague.com. Having two guys on the same time is a problem and you'll understand that once you read the rules. I'm looking to trade either player for the right deal. 4. Yup.5. Yup.6. There was virtually nothing left and our league expanded to 20 teams this year. There were over 2000 players drafted this year. 2000! A free agent defenseman that will score 20+ points becomes useful in a league that deep. I actually bid on him at the free agent draft. If I didn't get him, there was just junk left mostly. Besides, he does have the potential for 30 points since he plays so much, I'd be very happy with that.
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with that knowledge in mind, i guess i see where it's downright impossible to build the perfect team. i'm also guessing that most of the GMs in this league are too savvy to take on salary guys who are aging and won't produce.i've read where some hockey people think tkachuk will have a resurgence this year, playing on a slightly better blues team with guerin and weight. i'd feel better about those predictions if it were 1998 instead of 2006, but what can you do?good luck.

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with that knowledge in mind, i guess i see where it's downright impossible to build the perfect team. i'm also guessing that most of the GMs in this league are too savvy to take on salary guys who are aging and won't produce.
Also, unlike most fantasy leagues under this system you only ice 1/3 of your roster on any given night (6 forwards / 4 def). On Saturday nights you'll end up only taking your top players while on a weeknight with only a few NHL games you are scraping together 11 warm bodies. So, your studs will be playing 50-66% for every gamenight while your bench players will be back at 10%... top heavy is the way to go.
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sure, but again, including a very pricey keith tkachuk in the list of forwards that make your team "top heavy" is, in my humble opinion, a recipe for disappointment. now i hear he's sort of hurt, too.

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sure, but again, including a very pricey keith tkachuk in the list of forwards that make your team "top heavy" is, in my humble opinion, a recipe for disappointment. now i hear he's sort of hurt, too.
Daniel gets rivered as Petr Klaus gets sent down to minorsMustangs top 6Joe SakicPaul KariyaDoug WeightMaxim AfinogenovBrian GiontaWellwood/Kobasew
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Daniel gets rivered as Petr Klaus gets sent down to minorsMustangs top 6Joe SakicPaul KariyaDoug WeightMaxim AfinogenovBrian GiontaWellwood/Kobasew
Depending on when he can do it he can always send Kalus down and move up Anze Kopitar because he did make the Kings. Probably on the 2nd line. Kopitar surprised everyone with how he looked in the preseason. He did not look like a rookie.
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Depending on when he can do it he can always send Kalus down and move up Anze Kopitar because he did make the Kings. Probably on the 2nd line. Kopitar surprised everyone with how he looked in the preseason. He did not look like a rookie.
He can't send Kalus back down. He can place him on reserve if he has room. Reserve has a max of 5.
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with that knowledge in mind, i guess i see where it's downright impossible to build the perfect team. i'm also guessing that most of the GMs in this league are too savvy to take on salary guys who are aging and won't produce.i've read where some hockey people think tkachuk will have a resurgence this year, playing on a slightly better blues team with guerin and weight. i'd feel better about those predictions if it were 1998 instead of 2006, but what can you do?good luck.
Here is the thing, 11.75 is a bargain in some ways. "When" he plays, he will see all of the PP time and now has some old dudes to help out in Guiren and Weight. For that price with the current state of the AHL, if his line looks like this: GP 62 G 24 A 31 P 55 it will have been a great investment. You will not get a 60+ point forward at the free agent draft for less than 11.75.
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Here is the thing, 11.75 is a bargain in some ways. "When" he plays, he will see all of the PP time and now has some old dudes to help out in Guiren and Weight. For that price with the current state of the AHL, if his line looks like this: GP 62 G 24 A 31 P 55 it will have been a great investment. You will not get a 60+ point forward at the free agent draft for less than 11.75.
don't even bother. I don't think he understands the econimics of the league.
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don't even bother. I don't think he understands the econimics of the league.
no, it strikes me that i very clearly don't. i think we all agree that as a general proposition tkachuk is not a good guy to have on your fantasy team. in the AHL, at that price, maybe it's not so bad. done deal.
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It's a result of being a keeper / auction league (with super deep rosters). With superstars being drafted (and put on low contracts) any "superstar" up on FA gets top dollar.
Plus with the extra money to spend from the 4 expansion teams...look how much guys like Teppo Numminen, Jeremy Roenick, Brian Smolinski, Brett McLean, etc...went for.
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