Hi, everybody! My name is Gagan, and I’ve been a frequent listener of the podcast. As a thank you for helping me win a bunch of money over the years, I thought I’d give back to the community by helping out the Apples and Ginos team in whatever way I could! Today, I want to walk you through my very first fantasy draft of the year! The buy-in was $100 USD, so I really had to be on top of my A-game… or so I thought.
Before we get into this, I just want to say this first and foremost: Zero-G wins you leagues. The draft capital my opponents wasted on goalies that will likely be at a replacement level on the wire over the months is not worth the point-per-game skaters they missed out on. All good because now those skaters are mine!! Muahahaha!
Now, without further ado, I’ll be going round-by-round and explaining my thoughts on these guys. This is a 10-person bangers cats league with G, A, PIM, PPP, SOG, FW, HIT, BLK, W, GAA, SV%, SHO. Positions are C, C, LW, RW, W, W, F, D, D, D, UTIL, UTIL. These positions are a little wonky but a ton of fun and very forgiving if you draft too many of one position, which I will get to below. Best player available is always the strategy with settings like these.
Round 1
I mean, not much to explain; you really have to suck at fantasy to whiff on your first-rounder barring injury. Oh, right, Miller is not worth the 8th overall pick. Can he be the 8th best player at the end of the year in bangers with FO wins? Absolutely, he usually is! The problem is there’s no value in choosing him here; he’s going to be available in the 2nd for sure and likely even in the 3rd. I dislike that pick a lot.
Round 2
I honestly can’t believe Makar dropped to me at 18th overall, he was listed as DTD during this draft which is always sure to scare off your opponents. Personally, I love when that happens as you can be sure to find great value (see Brad Marchand from last year). Also, I’m not a fan of Roope this high, but it’s not the worst thing in the world. Outside of his great point production the dude kinda blows in bangers cats when taken this high as he doesn’t get many counting stats and barely wins any faceoffs despite being a C.
Another thing I don’t like is Georgiev being the first goalie off the board at 17. Here is what I mean when I say not drafting goalies wins you leagues. Geo is a fine goalie, but his PK numbers left a lot to be desired and there’s always a chance someone on the wire that steals the net gives comparable numbers (Akira Schmid comes to mind).
Round 3
Goalies, goalies, goalies! I’m always elated when my opponents choose them early! Grabbing Timmy at 23 in bangers, I think is fair to good value, although in hindsight I think I would’ve preferred Petterson since Nate and Blake discussed a drop off in deployment for Stu in the “high risk high reward players” episode that was just released. Ah well, I think Stu will be a top 15 player with these league settings and will give me a lot more value than if I drafted a goalie! Also, holy moly with that Tage pick at 21. I’m wary of that guy’s top 10 ADP, but what a steal at 21!
Round 4
Round 4 is where I started to think I’m going to win a ton of money this year. Mitch Marner at 38th overall is grand larceny! You’re telling me you’d rather have Vinny Tro, a friend of the show, before Mitch?! And you’re spending your 33rd overall pick on him!? There’s a chance Vinny won’t even be on PP1! I also really don’t like Hellebuyck or Ullmark, but I think you all know that at this point. Bedard is a reach too, but I think every draft will have some sucker take him within the first early rounds. In a keeper’s league, you should take him 1st overall, but in a re-draft? Forget about it!
Round 5
I nearly threw my phone against the wall when Timo was sniped right before me; what a damn steal he is at 42 in a bangers cats! Fortunately, Marchand ain’t too bad at that spot either. The dude will likely be almost PPG while giving me a hit or 2 per game and a ton of PIMS thanks to his tendency to lick salty faces. PLD is a bit of a reach, but in a league with hits and faceoffs, I can see him being a top 50 player and his multi-eligibility is pretty sweet. I wouldn’t take him that high, but it’s not the end of the world. Same argument for Giroux, who is much older and could drop off at any time, especially if he loses PP! which is quite likely to happen.
Round 6
Speaking of that high risk/high reward episode, Bouchard at 58 is like no risk at all in my opinion. This is a guy that is being taken in the 3rd and sometimes the 2nd round by knowledgeable fantasy players! I think if this were a listener league, most of these players would have been taken in the top 4 rounds, especially Miro and Dougie. Thankfully, this isn’t a listener league, and I’m able to get great value every round! Keep listening to Apples and Ginos, and so can you!
Round 7
Nothing much to say here, save for the goalies; I think all these players are going at value except for Joel Ek. Cs like him are always available late, but the dude is great for faceoffs, hits, and points, so I can’t fault them too hard for reaching. Debrincat at 63 gets me giddy; goals are always the most valuable category, and Debrincat is due for some heavy positive regression. Last year in Ottawa, he had a measly 10.3 shooting percentage, which is 5% lower than his ’21-’22 season and 10% lower than his ’20-’21 season. I’m very happy to snag him this late.
Round 8
Taking a gander with Evander this late in a bangers is almost unfair. Not much else to say, good value picks by everyone this round.
Round 9
Now this is where I’m totally cool grabbing goalies. I mean, I still won’t, but I think a guy like Samsonov at 84th is gonna be quite the steal. Dude is going to be a volume starter on possibly a team that could easily make a case for the president’s trophy. I went for Trouba here because I felt very confident in my point scoring ability to this point and wanted to really shore up the bangers cats. Steal of this round has got to be Alex Tuch though, bravo, good sir. He’s going to continue where he left off last year with 30+ goals and a PPG pace on a team that’s only getting better.
Round 10
This is kind of insane, as Jake Guentzel should be taken closer to the 4th round if this was a league with fellow A&G listeners. I kept passing him because, again, I was very satisfied with my point scorers, but I just couldn’t bear to let the guy run past me in the 10th round! I think too many people are scared off from his ankle injury, not realizing that he’s going to be good to go come November. You really gotta keep an eye on who is DTD/IR when you draft and plan ahead on where you want to snag them; these players almost always end up being nothing but value with very little risk as they have a whole season to come back! The only time this backfired on me was Landeskog last year, and even then I would say the draft capital spent was worth the risk.
Round 11
Zach Werenski, to the layperson, is a dud. He’s on a shitty team that just got involved in a huge PR shit-storm thanks to Babcock, and he missed all of last year with an injury. Ick.
Zach Werenski to someone who actually has a decent understanding of fantasy, however, is a 5th round value! The dude shoots like an incel at his high school reunion and scores a healthy number of goals for a defenseman. Use this to your advantage! If you draft with casual players, this guy is almost always going to drop to you in the mid to later rounds. At this point of the draft, I have waaaaayyy too many defensemen, but there’s no way I’m not drafting the best player available as, again, this league has 2 utility spots, and even if I don’t have room for him, the dude will be a blue-chip trade piece within the first month of the season. BOOK IT.
Round 12
Huberdeau is going to bounce back for sure; I am nothing if not confident about this. Expect to see him gone by the 7th round when drafting against players that know fantasy. I wouldn’t take him that high, as I still think there’s too much risk there, but at pick 118?! That’s no risk whatsoever! Sutter is outta town, and this man will finally play on the left wing where he belongs.
Round 13
Jesper Bratt here is just stupid. I know this is a bangers league, and the dude is allergic to hits, but the man is going to be stapled to Jack Hughes, score 30+ goals, and is on a Devils team that could also be a President’s trophy competitor. I don’t think he has the name value that casuals are after, so if you can find him after the 10th round, you’d be crazy not to take him!
Round 14
Seth Jones is gonna have a lotta shade thrown at him by casual players; he’s on possibly the worst team in the league, is on a garbage contract, and has nobody except Bedard to play with. This means you can get the dude late! He’s still a PP1 defenseman who throws hits and blocks like it’s crazy since the hawks never have possession of the puck. Seth is going to be a top 70 player in a bangers league and should be on everyone’s radar in the double-digit rounds.
Round 15
I’m a bad man. I feel like I’m stealing money from these poor people. Konecny at round 15?! What in the blue hell, man?! I don’t think he’ll have the season he had last year, but the dude is still pure value here, especially since he’s a RW. Torts just loves playing him, he scores goals, he gets hits, and he loves sitting in the penalty box. Shout out to the guy who got Nichushkin here as well as Buchnevich; all three of these guys are steals!
Round 16
See the previous comments. I. Am. A. Bad. Man. Noah Dobson should be taken in the top 7 rounds when facing opponents who know what they’re doing. I honestly should have taken him before Seth Jones but hey, no harm no foul. He had 13 goals in both of his previous 2 seasons and is only getting better.
Round 17
Sam Bennett in a bangers is some tidy business; he shoots a ton, hits a ton, wins a good number of face-offs, and racks up PIMS. I’d say he’s someone who could be taken in the top 8 rounds, so nabbing him here feels fantastic! Stay away from him in a points league though…
Round 18
And with my final pick, I got Matthew Barzal! Now that the Islanders have Horvat to take care of draws and defensive responsibilities, I really think Barzal will shine and score some serious points. I know that’s laughable given his track record on the island, but as my last-round pick, this is nothing but high ceiling with no risk at all. His RW dual eligibility gives him tons of value compared to other years where he was just a C, so I’m more than happy with this as my last pick.
And with that, here is my team:
Notice anything crazy? That’s right, no goalies! F*** em! I hate goalies so much! But in all seriousness, I could not bear the thought of missing out on a single skater I drafted for a goalie, I kept my eye on the available goalies the entire time and knew that I would have someone available to me in the next round. After this draft I was still able to nab both Markstrom and Adin Hill off the wire once I put Guentzel and Makar on IR+. Both of those goalies for free is insane value so if your league has people that know what they’re doing you probably won’t be so lucky. If, however, your opponents are regular people who aren’t avid listeners of Apples and Ginos you should be just fine cruising the waiver wire for a quality goalie. And even if you can’t find any off the wire someone will pop up once the season starts going, injuries and bad play happen all the time which is another reason I just don’t care to spend draft capital on a goalie.
Good god that was a lot of writing. If you stuck with it, thank you! I hope this draft gets you excited for yours coming up within the next few weeks. I think this might be the best team I’ve ever drafted so I’m going to look like a complete jackass once I finish last place come April.
-Gagan (@Gugz in the A&G Discord server)
Apples and Ginos 