Veering off and…
Setting the Hook
Nick Suzuki: Sneaky solid so far but I’m sort of jilted from his late last season swoon song.
Still hesitant to roster Blues players…but the schedule this week?
Goalie Implosions. Across the board. And just so you know, Juuse you’re killing me.
…and in an ode to The Cream of the Crop, here’s a wink and a nod to my Canadian brothers and sisters…Their/They’re/There now. Here..
Let’s go…
Staying Frosty
Paraphrasing Robert Frost, In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about (fantasy hockey): it goes on.
League 1: Yahoo Home League: Ten Team Points League. A win last week but a peek at the top two teams (I’m currently in third place) indicates that I need to shore up my team. More about that below.
League 2: Yahoo Twelve Team Points League: Apples and Ginos Listener League 2: Lost last week by five points. Argh! Did the best I could matching my opponent in games played, but I’m without my overall number one draft pick in Jack Hughes and I just could not pull this one out. Currently in 7th Place with a record of 2-3. Even though it was at the hands of Hutch, this one hurt. A lot.
League 3: Yahoo Twelve Team Categories League: I won my Week 5 matchup and am currently in second place.
Two out of three ain’t bad, bad but storm clouds are looming on the horizon. That’s why I’m offering:
The Professor’s Rules for Trades:
1. Be courteous. Coming from someone who’s not shy about trading, if someone offers you a trade, how about responding? Nothing is more frustrating than offering a trade and never hearing back one way or another. If you’re not interested, just reject the trade. It’s not complicated. I’m a big boy and can handle rejection. Acceptance is good too.
2. Once you identify a trade target, analyze your potential trading partner’s team for what you perceive to be their need(s). It’s got to be beneficial for both teams. The concept of win/win works if you take the time to make a legitimate offer. It’s not all about us.
3. Keep in mind the trade review period. On Yahoo, for example, the trade review period is usually a three day turn around. In some leagues it could be a quicker time frame. Whatever the case, be mindful of the time involved to maximize your scoring potential.
4. And finally, when it comes to trade offers, I take my cues from Brando...
Trades In Week Five:
1. Trade Away Brock Boeser and Jakob Chychrun for John Tavares: My thinking- Sell high on Boeser and add in Chychrun because I went in hard for defensemen in my draft. Plus I already roster Mitch Marner and wanted a Leafs stack. I drafted Chychrun, Evan Bouchard, Miro Heiskanen, Roman Josi, Mike Matheson, and later added Brandon Montour to my IR because he was dropped earlier in the season by another manager. In my mind, I was essentially just trading away Chychrun because I picked up Boeser from the waiver wire and I already have solid right wingers. Plus, I’m kind of banking on some negative regression with Brock and the Canucks. Sorry Blake. Can’t believe I’m talking like that. My trading partner was very weak on the blueline and he accepted. So while it may seem like I overpaid, I didn’t see it that way.
2. Trade Away Andrei Svechnikov and Logan Thompson for Zach Hyman: My thinking: I drafted Svech pretty high in my points league but became frustrated for two reasons. First, while he may potentially be a monster in a Bangers/Cats league, he’s not valued as highly in a purely points only league (goals, assists, shots, +/-, and blocks) and he sat on my IR for the first four weeks of the season. Yawn. In hindsight, I’m not sure why I took him so early. I’ve never been a huge fan of rostering Hurricanes players. I guess I just bought into the preseason hype here. (Of course, this means that he’s about to lead the NHL in everything this year). Anyway, there’s way too much shuffling and overall team balance in Carolina for my liking. Good real life team; not so much for my fantasy tastes. Additionally, I wanted another Oilers player to go along with Evan Bouchard. I’m still all in on Edmonton’s best players and to me, it was a “buy low” on Hyman. Finally, my trading partner already rosters Adin Hill and I sold him on the idea of having the Vegas goaltending tandem. He accepted and to me it was a win/win.
Thanks for reading and I hope this article helps.
Mike@TheFantasyHockeyProfessor
Apples and Ginos 