Do these league settings put a premium on goalies?

[Boats Ahoes]

10-team, H2H Categories
Skater Cats: G, A, PPP, SOG, Hits, Blocks (6 total)
Goalie Cats: W, SV%, GAA (3 total)

This is only my 2nd time playing fantasy hockey, so bear with me. Last year our league started 10 skaters + 2 goalies per week, which I believe is the standard setting. In an effort to increase roster depth, we are now starting 15 skaters but still only 2 goalies.

How do you think this change affects the value of top goaltenders overall? The way I see it, it is now harder for any one skater to affect the outcome of a game since the extra skaters will drown out their production. Meanwhile, a Vasilevsky or a Hellebyuck has the potential to single-handedly win you multiple categories each week at the cost of only 1 pick. Am I off base here, or do you think it might be smart to splurge on top goalies in the first few rounds?

Thanks for the help

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[TheForsbergShow]

I think for any league I have been in with categories split into a 1/3rd with goalies. The winning team/best teams in the league always have at least one high end goalie and another good goalie. Without that your odds of winning are slim to none.

With only 10 teams in your league there should be enough goalies to go around and as long as you draft one of the 10 best and at least one more solid starter you should be fine. Very often I find that picking goalies too high won't pan out and you can get much better value by grabbing the elite forwards/d who are more predictable, and then grabbing your goalie.

Me personally I go for skating cats (similar as your setup) make sure I am set in all of them and win them consistent. Week to week goalies can have bad games no matter how good they are and you never know when it will happen.

With all that said, if you truly think Vas or Hell or whoever are better than the rest by a significant margin than drafting one high isn't a bad idea.

 

[rangerssharks414]

If it were 6x4 instead of 6x3, then sure. And being a 10 team league, there should be decent goalies available when the merry go round starts.

I also go skating categories first, as most of them (at least the elite/upper-tier ones) put up similar numbers year to year, while goalies' stats vary from year to year.

 

[Brockon]

My limited experience with picking goalies early to nail category coverage has always bitten me in the a**. Price with my 3rd rounder in 2015-16. Schneider 3rd rounder in 2016-17.

There will be good starters available after the goalie carousel starts to roll. Focus on the elite players for the first 3/4 rounds before snagging a starter. Quick, Jones, Dubnyk and Gibson are often overlooked when elite tenders are snatched up and often available in the early mid rounds.