Fantasy Mock Draft Voting (STL Champion)

[BeLeafing]

Good game @Panda Bear, was a tough draw for our division

Vote (2B) over (2A)!

Defense wins championships, we've seen sub-par goalies win cups numerous times over the past decade due to excellent teams in front of them. Our skaters are superior with better offensive and defensive depth.

Best of luck to @ConnorMcMullet !

 

[Nucker101]

Woohoo I won a round!

looking like a quick and painless round 2 for us though lol

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Good game @Panda Bear, was a tough draw for our division

Vote (2B) over (2A)!

Defense wins championships, we've seen sub-par goalies win cups numerous times over the past decade due to excellent teams in front of them. Our skaters are superior with better offensive and defensive depth.

Best of luck to @ConnorMcMullet !

Vote (2A) over (2B)!

So a 2nd line of Tanner Pearson - Elias Lindholm - Ilya Mikheyev is "better offensive depth" than "Alex DeBrincat - Pierre-Lub Dubois - Mats Zuccarello"?

Offense and defense are both close but Gibson >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Rinne. Phew, may have dropped a couple of >'s there.

Plus Evander Kane is a really weird fit with MacKinnon.

 

[OB5]

looking like a quick and painless round 2 for us though lol

He’s likely cheating. And I least I beat the Leafs fan

 

[Paralyzer008]

vs

CENTRES: McDavid advantage really applies here, but I would take Karlsson + Duchene before Staal and maybe even Gourde over Lowry, so Calgary does have good depth, but I'll go SAN JOSE
LEFT WINGS: I think I'd take Gaudreau AND Zucker before I go JVR, even though I'm skeptical of playoff Johnny, so SAN JOSE
RIGHT WINGS: Kucherov and Meier obliterate Palmieri/Armia (even with McDavid passing to Palmieri) so CALGARY
DEFENSE: I think Calgary's top 4D is properly deployed and I don't really understand the SJ deployment still, Fabbro brings the Heiskanen pair down, I'm not sold on Hjalmarsson being a top pair guy. Fowler-Doughty will do a number on McDavid (won't stop him completely) and Dunn-Mayfield should actually be not too bad on Gaudreau's line (Mayfield's toughness is the kind of thing that silences Johnny). I'll go CALGARY
GOALIE: Khudobin is good but Kuemper is more of an established starting goalie, so I'll go CALGARY

VERDICT: I think the Sharks have the high end advantage but I like Calgary's depth, I think I trust their blueline more to hold the fort in this series against McDavid and I still don't trust Gaudreau enough in playoff hockey to give the Sharks enough scoring depth beyond the top line to move on. Calgary in 7.

 

[Panda Bear]

I claim injustice

Also Winnipeg is a top 5 team

 

[Gecklund]

vs

CENTRES: McDavid advantage really applies here, but I would take Karlsson + Duchene before Staal and maybe even Gourde over Lowry, so Calgary does have good depth, but I'll go SAN JOSE
LEFT WINGS: I think I'd take Gaudreau AND Zucker before I go JVR, even though I'm skeptical of playoff Johnny, so SAN JOSE
RIGHT WINGS: Kucherov and Meier obliterate Palmieri/Armia (even with McDavid passing to Palmieri) so CALGARY
DEFENSE: I think Calgary's top 4D is properly deployed and I don't really understand the SJ deployment still, Fabbro brings the Heiskanen pair down, I'm not sold on Hjalmarsson being a top pair guy. Fowler-Doughty will do a number on McDavid (won't stop him completely) and Dunn-Mayfield should actually be not too bad on Gaudreau's line (Mayfield's toughness is the kind of thing that silences Johnny). I'll go CALGARY
GOALIE: Khudobin is good but Kuemper is more of an established starting goalie, so I'll go CALGARY

VERDICT: I think the Sharks have the high end advantage but I like Calgary's depth, I think I trust their blueline more to hold the fort in this series against McDavid and I still don't trust Gaudreau enough in playoff hockey to give the Sharks enough scoring depth beyond the top line to move on. Calgary in 7.

Your prediction last time said the team I was facing was better and I blew them out in votes. Also my D: Girard-Hjalmarsson is my shutdown pair. Heiskanen/Fabbro/Ferraro can feast on the lesser work load. Saying Kuemper who has had a single year starting (and not even a full year) is more of an established starter is just not true. I’ll give you RWs but everything else is in my favor or equal.

 

[Paralyzer008]

Your prediction last time said the team I was facing was better and I blew them out in votes. Also my D: Girard-Hjalmarsson is my shutdown pair. Heiskanen/Fabbro/Ferraro can feast on the lesser work load. Saying Kuemper who has had a single year starting (and not even a full year) is more of an established starter is just not true. I’ll give you RWs but everything else is in my favor or equal.

Well, these aren't predictions, they're just telling people how I'm voting. I could care less what people vote in the polls.

Has Khudobin ever been a No.1 goalie? No. He's good, but I just like Kuemper better for this.

Do I believe in Girard-Hjalmarsson as a shutdown? Not really at this point, Hjalmarsson is on the down swing in Arizona and Girard is more of the guy you'd want Heiskanen to be here (feasting on the lower competition) because Heiskanen is a premier shutdown D. If Heiskanen isn't against the top competition, something is wrong.

 

[Gecklund]

Well, these aren't predictions, they're just telling people how I'm voting. I could care less what people vote in the polls.

Has Khudobin ever been a No.1 goalie? No. He's good, but I just like Kuemper better for this.

Do I believe in Girard-Hjalmarsson as a shutdown? Not really at this point, Hjalmarsson is on the down swing in Arizona and Girard is more of the guy you'd want Heiskanen to be here (feasting on the lower competition) because Heiskanen is a premier shutdown D. If Heiskanen isn't against the top competition, something is wrong.

Both Girard and Heiskanen are great two way players. I was planning on having them being my top pair until I realized they were both left handed.

Khudobin is equal to Kuemper in my eyes.

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Well, these aren't predictions, they're just telling people how I'm voting. I could care less what people vote in the polls.

Has Khudobin ever been a No.1 goalie? No. He's good, but I just like Kuemper better for this.

Do I believe in Girard-Hjalmarsson as a shutdown? Not really at this point, Hjalmarsson is on the down swing in Arizona and Girard is more of the guy you'd want Heiskanen to be here (feasting on the lower competition) because Heiskanen is a premier shutdown D. If Heiskanen isn't against the top competition, something is wrong.

St. Louis/Winnipeg matchup comparison coming soon?

 

[Kent Nilsson]

Both Girard and Heiskanen are great two way players. I was planning on having them being my top pair until I realized they were both left handed.

Khudobin is equal to Kuemper in my eyes.

This is just false.

Kinda excited that our vote is so tight though . If McDavid was any other player instead I take this easy.

 

[Gecklund]

This is just false.

Kinda excited that our vote is so tight though . If McDavid was any other player instead I take this easy.

I mean if Kucherov were any other player I’d take this easily. You can say the same about really any of the early picks.

 

[Joey Moss]

Kuemper > Khudobin no question at all. Khudobin gets games against worse teams when Bishop needs a rest. I think he’s passable as a #1 given his numbers and he’s probably the best backup in the league but Kuemper was a Vezina candidate without injury.

 

[LT]

Both Girard and Heiskanen are great two way players. I was planning on having them being my top pair until I realized they were both left handed.

Khudobin is equal to Kuemper in my eyes.

I love Khudobin and he's a truly elite back-up but Kuemper is easily better

 

[Gecklund]

Kuemper > Khudobin no question at all. Khudobin gets games against worse teams when Bishop needs a rest. I think he’s passable as a #1 given his numbers and he’s probably the best backup in the league but Kuemper was a Vezina candidate without injury.

Kuemper wouldn’t have even been starting if we aren’t counting injuries because Raanta would be starting.

 

[Joey Moss]

Kuemper wouldn’t have even been starting if we aren’t counting injuries because Raanta would be starting.

They were both healthy at the beginning of the year. I had both in my categories draft.. Kuemper was playing better.

 

[Gecklund]

They were both healthy at the beginning of the year. I had both in my categories draft.. Kuemper was playing better.

I’m not even just talking about this season. Kuemper wouldn’t have been acquired if Raanta was healthy. It really doesn’t matter though in the end because goaltending is not where this will be won or lost.

 

[Kent Nilsson]

I mean if Kucherov were any other player I’d take this easily. You can say the same about really any of the early picks.

You wanna trade McDavid for Kucherov and re-do the vote ?

 

[Gecklund]

You wanna trade McDavid for Kucherov and re-do the vote ?

Only if we trade all of our positions so I can make sure to draft the better team

 

[Paralyzer008]

St. Louis/Winnipeg matchup comparison coming soon?

vs

CENTRES: Crosby and MacKinnon is an absolute wash, and then it gets super tight for me. Dubois is a pretty elite two-way C and Elias Lindholm is a bit less effective at C than he would be at wing, so I'd take Dubois here. Hintz would be faster than the veteran Koivu though and that would cause some issue. Ultimately, because Crosby is the experienced guy and Dubois is the 3rd best C up, I'll take ST. LOUIS by a hair.

LEFT WINGS: I don't know if I love the depth of either team's left side - I think DeBrincat + Kane both will do plenty of damage with the Cs they play with, beyond that I'd probably take Pearson + Ritchie's upside over Sheary or Greenway at this time, so I'll go WINNIPEG here.

RIGHT WINGS: Voracek is the best of the RWs, but then i'd take Rakell + Zuccarello over Mikheyev. I like the veteran Alex Steen in a playoff role here over Nolan Patrick not playing C, but I'm going to call this one fairly even because I do think Voracek has the advantage as the best RW and it's not like the depth behind him is that bad while St. Louis is deep and well-rounded as well. Winnipeg probably has better upside too. EVEN.

DEFENSE: Both top pairs are pretty solid - Orlov-McAvoy from a shutdown POV and Provorov-Burns from an all-around POV, and Winnipeg's is probably better on offensive upside but McAvoy was much better defensively than Burns this year at 5v5, I think it would end up somewhat even in the goal differential overall, less GF and GA for STL, WPG more GF and GA. I think what tips the scale in the WINNIPEG direction is I like a Cole-Severson second pair better to handle top 4 minutes than a Gardiner-Myers pairing in the playoffs, Cole has that playoff toughness and Severson can move the puck well enough despite flawed D ability. Gardiner-Myers isn't as bad as people say but it's not going to hold up as well as the Jets pairing. I thought about the "what about Montour on the 2nd pairing, does that change it?" argument, which may give STL a boost, but Severson and Montour are pretty comparable and I'd still probably take Cole over Gardiner then.

GOALIE: ST. LOUIS - I am finding it hard to trust Rinne right now, given his season on the penalty kill and overall poor numbers. John Gibson's numbers aren't great either but the Ducks are pretty bad, and Gibson is still in his prime to steal a game or two.

VERDICT: I think there's a slight advantage in trustable two-way depth in St. Louis but Winnipeg has a slight D advantage with their puckmoving upside, it's a really close series - but what tips the scale for me in a close series is being able to trust Gibson and not being able to trust Rinne, so I'll go ST. LOUIS IN 7. I'd usually say "when in doubt, go with the best player" but Crosby and MacKinnon are both going to bring it, there really is no gap there.

vs

CENTRES: Tavares and Pettersson is a wash for me, Hischier and Getzlaf is kind of a wash too just difference in style between veteran and youngster. I guess for me it's then between who I'd rather have between Faksa and Zajac? Which I guess Zajac? Also to help me tip a close scale, Getzlaf I still think would have the old man strength advantage over Hischier. NJ

LEFT WINGS: I think Garland and Kase are comparable, Lee and Granlund are too but I'd slightly prefer Lee, Foligno is definitely better than Blais, I'd probably take Ennis over Helm today. Tight call, I guess CAROLINA based on better production this season.

RIGHT WINGS: Wheeler is the best here and would be over Oshie, I love Williams but Bjorkstrand is the better player today, I'm going CAROLINA

DEFENSE: I'd take Hamilton slightly over Werenski, McDonagh and Trouba are comparable but I'd slightly prefer Trouba. I think the Sanheim-Muzzin pairing is much better than Scandella-Vatanen so advantage NJ

GOALIE: Both guys are pretty unproven frankly, Jarry has more experience, Shesterkin has higher upside, this to me is EVEN

VERDICT: I'm going to say New Jersey in 7 - Cs are comparable, LWs are comparable, goalies are comparable, Carolina has an RW advantage but NJ's D advantage on the 2nd pair is the most discernible showing of depth to me and tips the scale.

vs

CENTRES: I prefer Zibanejad to Kuznetsov, Krejci to Trocheck, gotta take TAMPA BAY

LEFT WINGS: I think the offensive upside of Johnson/Donato trumps the Foligno/Foegele duo of TBL, even if Kreider holds a slight advantage over DeBrusk. I'm taking MONTREAL

RIGHT WINGS: Stone and Pastrnak is a wash, I mean come on. I think Toffoli and Kapanen is almost a wash but I kinda prefer Toffoli, Kahun and Byron are close...I mean this one I may take to the 4th line because Okposo is a much better player than Weal so...TAMPA BAY

DEFENSE: Klefbom-Weber slightly ahead of OEL-Petry, I really like the Dillon-Hronek pairing and I think it has more upside than Edmundson-Andersson so I'm going TAMPA BAY

GOALIE: Raanta is really good, but I'd trust Markstrom a bit more if his team was underwater in shots during a game. MONTREAL

VERDICT: I'm going Tampa Bay in 7, it's a close matchup but Tampa Bay has a bit better defensive ability especially at C and a bit on D.

 

[hockeynorth]

@OB5

 

[OB5]

@OB5

 

[hockeynorth]

There are 3 players left I'd kill for with a 20s pick. 1 I would've taken when I took Petey if I didn't value Cs so highly (but Petey was the last C I was willing to take top 10)... someones getting a stealllllllll

 

[BeLeafing]

Well looks like it's the end of the road for Winnipeg

I still think my roster was deserving of a final 4 appearance, but that's the way the bracket goes

Improved on my draft #1 performance by one round, and if it wasn't for the goaltending run I'm probably more of a threat to win this thing

Good luck to those remaining!

 

[Nucker101]

Well looks like it's the end of the road for Winnipeg

I still think my roster was deserving of a final 4 appearance, but that's the way the bracket goes

Improved on my draft #1 performance by one round, and if it wasn't for the goaltending run I'm probably more of a threat to win this thing

Good luck to those remaining!

Same for NJ, 2nd round exit was pretty much what I was guessing with my roster. Wasn't feeling the team but I knew it was good enough to make the playoffs and maybe win a round.