Need some help for a fantasy pool please...

[mr ozzie]

Hey fellas,

I could use some advice, tips, strategies, etc. on this one. My work has a fantasy pool going on. Entry is $20 and there are reportedly 145 guys in it already. I just want to have some fun on this since I generally stay away from fantasy pools (not winning will do that to you ), and the system is very easy to understand.

Anyway, the rules:

1) All teams must have 13 forwards, 7 dmen, 2 goalies. The teams that you have selected your goalies from cannot have any other players on your team (ie. If you select Ryan Miller, you cannot have any other Buffalo Sabres players on your team).
2) Scoring will be all non-goalies will get 1 point for a goal and 1 point for an assist. Goalies will get 1 for a tie, 2 points for a win, and an extra 2 points for a shutout.
3) Salary cap for this season is going to be $60mil.

There are some other rules, but mostly for payment deadline, etc.

So, I think the best way to do this is to spend the cap on forwards first, goalies second, and dmen last. I'm thinking of filling my dmen roster full of guys making less than $1mil each. For goalies, I think Martin Brodeur is the clear choice over Ryan Miller. He's going to play 65+ games probably. NJ did well to solidify the back-end with Volchenkov and Tallinder whereas Buffalo did pretty much nothing. Luongo is at a pretty big cap hit of 10mil, so it's tough to choose him. I'm thinking maybe a Marty Turco with a solid cap hit of only 1.3mil. What do you guys think so far? I'd greatly appreciate all the help I can get. Thanks-in-advance.

[zunato]

If the league is by actual cap hit then Luongo is only a $5.333 mil cap hit. If you are going by actual salary then Luongo is $10 mil.

I would pick by goalies first. If I read you right, if you take Turco that means you can't take any other player on the Hawks? So that would mean no Hossa, Toews, Kane, Sharp, Keith. I would pick goalies from teams that don't have much offensive upside.

There are some d-men that put up some good offensive numbers, Keith, Green, Doughty just to name a few. If you only pick up cheap d-men don't expect to many points from them.

[mr ozzie]

Sorry, my bad. We are going by actual salaries per year. So this year, Bobby Lou is $10mil. And yes, if I take Turco that means the rest of the Hawks lineup is ineligible for selection. And yes, the plan of picking up cheap dmen is because the expensive dmen don't put up the offensive numbers that forwards do. No use in picking up Dion Phaneuf at 6.5mil when he's at best 40 points and I can pick up Patrick Kane for 6.1mil and he can put up 90 points - as an example. Thanks so far though.

[G0SHARKSG0]

well if you dont mind missing out on sharks offence then take niemi for 2 mil for a goalie.

Other then that rookies can really help like subban or hall or eberle since they make less then 1 mil....I would suggest taking at least one superstar like Ovechkin or/and Crosby

Thats my advice to you and good luck

[mr ozzie]

well if you dont mind missing out on sharks offence then take niemi for 2 mil for a goalie.

Other then that rookies can really help like subban or hall or eberle since they make less then 1 mil....I would suggest taking at least one superstar like Ovechkin or/and Crosby

Thats my advice to you and good luck

I don't mind bypassing Thornton (7.2mil) and Heatley (8mil) due to the high cap hits on both. My problem with Niemi is that I fear he's not going to play 65+ games this year. What are they saying down at the shark pond?

[G0SHARKSG0]

well nittymaki didnt look to good in his first preseason game. Let in like 4 goals on 12 shots. Also I dont think Niemi would have signed in San Jose if he thought he was fighting for the starting job. Plus even if he doesnt play 65+ games the sharks have won more then 50 games in their last 2 (maybe 3) seasons so he will still most likely get you 40 wins. Just my opinion

[mr ozzie]

well nittymaki didnt look to good in his first preseason game. Let in like 4 goals on 12 shots. Also I dont think Niemi would have signed in San Jose if he thought he was fighting for the starting job. Plus even if he doesnt play 65+ games the sharks have won more then 50 games in their last 2 (maybe 3) seasons so he will still most likely get you 40 wins. Just my opinion

Well, I just looked at last year's stats, and Nittymaki played more games than Niemi did. I think I'm going to stay away on this one. I feel they're going to split it down 40 games a piece. This leaves me with some other more expensive options such as: Bryzgalov (4.5mil), Anderson (2.125mil), Rinne (2.8mil), and Halak (2.75mil).

Bryzgalov is quite expensive and I'm not sure if Phoenix is as strong on the back-end this year as they were last year. Halak I think will struggle with a d-line that's not as good as Montreal. This leaves me with Anderson or Rinne, and I'm leaning towards Anderson due to the number of games played last year.

[G0SHARKSG0]

Well between those two I would for sure go with anderson. but then none of the colorado rookies like duchene who has a small cap hit for probably 70+ points

[mr ozzie]

Here are my 7 dmen so far (cap numbers based on the list I was given, not what any website says):

Drew Doughty 0.875mil
Tyler Myers 0.875mil
Michael Del Zotto 0.875mil
Erik Karlsson 0.875mil
Andy Greene 0.750mil
PK Subban 0.875mil

= 5.125mil

Looking for a cheap 7th. Subban is my sleeper pick, hoping that he puts up decent numbers this year.

My goalie picks so far:

Martin Brodeur 5.2mil

That is a total of 10.325mil and I'm still missing a 7th dman, and a 2nd goalie. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks.

[mr ozzie]

Well between those two I would for sure go with anderson. but then none of the colorado rookies like duchene who has a small cap hit for probably 70+ points

Duchene would be my only pick in Colorado due to his low cap number. I wouldn't even bother with Stastny, and Mueller's got a big problem with his concussion.