Build a better fantasy hockey team with these four rules of thumb

Write well and know your league setup

Come to your fantasy hockey draft prepared from the first round to the last. Learn about your league setup and how many roster positions you have to fill and prepare your own rankings. Please note that the automatically generated rankings on sites like Yahoo and ESPN are not tailored to your particular league settings.

Believe in big name players

Don’t overreact to last year’s stars or this year’s up-and-comers. Put most, if not all, of your stock into players with a strong track record. Don’t underestimate guys like Martin St. Louis to bet on a promising youngster like Nail Yakupov or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Both will be great, but don’t do it, you’ll screw up at least one of these bets. That said, if you’re in a goalie league, age and potential are bigger factors in your fantasy hockey draft.

This logic of not overreacting also applies when making trades in your league. Buy low on stars and sell high on players who are playing well at the time. Don’t stray too far from this rule unless betting on a good player is absolutely necessary to win a matchup or a league.

This advice to “believe in the great players” may sound like mere common sense, but you’d be surprised at how easily a GM of a struggling team drops a struggling borderline star or changes a big name for very little. . Don’t expect a hot streak to continue unless the player is proven or playing with proven players. This includes rising stars, who tend to be inconsistent.

Catch trends before others see them

While the last section was about believing in your star players through thick and thin, this section is all about choosing the best players to add to the bottom of your roster. Most GMs won’t notice a player doing well without a big name attached. They also tend to overlook players whose overall numbers are diminished by injuries, playing for a team out of the spotlight like the Panthers or Blue Jackets, or simply not showing up enough in the goals column. the most outstanding stat of all.

Master the art of fantasy hockey trading

Identify your opponents’ equipment needs and exploit them. Nothing annoys me more than when I’m offered another mediocre cross (when I already have three!) for my elite winger or goalkeeper. No one wants to add more to a position than they need to unless they’re clearly winning the deal. Instead, find out which other teams have too much and try to steal one of them in exchange for one of their decent players in a position they desperately need.

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