Fantasy Hockey Friday 2013 Preview: May the Best Writer Win

Welcome to the preview of Fantasy Hockey Friday, a weekly segment that I debuted last season.  In FHF you will find hot and cold players (highlighting players that might still be available in your league), players to pick up, my thoughts and predictions…and this year, 12 writers from HOHM decided to form a fantasy hockey league.  The second half of FHF will be comprised of our actual transactions (adds/drops) in our league.  This way, our readers can see our moves and further improve their rosters.  In a shortened season, there’s no room for error, and little time to make up for mistakes.

The inspiration for this segment stems from the TSN Fantasy Draft that airs annually each season before the games start.

Here are the 12 writers and their initials (in actual draft order):

(each team had to pick 9 forwards, 5 defensemen, 1 utility player, 2 goalies, and 5 bench slots)

BD – Bob Duggan (Buffalo Sabres)

AC – Alvin Cho (Winnipeg Jets)

AW – Andrew Williams (Carolina Hurricanes)

KC – Kevin Cawthra (Vancouver Canucks)

SA – Steve Auld (Toronto Maple Leafs)

JB – Josh Beneteau (Team Canada/Various NHL news)

IB – Igor Burdetskiy (Founder and Editor-in-Chief of HOHM)

MK – Mike Kluxdal (Minnesota Wild)

DD – Dawson Drolet (Calgary Flames)

KS – Kevin Sporka (Detroit Red Wings)

AB – Adam Bernard (New York Rangers)

KW – Kayla Winsett (Nashville Predators)

 

 

Round 1:                                        

1. BD – Steven Stamkos

2. AC – Evgeni Malkin

3. AW – Claude Giroux

4. KC – Sidney Crosby

5. SA – Alex Ovechkin

6. JB – Henrik Lundqvist

7. IB – Daniel Sedin

8. MK – Zach Parise

9. DD – John Tavares

10. KS – Jonathan Quick

11. AB – Pekka Rinne

12. KW – Rick Nash

Round 2:

1. KW – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

2. AB – James Neal

3. KS – Erik Karlsson

4. DD – Henrik Sedin

5. MK – Anze Kopitar

6. IB – Tyler Seguin

7. JB – Ilya Kovalchuk

8. SA – Corey Perry

9. KC – Phil Kessel

10. AW – Scott Hartnell

11. AC – Patrick Sharp

12. BD – Jason Spezza

Round 3:

1. BD – Jordan Eberle

2. AC – Zdeno Chara

3. AW – Eric Staal

4. KC – Jimmy Howard

5. SA – Tuukka Rask

6. JB – Henrik Zetterberg

7. IB – Martin St. Louis

8. MK – Patrick Kane

9. DD – Marc-Andre Fleury

10. KS – Jonathan Toews

11. AB – Milan Lucic

12. KW – Patric Hornqvist

Round 4:

1. KW – Nail Yakupov

2. AB – David Backes

3. KS – Dustin Brown

4. DD – Cory Schneider

5. MK – Pavel Datsyuk

6. IB – Cam Ward

7. JB – Kris Letang

8. SA – Taylor Hall

9. KC – Roberto Luongo

10. AW – Gabriel Landeskog

11. AC – Alex Pietrangelo

12. BD – Bobby Ryan

Round 5:

1. BD – Joe Thornton

2. AC – Ryan Miller

3. AW – Max Pacioretty

4. KC – Jarome Iginla

5. SA – Ilya Bryzgalov

6. JB – Jeff Skinner

7. IB – Shea Weber

8. MK – Drew Doughty

9. DD – Brad Richards

10. KS – Dustin Byfuglien

11. AB – Logan Couture

12. KW – P.K. Subban

Round 6:

1. KW – Chris Pronger

2. AB – Carey Price

3. KS – Ryan Suter

4. DD – Marian Gaborik

5. MK – Duncan Keith

6. IB – Brian Elliott

7. JB – Thomas Vanek

8. SA – Nicklas Backstrom

9. KC – Patrick Marleau

10. AW – Brian Campbell

11. AC – Jamie Benn

12. BD – Mike Smith

Round 7:

1. BD – Jaroslav Halak

2. AC – Marian Hossa

3. AW – Kari Lehtonen

4. KC – Michael Del Zotto

5. SA – Alexander Semin

6. JB – Loui Eriksson

7. IB – Patrik Elias

8. MK – Mikko Koivu

9. DD – Matt Moulson

10. KS – Craig Anderson

11. AB – Alexander Edler

12. KW – Roman Josi

Round 8:

1. KW – Braden Holtby

2. AB – Jordan Staal

3. KS – Wayne Simmonds

4. DD – Patrice Bergeron

5. MK – T.J. Oshie

6. IB – Evander Kane

7. JB – Mike Richards

8. SA – Dan Boyle

9. KC – Joe Pavelski

10. AW – P.A. Parenteau

11. AC – Ryan Getzlaf

12. BD – Alex Burrows

Round 9:

1. BD – Dany Heatley

2. AC – Dan Hamhuis

3. AW – Ray Whitney

4. KC – Matt Duchene

5. SA – Justin Schultz

6. JB – Jason Pominville

7. IB – Erik Cole

8. MK – Jack Johnson

9. DD – Joffrey Lupul

10. KS – Teemu Selanne

11. AB – Keith Yandle

12. KW – Martin Brodeur

Round 10:

1. KW – Chris Mason

2. AB – Ryan Callahan

3. KS – Dion Phaneuf

4. DD – Radim Vrbata

5. MK – Vincent Lecavalier

6. IB – Michael Ryder

7. JB – Niklas Kronwall

8. SA – Tyler Myers

9. KC – Johan Franzen

10. AW – Joni Pitkanen

11. AC – Miikka Kiprusoff

12. BD – Paul Stastny

Round 11:

1. BD – Justin Williams

2. AC – Milan Michalek

3. AW – Kevin Shattenkirk

4. KC – Brad Marchand

5. SA – Vladimir Tarasenko

6. JB – Tobias Enstrom

7. IB – Dennis Wideman

8. MK – Niklas Backstrom (goalie)

9. DD – Sven Baertschi

10. KS – Chris Kunitz

11. AB – Mike Ribeiro

12. KW – Valtteri Filppula

Round 12:

1. KW – Kimmo Timonen

2. AB – Mike Green

3. KS – Daniel Alfredsson

4. DD – Martin Havlat

5. MK – Mikael Granlund

6. IB – Kris Versteeg

7. JB – David Krejci

8. SA – Antti Niemi

9. KC – Danny Briere

10. AW – David Clarkson

11. AC – Drew Stafford

12. BD – Semyon Varlamov

Round 13:

1. BD – Brent Burns

2. AC – Oliver Ekman-Larsson

3. AW – Devan Dubnyk

4. KC – Mark Streit

5. SA – Teddy Purcell

6. JB – Jonas Hiller

7. IB – Brent Seabrook

8. MK – Ryane Clowe

9. DD – Christian Ehrhoff

10. KS – Pascal Dupuis

11. AB – Jeff Carter

12. KW – Stephen Weiss

Round 14:

1. KW – Mike Fisher

2. AB – Corey Crawford

3. KS – Kevin Bieksa

4. DD – Mark Giordano

5. MK – Matt Carle

6. IB – Justin Faulk

7. JB – Tomas Fleischmann

8. SA – Alex Goligoski

9. KC – Jason Garrison

10. AW – Tyler Ennis

11. AC – Ryan McDonagh

12. BD – Blake Wheeler

Round 15:

1. BD – Lubomir Visnovsky

2. AC – Shane Doan

3. AW – Andrew Ladd

4. KC – Cam Fowler

5. SA – Michael Cammalleri

6. JB – Andrei Markov

7. IB – Nick Leddy

8. MK – Erik Johnson

9. DD – Ryan Whitney

10. KS – Derek Stepan

11. AB – Nick Foligno

12. KW – Olli Jokinen

Round 16:

1. KW – Sergei Gonchar

2. AB – Ian White

3. KS – David Perron

4. DD – James Wisniewski

5. MK – Jonathan Huberdeau

6. IB – Evgeni Nabokov

7. JB – Nathan Horton

8. SA – Chris Stewart

9. KC – John-Michael Liles

10. AW – Marek Zidlicky

11. AC – Ryan Malone

12. BD – Cody Hodgson

Round 17:

1. BD – Alex Galchenyuk

2. AC – Kyle Okposo

3. AW – Dmitry Kulikov

4. KC – Paul Bissonnette

5. SA – James van Riemsdyk

6. JB – Damien Brunner

7. IB – Mikhail Grabovski

8. MK – Jacob Markstrom

9. DD – Zach Bogosian

10. KS – Jaromir Jagr

11. AB – Dan Girardi

12. KW – Martin Erat

Round 18:

1. KW – Ryan Smyth

2. AB – Jiri Hudler

3. KS – Alex Steen

4. DD – Steve Ott

5. MK – Chris Kreider

6. IB – Dennis Seidenberg

7. JB – Slava Voynov

8. SA – Sheldon Souray

9. KC – Ondrej Pavelec

10. AW – Tomas Plekanec

11. AC – David Desharnais

12. BD – Victor Hedman

Round 19:

1. BD – John Carlson

2. AC – Matt Read

3. AW – Brandon Saad

4. KC – Jake Gardiner

5. SA – Jakub Voracek

6. JB – Adam Henrique

7. IB – David Legwand

8. MK – Cal Clutterbuck

9. DD – Ryan O’Reilly

10. KS – Jonas Gustavsson

11. AB – Kyle Turris

12. KW – Ryan Kesler

Round 20:

1. KW – Anders Lindback

2. AB – Derek Roy

3. KS – Joe Corvo

4. DD – Derek Dorsett

5. MK – Sean Couturier

6. IB – Andrej Meszaros

7. JB – Jose Theodore

8. SA – Brendan Morrow

9. KC – Tyler Bozak

10. AW – Colin Greening

11. AC – Zack Kassian

12. BD – Travis Hamonic

Round 21:

1. BD – Brendan Smith

2. AC – Brooks Orpik

3. AW – Josh Harding

4. KC – Sam Gagner

5. SA – R.J. Umberger

6. JB – Carl Hagelin

7. IB – Dustin Penner

8. MK – Brooks Laich

9. DD – Sergei Bobrovsky

10. KS – Curtis Glencross

11. AB – Luke Schenn

12. KW – Paul Martin

Round 22:

1. KW – Sergei Kostitsyn

2. AB – Steve Downie

3. KS – Jordin Tootoo

4. DD – Ryan Ellis

5. MK – Tomas Vokoun

6. IB – Bryan Little

7. JB – David Booth

8. SA – Stefan Elliott

9. KC – Filip Kuba

10. AW – Adam Larsson

11. AC – Brayden Schenn

12. BD – Kyle Brodziak

 

Final Rosters (in order picked):

Bob Duggan

Steven Stamkos, Jason Spezza, Jordan Eberle, Bobby Ryan, Joe Thornton, Mike Smith, Jaroslav Halak, Alex Burrows, Dany Heatley, Paul Stastny, Justin Williams, Semyon Varlamov, Brent Burns,  Blake Wheeler, Lubomir Visnovsky, Cody Hodgson, Alex Galchenyuk, Victor Hedman, John Carlson, Travis Hamonic, Brendan Smith, Kyle Brodziak

Alvin Cho

Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Sharp, Zdeno Chara, Alex Pietrangelo, Ryan Miller, Jamie Benn, Marian Hossa, Ryan Getzlaf, Dan Hamhuis, Miikka Kiprusoff, Milan Michalek, Drew Stafford, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Ryan McDonagh, Shane Doan, Ryan Malone, Kyle Okposo, David Desharnais, Matt Read, Zack Kassian, Brooks Orpik, Brayden Schenn

Andrew Williams

Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Eric Staal, Gabriel Landeskog, Max Pacioretty, Brian Campbell, Kari Lehtonen, P.A. Parenteau, Ray Whitney, Joni Pitkanen, Kevin Shattenkirk, David Clarkson, Devan Dubnyk, Tyler Ennis, Andrew Ladd, Marek Zidlicky, Dmitry Kulikov, Tomas Plekanec, Brandon Saad, Colin Greening, Josh Harding, Adam Larsson

Kevin Cawthra

Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, Jimmy Howard, Roberto Luongo, Jarome Iginla, Patrick Marleau, Michael Del Zotto, Joe Pavelski, Matt Duchene, Johan Franzen, Brad Marchand, Danny Briere, Mark Streit, Jason Garrison, Cam Fowler, John-Michael Liles, Paul Bissnonnette, Ondrej Pavelec, Sam Gagner, Filip Kuba

Steve Auld

Alex Ovechkin, Corey Perry, Tuukka Rask, Taylor Hall, Ilya Bryzgalov, Nicklas Backstrom (F), Alexander Semin, Dan Boyle, Justin Schultz, Tyler Myers, Vladimir Tarasenko, Antti Niemi, Teddy Purcell, Alex Goligoski, Michael Cammalleri, Chris Stewart, James van Riemsdyk, Sheldon Souray, Jakub Voracek, Brendan Morrow, R.J. Umberger, Stefan Elliott

Josh Beneteau

Henrik Lundqvist, Ilya Kovalchuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Kris LEtang, Jeff Skinner, Thomas Vanek, Loui Eriksson, Mike Richards, Jason Pominville, Niklas Kronwall, Tobias Enstrom, David Krejci, Jonas Hiller, Tomas Fleischmann, Andrei Markov, Nathan Horton, Damien Brunner, Slava Voynov, Adam Henrique, Jose Theodore, Carl Hagelin, David Booth

Igor Burdetskiy

Daniel Sedin, Tyler Seguin, Martin St. Louis, Cam Ward, Shea Weber, Brian Elliott, Patrik Elias, evander Kane, Erik Cole, Michael Ryder, Dennis Wideman, Kris Versteeg, Brent Seabrook, Justin Faulk, Nick Leddy, Evgeni Nabokov, Mikhail Grabovski, Dennis Seidenberg, David Legwand, Andrej Meszaros, Dustin Penner, Bryan Little

Mike Kluxdal

Zach Parise, Anze Kopitar, Patrick Kane, Pavel Datsyuk, Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith, Mikko Koivu, T.J. Oshie, Jack Johnson, Vincent Lecavalier, Niklas Backstrom, Mikael Granlund, Ryane Clower, Matt Carle, Erik Johnson, Jonathan Huberdeau, Jacob Markstrom, Chris Kreider, Cal Clutterbuck, Sean Couturier, Brooks Laich, Tomas Vokoun

Dawson Drolet

John Tavares, Henrik Sedin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Cory Schneider, Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik, Matt Moulson, Patrice Bergeron, Joffrey Lupul, Radim Vrbata, Sven Baertschi, Martin Havlat, Christian Ehrhoff, Mark Giordano, Ryan Whitney, James Wisniewski, Zach Bogosian, Steve Ott, Ryan O’ Reilly, Derek Dorsett, Sergei Bobrovsky, Ryan Ellis

Kevin Sporka

Jonathan Quick, Erik Karlsson, Jonathan Toews, Dustin Brown, Dustin Byfuglien, Ryan Suter, Craig Anderson, Wayne Simmonds, Teemu Selanne, Dion Phaneuf, Chris Kunitz, Daniel Alfredsson, Pascal Dupuis, Kevin Bieksa, Derek Stepan, Jaromir Jagr, Alex Steen, Jonas Gustavsson, Joe Corvo, Curtis Glencross, Jordin Tootoo

Adam Bernard

Pekka Rinne, James Neal, Milan Lucic, David Backes, Logan Couture, Carey Price, Alexander Edler, Jordan Staal, Keith Yandle, Ryan Callahan, Mike Ribeiro, Mike Green, Jeff Carter, Corey Crawford, Nick Foligno, Ian White, Dan Girardi, Jiri Hudler, Kyle Turris, Derek Roy, Luke Schenn, Steve Downie

Kayla Winsett

Rick Nash, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Patric Hornqvist, Nail Yakupov, P.K. Subban, Chris Pronger, Roman Josi, Braden Holtby, Martin Brodeur, Chris Mason, Valtteri Filppula, Kimmo Timonen, Stephen Weiss, Mike Fisher, Olli Jokinen, Sergei Gonchar, Martin Erat, Ryan Smyth, Ryan Kesler, Anders Lindback, Paul Martin, Sergei Kostitsyn

 

Transactions Made Since Draft:

JB – Dropped David Booth and Added Dave Bolland

KC – Dropped Paul Bissonnette and Added Alex Tanguay

KW – Dropped Ryan Kesler and Added Clarke MacArthur

KC – Dropped Ondrej Pavelec and Added Martin Biron

MK – Dropped Brooks Laich and Added Jared Spurgeon

SA – Dropped Stefan Elliott and Added Devin Setoguchi

SA – Dropped Brendan Morrow and Added Marcus Johansson

DD – Dropped James Wisniewski and Added Jamie McBain

MK – Dropped Sean Couturier and Added Ondrej Pavelec

KW – Dropped Chris Pronger and Added Johnny Boychuk

AC – Dropped Ryan Malone and added Ryan Kesler

AC – Dropped Zack Kassian and Added Jakob Silfverberg

BD – Dropped Lubomir Visnovsky and Added Cory Conacher

 

As the season progresses, I will continue to document these 12 teams and include our transactions and any trades that occur.  Check back every Friday for updated rosters and results for the current week and previous week (Our league is head-to-head).

In the comments section, discuss who you think drafted the best teams and who made the best roster moves so far.  Please be civil!