DPR Episode 80: Fantasy Hockey Rebuilding and Ottawa Senators Top Ten Prospects

If you need to rebuild your fantasy hockey team, this episode is about the strategy options you want to use.

1. Scorched Earth: (2-3 years) - Your team is a dumpster fire! You have no quality long term assets, sell everything for draft picks, prospects and futures

* Owning your own draft picks is essential - Don't get stuck in "Futures mode". If you have been rebuilding for five years its not a rebuild, you just suck.

2. Rebuild: (1-2 years) - Two to five players that are the core of your roster and should be valuable for the next five years. Look to fill holes in targeted and identified weakness or opportunities. Sell off players 30+ years old for futures, or trade 50 point players for 60 point players that are injured for season (Dougie Hamilton)

3. Retool: (1 year) - Good team having bad year, bad luck. Sell two or three players for great futures to make next year or next few years even better. One step back, two steps forward.

 

Three ways to acquire players:

1. Trade: Target opportunities to acquire players that will help you in future and for teams that can use what you have to offer. Trade can be risky, you have to give to get and in a rebuild you are offering established payers for prospects or picks that may not pan out. Trading a 80 point player that is 30 for a prospect that does not pan out can be devastating. Try to get multiple assets in return to ensure you have some long term value

2. Draft: Target blue-chip prospects in the early draft, even if the wait time is up to five years. Mid round look at either boom or bust prospects, or players with a short ETA such as free agents from NCAA or Europe or over age draftees.

3. Free Agent or Waiver Wire: Best time to acquire top assets here is early in the season as players have breakout performances, exceed expectations etc. Requires some homework but well worth it if you catch wind of this seasons breakout rookies before the competition.

Top NHL Rookies to target in trade:

Cody Glass VGK

Vitali Kravtson NYR

Filip Zadina DET

Kirby Dach CHI

Barrett Hayton ARI

Andrew Mangiapane CGY

Dylan Sikura CHI

Prospects on the brink of the NHL

Logan Brown, Drake Batherson, Erik Brannstrom OTT

Sam Steel ANA

Jake Bean CAR

Jack Studnicka BOS

Evan Bouchard EDM

Kirill Kaprizov MIN

Ilya Sorokin NYI

Igor Shesterkin NYR

Morgan Frost PHI

Rasmus Sandin TOR

Alex Romanov MTL

Injured players you may want to target

Juuso Valimaki CGY

Dougie Hamilton CAR

Anthony Mantha DET

Vladimir Tarasenko STL

Victor Olofsson BUF

Ilya Mikhayev TOR

Alex Texier CBJ

The Ottawa Senators are a NHL model example of how to rebuild. They have traded star players like Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone and Matt Duchene for futures and now have a bright future and two lottery first round picks. Peter reviews the top ten prospects and ten more since they are so deep.

1. Erik Brannstrom

2. Drake Batherson

3. Logan Brown

4. Josh Norris

5. Alex Formenton

6. Lassi Thomson

7. Vitali Abramov

8. Rudolf Balcers

9. Joey Daccord

10. Jacob Bernard-Docker

The next five:

Filip Chlapik, Shane Pinto, Jonathan Davidsson, Max Lajoie, Jon Gruden

Five more sleepers:

Jakov Novak, Markus Nurmi, Max Veronneau, Jonny Tychonic, Mark Kastelic

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Enjoy the show, thanks for listening