You can never have too much talentÄiversifying your roster is important, but at the end of the day, the draft is about accumulating as many good players as possible. When in doubt, go with multi-category contributors over streaky snipers who will ultimately drag you down every time they suffer a scoring drought. Targeting well-rounded players who bring both skill and physicality can help you naturally craft a well-rounded lineup, and grabbing guys from winning teams should ensure plus-minus isn't an issue, either. That doesn't mean you should be seeking out hits specialists in the early rounds, but rather that you should aim for a lineup without an obvious weakness in any particular category. Goals are much flashier than hits and mean a lot more inside the real hockey rink, but winning the hits category is just as important as winning the goals category in your weekly matchup. (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Keep every category in mind Snagging an elite netminder like Connor Hellebuyck early is better than waiting on the position. With three or four players on your roster responsible for four of the 10 categories, getting the goalie position right should be among your top priorities on draft day. While having a goalie sleeper you like in your back pocket can allow you to focus on skaters early, it's important to at least grab two solid starters in net, as plugging a hole between the pipes from the waiver wire is much tougher than replacing an underperforming forward or defenseman. Waiting on goalies is fine, but there's only so much crease time to go around and even less on quality teams. That way, if you're picking between two players on your cheat sheet but you know Player A is going two rounds after Player B, drafting B first might just allow you to land both. In the same vein, it doesn't hurt to look at the default rankings even if you build your own, just to know the baseline most people are working with. You're better off addressing another need first and circling back to goalies later rather than reaching for a netminder when the one you wanted gets snatched with the pick before yours. For example, if you're angling to get a goalie early, drafting the last of Robin Lehner, Darcy Kuemper, or Connor Hellebuyck late in the second round or early in the third is recommended over reaching for Igor Shesterkin right after the last of those three goes - since Shesterkin heads up the next tier of goalies, which consists of four guys going about 20 picks after the Lehner/Kuemper/Hellebuyck trio. Whether you make custom rankings or use the provided defaults, knowing when a position is about to experience a major drop-off is key to accruing as much talent as possible. Making pre-draft tiers is only half the battle, though, as using them properly during the draft is just as important. Know the drop-offs and defaultsĪ common strategy when putting together your pre-draft cheat sheet is to separate players into tiers. Now that we've covered pre-draft preparation, let's move on to some tips and strategies for once you get into the draft. That said, the remainder of this column will focus on snake drafts in default Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey leagues, which employ a head-to-head format with 10 categories: Goals, assists, plus/minus, power-play points, shots on goal, and hits for skaters, as well as wins, GAA, save percentage and shutouts for goalies.
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