NHL Thursday: DraftStreet's New Snake Drafts and Picks for Tonight

by landsharkhockey Last Updated 2012-02-09 18:10:29

This past week, Draftstreet opened up a whole new style of play for daily hockey with the snake draft format. While the roster positions and scoring system remain virtually the same, the strategy is completely different than traditional salary cap based contests. A host of variables can alter your draft strategy, including how many games are being played that night, how many opponents you have, and how certain you are of starting goalies at the time of your draft. The one difference that snake draft format offers in terms of roster selection is that you can draft 2 reserve players. This is particularly handy when it comes to uncertainty in the crease, as you may need to make a late-night swap when you find out your goalie isn’t getting the nod.

GOALIES

As with salary based games, it’s wise to line up your goaltender first. The same research needs to take place prior to your draft to determine which goalies give you the best chance at a win that night. The bonus here is that salary doesn’t matter, so if Thomas or Lundqvist are starting that night, they should immediately be queued at the top of your list. There’s obviously a limited number of goalie options, and a very limited number of top notch picks here, so it’s critical you get a good goalie with your first or second selection. On nights with only a few games being played, this becomes even more critical. Draftstreet offers snake drafts for 2 to 6 opponents. Obviously, if you’re playing in a bigger league, you may be out of luck if you’re drafting late in the first round.

Even though you’re only allowed to start one goalie, that doesn’t mean you can’t fill up that reserve spot with a backup option early on. Two reasons to consider doing this: 1. You want Boston’s goalie and you don’t know who’s starting yet. Why not pick both? 2. If there’s a shortage of options (few NHL games or larger-field of opponents), you can keep a good goalie out of the hands of your opponents by stashing one on your bench. (There’s a reason it’s called a snake draft.) Last night with just 4 games on the schedule, there were really only two good goalie choices available. I snatched one up in round 1 and the other in round 4, leaving my opponent to take his chances with Miller against Boston.

DEFENSE

As opposed to salary-based leagues where I pay almost no attention to this position, the draft format changes my strategy significantly. Since salary is not a factor, I’m free to entertain drafting guys like Chara, Weber, or Lidstrom, who normally are way too pricey for serious consideration. Since there’s a precious few elite defensemen, as opposed to a large pool of quality forwards available, I’m more likely to snag one of these top dogs with an early pick, leaving my opponents with a host of average defensemen later in the draft.

OFFENSE

When it comes to choosing among forward options, it’s important to keep an eye on the talent pool by position on a given night. Depending on who’s in action that night, the options at LW may be much deeper than those at RW, for example. Spend some time and evaluate the level of talent at each position prior to draft time and try to target the shallow pools early in the draft. For example, if there are only two elite Right Wingers available, but there are 8 to 10 superstar centers out there, obviously you need to snag one of the Right Wingers first. Typically center is the deepest position, and you’re safe to wait on that position, even if it means passing on Stamkos or Malkin.

RESERVES

For whatever reason, Draftstreet allows you pick 2 reserve players, but only one can be a goalie. You’ll certainly want to take advantage of that goalie option, both as a failsafe, and as a way to limit your opponent’s potential. You are unlikely to do much of anything with your other reserve player, so why not use that spot in similar fashion to limit your opponent’s potential. Once again, late in the draft, look for the shallowest talent pool by position. If there’s 1 star Right Winger available and a host of centers, why not tuck that guy away and force your opponents to settle for an average option there.

It’s still early in terms of forming an opinion on the snake draft format. The biggest challenge so far I’ve found is timing when to line up opponents. Hopefully, as more players jump in and give it a try, that will be less of a challenge. From my experience so far, if the snake draft format catches on, I may never go back to the salary-based leagues, as this is a much more entertaining drafting experience.

MY ROSTER FOR TONIGHT

Since I’m not quite ready to abandon the salary format just yet, I’ll go ahead an piece together a roster for tonight’s GPP action, based on the cap system. In net, I’m tempted to go with Irving (CGY) on salary alone. He has a decent shot at victory against the Coyotes. However, I can’t pass up Rinne against the struggling Senators. He’s dropped in salary recently, making him a fine choice.

I’m stacking the Stars tonight, as they get to feast on the BlueJackets. Columbus is the 2nd worse defensive team in the league, so goals should be plentiful from the top two lines. I’m also sneaking Briere into the flex spot at a discounted rate. He just returned from a long injury which deflated his salary significantly.

Here’s my full lineup: