NHL Thursday: DraftStreet Snake Strategies
It’s been almost a month since Draftstreet rolled out the snake option for NHL action, and I’m officially hooked. 2-man, 3-man, and 6-man drafts make daily fantasy hockey that much more exciting and challenging, as they each present a different challenge, particularly on nights with fewer games (and fewer goalies). If you’re early to the draft room, you have plenty of time to queue up your picks and give yourself an edge in decision making when the clock is running for your turn to pick. Even if you’re late to the game, 5 minutes is enough time to adequately line up your selection, provided you did plenty of homework in advance.
Obviously, scouting out the starting goalies for the night is first priority. Your second order of business should be to evaluate the talent pool at each position to assess which spot to target first. If there are only two studs at RW, but a glut of options at center, you should target the weakest position with your early picks.
Today, I’m doing the homework for you, as I’m laying out my queue for snake drafts on Draftstreet tonight. First, I’ll rank players by position, then break down the positions to target first, depending on the number of players (2, 3, or 6) in your league.
GOALIE
Note: Since no goalies have yet been confirmed, I’ll address this by team and note the likely starter. Be sure and check the boards for who’s starting before jumping into a draft. If you’re tempted to chance it on an unconfirmed starter, be sure to pick his backup for a reserve spot.
1. PHO (Smith) vs Calgary — Smith hasn’t lost a game since I can remember.
2. COL (Varlamov) vs Columbus — anyone versus Columbus is a solid play
3. MON (Price) vs Minnesota — sure, it’s Montreal, but Minnesota is incapable of scoring goals
4. NYR (Lundqvist) vs Caroline — the Canes are playing well, but the like Vezina winner is always a fine choice
5. NJ (Brodeur) vs Boston — Bruins are stumbling, Devils are hot
6. VAN (Luongo) vs STL (Elliot or Halak) — pick ‘em. Any of the four possible goalies in this game is worth consideration.
Plenty of decent options in net tonight, so no need to spend an early pick at this position, particularly in a two or three man league. Assuming he starts, Smith is the obvious top choice and the only one worth jumping on early in the draft. Even in a six man draft, I don’t see a huge variance between #2 and #6, so wait until late in the game before filling your goalie spot tonight.
DEFENSE
1. Byfuglien
2. Chara
3. Boyle
4. Burns
5. Pietrangelo
6. Yandle
7. Edler
8. Campbell
9. Bieksa
10. Garrison
There is clearly a drop off after the top 2 here, so grab either Byfuglien or Chara with an early pick, if possible. In a two man league, you must have one or both. Boyle and Burns have a favorable matchup with Buffalo, which puts them higher than Pietrangelo, who has to face Vancouver. Options 6 and below are more or less interchangeable parts. Be sure and get two names from this list of 10.
LEFT WING
Plenty of fine options on the left side tonight. It’s a deep field, so feel free to wait a round or two at this position.
1. Scott Hartnell
2. Daniel Sedin
3. Ilya Kovalchuk
4. Patrick Marleau
5. Evander Kane
6. Milan Lucic
7. Zach Parise
8. Gabriel Landeskog
9. Andrew Ladd
10. David Perron
Not much of a dropoff until you get to 6 or 7 here. Plenty of left wingers to go around in a smaller league. Enough to get by in a 6-man.
CENTER
You shouldn’t have too much trouble finding a star or two at the center position tonight, particularly in a smaller league. It’s not as deep as the left wing, but close.
1. Giroux
2. Tavares
3. Staal
4. Sedin
5. Pavelski
6. Thornton
7. Marchand
8. Kesler
9. Little
10. Richards
Giroux is miles above all others at center and should be your first overall selection if you get it. 2 through 5 are all solid backup plans for your top center.
RIGHT WING
Compared to Left Wing and Center, the Right Wing position seems to be the thinnest at the top on most nights. Tonight is no exception. While the left wing boasts stars like Hartnell, Kovalchuk and Sedin, and the options at center are plentiful, the default Right Wing list kicks off with Wheeler, Parenteau and Callahan. You can either blow off this position entirely and save it for last, or try and scoop up the best options you can early, and settle for a good center down the line. Here are the best choices for tonight:
1. Gaborik
2. Vrbata
3. Parenteau
4. Downie
5. Wheeler
6. Pominville
7. Callahan
8. Simmonds
9. Jagr
10. Iginla
While Gaborik is hit or miss, he can be a game breaker on any given night. The Canes aren’t the best defensive team in the league, so he could shine. Vrbata is also a fine choice at this position tonight. The next four picks are a step down and after that, good luck. In a 2-man league, I would punt at this position. In a 6-man, grab Gaborik or Vrbata early.
Breaking it Down for Round 1
All told, what do you do with that first pick. Since you could be drafting anywhere from 1st to 6th, here are my top 6 picks for tonight across positions:
1. Claude Giroux — still challenging for the scoring title. Feasts on the Islanders tonight.
2. Dustin Byfuglien — that’s right, a defenseman with the #2 pick.
3. Marian Gaborik – secure that RW early
4. Radim Vrbata – if Gaborik goes, fall back on Radim
5. Zdeno Chara – backup plan to Byfuglien
6. Mike Smith — assuming he starts…
Just remember, if you see the name “landsharkhockey” in the draft room today (I’ll be around there plenty), please ignore everything you just read. Go with Couture, Ruutuu, and Versteeg with your top 3. Ignore that little red cross next to their names. That just means they’re really good…