Draft like the pros

Well, I don’t know if this is supposed to be a big secret or if I’m spoiling any great intro, but I did my first Yahoo draft today, as part of Mirtle’s monster league. This league might get some publicity, as it involves many ‘celebrities’, like Kukla, Golbez, Spector, BoA, Covered in Oil, Puck Update, etc., etc. I’m sure someone’s going to do a comprehensive post somewhere.

Some short specs on this mega-league, though:

20 teams head-to-head
Positions: C x 3, LW x 2, RW x 2, Util x 2, D x 4, G x 2, Bench x 4, IR x 3
Categories: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPG, PPA, SHP, GWG, SOG, W, GAA, SV, SV%, SHO

So a long draft, 380 players deep. Well, here’s what I did, getting the #2 pick:

Rd – Pick – Player
1 – 2 – M. Kiprusoff, G CGY
2 – 39 – T. Selanne, RW ANA
3 – 42 – T. Bertuzzi, RW FLA
4 – 79 – J. Giguere, G ANA
5 – 82 – A. McDonald, C ANA
6 – 119 – A. Frolov, LW LOS
7 – 122 – R. Getzlaf, C ANA
8 – 159 – F. Beauchemin, D ANA
9 – 162 – D. Cloutier, G LOS
10 – 199 – P. Sykora, RW EDM
11 – 202 – M. Carle, D SJS
12 – 239 – E. Lindros, C DAL
13 – 242 – D. Penner, C ANA
14 – 279 – O. Nolan, RW PHX
15 – 282 – D. Brown, RW LOS
16 – 319 – T. Fedoruk, LW ANA
17 – 322 – J. Madden, C NJD
18 – 359 – K. McLaren, D SJS
19 – 362 – A. Kopitar, C LOS

C – McDonald, Getzlaf, Lindros, Penner, Madden, Kopitar
RW – Selanne, Bertuzzi, Sykora, Nolan, Brown
LW – Frolov, Fedoruk
D – Beauchemin, Carle, McLaren
G – Kiprusoff, Giguere, Cloutier

Strengths: strong goaltenders for a 20-team league, top-line Anaheim scorers
Weaknesses: logjam at center, not enough defensemen, too many Ducks
Solutions: a) I am fairly certain that Penner will get LW eligibility to ease the problem at center.
b) As for defensemen, I immediately will have two spots freed up, as Yahoo! Has whimsically allowed me to put Lindros and Cloutier on the IR. I got a month until the season starts to straighten out the blueline.

At any rate, I did my best to represent the BoC, and I even ended up with a player from each Pacific team.

Critiques? Opinions? Trade offers?