Five Guys I’m Staying Away From In 2013 Drafts
Every fantasy hockey GM has a list of players they don’t like. There are many reasons why a player is added to someone’s “don’t want” list but you’ve got to be open-minded and realize that while you may not like Alexander Semin this year, if he were still available come Round 6 or 7 then you gotta put all bias aside and draft him because he represents good value. So basically this is a list of guys I’m not willing to pay the going rate for in this year’s fantasy hockey drafts but will consider if they fall into “value” territory.
Henrik Sedin
He’ll get his assists but he’s turning 33 and I’d venture to guess that he’s no longer going to be a point-per-game player. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still worth picking up but nothing about Henrik makes me value him as a late 1st round/2nd round pick, which is where he goes in most drafts. His G and SOG numbers are laughable, as are his grit categories. The fact that he may very well be killing penalties again under Torts means that he’ll probably take a hit in more fantasy conducive ice time totals. I’d rather use a top 25 pick on a player that provides more stats than just Assists, +/-, and PPP.
2013/14 Projection: 15G – 59A – 74PTS – 29PPP – 140SOG
Ryan Suter
Suter is a great hockey player in the real game but he’s starting to get a bit overhyped in the fake one. In most drafts he flies off the board in the 4th round and that’s way too high for my liking when you can pick up guys like Yandle and Phaneuf 2-3 rounds later — and not to mention that Phaneuf provides much better grit numbers.
2013/14 Projection: 9G – 39A – 48PTS – 22 PPP – 150SOG – 120BLKS
Alexander Semin
There is absolutely no way I would ever use a 3rd or 4th Round pick on Semin at this point in his career. Sure, he put up a point per game last season and that was with a career low shooting percentage but the PPP numbers just haven’t been there for 3 years now and when you couple that with the injury history, I’ll pass on drafting him in favor for higher upside plays like Couture, Ryan or Seguin.
2013/14 Projection: 70GP – 24G – 41A – 65PTS – 16PPP – 260SOG
Mike Ribeiro
Ribeiro has always been a guy that I tried to pick up as a value play. He could usually be had after Round 10 which represented awesome value for the stats you would get. The move to the Washington and the point per game he put up last year means that he is getting fantasy attention again for the first time since 2009 drafts. I’m not willing to use the 5th or 6th round pick that it’s going to take to land him. The move to Phoenix worries me because they’re not a fantasy friendly team like Washington is. He’ll help you in Assists, PPP and contribute decent PIM stats but that’s really all you’ll get as the SOG and Goal numbers are pretty lackluster, and I see them falling due to the move to Phoenix. Definitely staying away form him at the going price.
2013/14 Projection: 16G – 45A – 61PTS – 24PPP – 165SOG
Johan Franzen
I’ve never owned Franzen in any of my leagues ever and don’t plan to start this season. To me, he always goes higher than he should for fantasy purposes and I can’t understand why. The only stats that he really excels in are Goals and SOG and even then the numbers aren’t anything to be mesmerized by. I guess a positive thing that can be said about him is that he’s consistent and should prove you with the numbers you expect when you draft him, but even then, there’s no real upside here or anything to get excited about.
2013/14 Projection: 26G -252A – 51PTS – 19 PPP – 230SOG
Who are some guys you’re staying away from this year? Post them in the comments section.