I am in the mood for a little fun, award ceremonies are fun, and it’s the halfway point in the NHL. That’s right, it is time for the mid-season NHL fantasy awards. When I give awards I keep injuries in mind and draft position is always a major consideration. For example, if you get first round value out of a fifth rounder I can’t help but give him favor when considering him for awards. I also give a little value to position depth. Let’s get to it.
Fantasy MVP: For MVP I have got to go Jeff Carter. Chances are he was drafted between the sixth to tenth round but he has been a top five forward thus far. He is currently 12th in points, tied for first in goals, and contributes solidly in plus-minus, PIM and power play points. Ovechkin, Malkin, Crosby, Savard and Getzlaf are strong candidates but lost out because most got Carter much later than the other five. If I chose between those five, I am giving the slightest edge to Malkin. Chances are if you have had Malkin you have been pretty dominant in assists, points and plus-minus. He really separates himself because he has been so dominant in assists he can singlehandedly win you the category.
Biggest Injury Disappointment: When talking about injury disappointments, four players come to mind immediately: Brodeur, Morrow, Gaborik and Briere. I won’t give this to Briere because he’ll be back this year and losing him doesn’t kill you. Gaborik doesn’t get it either because, frankly, you should have known better. Gaborik was born with a tweaked groin and its only gotten worse since then. That leaves Brodeur and Morrow. Brodeur is a tough loss to swallow because you had to use a first rounder to get him. You drafted him expecting him to solidify your goaltending and you were left with nothing. However, you will get him back for the stretch run. Therefore, the award goes to Morrow. I’ll admit I am a little bias. I had Morrow on 100% of my teams and his torn ACL hurt really bad. However, his numbers before the injury were great. He was averaging a hair under a point-per-game and was running away with PIM with 49 in just 17 games. Without his injury, I have no doubt we would be considering him for MVP instead of disappointment.
Biggest Healthy Disappointment: Phaneuf has made a strong argument for biggest healthy disappointment. Phaneuf was taken at the latest by the end of the second round, but he is currently barely in the top 80. What saves him is he is still the 11th best defenseman and the only thing holding him back is his plus-minus. I will anoint a trio with the biggest healthy disappointments. Mr. Spezza, Mr. Heatley, and Mr. Alfredsson, please come forward and claim your prize. All three players were drafted by the end of the second round, but none of them have done anything worth while. Heatley is the best of the bunch but he still barely cracked the top 25. On average, Heatley was going 4th overall. Even worse, the horrid play of the trio has sunk the Senators. It is one thing to be a fantasy disappointment, but to sink your team in real life is inexcusable. Olli Jokinen was a candidate for this, but I warned you about him, so he loses out.
Best Fantasy Goalie: A trio of goaltenders quickly comes to mind for this award. Niklas Backstrom, Steve Mason, and Tim Thomas are the obvious, no other goalie even cracks the top 50. Backstrom is out because he had a pretty decent price tag on draft day. Thomas was pretty cheap, but his numbers just don’t warrant selection over the other two. Also, he was taken way before Mason. This award goes to Steve Mason. Except for the deepest leagues out there, Mason wasn’t drafted. That’s right, you got a top 25 player and the second ranked goalie off the waiver wire. He is currently tied for the league lead in shutouts and leads all qualifying goalies in goals against average and save percentage. This was probably the easiest award to decide.
Biggest Surprise: This one comes down to a trio as well. Mikko Koivu, Phil Kessel and Mason are the obvious frontrunners. Kessel has been the best of the bunch currently ranking 154h overall, but he also had the heftiest price tag. Kessel was on average drafted between the 10th-14th rounds. My biggest problem with Kessel is that he does very little to help you in PIM. Mikko Koivu is ranked only nine spots behind Kessel at 24th. Koivu has been very solid providing strong numbers with assists but his goals leave much to be desired. For a player that was either undrafted or a late round flyer, Koivu owners aren’t complaining. However, this award is going to Mason also. Anytime a player is a waiver wire pickup and becomes a top player in the league, it’s almost shocking. Mason is the easy choice for the reasons stated above.
I hope you enjoyed the awards. Feel free to argue with my selections or tell me about your biggest disappointments or best surprises. One thing worth mentioning is Sundin skated tonight with Vancouver playing just under 15 minutes. If for some reason he is available in your league, get him. Until next week, The Puck Stops Here.
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1 comments:
How can you say Steve Mason is the biggest surprise of the year and not Scott Clemmensen? At this time last year Mason stood on his head and led Team Canada to a World Junior championship and was tourney MVP so the writing was on the wall. Clemmensen was a career minor-leaguer (like Conklin last year) in his second stint with the Devils...He's 15-7-1 with a 2.25 GAA and .922 sv% this year and has single-handedly kept the Devils in playoff contention when everyone thought their only chance of surviving without Brodeur was making a trade. I vote Clemmer the biggest surprise of the year.
I agree with most of your other picks...how about Patrick Elias bouncing back? He's been top 10 or so in fantasy scoring and was probably not touched until at least the 13th, 14th, 15th rounds in drafts.
For injury disappointment, Sergei Gonchar??? Hasn't even touched the ice...at least Brodeur and Morrow saw some action.
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