In their own words: OFNHL GMs on the 2017 draft
Another fantasy hockey draft is in the books and again we witnessed another Saturday morning full of thrills, spills and just a couple of auto-drafts.
We saw a Penguin get drafted at #1, though it was Matt Murray and not Kris Letang who won GM Cori Swards heart. GM Swards was not the only one to pluck a ‘tender from the pool in round one, with Talbot and Bobrovsky quickly coming off the board, with six goal keepers drafted inside the first 21 picks. Clearly a focus on having an elite keeper was front of mind for many GMs.
So how did the managers across our league rate their performance at the draft table? Luckily your Commissioner conducted exit interviews with the brains trust of every team, asking them to rate their draft out of 10, discuss the picks they were most proud of, which was their biggest gamble and who they were disappointed to miss out on. Read on to get the inside word…
Pick 1: GM Cori Swards
“My whole team is a fucking gamble”, commented Swards in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s big event. As well as taking Murray with his first pick, he used his third on Stanley Cup finalist goaltender Pekka Rinne with Senators winger Mike Hoffman in the middle. Rating his draft a 6.5 out of 10, Swards was most disappointed he missed out on Dylan Larkin “because he’s mah boi.” His final words? “I can’t wait to lose to you all.”
Pick 2: GM Michael Paul
Our newest GM, Paul was wrapt to land Caps pivot Nicklas Backstrom, whom he labelled “…an underrated target especially when Malkin was stolen from me!” He’s singled out Peter Budaj as his biggest gamble — “he could be a contender or a bench warmer” — and was sad that “someone stooped a bit Patrick Marleau, taking him from me”. All in all, he ranked himself a solid 7 out of 10.
Pick 3: GM Mark Thierry
“Without a clear idea of my gimmick going in this season, the draft strategy was the least of my worries. Despite the presence of a few interesting sorts (I’m looking at you Drew Doughty), the Derek Zoolander School (For Rediculously Good Looking Guys Who Play Hockey Good) is mostly happy with the draft. Let’s call it a 7/10.”
Keeping with this theme, GM Theirry said he was proudest of his picks of Lundqvist and Ekblad back-to-back, as they “…truly increased the looks of my team 1000%.” He was most disappointed to miss out of Jeff Carter: “I have two-thirds of That 70s Line and missing out on such a smart looking man, was hugely disappointing.” He admits he took a gamble on Malkin, who while not known for his look, is ridiculously good at hockey. All in all, TM Thierry said he’s looking to improve on seasons past, and is optimistic that “Alistair’s relocation affects his team’s performance and that Sean’s Vegas gambles don’t pay off. Mid-table mediocrity may be within my grasp.”
Pick 4: GM Harley Schinagl
GM Schinagl gave himself a very good rating of 8 out of ten, which is pretty damn good given he was one of our auto-draftees. “I don’t think I could have done any better and while there are better fantasy teams, I am happy with my roster at first look.”
He remarked that he was thrilled to get Draisaitl and Staal, but would have liked a higher profile goalie. “I’m not saying I’m not happy with Rask and Smith,” he replied, ensuring dressing room harmony for at least another week. “Mike Smith will either have the season I know he’s capable of with Calgary or show us more of the same inconsistency.” He had tabbed Cam Atkinson too but that pick wasn’t to be, though acknowledges his former ‘Lumbus teammate Scott Hartnell, now in Nashville, was a gamble. All in all, GM Schinagl has pledged stability as the team MO in the early going. “I’m relatively happy with the roster so don’t really want to stuff with it early on. Don’t expect much activity from me on the block straight up.”
Pick 5: GM Sean Lopes
GM Lopes was not exactly thrilled in the aftermath of the draft, rating the team’s performance as 5 out of 10. “I missed a lot of picks I wanted by trying to play it safe early on, but was very happy with my MAF — he could be the steal of the draft.” A noted Canucks fan, Lopes was disappointed he missed out on Horvat: “He’s the lone Canuck I wanted on my roster, oh the struggle of being a Van Fan.” He thinks his selection of Shattenkirk on the blueline could be a gamble as hey may well fall apart under the bright lights of NYC. “It was a great turnout at the draft floor, all GM’s bar two took the early morning flight to Fantasy Draft Island. I feel the auto select teams are doomed,” he concluded.”
Pick 6: GM Giles Ng
Speaking of auto-draftees, GM Ng was the second of our teams to lock in a draft order in advance and let fate do the rest. “Not (auto) picking a blue liner until round 18 might compromise my team immensely…” he remarked afterwards, apologetically. “Perhaps Hampus Lindholm comes back strong after injury, but I’m not holding my breath.” However true to form, he managed to find a silver lining…and a dig at your humble Commish in the process. “At least I didn’t autodraft four goal keepers!” Touche, Giles.
Pick 7: GM David Scott
I’m ranking myself between a 7 and an 8…so I guess 7.5? I was happy with how my first few rounds fell out, nabbing a number of players I had ranked in my top 50. Having said that I think I panicked a bit with BOBROVSKY in round 1, though given the way the draft fell out perhaps it’s not the worst mistake. My biggest gambles are Landeskog (maybe this year he/the Avs are better? Nah…), Reinhart (maybe he’ll end up on Eichel’s wing?) and Patrick Sharp (will he rediscover his scoring touch back on the Blackhawks?). Was disappointed to miss out on Scott Darling, thought he was about to fall straight into my lap in Round 16.
Pick 8: GM Alistair Hogg
The third of our auto-draftees, GM Hogg left nothing to chance, researching line combinations and advanced stats right up until his flight departed the UK. The result? “Well, fuck” was the only commentary I could coax out of him as he transited through Dubai duty-free. “Quick and Andersen, FFS” was the only other insight he offered…I’m guessing he’s not excited about his tending situation then?
Pick 9: GM Robert Trims
The reigning champ came out of the draft firing on all cylinders. “If you want the Cuck, come at me and my goalies will fail miserably at stopping you.” He was proudest of his pick of Rick Nash at #249, only two years after he’d selected the fading winger in the first round. He was disappointed to miss out on the golden boy for the Golden Knights, Schipachev, and thinks his biggest gamble was Minnesota’s Matt Dumba: “Is the minutes increase for real?” he asked, presumably hoping I’d give him an answer. (I didn’t.) He gave John Thompson the winner of ‘best draft’, which is I guess some small consolation given last years tightly fought semi final. On his final thoughts, Trims went out swinging: “Maybe I should make mention of Whitey’s goaltending, it is definitely a number 2 💩”.
Pick 10: GM Mark White
Rating his draft a 6 out of 10, GM White was in a somber mode post-draft. “I’m proudest of my Letang pick at #57. Dude’s a top 10 star if he stays fit. Yeah, I’m boned…” In a roster full of gambles (his words, not mine), he highlighted new-Hab Drouin as the standout. “High pick, but no evidence he’s the real deal yet.” He also issued a message to GM Trims as he left the draft hall too: “I’m still disappointed to miss out on Connor McDavid. The offer of trading half my roster for him still stands.”
His final thoughts? “With a totally different strategy this year based on guys due to rebound and guys who score heavily as opposed to hit/block it’s going to be harder to win. But it’s not impossible so long as you get stellar goaltending **checks goalies** never mind…”
Pick 11: GM Nathan Graham
Given Whitey’s sub-par self assessment, it was surprising to read that the man after him in the draft order was consistently frustrated by his picks. “Whitey, you seemed to pick everyone I had lined up, I wanted to throw something at you!” GM Graham rated his final draft 7 out of 10 despite this, being most proud of his Niskansen pick at #203 even if some may not rate him. “I was disappointed to miss out on Ristolainen, thought I had him until Whitey snagged it. My gamble pick is definitely Ryan Strome and Evander Kane could easily go walkabout and/or get arrested. Having Bishop and a backup in G could also be a problem.”
Pick 12: John Thompson
Backing up Rob’s assessment of his draft, GM Thompson rated himself an 8 out of 10. “I got a lot of what I wanted, if not in a bit of a roundabout way. I’m proudest of my Scott Darling pick — the Carolina starter will be way better than the 300’s he was set in the prior order.” Thompson was another who really wanted Jeff Carter to go with ROR and lock down the FOW wingers from the start, alas it wasn’t to be. Mikko Koivu was also on his radar. The biggest gamble? “Tyler Myers played 11 games last year and is on a deep, stacked WPG blue line.” Oh, and he’s another with some choice words for Mark White. “White’s goaltending stinks”. Final thoughts? “Let’s not adjust Zibanejad scores after the siren this year…”
