DobberHockey.com has released it's Top 300 Keeper League Skaters for September. Let's have a look at where the rookies rank on the list and the differences from Dobber's mid-August Prospect Ranks…
*Reminders:
The Keeper League list considers points this year, their 3YP, their upside, proneness to injury, how their depth chart looks now and in the future. Points-only and of course positions are not factored.
The Prospect Ranks take into account the organizational depth chart, wait time, upside and NHL certainty. The 'main' rankings have a very small impact on these rankings with the idea being that prospects worthy of consideration in the main rankings are obviously a little more valuable.
Rookie Rank
|
September
|
Player
|
Team
|
Dobber's
|
|
1 |
42 |
Patrik Laine |
WPG |
2 |
|
2 |
43 |
Auston Matthews |
TOR |
1 |
|
3 |
78 |
Mitch Marner |
TOR |
4 |
|
4 |
80 |
Jesse Puljujarvi |
EDM |
3 |
|
5 |
154 |
Dylan Strome |
ARI |
5 |
|
6 |
158 |
William Nylander |
TOR |
6 |
|
7 |
167 |
Oliver Bjorkstrand |
CBJ |
14 |
|
8 |
168 |
Sebastian Aho |
CAR |
9 |
|
9 |
174 |
Pavel Zacha |
NJD |
13 |
|
10 |
176 |
Pierre-Luc Dubois |
CBJ |
7 |
|
11 |
188 |
Christian Dvorak |
ARI |
8 |
|
12 |
189 |
Jimmy Vesey |
NYR |
12 |
|
13 |
205 |
Tyler Motte |
CHI |
58 |
|
14 |
222 |
Mathew Barzal |
NYI |
18 |
|
15 |
227 |
Kyle Connor |
WPG |
11 |
|
16 |
234 |
Anthony Mantha |
DET |
21 |
|
17 |
235 |
Kevin Fiala |
NSH |
28 |
|
18 |
244 |
Mikko Rantanen |
COL |
10 |
|
19 |
245 |
Martin Reway |
MON |
35 |
|
20 |
248 |
Sonny Milano |
CBJ |
19 |
|
21 |
252 |
Nick Ritchie |
ANA |
16 |
|
22 |
253 |
Travis Konecny |
PHI |
15 |
|
23 |
256 |
Nikolay Goldobin |
SJS |
66 |
|
24 |
257 |
Clayton Keller |
ARI |
22 |
|
25 |
259 |
Jakub Vrana |
WAS |
27 |
|
26 |
266 |
Timo Meier |
SJS |
36 |
|
27 |
269 |
Ty Rattie |
STL |
33 |
|
28 |
272 |
Mike Matheson |
FLA |
D5 |
|
29 |
274 |
Matthew Tkachuk |
CGY |
25 |
|
30 |
275 |
Alex Tuch |
MIN |
50 |
|
31 |
278 |
Nick Cousins |
PHI |
56 |
|
32 |
280 |
Charles Hudon |
MON |
64 |
|
33 |
282 |
Joel Eriksson Ek |
MIN |
79 |
|
34 |
283 |
Connor Brown |
TOR |
45 |
|
35 |
286 |
Devin Shore |
DAL |
54 |
|
36 |
288 |
Kalle Kossila |
ANA |
120 |
|
37 |
289 |
Lawson Crouse |
ARI |
44 |
|
38 |
290 |
Francis Perron |
OTT |
99 |
|
39 |
291 |
Alexander Nylander |
BUF |
41 |
|
40 |
292 |
Pavel Buchnevich |
NYR |
37 |
|
41 |
293 |
Colin White |
OTT |
23 |
|
42 |
294 |
Nick Schmaltz |
CHI |
51 |
|
43 |
297 |
Alan Quine |
NYI |
86 |
What we can take away from this lengthy chart…
Laine being one spot ahead of Matthews in the 'main' rankings, Laine is going to have a better rookie year, being a winger is a lot easier to transition to the pros than a centreman. There is so much more to take in defense-wise as a centreman. Matthews will have to win over Mike Babcock's approval, which I think will happen pretty quickly. Laine and Matthews should be taken in fantasy drafts in the fourth round.
Marner and Puljujarvi are next on the 'main' rankings list, 35 spots later. That's a difference of three full rounds. There is still a risk of Marner not making the team, so beware of his re-draft value, in a keeper league, you should be drafting these two guys in the sixth or seventh round.
Waiting another six or seven rounds to draft the next highest rookies ranked, moving all the way down to the 13th round of your draft and can now take a look at rookies like; Dylan Strome and William Nylander. In the next round you can look at Bjorkstrand, Aho, Zacha and Dubois. At this point in the draft, taking chances on rookies of this caliber could really put your team over the top of the competition if these guys end up being Calder candidates.
The last group of players who could contend for the Calder this coming year is the next level of rookies on the chart; Zacha, Dubois, Dvorak, Vesey. Drafting these guys late in the draft, rounds 14 or 15. Be wary of these choices, they could easily not make their teams out of training camp, so you may have to drop one of these guys if you drafted them in a re-draft league.
Late round fliers that have a chance to be good rookies are from Tyler Motte (ranked 205) to Ty Rattie (ranked 269). Taking a chance on any of these guys in that range could help you with depth on your rosters. Also they could become keepers if your leagues uses draft picks from the previous year's keepers. These guys' stocks will increase by next years' draft.
The only rookie defensemen ranked in the Top 300 Keeper League Rankings is Mike Matheson from the Florida Panthers. Ranked at 272, the 28th ranked rookie skater in the 'main' rankings. He is the fifth ranked d-man in the Prospect Rankings behind Ivan Provorov, Shea Theodore, Zach Werenski and Ryan Pulock. I think any one of those five defensemen could be an impact on the back end and be helpful in your fantasy leagues.
*
As for the biggest differences from Prospect Rankings to Keeper League Rankings:
Kalle Kossila: +84 spots
Francis Perron: +59 spots
Joel Eriksson Ek: +46 spots
Tyler Motte: +45 spots
Alan Quine: +43 spots
Nikolay Goldobin: +43 spots
Charles Hudon: +23 spots
***
Feel free to leave comments, questions or concerns below, have fun playing the game of Fantasy Hockey.
Paul Zwambag
@zwambag