It’s nearing the end of summer, and you need your hockey fix. The Stanley Cup Playoffs ended in June, and while the Entry Draft took place in late June and most of free agency, a few days after that, there has not been a lot of news in the hockey world. Everyone is back in school or at work, and the hockey season is just around the corner. Training camps will start in the third week of September, and fantasy hockey drafts have already been taking place.
Understanding Fantasy Hockey Draft Strategies
There is no better day in the year than draft day. It’s an adult version of Christmas. It’s tough falling asleep the night before, and you look forward to the day for weeks. Each player you pick is like a present; some turn out to be a 10-speed bike you ride with joy for a decade, while others are like the ugly sweater you get from your aunt on Christmas.
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There are two basic ways to draft in fantasy hockey. There is the snake/serpentine draft where participants select players in order by round. The even rounds are the reverse order of the odd, meaning that if you pick first overall, you select last in Round 2 and then first again in Round 3. That order continues back and forth as the draft “snakes” down the draft board.
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There is also the salary cap-style draft. In this method, each team gets an amount of money (let’s say $260) and must purchase all their player’s services in one-dollar increments until they fill out their roster. You cannot spend more than the limit, so at a certain stage in the draft, you need to have at least the same amount of dollars remaining as players required. Therefore, if you need eight players to fill out the rest of your roster, you must still have at least eight dollars remaining. This is a fun way to play, as it is possible to get any player(s) you desire, as all you have to do is outbid everyone for their services.
Essential Fantasy Hockey Categories
A big decision to make will be what categories your pool will use. If this is your first time playing fantasy hockey, don’t use too many categories, as it will become complicated, first trying to draft and then actually playing.
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Understanding Roto and Head-to-Head Fantasy Formats
The first way is a roto-style pool in which you play different categories and get points according to where you are ranked in each category.
One league that I’m in, we play nine categories which include: Forward goals,…