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I'm a bit late publishing this article this morning, so my apologies. I was tired last night and couldn't finish it before hitting the sack. Not that there was a steadfast deadline for earlier this morning, but I like to be consistent and have my articles publish at the same time every submission. So I'm sorry that didn't happen this time. Moving on...
We have covered a lot of ground in our 2014 fantasy hockey draft kit and we now find our self in October, just one week away from the start of the season. How exciting is that? Week one served as an introduction to the year, outlined our draft kit schedule, league setup details, and a list of important offseason changes. We kicked it up a notch in weeks two and three and provided rankings for each position - center, left wing, right wing, defense, and goalkeeper - as well as a consolidated rankings list for the upcoming season. And the fourth week looked at the breakout, sleeper, and bust candidates to watch out for this year. If you missed anything, you can find it all here:
Fake Teams 2014 Fantasy Hockey Draft Kit
We've reviewed the rankings and what to watch for coming into the season and week five is where we will concentrate on the draft itself. We covered a piece on draft strategy so that you can feel prepared for your upcoming season. We also analysed the results of an actual snake draft. And today we'll review a standard auction draft, my favourite type of league setup. Hopefully they are able to help prepare you for your upcoming drafts.
Important Disclosure:
The following team managers are Fake Teams readers and fantasy hockey enthusiasts alike who have joined my league and allowed me to write about them in the context of our draft. There will be periodic updates throughout the year as we progress and I hope that you find our experiment helpful. Please keep in mind that everyone here willingly joined these leagues and are readers on this site. Everyone has different opinions and rankings, so please do not belittle anyone in the comments or otherwise. Mistakes happen. This is an experiment and a fun league and is meant to serve as a learning experience for not just the participants, but for everyone reading and otherwise involved. Please play nice.
With that said, lets look at the draft results:
Round One:
| Pick | Nominating Team | Player | Cost | Owning Team |
| 1 | Boomin Grannies | Sidney Crosby (Pit - C) | $ 58 | Boomin Grannies |
| 2 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Steven Stamkos (TB - C) | $ 56 | Crease Monkeys |
| 3 | Daryl's Team | Corey Perry (Anh - RW) | $ 54 | Daryl's Team |
| 4 | four&half | Kris Letang (Pit - D) | $ 21 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 5 | Homer Knows Hockey | Pavel Datsyuk (Det - C,LW) | $ 26 | Night Slugs |
| 6 | Pride HC | Alex Ovechkin (Was - RW) | $ 60 | Pride HC |
| 7 | I'm Malkin Money | Claude Giroux (Phi - C,RW) | $ 50 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 8 | Slackshot | James Neal (Nsh - LW,RW) | $ 29 | Griffin's Team |
| 9 | Jomo & the Smoothies | Marc-Andre Fleury (Pit - G) | $ 33 | Daryl's Team |
| 10 | Griffin's Team | Evgeni Malkin (Pit - C,RW) | $ 53 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 11 | Crease Monkeys | Eric Staal (Car - C) | $ 28 | Griffin's Team |
| 12 | Night Slugs | Tuukka Rask (Bos - G) | $ 52 | Daryl's Team |
There seemed to be three types of strategies used in the first round of nominations. The first strategy was the nominate and pay utilized by Boomin Grannies, Daryl's Team, and Price HC. They all got the high profile player they nominated. Another strategy was the nominate a top player and let some else spend lots of money and then the third strategy was throw out a name from way down the draft board that you don't want and let someone overpay for them. This last strategy was used by myself, Homer Knows Hockey, and Crease Monkeys and is a strategy that you'll see me use frequently. Letang, if nominated where his ADP suggests, would have sold for $5-10 in all likelihood but by putting him up right away, I was able to get $21 off the board early. In terms of paying for players in this round, I typically like to have a top tier - 100 point potential - forward, and atop tier goaltender, but I rarely go after the first ones nominated. As there were still some left after the first round of nominations, I didn't bother to grab either at this point.
Round Two:
| 13 | Boomin Grannies | Ryan Getzlaf (Anh - C) | $ 51 | Crease Monkeys |
| 14 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Henrik Lundqvist (NYR - G) | $ 47 | Boomin Grannies |
| 15 | Daryl's Team | John Tavares (NYI - C) | $ 50 | four&half |
| 16 | four&half | Jeff Skinner (Car - LW,RW) | $ 30 | Night Slugs |
| 17 | Homer Knows Hockey | Erik Karlsson (Ott - D) | $ 40 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 18 | Pride HC | James van Riemsdyk (Tor - LW) | $ 34 | Pride HC |
| 19 | I'm Malkin Money | P.K. Subban (Mon - D) | $ 37 | Daryl's Team |
| 20 | Slackshot | Martin St. Louis (NYR - RW) | $ 18 | Griffin's Team |
| 21 | Jomo & the Smoothies | Shea Weber (Nsh - D) | $ 27 | Griffin's Team |
| 22 | Griffin's Team | Patrick Kane (Chi - C,RW) | $ 43 | Night Slugs |
| 23 | Crease Monkeys | Jakub Voracek (Phi - RW) | $ 19 | Night Slugs |
| 24 | Night Slugs | Phil Kessel (Tor - RW) | $ 41 | Night Slugs |
More of the same as I nominated Skinner here, but he didn't sell as high as I was hoping he would. I grabbed one of my highest ranked players in Tavares as he was the last remaining 100 point potential player left on the board. I would've liked to have bid higher on Kane as well, but with Rask and Lundqvist gone, I wanted to save some funds for Quick. Night Slugs, Griffin's Team, and Daryl's team are obviously following a stars and scrubs strategy as they have all spent frequently early on and Homer Knows Hockey and Slackshot are following a strong balanced attack strategy as they haven't picked up a single player yet. Kane and Kessel could be solid picks at that dollar value this year and Night Slugs is probably happy with that despite likely overpaying for Voracek.
Round Three:
| 25 | Boomin Grannies | Jonathan Toews (Chi - C) | $ 33 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 26 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Jonathan Quick (LA - G) | $ 44 | four&half |
| 27 | Daryl's Team | Jamie Benn (Dal - LW) | $ 44 | Crease Monkeys |
| 28 | four&half | Derek Stepan (NYR - C) | $ 12 | Griffin's Team |
| 29 | Homer Knows Hockey | Patrick Marleau (SJ - C,LW) | $ 24 | Griffin's Team |
| 30 | Pride HC | Kevin Shattenkirk (StL - D) | $ 17 | Pride HC |
| 31 | I'm Malkin Money | Semyon Varlamov (Col - G) | $ 30 | Crease Monkeys |
| 32 | Slackshot | Zdeno Chara (Bos - D) | $ 18 | Griffin's Team |
| 33 | Jomo & the Smoothies | Anze Kopitar (LA - C) | $ 35 | Boomin Grannies |
| 34 | Griffin's Team | Tyler Seguin (Dal - C,RW) | $ 40 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 35 | Crease Monkeys | Drew Doughty (LA - D) | $ 20 | Griffin's Team |
| 36 | Night Slugs | Sergei Bobrovsky (Cls - G) | $ 28 | Night Slugs |
It didn't take long for me to pick up Quick in this round and I now feel good about having two top end players. I'll try to fill in some depth as I go to round out my team, but for now I've got a solid start. Homer Knows Hockey got on the board with a nice value pick of Toews. Kopitar, Seguin, and Benn could also be good picks at that dollar value. Griffin's team looks to be snatching up anything that moves and paid for the recently injured Stepan. He's already filled half his roster after three rounds.
Round Four:
| 37 | Boomin Grannies | Carey Price (Mon - G) | $ 32 | Slackshot |
| 38 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Matt Duchene (Col - C,LW) | $ 26 | Slackshot |
| 39 | Daryl's Team | Taylor Hall (Edm - C,LW) | $ 44 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 40 | four&half | Rick Nash (NYR - LW,RW) | $ 17 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 41 | Homer Knows Hockey | Mike Smith (Ari - G) | $ 17 | Pride HC |
| 42 | Pride HC | Brian Elliott (StL - G) | $ 18 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 43 | I'm Malkin Money | Dustin Byfuglien (Wpg - RW,D) | $ 21 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 44 | Slackshot | Antti Niemi (SJ - G) | $ 25 | Boomin Grannies |
| 45 | Jomo & the Smoothies | Henrik Zetterberg (Det - C,LW) | $ 17 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 46 | Griffin's Team | Ben Bishop (TB - G) | $ 19 | Boomin Grannies |
| 47 | Crease Monkeys | Jeff Carter (LA - C,RW) | $ 17 | Pride HC |
| 48 | Night Slugs | Nathan MacKinnon (Col - C,RW) | $ 29 | four&half |
I put up Nash hoping for the overpay again, but it seems that everyone is low on him this year. At $17 he could actually return a profit, so that didn't work out as well as I had hoped. Slackshot finally picked up some players getting good value for Price and Duchene. Malkin Money went out of his way to make sure he got Hall this year and may have overpaid a little, but it's always nice to have those high talent players on your team. I was disappointed that Elliot and Byfuglien were nominated so early as I wanted to grab them both late for far less money than that. Homer Knows Hockey got another nice value pick with Zetterberg, but I'm worried about him, Slackshot, and Jomo & the Smoothies now as they all have substantially more money than everyone and can either bully the group and get whatever they want or potentially leave money one the table at the end if they keep taking value picks only. I got MacKinnon late in the round and am now solidly on board hoping for a super breakout year from the young kid. He has point a game potential this year, but is a risky play.
Round Five:
| 49 | Boomin Grannies | Corey Crawford (Chi - G) | $ 26 | Slackshot |
| 50 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Zach Parise (Min - LW) | $ 21 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 51 | Daryl's Team | Chris Kunitz (Pit - LW) | $ 20 | four&half |
| 52 | four&half | Brandon Dubinsky (Cls - C,LW) | $ 13 | Daryl's Team |
| 53 | Homer Knows Hockey | Alexander Semin (Car - LW,RW) | $ 10 | Griffin's Team |
| 54 | Pride HC | Evgeny Kuznetsov (Was - C,LW) | $ 17 | Pride HC |
| 55 | I'm Malkin Money | Patrice Bergeron (Bos - C) | $ 11 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 56 | Slackshot | Pekka Rinne (Nsh - G) | $ 10 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 57 | Jomo & the Smoothies | Joe Thornton (SJ - C) | $ 12 | Slackshot |
| 58 | Griffin's Team | Kari Lehtonen (Dal - G) | $ 20 | Slackshot |
| 59 | Crease Monkeys | Ryan Kesler (Anh - C,RW) | $ 15 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 60 | Night Slugs | Logan Couture (SJ - C,LW) | $ 20 | Slackshot |
As I expected, Slackshot, Jomo, and Homer start going on a bit of a spending spree here picking up solid affordable picks. They'll have good teams, but they won't have that superstar capable of carrying their team to victory. It's a tough balance to get right as you want to have both. I felt lucky sneaking Kunitz in there at $20 and think that's great value, but there were plenty of value picks here as Parise and Couture could also prove to be steals.
Round Six:
| 61 | Boomin Grannies | Ryan Miller (Van - G) | $ 10 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 62 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Patrick Sharp (Chi - C,LW) | $ 22 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 63 | Daryl's Team | Joe Pavelski (SJ - C,LW) | $ 19 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 64 | four&half | Cory Schneider (NJ - G) | $ 27 | four&half |
| 65 | Homer Knows Hockey | Duncan Keith (Chi - D) | $ 9 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 66 | Pride HC | Cam Fowler (Anh - D) | $ 9 | Pride HC |
| 67 | I'm Malkin Money | Nicklas Backstrom (Was - C) | $ 28 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 68 | Slackshot | Roberto Luongo (Fla - G) | $ 16 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 69 | Jomo & the Smoothies | Jimmy Howard (Det - G) | $ 8 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 70 | Griffin's Team | Alex Pietrangelo (StL - D) | $ 9 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 71 | Crease Monkeys | Jarome Iginla (Col - RW) | $ 5 | Griffin's Team |
| 72 | Night Slugs | Victor Hedman (TB - D) | $ 8 | four&half |
Seeing my money starting to run out and knowing that Schneider was going to cost me in the $20's regardless of where I nominated him, I decided to bite the bullet and finally nominate a player that I wanted. I got him, but paid more than I wanted to. My goalies and offense seem to be pretty deep and I'll be looking for some defense with what funds I have left. I was disappointed to see Backstrom come up so early as I wanted him cheaper than that, but at least some significant funds came off the board for him. He could still be a great pick for under $30 though. Sharp and Pavelski were steals around $20 each and I picked up a solid defenseman late with Hedman. I may have paid a touch too much for Hedman given the price for other defensemen.
Round Seven:
| 73 | Boomin Grannies | Max Pacioretty (Mon - LW) | $ 14 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 74 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Steve Mason (Phi - G) | $ 5 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 75 | Daryl's Team | Jason Spezza (Dal - C) | $ 12 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 76 | four&half | David Backes (StL - C,RW) | $ 16 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 77 | Homer Knows Hockey | Henrik Sedin (Van - C) | $ 5 | Slackshot |
| 78 | Pride HC | Keith Yandle (Ari - D) | $ 8 | four&half |
| 79 | I'm Malkin Money | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edm - C) | $ 5 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 80 | Slackshot | Gabriel Landeskog (Col - LW) | $ 6 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 81 | Jomo & the Smoothies | Ryan McDonagh (NYR - D) | $ 4 | Crease Monkeys |
| 82 | Griffin's Team | Braden Holtby (Was - G) | $ 10 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 83 | Crease Monkeys | Mike Green (Was - D) | $ 6 | Pride HC |
| 84 | Night Slugs | Wayne Simmonds (Phi - RW) | $ 7 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
Without much money, I went back to nominating high value players off the board hoping to get people to spend. This will be my strategy until closer to the end when I have comparable funds to everyone else. I ddi pick up Yandle though and add to my defense. I now have virtually no money left for big names, but I have a solid stable of talent at each position and feel pretty comfortable with my position so far. Landeskog was a bargain for Jomo in this round.
Round Eight:
| 85 | Boomin Grannies | Niklas Kronwall (Det - D) | $ 5 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 86 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Daniel Sedin (Van - LW) | $ 11 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 87 | Daryl's Team | Jordan Eberle (Edm - RW) | $ 12 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 88 | four&half | Marian Hossa (Chi - RW) | $ 6 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 89 | Homer Knows Hockey | Ryan Johansen (Cls - C,RW) | $ 8 | Slackshot |
| 90 | Pride HC | Joffrey Lupul (Tor - LW,RW) | $ 5 | Pride HC |
| 91 | I'm Malkin Money | Dion Phaneuf (Tor - D) | $ 6 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 92 | Slackshot | Bobby Ryan (Ott - LW,RW) | $ 9 | Pride HC |
| 93 | Jomo & the Smoothies | Evander Kane (Wpg - LW) | $ 15 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 94 | Griffin's Team | Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Ari - D) | $ 6 | Boomin Grannies |
| 95 | Crease Monkeys | Loui Eriksson (Bos - LW,RW) | $ 5 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 96 | Night Slugs | Milan Lucic (Bos - LW) | $ 5 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
The bullies in the room continue spending, but they are still not spending as much as they should to get down to the point of spending all their funds. This is hampering everyone else's ability to spend on players and bringing the draft values down for everyone. There were some great deals here as Hossa, Johansen, and Ekman-Larsson were all great picks at low prices.
Round Nine:
| 97 | Boomin Grannies | Torey Krug (Bos - D) | $ 4 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 98 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Blake Wheeler (Wpg - RW) | $ 7 | Slackshot |
| 99 | Daryl's Team | Thomas Vanek (Min - LW,RW) | $ 33 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 100 | four&half | T.J. Oshie (StL - C,RW) | $ 4 | four&half |
| 101 | Homer Knows Hockey | Jaroslav Halak (NYI - G) | $ 7 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 102 | Pride HC | Jonathan Bernier (Tor - G) | $ 12 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 103 | I'm Malkin Money | Kyle Okposo (NYI - RW) | $ 7 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 104 | Slackshot | Brandon Saad (Chi - LW,RW) | $ 3 | Griffin's Team |
| 105 | Jomo & the Smoothies | Brent Burns (SJ - RW,D) | $ 5 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 106 | Griffin's Team | Anton Khudobin (Car - G) | $ 3 | Crease Monkeys |
| 107 | Crease Monkeys | Kyle Turris (Ott - C) | $ 2 | Griffin's Team |
| 108 | Night Slugs | Ryan Suter (Min - D) | $ 3 | Night Slugs |
Homer Knows Hockey must have realized that he wasn't going to use all of his funds because he went wild to get Vanek in the bidding war of the draft. He must have determined that Vanek was by far and away the best player left and that he had to get him. If you have significant funds and getting down to the depth of the draft, it's ok to do this to acquire a top talent player. Ideally you won't be in that situation though as you'll have spent earlier on top talent. I'm not convinced Vanek was worth it, but time will tell. I was happy and disappointed to get Oshie at $4. I was just trying to get people to spend money, but will gladly take him. Unfortunately those funds used did not allow me to get Saad or Brad Richards who I had keyed in on later as I was outbid on both by $1.
Round Ten:
| 109 | Boomin Grannies | Matt Niskanen (Was - D) | $ 3 | Slackshot |
| 110 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Brian Campbell (Fla - D) | $ 1 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 111 | Daryl's Team | Alexander Steen (StL - C,LW) | $ 3 | Slackshot |
| 112 | four&half | Marian Gaborik (LA - RW) | $ 17 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 113 | Homer Knows Hockey | Ryan O'Reilly (Col - C,LW) | $ 4 | Slackshot |
| 114 | Pride HC | Ben Scrivens (Edm - G) | $ 1 | Pride HC |
| 115 | I'm Malkin Money | David Krejci (Bos - C) | $ 3 | Jomo & the Smoothies |
| 116 | Slackshot | James Wisniewski (Cls - D) | $ 5 | Slackshot |
| 117 | Griffin's Team | Mark Giordano (Cgy - D) | $ 2 | Crease Monkeys |
| 118 | Crease Monkeys | Patric Hornqvist (Pit - RW) | $ 2 | Slackshot |
| 119 | Night Slugs | Christian Ehrhoff (Pit - D) | $ 4 | Slackshot |
| 120 | Boomin Grannies | Brad Richards (Chi - C,LW) | $ 3 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 121 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Alex Goligoski (Dal - D) | $ 2 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 122 | Daryl's Team | Scott Hartnell (Cls - LW) | $ 3 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 123 | four&half | Tyson Barrie (Col - D) | $ 2 | Crease Monkeys |
| 124 | Homer Knows Hockey | Justin Schultz (Edm - D) | $ 1 | Homer Knows Hockey |
| 125 | Pride HC | John Carlson (Was - D) | $ 3 | Pride HC |
| 126 | I'm Malkin Money | Frederik Andersen (Anh - G) | $ 3 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 127 | Slackshot | Radko Gudas (TB - D) | $ 3 | Slackshot |
| 128 | Griffin's Team | Dan Boyle (NYR - D) | $ 2 | Pride HC |
| 129 | Crease Monkeys | Gustav Nyquist (Det - C,RW) | $ 2 | four&half |
| 130 | Night Slugs | Jacob Trouba (Wpg - D) | $ 1 | Night Slugs |
Round ten is a bit of a misnomer as I will start to combine rounds into natural breaking points. Round ten saw the last of the big money spent and the first teams with complete rosters. Jomo & the Smoothies, Homer Knows Hockey, and Slackshot all finished their teams but left funds on the table like I thought they might. That's always a disappointing feeling at the end of the draft, but they all have solid all around teams. The reason I don't like their strategy is that I find it easy to pick up cheap sleepers late in the draft and would like the game changing ability that some of the top expensive players have. It also makes it easier to make mid season acquisitions when you're dropping a cheap player who didn't hit on his potential rather than a semi-expensive player that you're having a hard time giving up on. Gaborik was the same idea as Vanek last round and Jomo just had to get him. There were, and will continue to be for the rest of the draft, numerous good value picks for barely anything. As I have already alluded to, I was upset with Richards being just too expensive for me to get. The same happened with Andersen and Gudas who I really wanted as well. I'm starting to get worried about my defense as I still have two starting roster spots unfilled and we are getting down to the deep defense picks which I usually try to avoid. I almost missed my opportunity to pick up Nyquist as I wasn't paying attention, but just beat the buzzer with my bid and got a great deal on him. Defense will just have to wait I guess.
Round Eleven:
| 131 | Boomin Grannies | Dougie Hamilton (Bos - D) | $ 2 | Night Slugs |
| 132 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Brent Seabrook (Chi - D) | $ 2 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 133 | Daryl's Team | Andrew Ladd (Wpg - LW) | $ 1 | Daryl's Team |
| 134 | four&half | Justin Faulk (Car - D) | $ 1 | four&half |
| 135 | Pride HC | Bryan Little (Wpg - C,RW) | $ 1 | Pride HC |
| 136 | I'm Malkin Money | Paul Stastny (StL - C) | $ 1 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 137 | Griffin's Team | Ondrej Pavelec (Wpg - G) | $ 1 | Griffin's Team |
| 138 | Crease Monkeys | Tomas Hertl (SJ - LW) | $ 1 | Crease Monkeys |
| 139 | Night Slugs | Alex Stalock (SJ - G) | $ 1 | Night Slugs |
| 140 | Boomin Grannies | Jason Pominville (Min - RW) | $ 1 | Boomin Grannies |
| 141 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Radim Vrbata (Van - RW) | $ 1 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 142 | Daryl's Team | Johan Franzen (Det - LW,RW) | $ 1 | Daryl's Team |
| 143 | four&half | David Perron (Edm - LW,RW) | $ 1 | four&half |
| 144 | Pride HC | Jonas Hiller (Cgy - G) | $ 1 | Pride HC |
| 145 | I'm Malkin Money | John Gibson (Anh - G) | $ 1 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 146 | Griffin's Team | Josh Harding (Min - G) | $ 1 | Griffin's Team |
| 147 | Crease Monkeys | Mark Streit (Phi - D) | $ 2 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 148 | Night Slugs | Jake Allen (StL - G) | $ 2 | four&half |
| 149 | Boomin Grannies | Jonathan Drouin (TB - LW) | $ 1 | Boomin Grannies |
| 150 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Andrei Markov (Mon - D) | $ 1 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 151 | Daryl's Team | Nazem Kadri (Tor - C) | $ 1 | Daryl's Team |
| 152 | four&half | Roman Josi (Nsh - D) | $ 2 | I'm Malkin Money |
Round eleven is the last of the multi-dollar bids. Without a third goalie, I paid extra to get the services of Jake Allen. I wanted someone who's numbers I could trust as I already had two very good goalies and playing volume wasn't as important to me. Being outbid on Josi annoyed me as he is a late round target in many of my leagues and I'm expecting big things this year from him. Drouin could be a steal this late int he draft depending on how long he's injured for and I really like that pick. It's too bad that I had just used my last multi-dollar bid or I would've used it there.
Round Twelve:
| 153 | Pride HC | Jaromir Jagr (NJ - RW) | $ 1 | Pride HC |
| 154 | I'm Malkin Money | Jake Muzzin (LA - D) | $ 1 | I'm Malkin Money |
| 155 | Griffin's Team | Alexander Edler (Van - D) | $ 1 | Griffin's Team |
| 156 | Crease Monkeys | Erik Johnson (Col - D) | $ 1 | Crease Monkeys |
| 157 | Night Slugs | Vladimir Tarasenko (StL - RW) | $ 1 | Night Slugs |
| 158 | Boomin Grannies | Brad Marchand (Bos - LW) | $ 1 | Boomin Grannies |
| 159 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Ondrej Palat (TB - LW) | $ 1 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 160 | Daryl's Team | Jonathan Huberdeau (Fla - C,LW) | $ 1 | Daryl's Team |
| 161 | four&half | Jay Bouwmeester (StL - D) | $ 1 | four&half |
| 162 | Griffin's Team | Niklas Backstrom (Min - G) | $ 1 | Griffin's Team |
| 163 | Crease Monkeys | Craig Anderson (Ott - G) | $ 1 | Crease Monkeys |
| 164 | Night Slugs | Chris Kreider (NYR - LW) | $ 1 | Night Slugs |
| 165 | Boomin Grannies | Dustin Brown (LA - LW,RW) | $ 1 | Boomin Grannies |
| 166 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Darcy Kuemper (Min - G) | $ 1 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 167 | Daryl's Team | Jack Johnson (Cls - D) | $ 1 | Daryl's Team |
| 168 | four&half | Jaden Schwartz (StL - LW) | $ 1 | four&half |
| 169 | Crease Monkeys | Valtteri Filppula (TB - C,LW) | $ 1 | Crease Monkeys |
| 170 | Night Slugs | Tyler Johnson (TB - C) | $ 1 | Night Slugs |
| 171 | Boomin Grannies | Alex Galchenyuk (Mon - C,LW) | $ 1 | Boomin Grannies |
| 172 | Trevor Philips Ind. | Valeri Nichushkin (Dal - RW) | $ 1 | Trevor Philips Ind. |
| 173 | Daryl's Team | Jason Garrison (TB - D) | $ 1 | Daryl's Team |
| 174 | four&half | Alex Tanguay (Col - LW,RW) | $ 1 | four&half |
| 175 | Crease Monkeys | Craig Smith (Nsh - C,RW) | $ 1 | Crease Monkeys |
| 176 | Night Slugs | Antoine Roussel (Dal - LW) | $ 1 | Night Slugs |
| 177 | Boomin Grannies | Slava Voynov (LA - D) | $ 1 | Boomin Grannies |
| 178 | Daryl's Team | Jason Demers (SJ - D) | $ 1 | Daryl's Team |
| 179 | four&half | Tyler Toffoli (LA - RW) | $ 1 | four&half |
| 180 | Crease Monkeys | Jiri Hudler (Cgy - LW,RW) | $ 1 | Crease Monkeys |
| 181 | Night Slugs | Martin Jones (LA - G) | $ 1 | Night Slugs |
| 182 | Boomin Grannies | Seth Jones (Nsh - D) | $ 1 | Boomin Grannies |
| 183 | Daryl's Team | Matt Moulson (Buf - LW) | $ 1 | Daryl's Team |
| 184 | Crease Monkeys | Andrej Sekera (Car - D) | $ 1 | Crease Monkeys |
| 185 | Night Slugs | Marek Zidlicky (NJ - D) | $ 1 | Night Slugs |
| 186 | Boomin Grannies | Hampus Lindholm (Anh - D) | $ 1 | Boomin Grannies |
| 187 | Daryl's Team | Nail Yakupov (Edm - RW) | $ 1 | Daryl's Team |
| 188 | Crease Monkeys | Joel Ward (Was - RW) | $ 1 | Crease Monkeys |
| 189 | Boomin Grannies | Ryan Callahan (TB - RW) | $ 1 | Boomin Grannies |
| 190 | Daryl's Team | Robin Lehner (Ott - G) | $ 1 | Daryl's Team |
| 191 | Boomin Grannies | Mikko Koivu (Min - C) | $ 1 | Boomin Grannies |
| 192 | Daryl's Team | Martin Hanzal (Ari - C) | $ 1 | Daryl's Team |
Round twelve signifies the $1 bids. Everyone else finished out their teams here and as usual there were some good steals here. I think I managed to get a solid team here despite having to pick six dollar players on my roster. Defense will be my weakness and I'll need some of my forward sleeper picks to succeed, but my goalies and a couple elite forwards should keep me in the hunt for a championship. The one thing I've realized is that I will never come out of an auction draft super happy with my roster as it's too easy to see all of the missed opportunities, but rarely is it as bad as it seems and usually I wind up with better teams than my snake drafts. I'll finish with a lot of flexibility as I have four eligible centers, four left wings, six right wings (may need to trade or drop some here), four defensemen, and three goalies.
The full rosters are below. Take a look through and let me know where the stronger teams are and why you like them. I hope I'm among them, but I'm finding it very difficult to draft this year when everyone else knows my rankings and strategy. Hopefully I can manage my team to a win this year despite this. Tell me your thoughts below.
Final Rosters (use the scroll bar at the bottom for the teams on the right):
| Boomin Grannies | 1 | Sidney Crosby (Pit - C) | $ 58 | Trevor Philips Ind. | 4 | Kris Letang (Pit - D) | $ 21 |
| 14 | Henrik Lundqvist (NYR - G) | $ 47 | 7 | Claude Giroux (Phi - C,RW) | $ 50 | ||
| 33 | Anze Kopitar (LA - C) | $ 35 | 40 | Rick Nash (NYR - LW,RW) | $ 17 | ||
| 44 | Antti Niemi (SJ - G) | $ 25 | 42 | Brian Elliott (StL - G) | $ 18 | ||
| 46 | Ben Bishop (TB - G) | $ 19 | 43 | Dustin Byfuglien (Wpg - RW,D) | $ 21 | ||
| 94 | Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Ari - D) | $ 6 | 62 | Patrick Sharp (Chi - C,LW) | $ 22 | ||
| 140 | Jason Pominville (Min - RW) | $ 1 | 63 | Joe Pavelski (SJ - C,LW) | $ 19 | ||
| 149 | Jonathan Drouin (TB - LW) | $ 1 | 74 | Steve Mason (Phi - G) | $ 5 | ||
| 158 | Brad Marchand (Bos - LW) | $ 1 | 91 | Dion Phaneuf (Tor - D) | $ 6 | ||
| 165 | Dustin Brown (LA - LW,RW) | $ 1 | 93 | Evander Kane (Wpg - LW) | $ 15 | ||
| 171 | Alex Galchenyuk (Mon - C,LW) | $ 1 | 110 | Brian Campbell (Fla - D) | $ 1 | ||
| 177 | Slava Voynov (LA - D) | $ 1 | 141 | Radim Vrbata (Van - RW) | $ 1 | ||
| 182 | Seth Jones (Nsh - D) | $ 1 | 150 | Andrei Markov (Mon - D) | $ 1 | ||
| 186 | Hampus Lindholm (Anh - D) | $ 1 | 159 | Ondrej Palat (TB - LW) | $ 1 | ||
| 189 | Ryan Callahan (TB - RW) | $ 1 | 166 | Darcy Kuemper (Min - G) | $ 1 | ||
| 191 | Mikko Koivu (Min - C) | $ 1 | 172 | Valeri Nichushkin (Dal - RW) | $ 1 | ||
| Unused Funds | $ - | Unused Funds | $ - | ||||
| Daryl's Team | 3 | Corey Perry (Anh - RW) | $ 54 | four&half | 15 | John Tavares (NYI - C) | $ 50 |
| 9 | Marc-Andre Fleury (Pit - G) | $ 33 | 26 | Jonathan Quick (LA - G) | $ 44 | ||
| 12 | Tuukka Rask (Bos - G) | $ 52 | 48 | Nathan MacKinnon (Col - C,RW) | $ 29 | ||
| 19 | P.K. Subban (Mon - D) | $ 37 | 51 | Chris Kunitz (Pit - LW) | $ 20 | ||
| 52 | Brandon Dubinsky (Cls - C,LW) | $ 13 | 64 | Cory Schneider (NJ - G) | $ 27 | ||
| 133 | Andrew Ladd (Wpg - LW) | $ 1 | 72 | Victor Hedman (TB - D) | $ 8 | ||
| 142 | Johan Franzen (Det - LW,RW) | $ 1 | 78 | Keith Yandle (Ari - D) | $ 8 | ||
| 151 | Nazem Kadri (Tor - C) | $ 1 | 100 | T.J. Oshie (StL - C,RW) | $ 4 | ||
| 160 | Jonathan Huberdeau (Fla - C,LW) | $ 1 | 129 | Gustav Nyquist (Det - C,RW) | $ 2 | ||
| 167 | Jack Johnson (Cls - D) | $ 1 | 134 | Justin Faulk (Car - D) | $ 1 | ||
| 173 | Jason Garrison (TB - D) | $ 1 | 143 | David Perron (Edm - LW,RW) | $ 1 | ||
| 178 | Jason Demers (SJ - D) | $ 1 | 148 | Jake Allen (StL - G) | $ 2 | ||
| 183 | Matt Moulson (Buf - LW) | $ 1 | 161 | Jay Bouwmeester (StL - D) | $ 1 | ||
| 187 | Nail Yakupov (Edm - RW) | $ 1 | 168 | Jaden Schwartz (StL - LW) | $ 1 | ||
| 190 | Robin Lehner (Ott - G) | $ 1 | 174 | Alex Tanguay (Col - LW,RW) | $ 1 | ||
| 192 | Martin Hanzal (Ari - C) | $ 1 | 179 | Tyler Toffoli (LA - RW) | $ 1 | ||
| Unused Funds | $ - | Unused Funds | $ - | ||||
| Homer Knows Hockey | 25 | Jonathan Toews (Chi - C) | $ 33 | Pride HC | 6 | Alex Ovechkin (Was - RW) | $ 60 |
| 45 | Henrik Zetterberg (Det - C,LW) | $ 17 | 18 | James van Riemsdyk (Tor - LW) | $ 34 | ||
| 59 | Ryan Kesler (Anh - C,RW) | $ 15 | 30 | Kevin Shattenkirk (StL - D) | $ 17 | ||
| 61 | Ryan Miller (Van - G) | $ 10 | 41 | Mike Smith (Ari - G) | $ 17 | ||
| 67 | Nicklas Backstrom (Was - C) | $ 28 | 47 | Jeff Carter (LA - C,RW) | $ 17 | ||
| 69 | Jimmy Howard (Det - G) | $ 8 | 54 | Evgeny Kuznetsov (Was - C,LW) | $ 17 | ||
| 79 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edm - C) | $ 5 | 66 | Cam Fowler (Anh - D) | $ 9 | ||
| 82 | Braden Holtby (Was - G) | $ 10 | 83 | Mike Green (Was - D) | $ 6 | ||
| 85 | Niklas Kronwall (Det - D) | $ 5 | 90 | Joffrey Lupul (Tor - LW,RW) | $ 5 | ||
| 86 | Daniel Sedin (Van - LW) | $ 11 | 92 | Bobby Ryan (Ott - LW,RW) | $ 9 | ||
| 87 | Jordan Eberle (Edm - RW) | $ 12 | 114 | Ben Scrivens (Edm - G) | $ 1 | ||
| 95 | Loui Eriksson (Bos - LW,RW) | $ 5 | 125 | John Carlson (Was - D) | $ 3 | ||
| 99 | Thomas Vanek (Min - LW,RW) | $ 33 | 128 | Dan Boyle (NYR - D) | $ 2 | ||
| 121 | Alex Goligoski (Dal - D) | $ 2 | 135 | Bryan Little (Wpg - C,RW) | $ 1 | ||
| 122 | Scott Hartnell (Cls - LW) | $ 3 | 144 | Jonas Hiller (Cgy - G) | $ 1 | ||
| 124 | Justin Schultz (Edm - D) | $ 1 | 153 | Jaromir Jagr (NJ - RW) | $ 1 | ||
| Unused Funds | $ 2 | Unused Funds | $ - | ||||
| I'm Malkin Money | 10 | Evgeni Malkin (Pit - C,RW) | $ 53 | Slackshot | 37 | Carey Price (Mon - G) | $ 32 |
| 34 | Tyler Seguin (Dal - C,RW) | $ 40 | 38 | Matt Duchene (Col - C,LW) | $ 26 | ||
| 39 | Taylor Hall (Edm - C,LW) | $ 44 | 49 | Corey Crawford (Chi - G) | $ 26 | ||
| 55 | Patrice Bergeron (Bos - C) | $ 11 | 57 | Joe Thornton (SJ - C) | $ 12 | ||
| 73 | Max Pacioretty (Mon - LW) | $ 14 | 58 | Kari Lehtonen (Dal - G) | $ 20 | ||
| 97 | Torey Krug (Bos - D) | $ 4 | 60 | Logan Couture (SJ - C,LW) | $ 20 | ||
| 102 | Jonathan Bernier (Tor - G) | $ 12 | 77 | Henrik Sedin (Van - C) | $ 5 | ||
| 103 | Kyle Okposo (NYI - RW) | $ 7 | 89 | Ryan Johansen (Cls - C,RW) | $ 8 | ||
| 120 | Brad Richards (Chi - C,LW) | $ 3 | 98 | Blake Wheeler (Wpg - RW) | $ 7 | ||
| 126 | Frederik Andersen (Anh - G) | $ 3 | 109 | Matt Niskanen (Was - D) | $ 3 | ||
| 132 | Brent Seabrook (Chi - D) | $ 2 | 111 | Alexander Steen (StL - C,LW) | $ 3 | ||
| 136 | Paul Stastny (StL - C) | $ 1 | 113 | Ryan O'Reilly (Col - C,LW) | $ 4 | ||
| 145 | John Gibson (Anh - G) | $ 1 | 116 | James Wisniewski (Cls - D) | $ 5 | ||
| 147 | Mark Streit (Phi - D) | $ 2 | 118 | Patric Hornqvist (Pit - RW) | $ 2 | ||
| 152 | Roman Josi (Nsh - D) | $ 2 | 119 | Christian Ehrhoff (Pit - D) | $ 4 | ||
| 154 | Jake Muzzin (LA - D) | $ 1 | 127 | Radko Gudas (TB - D) | $ 3 | ||
| Unused Funds | $ - | Unused Funds | $ 20 | ||||
| Jomo & the Smoothies | 17 | Erik Karlsson (Ott - D) | $ 40 | Griffin's Team | 8 | James Neal (Nsh - LW,RW) | $ 29 |
| 50 | Zach Parise (Min - LW) | $ 21 | 11 | Eric Staal (Car - C) | $ 28 | ||
| 56 | Pekka Rinne (Nsh - G) | $ 10 | 20 | Martin St. Louis (NYR - RW) | $ 18 | ||
| 65 | Duncan Keith (Chi - D) | $ 9 | 21 | Shea Weber (Nsh - D) | $ 27 | ||
| 68 | Roberto Luongo (Fla - G) | $ 16 | 28 | Derek Stepan (NYR - C) | $ 12 | ||
| 70 | Alex Pietrangelo (StL - D) | $ 9 | 29 | Patrick Marleau (SJ - C,LW) | $ 24 | ||
| 75 | Jason Spezza (Dal - C) | $ 12 | 32 | Zdeno Chara (Bos - D) | $ 18 | ||
| 76 | David Backes (StL - C,RW) | $ 16 | 35 | Drew Doughty (LA - D) | $ 20 | ||
| 80 | Gabriel Landeskog (Col - LW) | $ 6 | 53 | Alexander Semin (Car - LW,RW) | $ 10 | ||
| 84 | Wayne Simmonds (Phi - RW) | $ 7 | 71 | Jarome Iginla (Col - RW) | $ 5 | ||
| 88 | Marian Hossa (Chi - RW) | $ 6 | 104 | Brandon Saad (Chi - LW,RW) | $ 3 | ||
| 96 | Milan Lucic (Bos - LW) | $ 5 | 107 | Kyle Turris (Ott - C) | $ 2 | ||
| 101 | Jaroslav Halak (NYI - G) | $ 7 | 137 | Ondrej Pavelec (Wpg - G) | $ 1 | ||
| 105 | Brent Burns (SJ - RW,D) | $ 5 | 146 | Josh Harding (Min - G) | $ 1 | ||
| 112 | Marian Gaborik (LA - RW) | $ 17 | 155 | Alexander Edler (Van - D) | $ 1 | ||
| 115 | David Krejci (Bos - C) | $ 3 | 162 | Niklas Backstrom (Min - G) | $ 1 | ||
| Unused Funds | $ 11 | Unused Funds | $ - | ||||
| Crease Monkeys | 2 | Steven Stamkos (TB - C) | $ 56 | Night Slugs | 5 | Pavel Datsyuk (Det - C,LW) | $ 26 |
| 13 | Ryan Getzlaf (Anh - C) | $ 51 | 16 | Jeff Skinner (Car - LW,RW) | $ 30 | ||
| 27 | Jamie Benn (Dal - LW) | $ 44 | 22 | Patrick Kane (Chi - C,RW) | $ 43 | ||
| 31 | Semyon Varlamov (Col - G) | $ 30 | 23 | Jakub Voracek (Phi - RW) | $ 19 | ||
| 81 | Ryan McDonagh (NYR - D) | $ 4 | 24 | Phil Kessel (Tor - RW) | $ 41 | ||
| 106 | Anton Khudobin (Car - G) | $ 3 | 36 | Sergei Bobrovsky (Cls - G) | $ 28 | ||
| 117 | Mark Giordano (Cgy - D) | $ 2 | 108 | Ryan Suter (Min - D) | $ 3 | ||
| 123 | Tyson Barrie (Col - D) | $ 2 | 130 | Jacob Trouba (Wpg - D) | $ 1 | ||
| 138 | Tomas Hertl (SJ - LW) | $ 1 | 131 | Dougie Hamilton (Bos - D) | $ 2 | ||
| 156 | Erik Johnson (Col - D) | $ 1 | 139 | Alex Stalock (SJ - G) | $ 1 | ||
| 163 | Craig Anderson (Ott - G) | $ 1 | 157 | Vladimir Tarasenko (StL - RW) | $ 1 | ||
| 169 | Valtteri Filppula (TB - C,LW) | $ 1 | 164 | Chris Kreider (NYR - LW) | $ 1 | ||
| 175 | Craig Smith (Nsh - C,RW) | $ 1 | 170 | Tyler Johnson (TB - C) | $ 1 | ||
| 180 | Jiri Hudler (Cgy - LW,RW) | $ 1 | 176 | Antoine Roussel (Dal - LW) | $ 1 | ||
| 184 | Andrej Sekera (Car - D) | $ 1 | 181 | Martin Jones (LA - G) | $ 1 | ||
| 188 | Joel Ward (Was - RW) | $ 1 | 185 | Marek Zidlicky (NJ - D) | $ 1 | ||
| Unused Funds | $ - | Unused Funds | $ - |
To all of the draft day participants, thank you for joining the league with me. I'm really looking forward to playing the season through and seeing what happens. Feel free to comment below and defend some of your picks or weigh in on the draft day results.
Good luck drafting your own teams this year, I wish you all success!
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