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Week 12 Hot Topics in the NHL + Mailbag | Fantasy Hockey Podcast · Banger Management - Fantasy Hockey Podcast

0:00
But what about Bow Bangor management fantasy hockey
0:03
podcasts? Woo, wow, wow, you got me.
0:10
Jake, are you here? Are you here?
0:13
Put them into Bangor management, The fantasy hockey podcast with
0:17
Kevin and Josh. Once again, only the two of us,
0:20
but there are three of us usually.
0:22
And listen, maybe you will get tired of hearing me say it every
0:25
episode, but please don't forget him.
0:27
Jacob, Jason. Really swear.
0:30
He is our third co-host. He is just currently on vacation
0:33
in Japan. He'll be back I think like in a
0:36
week. I don't even know when he gets
0:37
back. Crazy gets back on 28th and
0:39
29th, so less than a week. But also, I know that I know
0:43
that he's been missing the pod and all the fans a lot.
0:46
He's been listening to every single episode.
0:47
So he hears everything we say about him.
0:49
And yeah, he's really missing it.
0:51
He said that like, I think he was saying to me something like
0:54
he almost like the only regret he has about going on this
0:57
amazing trip he's on is that he's like missing the pot.
1:00
And I'm like, go enjoy your trip.
1:01
You know, we'll be here when you get back.
1:03
But he's like, should have brought my stuff, you know,
1:06
like, yeah, true. Can't predict the future, but
1:08
pretty. We had the apples and Gino's
1:10
collab while he was gone. Well, listen, he probably has
1:13
major regrets right now, but listen, probably more collapse
1:15
in the future. Well, that was the last one.
1:17
And then because of him, we're never have any other ones so.
1:21
Yeah, that is that. That would be the reason for
1:24
sure. That would be the reason.
1:25
Now Vicky, we love you. Excited to have you back.
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He also texted me. He was just like, I'm so happy.
1:30
Like all this stuff with the pod is going well but like I really
1:32
miss it and everything. So, yeah, yeah.
1:34
We should have been able to what is it a 13 hour time difference
1:37
between here and Japan so. Yeah, he should have been able
1:40
to take a break in the middle of every year vacation day and just
1:42
podcast with us for two hours. I would love that, but yeah, I
1:46
guess he's not committed to the bit.
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Not kidding. Yeah, I would not expect that
1:49
from anybody. But welcome in this week.
1:53
We're doing our hot topics and mailbags, so we've got a lot of
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questions I think this week in the Discord and everywhere else,
2:00
and some pretty, pretty hot topics to talk about.
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So listen before we get right into it, Little spill guys
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follow us on social media like rate subscribe on YouTube.
2:12
If you're already watching the videos, really appreciate it.
2:14
Honestly, the the like to views ratio has been really good.
2:17
So people are liking the content and we really appreciate it
2:21
actually means a lot and. Also, I love like the comments,
2:25
if anyone leaves any comments, like I'm looking at every video
2:27
reading the comments, it's just I know it's fun.
2:30
It's fun seeing some like engagement, like I know we have
2:32
like we are getting like a lot of engagement on the Discord,
2:34
which is obviously the best place to be, not to get ahead of
2:36
ourselves on the field. But it's cool to sing a little
2:38
bit all over the place, you know?
2:39
So it's was definitely, you know, tell us just what you're
2:42
thinking, you know. You really nice on you on the
2:45
YouTube comments like on our on our episodes that people are
2:47
listening being like no love the content and really excited and
2:50
they're asking you trade questions and stuff and
2:52
honestly, it's really cool seeing everybody be so happy
2:55
about. That's why that's why I like the
2:56
comments so much. Everyone was being really
2:58
positive. Comments.
3:00
If you listen, you're not happy. Leave a negative comment please.
3:03
But still. Don't got like we mentioned if
3:05
he does, Kevin got really into it on TikTok with someone like,
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you know, like people like criticizing him, but he was also
3:10
saying that like it was brutal and like, you know, he was
3:12
getting frustrated, but also it was like our most popular posts
3:16
largest because of all the comments and engagement it was
3:18
getting. So I guess it goes both ways.
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No publicity is bad publicity, But if you're going to comment
3:24
it would be nicer if it's a +1 for.
3:26
Sure. Or just like a healthy debate,
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you know, not being like, you guys suck.
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You don't know what you're talking about.
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Jerry is the GOAT that me being like, well, he's old and injured
3:34
and really expensive. They're like doesn't matter.
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It's like, God, I was gonna use a bad word, but really bad.
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Yeah, we gotta, we gotta get past this one.
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Either way that tick tock is now at like 10K views or something
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which is pretty lit but. Yeah, it's cool.
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Either way, if not already in the discord, when the discord
3:49
and listen. If you're listening to this on
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Spotify, Apple, wherever else, iHeartRadio, Dailymotion,
3:54
whatever it is Not able to follow.
3:57
I don't daily motion. Is that still a thing?
3:58
I remember I used to watch like videos on Dailymotion.
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Yeah, that rings a bell to me. I don't know you get podcast
4:03
there, but. The podcast there, but maybe not
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I don't. Know, but yeah, don't.
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Know follow rate US five stars if you like what you hear
4:09
honestly really appreciate it and in every episode we run a
4:11
poll in the Spotify comments. So check it out, give us your
4:14
answer, and let's get into some hot topics.
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Start us. Off track.
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I tried to. I tried to keep these topics
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extra sizzly just for you, Kevin.
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So let's see what you think getting off.
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We've got a man who is the best player in the NHL, JITB INL as I
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like to say yes for brat of the New Jersey Devils read the brat
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pack. I know we we highlighted him I
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think 2-3 weeks ago as a buy low, but his name just keeps
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popping up. So it has to be one of our hot
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topics. Obviously it's not a good vibes
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right now with all the Brad owners.
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They're like, I saw someone ask if you could drop brat.
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I saw, you know, like, do I sell him like for like peanuts?
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Like is he just? Copy.
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Yeah, so caveat with all that discussion is his best friend
5:00
Jack Hughes just returned. So a lot of people maybe are
5:03
more optimistic now, which they should be honestly, I don't I
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think he was even without he was returning so soon.
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He should be turning around his play with Hughes.
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It's even more of a no brainer. But yeah, Kevin as the resident
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yes for brat owner in our league.
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How are you feeling? I bought lawn him it feels like
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2 months ago at this point. I think it was more like a month
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and a half ago, but I'm I'm really happy.
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I have you experienced yes bread on my team.
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If I don't have them on my team, I've been trying to acquire him
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in most leagues. I just think that this guy's,
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you know, he's gonna get over a point per game.
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It feels like it's an absolute like that's the floor.
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It feels like if you're on YouTube, I'm doing the floor
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motion. But yeah.
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And then with New Jersey getting healthy again, team Will Myers
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back. Yes, Jack Hughes is back and
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Dougie Hamilton is on P2. Thank God.
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F my life, yes. But the loss, I think a lot of
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better days are ahead for a, for New Jersey and yes, for Brad
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himself. And I'm still trying to acquire
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like people are trying to drop him.
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People were like, who can I trade him away for?
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I'm like, if I, I'm not trading him away right now, I wanna keep
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him. If you're trading him, trading
6:10
him at low value, keep him. I think he's good at bounce
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back. All my wish anyone but Kevin had
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him in our league I'd be sending non.
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I've been sending nonstop offers for the past month and a half.
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100% I would have like he's a point per game guy who could get
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like .4 power play and I've no doubt in my mind he's going to
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go back to that rest of the season.
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So his value is so low right now that bye bye bye.
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Like **NSYNC would say. Bye, bye, bye.
6:36
Yeah, exactly. Alright, that's you want this
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next one. Next one we've got Robert Thomas
6:45
of the Saint Louis Blues. This is kind of like the
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opposite story where he was so bad for so long, but now he's
6:49
starting to wake up a bit. Saint Louis still sucks, but
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he's been on a really good stretch and in the past he's
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been an over point per game guy who doesn't really get
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peripherals, but still points wise they've been there.
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So what are you thinking Kevin? Do you think the tides have
7:02
turned for Robert Thomas in Saint Louis?
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Is it just a flash in the pan and you should use this to get
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him off your team? What's what kind of vibe are you
7:09
going with? This I would I would use this to
7:11
get him off my team. I feel like I don't don't want
7:13
to hold the Saint Louis players for an extended period of time,
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especially given the playoff schedule.
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Like they they have I think 9 games total, but they got a two
7:21
game week in the quarters. So any two game week in the
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playoffs is not something I wanna hold for.
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And listen, Robert Thomas has the reputation of not only being
7:29
an exceptional drummer, but also he's a drummer, right?
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Yeah, I think so. I don't know Jake.
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He's the resident, OK, so. Some insight into some music
7:39
stuff. But yeah, for fantasy, this guy
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I feel like is the end goal of what Dylan Strome type of
7:45
architecture is for is just like final evolution.
7:48
The final evolution of Dylan Strome is Robert Thomas where
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it's like he's not gonna get you any shots, hits or blocks.
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He'll get you double digit faceoff wins and he'll get you
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mean last season he was at like 1.16 points per game in that
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realm, which is exceptional. It's insane.
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And you want that guy on your roster.
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But this year, like the Saint Louis Blues are not the same as
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last year. I think is stealing.
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This year is a point per game and that's like a a very
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generous feeling. I think over this last, what
8:13
over the last two weeks, he's shooting at 2.52.7, which is
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like unheard of for Robert Thomas and he's getting close to
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a point per game average. I'm using this opportunity and
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I'm selling him because I would like, I would like a guidance
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more well-rounded. Is it a hot take to say I'd
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rather Josh Norris? Yeah, it is.
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I'm just hoping that you see in the.
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Possibilities that George Doris is better rest of season if
8:36
healthy. John was on a better power play,
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Josh. Put that out there like Josh for
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surprised if Norris has more points and probably points to
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Robert Thomas Rest this season. You'd be surprised.
8:48
No, I wouldn't be surprised. I think that's definitely a
8:50
possibility. I do think that, like, I'm not,
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I'm a Josh Norris believer too, but I feel like I have to kind
8:56
of be the voice of reason because he's on your team, so
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you get muddled in the hype. Yeah, exactly.
9:00
So I think meeting in the middle is a good spot.
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So no, I would definitely, I definitely think Thomas is
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better than Norris, but I don't think that I want Thomas my team
9:10
either. So two things to know.
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One, obviously is the playoff schedule is really bad and
9:13
there's less of a note, but more of a question, which I fully
9:16
agree, by the way. But for our viewers out there,
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what makes a guy like Robert Thomas who's been over a point
9:21
per game most years in the past, right?
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We're like, oh, he's showing a flash in the pan to sell him.
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First guy like Jasper Brat who's been over a point for game in
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the past and he hasn't turned it on yet.
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And we're like, no, we want to buy him.
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What takes explains the viewers kind of our viewpoint and how we
9:34
get to that kind of conclusion. Well, to me, it's also the team
9:37
that they're on like New Jersey is a is a title contender and
9:41
he's surrounded by elite talent. And I'm not worried about yes,
9:45
reproduction because we know we've seen it in the recent past
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how good that team is his production and is the power play
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for the New Jersey elite. Robert Thomas is also like feel
9:54
like the Blues went on an insane stretch to end the year last
9:57
year, but he's not playing like I feel like all the guys he's
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been playing with. I've just been the same guys,
10:01
but like older, like the Buchnevich and whatever.
10:04
Like, yeah, they have Jake neighbors who's more young, but
10:07
he's not like a superstar talent.
10:09
They got the Dillon Holloways who's now hurt and did not make
10:11
delete that we expected this season.
10:13
All the Blues situation of the team like they're not they're
10:16
not playoff title contender. They're a guy that's a team
10:19
that's hopeful to make the playoffs, but it's looking
10:22
unlikely at this point. And the players like this, when
10:25
they're not surrounded by elite talent, it's harder to reach the
10:28
ceilings that you've reached in the past.
10:30
So that's why I'd be trying to trade him.
10:32
Yeah, fully agree. And also throw in the fact that
10:34
Brat actually can get some hits and shots here and there whereas
10:37
Thomas just does no back cats other than faceoff wins.
10:39
So when he's not getting those points it's even worse.
10:41
But. Rather Thomas returns from who
10:43
is deployment has now been fluctuating and has been in a
10:46
rough stretch and we highlighted him as a bi lo still believe
10:49
that, but it might be longer term by low than than what
10:53
Robert Thompson. Right now that's tough because
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Washington should have a better power play than Saint Louis back
11:01
at them just pretty much identical.
11:03
Obviously Saint Louis is the worst playoff schedule, but
11:05
Thomas has been a better player and he like I didn't think
11:09
Strome's deployment was in question, but and his power
11:12
place shouldn't be, but his even strength now is being bumped.
11:15
Thomas. I have 100% no doubt that he's
11:17
going to be 1 power play 1 all year, something I'm still going
11:19
to Thomas Overstrom. The thing with Thomas is though,
11:21
is that like I feel like his repetition to took such a big
11:23
hit at the start of the year where people were dropping him.
11:26
He was on waivers and a lot of leaks.
11:27
He's still on waivers and some of the leaves that I'm in.
11:29
So yeah. And is Ross percentage is high.
11:31
Just goes to know that like if you're any type of shadow league
11:34
is on your roster right now, he's playing insane.
11:36
So like he should be rostered. But if you can flip him for like
11:40
William Nylander, who he highly did as a bi Lo who Toronto looks
11:44
like we're heading towards some kinds of changes, whether it's
11:47
people getting traded or coaching change, If you can
11:50
train for like Sebastian Aho, I would love that as well.
11:52
I think that's a great. Target right now, that's a
11:54
really good one. Yeah, another centre who's been
11:56
underperforming. So that's if you can do that
11:58
flip. That I would flip him for Bull
11:59
Horvat yeah for sure another super high shots floor yeah and
12:04
he's been hurt so and he already was like you know down grading
12:07
and value even before the injury so.
12:10
Yeah, no, I like, I like all these targets.
12:12
Let's move on to the next hot topic.
12:14
We've got this one we've mentioned a bunch of times.
12:16
We'll kind of like go quickly on it, but we got Tyler Bertuzzi,
12:19
Spencer Knight, the Chicago Blackhawks minus Badaruddin
12:23
Nizar or more mainly just minus Bedard.
12:26
I think we'll just zoom through it.
12:28
But pretty much, yes, Bertuzzi is droppable.
12:30
Try to trade him first, if you can't then I'm fully comfortable
12:33
dropping him. Start tonight.
12:34
Obviously is not droppable, but like he was a cell high.
12:36
For the entire season. We've talked about him for so
12:38
long and now what we all expected happened.
12:41
Obviously got accentuated with the Bidard injury.
12:44
But you know, this is still like you're not gonna sell them now
12:47
because as lowest, but maybe when parts like on the verge of
12:49
coming back, you can try and sell them on the Bidard hyping
12:51
like, look, they'll go back to how he was at the start of the
12:53
season because birds coming back.
12:54
So that's kind of my thoughts on Chicago as a whole, just not not
12:58
too interested. We've covered this on our last
13:00
episode as well, like in the In the News talked about these are
13:02
being heard and we covered that. So if you didn't listen to the
13:04
last episode, please go listen to that.
13:07
We do shed some insight there. But yeah, on Bertuzzi, I feel
13:10
like we highlighted him as a sell high and it was like a get
13:12
him off your roster ASAP because the window was closing.
13:15
The Bedard injury even accelerated that and now it
13:18
feels like the window is closed. If you're still holding the bag
13:20
on these guys, it's an unfortunate situation.
13:24
I would say like, yeah, if you need the spot, you can pertussis
13:27
cuttable. That does not mean that there's
13:29
not better days ahead when Bedard comes back.
13:32
But right now, like he's just a it feels like just a 0 on your
13:34
roster. And Spencer 90 is a typically
13:36
that is getting so much volume that you can't really cut him.
13:38
But if there's an alternative on your waivers, like would you
13:41
rather? Would you cut specialists to
13:42
pick up like Walstead? Well, yeah, for sure.
13:45
For sure, Right, Yeah. Who's another goalie that could
13:47
be picked up that software? Like would you pick up?
13:49
Vladar. You pick up radar.
13:52
Uh, yeah, I really like what has been doing.
13:55
OK, what about grieves? That's tough because Columbus
14:00
isn't such a bad spot right now, but they should rather have
14:02
night and they're making should be better.
14:05
Yeah, I'd still hold night over over grieves right now, OK?
14:10
Yeah, I mean, listen, he's he's just like a low end starter
14:13
right now. He's completely his.
14:14
His tier of value has been taking a hit, hit, hit.
14:16
I just really hope that our our viewers sold high on him because
14:19
it was such a clear cell high and at the time, like we were
14:21
recommending guys like the top of the top guys and it could
14:24
have happened. So hope so.
14:26
But anyways, it's too late now. So let's move on to the next
14:28
one. Matthew could Chuck.
14:30
He is on the verge of returning. Kevin and I have been having a
14:33
lot of discussions on him because I've been possibly
14:36
targeting him in a trade, but I'm not sure exactly how to
14:38
value him. Do you just assume he's coming
14:40
back and he's going to be the first round value that he's
14:43
always been the past couple of years where he's going to be
14:45
over a point per game, three shots, 1:00 PM.
14:47
If your league counts that one hit due to 6.4 power play
14:50
points, that's pretty much his season stats from last year.
14:53
Do you expect that? Do you expect him to be slow
14:55
because he hasn't played in months, He's coming off a big
14:57
surgery and he missed training camp and all that.
15:00
And then also, does the fact that Barkov is not here bring
15:03
down his value? So that's kind of kind of all
15:05
the question marks with Matthew could.
15:07
Chuck, what do you think of? My take is that I'm not really
15:10
worried about Matthew. Look, in terms of like his
15:12
history, his injury history, like, yeah, he missed a lot of
15:15
time right now, but it's not like he's played the year, got
15:19
hurt, came back and like he's been, you know, have bumps and
15:23
bruises all year that he's still dealing with.
15:24
Like, he's been fresh off the ice for like, since the surgery
15:28
and he's been healing. And I think they're going to do
15:30
due diligence to only bring him back when he's truly ready.
15:32
Like, it's not like he's never skated before.
15:34
And like, his first time skating since the injury is going to be
15:37
in the first game that he's coming back, right?
15:38
Like, he's been skating, he's been practicing.
15:40
So I'm not worried about his injury when he's on the ice.
15:45
And do I think he's going to progressively get better as he
15:48
comes back? Like obviously I think with
15:50
anybody, like when you're not, you don't have the game sense
15:52
and everything like that. Like it gives you a little bit,
15:54
gives you a couple games, I think to get back to game speed,
15:57
let's say. But I think his ceiling is still
16:00
what he did last year. I know Barkov is not there and
16:02
that definitely hinders the power play and also like the
16:05
surrounding task. But we're seeing Reinhart have
16:07
success still. We're seeing a lot of guys on
16:09
this team like Marsha has been actually a bright spot.
16:11
We keep getting a sell high, but at a certain point you have to
16:13
give him credit and be like, listen, he's been we're in week
16:17
12 of the season. That's three months like he's
16:18
still good. So I I think that there is
16:21
enough quality here for Matthew contract to be the type of
16:24
player that like he can be and he's just sick and he's
16:27
talismanic in his own right too. Like this is the type of guy
16:29
that has the personality of the team, the heart of the team as
16:32
well. Like Barkov is the heart of the
16:33
team, but he's hurt. So I think Chuck is the next guy
16:36
up. This team won back-to-back
16:38
Stanley cups. Like, I really want Matthew
16:41
could Chuck on my team. And if you're able to acquire
16:44
him right now, right before he comes back, like, pleasure
16:46
listening to this, you might be back like the next game.
16:48
It feels like, yeah, so the window was there.
16:51
If he comes back and he sucks for like a game or two, I'm
16:54
pouncing on that opportunity to try.
16:56
To buy him 100% but I think that I'm counting on.
16:59
I think you're getting a point per game.
17:00
I think Chuck, for the rest of the season, .4 power play
17:04
points, maybe like .3 at the lowest and three shots and hit
17:07
and that's an exceptional value. Yeah, OK.
17:11
And lastly, we've got this one kind of stings, but hopefully
17:15
it'll it'll turn around. We've got Austin Matthews of the
17:18
Toronto Maple Leafs. I bought low on him.
17:20
I still believe he's a huge buy low, but it's one of those that
17:23
has not immediately turned around into a success.
17:26
So it definitely feels a bit bad.
17:28
There's so much negative press going on about Matthews, about
17:31
the Leafs in general. I one thing that gives me hope
17:35
is that the Leafs are too big of a market and too big of a team
17:38
to let themselves do what they're doing for the rest of
17:41
the season. They either have to commit to
17:43
the tank and start selling pieces they're or they have.
17:46
And I don't think we're gonna do that when you have guys like
17:48
Matthews, Nylander, Farris, like it just doesn't make sense.
17:51
Or they're going to fire the coach, fire the GM, They're
17:54
going to make some trade to acquire some more talent.
17:56
I know they've got some cap space now that Mariners gone for
17:58
essentially nothing. So there's a lot.
18:01
That's what could happen and something's gotta happen.
18:04
So for that reason, I'm more optimistic about Matthews.
18:07
I know people are always like, oh, he's never been the same
18:10
since like one injury or another, or oh, he's a huge like
18:13
Marner merchant or whatever, you know?
18:15
But like, you don't just accidentally score 69 goals in a
18:18
season, you know, like, he's, he is a leader.
18:21
On all of those. No, he's still a lead shots
18:24
elite faceoff wins elite blocks from a from a play it forward so
18:28
obviously counts that as an extra bonus.
18:30
And the power play is nonexistent right now and his
18:33
points have been pretty bad around like .8 on the season.
18:36
It literally can only go up from here.
18:38
Yep, I'd .3 PowerPoints onto that.
18:40
He's over point per game player so it kind of feels like that's
18:43
the necessary click for. Him to go back to get fired.
18:47
It feels like everything is pointing towards Bubba getting
18:49
fired or somebody getting traded.
18:51
And I think if somebody gets traded, it's getting traded
18:54
somehow. I think his they probably got to
18:56
choose between keeping Berube or trading the lender.
18:59
That's kind of what it. Feels like they hate each other.
19:02
Don't get along at all. And Willie has been one of those
19:04
guys that like always performs and is like the only one that's
19:06
always performs. So the team is tied to Matthews
19:09
as well. If you don't have a choice to
19:11
make him successful, but he's also gonna take it on his
19:13
shoulders and be like, alright, this is my team.
19:15
I'm the captain. Like I gotta perform and I gotta
19:17
bring the team up. And I feel like I don't know if
19:19
he has the personality for it like.
19:21
Yeah, I never seen him left to viruses, Captain, Honestly,
19:24
yeah. So.
19:26
But it's hard because Matthew is obviously their best player, so.
19:29
Yeah. It's a tricky situation.
19:31
I'm still trying to acquire Matthews if I have the option.
19:36
Josh's smiling. But Josh is asking for a pretty
19:38
good Chuck and Elite that has his face off, wins Pimms and
19:40
hits and blocks and shots and all that.
19:41
So I think you should be able to get it for less than that right
19:44
now. And yeah, if I have any immunity
19:47
to, I am trying to. But also I do not think that
19:51
Matthew is hitting the thing that he had last year.
19:52
I think we have a big enough sample size this year to know
19:55
that there's enough asterisks around the situation that the
19:59
negative sentiment is warranted. That doesn't mean that he can't
20:02
be elite in his own right. So I want to acquire.
20:06
And if the owner is struggling in the bottom of the standings,
20:08
you probably have a good opportunity to.
20:11
But yeah, I think a lot can change.
20:14
Like we're talking about it right now, trying to guess how
20:17
the situation goes if the coach gets fired and they bring in
20:20
like a pizza bowler. Like I'd be happy with that.
20:22
And I think all boats go up. Yeah, if Nylander gets traded,
20:27
it's really bad. Yeah.
20:29
So I just feel like, yeah, it's I really think the coach is
20:31
getting treat, getting fired and I just I foresee a explosion of
20:37
offence coming when that happens.
20:39
I think Matthews, Nylander, Knies, Tavarus, like I really
20:43
think that it's going to be huge and if they trade out here
20:47
opportunity. If they trade Neal under it can
20:49
go two ways. You can either do like a get a
20:51
Marty Natures type of player where you're upgrading to
20:55
another elite talent or you go like the Stankova in route where
20:59
you know, Carolina kind of like had to get ranting and off their
21:03
team and they got they didn't get any stud stud back, but.
21:06
Yeah, it just doesn't make sense.
21:07
Like, it's Nylander's not asking to be traded.
21:10
It's not the same. And they're not in a contract
21:12
dispute. He's locked down.
21:13
Like, there's no reason. Like, why would you ever choose
21:16
Berube over Nylander? I don't know.
21:17
There's no way. But but look, crazier things
21:20
have happened. I just don't see it.
21:23
OK, let's dive in to our mailbag questions for this week.
21:26
Let's just get right into it. Sedated sleeper on Reddit asked
21:29
who is the have starting goal here is to season.
21:32
He actually asked this a few weeks ago and I feel like the
21:34
answer changes every time, but we'll give our best shot again.
21:37
He said surely it can't be Monty with him being sent to the HL.
21:40
Surely, Kevin, what do you all be wrong about this?
21:42
Because it feels like no matter what we say, the Habs will do
21:45
something else. But Jacob Fowler just got a
21:46
shutout and he's scheduled to play before you listening to
21:50
this, he's already played the game that scheduled.
21:52
So I'm, I still have to give it to Monty because I'm just going
21:58
by process of elimination. Like if Fowler is on the roster,
22:02
he's not going to be the starter.
22:03
Like if Fowler is in the NHL, he's gotta be the starter, but
22:08
Monty in the NHL is not gonna be there forever.
22:12
So when Monty comes back up, the only one that can be sent down
22:15
is Fowler. So if it's Monty and Dobesh,
22:17
it's gonna be Monty, and if it's Fowler and Dobesh, it's gonna be
22:21
Fowler. So the best gets like the lower
22:23
end of the stick the whole time. And I don't see Monty being in
22:25
the AHL the whole season. So I kind of just feels like
22:27
it's just like a is there a world where it's Monty and
22:30
Fowler and they Duke it out that probably like we the least
22:34
likely scenario. So it's going to happen type.
22:36
Of thing yeah, so now, but I love how you put it it is
22:39
they're not keeping Fowler in the NHL unless he's playing
22:42
games. He is the actual future in terms
22:44
of goaltending for the Habs right now and so all they care
22:46
about is him getting game action.
22:48
So it's exactly like you said if he's in the NHL, he's the
22:50
starter. If he's in the, if he's in the
22:53
NHL, you know, then I agree. Monty has the edge over Dobish
22:56
for sure, because neither of them has been good enough to out
22:58
to the other. And Monty is the starter going
23:00
into the season. And yeah, I think that that's
23:03
how it works. Like hot stuff.
23:04
They don't want to lose anyone to like, waivers, right?
23:05
Of these three goalies. And so the only one I think you
23:09
could get sent down without getting potentially claimed is
23:12
Fowler. And so I think that either
23:15
Fowler ends up in the AHL or there's gonna be a trade.
23:18
And that's kind of, yeah. I was gonna say we keep seeing
23:21
that Monty is in the AHL, but he's going to come back.
23:24
Like they're saying that it's not permanent.
23:26
And the fact that he got sent down just shows like how bad the
23:28
quality of play has been. But Monty has the contract.
23:31
We've seen have the talent and the performance backup like him
23:35
being a starter for his team. I just don't see a world where
23:38
long term he doesn't end up having the chance and taking it
23:41
again. But is there a world where
23:44
Fowler just ends up being really sick and able to run with this?
23:48
Like, yes, but listen, we don't have a what is it the special
23:53
mirror, whatever crystal ball ball or yeah, that's.
23:55
What I will say from what it seems from our conversation, I
23:58
think what we're saying even makes a lot of sense.
23:59
It seems like Dobish is clearly the third most likely to end up
24:03
being the starter. So I would not want him on my
24:05
team particularly even though he's been getting like every
24:08
second start right now. But but yeah, so I would rank it
24:10
as most likely Monty still, second most likely Fowler and
24:13
third most likely a dovish. But for fantasy, you don't
24:15
roster Monty until he's back in the NHL.
24:17
So Oh yeah of course this is not like I rushed to grab him type
24:20
of thing. OK injury old 2298 on Reddit
24:24
asked will you guys be doing an episode about the playoffs and
24:26
players to target in weeks 21 to 23?
24:29
Also I watch you guys on YouTube and you become my favorite
24:31
fantasy hockey content. I hope Jakey comes back soon.
24:34
This is Jake's burner account confirmed, but thank you injury
24:39
all 2298 for first of all watching on YouTube and
24:42
supporting us really appreciate it.
24:43
If you're also watching on YouTube, guys subscribe, leave a
24:46
like really appreciate it and leave us.
24:48
Let us know in the comments like what do.
24:50
You want to take back. And do you want to take back?
24:54
Really. Well, you should do, But no, we
24:56
always do a playoff primer. I think last season, last season
24:59
was our inaugural banger management season.
25:01
And we did a playoff primer episode and it was like our most
25:04
popular episode by far. And I think we really did a, we
25:07
helped a lot of people with that one.
25:08
And we're gonna do the same thing this year.
25:10
We're always talking about optimizing for the playoffs
25:12
already. Like for the last two months
25:14
we've been talking about optimizing for the playoffs.
25:16
So we're always talking about that.
25:17
But we will absolutely make a dedicated episode for the
25:20
playoffs, and we'll probably do it.
25:23
My guess is somewhere in January.
25:25
Like, I think that's a good bet to give you enough time for
25:28
people to react and make, you know, trade acquisitions before
25:30
all the trade deadlines close for fantasy.
25:33
And trust us, we're gonna have a lot of content to help you guys
25:36
out. So you can rely on that.
25:38
And thank you. For.
25:39
Saying that, we're your favorite fantasy hockey podcast to listen
25:42
to now. Really.
25:42
Appreciate it. Yeah.
25:43
And in the meantime, join the discord.
25:45
We just created a channel just to discuss fantasy playoffs so
25:48
any questions you have there if you want answers earlier than
25:51
when our episode comes out where there to answer them.
25:53
We'll your rosters will help you find trays.
25:55
Like all that good stuff. Yeah, OK.
25:58
Keep your Cat 4 on Discord asked what metrics you guys typically
26:01
look at when evaluating underperformers to decide if
26:03
they're a drop or a buy low. And it's kind of like when we're
26:06
talking about the comparison with Thomas and Brett, right,
26:09
where both guys underperforming. Obviously Thomas turned it
26:13
around a bit. One of them were like, this
26:14
guy's a buy, and the other one were like this guy we don't
26:16
really want our team. So what do we typically look at?
26:19
What kind of metrics when we decide?
26:22
I know for me my favorite thing to look at is first of all the
26:24
deployment like is a downgrade in value or performance coming
26:29
from playing on a different line, less ice time.
26:32
I look at shooting percentage obviously to know some guys are
26:36
more likely to score goals or like goal scorers than others
26:39
and like is there shooting percentage rock bottom?
26:41
Are they instill in high danger chances?
26:44
What is their expected goals? Are involved on lines that have
26:48
a high expected goals. Those are all the things that I
26:50
look at. Also, you can just compare it to
26:52
season averages or career averages for these guys.
26:54
Like if if we know that a guy like a yes for Brat is
26:59
consistently averaging over a point per game every season and
27:02
then for a month in this season he's averaging 0.4 points per
27:05
game. I'm not like, alright, I'll get
27:07
to cut this guy. He's only 0.4.
27:09
It's just you can clearly compare with what the situation
27:11
is. In the past, you know that New
27:13
Jersey has been struggling with injuries and guys go through
27:16
rough stretches and those are the opportunities where I want
27:18
to buy low. When guys are bad and I'm
27:21
looking at cutting them off my roster, it's usually like a
27:24
degradation of the team in general.
27:26
That is, I think, a big sign for If the team is just bad and the
27:29
guys on the team are bad, then I'm less likely.
27:32
It can be like, OK, if the team becomes good then I'm interested
27:35
again, but if the team is bad then they might get shut down
27:39
and stuff. So what do you look?
27:40
At Josh, yeah, I mean, I fully agree.
27:42
The way I would kind of like look at it is like, OK, first
27:44
thing you do, you look at, like you said, their career slash
27:47
last year averages to kind of get an idea of the type of
27:49
player they are. Now you look at what they're
27:51
doing this year. Obviously if you're talking
27:52
about dropper below, they're not doing well, right.
27:54
Then you think, what's the reason for this?
27:57
Is the reason they're going through a slow streak or is
27:59
there a concrete reason the team is way worse than last year,
28:02
like Saint Louis, their deployments way worse.
28:04
They got bumped from power play one.
28:05
It's not looking like it's going to come back, you know, that
28:08
kind of thing. If there is a clear reason, then
28:11
you think, OK, is there going to be a remedy to the situation?
28:14
New Jersey sucks this year. Oh, but Jack uses out, so when
28:17
he comes back, that should be a huge boost for the team.
28:19
Or they're just in a rough slump right now.
28:21
Or you look at Saint Louis is bad this year.
28:22
Well, last year they kind of overperforming, so I'm not
28:25
surprised they're doing this poorly.
28:26
I don't see a reason why they should suddenly turn it around.
28:29
So that's kind of the way I would look at it.
28:30
If you see a clear reason why to turn around or they're just in a
28:34
slump right now, then I have no interest in dropping them and I
28:37
think they're good by low. If you see a clear reason why
28:40
their value has dropped and you don't see a remedy for it in the
28:43
future, then I think you can drop them.
28:45
And an example, a pretty good example actually earlier this
28:47
year was Andre Scov where he and the hit in past years, he's
28:52
always been solid, but he was just awful.
28:55
Like the zeros for a month. It felt like it was really,
28:58
really brutal, but it was very clearly because he was lying. 4
29:01
power play too. And if you know Rod Brindamour
29:03
and the way he does things, you know that one day it could be
29:06
lined for play to the next He can be line one power play. 1
29:08
And I knew with that deployment change he would go back to doing
29:11
kind of what you expect to do. So I'm like, I'm gonna hold on
29:13
to him. I'm gonna wait for that
29:14
deployment to come back up. And when he's playing well, I'm
29:16
gonna try and sell him because the same way it came back up, it
29:18
could go back down. So that's kind of like the way I
29:21
look at it. Yeah, exactly.
29:22
I mean, we're on the same page and I think also like the
29:25
biggest thing also is the deployment.
29:27
I think yes, you look at a guy like, yes, for Brat, you know,
29:30
he's line one, power play one, no doubt in your mind is gonna
29:32
be the whole season and performance.
29:35
I'm not worried about a guy like John Carlson, let's say in the
29:39
middle of the season gets bumped down to P2 and is getting
29:41
replaced by like Ethan Frank and Connor McMichael.
29:44
And I'm not expecting him to get P1 back.
29:47
I'm trying to get him off my roster because you know, the
29:49
deployment is kind of going to point you in the direction that
29:53
his performance can be as good as it was before because he lost
29:56
an integral part of his value. Whereas the power play 1
29:58
exposure. And he also kind of like, read
30:00
the signals from the coaches, right?
30:02
Like sometimes it's just straight up the coach saying
30:04
like, I don't like how he's been playing.
30:06
I I prefer this other guy there. Or sometimes it's the signal
30:09
that a guy like Ethan Frank is getting power play one over him.
30:11
When you're like, if this, you know, no shade teeth in Frank.
30:14
But if this like nobody is getting powerfully one over John
30:16
Carlson, clearly they don't want John Carlson on power play one.
30:19
Yeah. It's not like someone who's so
30:20
incredible forced his way onto power play 1.
30:22
So that's kind of a different things you can look at.
30:25
All right, Paul on Discord asked with the holidays in the Olympic
30:28
break in February, do you think injured guys like Fox will wait
30:30
until after the Olympics to come back?
30:32
Absolutely not. It'll be the opposite.
30:34
I think guys all want to play in the Olympics and they're all
30:36
going to be rushing, even if they shouldn't.
30:38
Honestly, I think they're going to try to make it to the.
30:40
Olympics. If a guy is like supposed to be
30:42
a shoe in or a strong candidate for the Olympics team, he's
30:45
gonna push to come back before because he wants to be on that
30:47
team. If the guy wasn't gonna be on
30:48
the team anyways, he might take the the extra rest.
30:51
That's kind of how I look at it, pretty straightforward.
30:53
Yeah, fully agree. OK, Frank on Discord asked which
30:57
teams have the best playoff schedules and who would you
30:58
target from those teams in a trade.
31:00
So we've talked about this a lot.
31:01
We just created a new channel in Discord, but we'll run it
31:03
quickly. Week 21 to 23, your two best
31:05
teams are New York Rangers and Boston with them have a 444 give
31:10
the edge to the Rangers because they have more off nights, but
31:12
that's the and then third place like 1 slightly below is
31:15
Pittsburgh because they got a 435.
31:17
So over the course of the three weeks is the same number of
31:19
games, but obviously it's nicer to have it spread out among the
31:21
three weeks and then players to target.
31:24
We mentioned JT Miller and Adam Fox, both both injured guys on
31:27
the Rangers who you can buy low on.
31:30
Honestly, most of the Rangers are probably buy lows because of
31:33
how poorly they've been doing. So I would take Miller, I would
31:35
take Fox takes advantage ad Trocheck Panarin.
31:38
I mean parents, not really low, but like if you can get him in a
31:40
trade. So that's, you know, pretty much
31:42
the power play 1 unit from the Rangers will Cooley also if
31:44
you're if you're league has. Hit.
31:46
The biggest target still are is Fox and JT right now, given the
31:49
exactly they're injured, I think it gives you an opportunity that
31:52
is not always there to be able to acquire these guys and stash
31:55
them for the playoffs. Absolutely and then in terms of
31:57
Boston, you've gotten their play 1 unit, you've got Pasta McAvoy,
32:01
geeky Alice Lindhome and Pavel Zacha.
32:04
I think that in a lot of leagues, you know, Zach is like
32:07
kind of like streamer level like but so you know, I'm not dying
32:10
to get in, but you probably get it for free.
32:12
Elias Lindholm is playing really hot right now.
32:13
I wouldn't try to buy him at this current pace passed up.
32:17
You gotta trade a first rounder to get him.
32:19
But if you can make a lateral trade where you're trading like,
32:22
I don't know, you know, if you if you have like recital or any
32:25
got confused as a better example, if you have presov and
32:28
you could do like one for one for pastor, like a pretty
32:30
lateral move where you're just gaining one extra game and all
32:32
those weeks. I like that.
32:33
So that's a way to attain him. Morgan geek.
32:35
He's just been playing out of his mind to the point where I
32:38
honestly kind of don't want to touch him in a trade because.
32:40
He's so hot. Yeah.
32:42
And then Charlie McAvoy is a pretty solid by low, I mean he
32:44
just came back from that injury and he hasn't lit it up yet.
32:47
So I like that as a target as well.
32:48
I think most acquirable guy on Boston in terms of like who
32:51
would want for their playoff one.
32:53
He's the guy that I think is the closest entry point into adding
32:56
the value of the elite playoff schedule.
32:59
Yeah, if you want to Bangor for the playoffs, Todorov is also a
33:02
solid. And then for Pittsburgh, I'm
33:04
kind of more wary because you just don't know which of those
33:06
pieces are still going to be on the team come playoff time
33:09
because they're if they don't make the playoffs, they could be
33:11
selling. So like you look like a Ricard
33:12
Raquel, a Brian Russ, like both those guys could be off the team
33:15
by the time it comes. So you don't want to plan around
33:17
that too much even in Eric Carlson.
33:18
So you know, Crosby would be the only guy.
33:20
But again, that's you gotta pay a high price to get.
33:22
That and the worst playoff schedules like the ones that are
33:25
that are worth highlighting. I think Utah is the worst one
33:28
because they have a four games in the quarters, three games in
33:30
the semis, then two games in the finals.
33:32
It's there's only two teams that have two games in the finals.
33:34
It's Utah and Nashville. So already those are those are
33:37
teams that they do have guys that are really good on their
33:40
rosters and that will bring you value in your fantasy teams that
33:42
come the championship. Like do you want a Dylan Gunter
33:44
on your roster that only has two games and probably have like
33:48
Candyland Gunter and two games match, you know, the best way
33:51
ever guy who has four games? I don't know.
33:53
I probably take the quantity there.
33:55
So these are guys that like right now I'm thinking about.
33:57
I'm like, I'm trying to get them off my roster if possible, even
34:00
if it's a lot of remove just to make the to get the better
34:03
exposure come playoff time. And also, I think Saint Louis, I
34:07
was gonna say Saint Louis is a 234.
34:08
So obviously if you can get out of the quarter finals pretty
34:11
comfortably, then it's a nice schedule.
34:13
But just any two game week along those span of three weeks is not
34:15
someone you're interested in, all right?
34:18
Now and we will have the playoff primer episodes, so stay tuned
34:21
for that. We'll try to get that out for
34:23
you guys. Then we'll cover like
34:24
everything, trade targets, guys to trade away, how to build your
34:28
rosters and everything like well.
34:30
It's really, it's a really good episode and it's just too early
34:33
to do it. It's not too early to be
34:34
thinking about that stuff, but it's too early for us to do that
34:37
because a lot of things change between now and then first.
34:40
Exactly. We're always happy to answer
34:41
questions about it. Alright, Norm on Discord asked
34:44
what's something you'd change in fantasy hockey to make it more
34:46
accessible to a wider audience. Hmm, that's a good question.
34:53
I don't know. That's a, that's a really,
34:56
that's a, that's a thinker. I think to make it more
35:01
accessible to a wider audience is just the game of hockey in
35:06
general. I think I was going to say
35:07
hockey is the least popular I think fantasy sport out there.
35:10
Like it's way more fun than basketball in my opinion.
35:14
It's kind of similar to baseball and that like there's a lot of
35:16
day-to-day activities to do. Football is obviously the
35:19
juggernaut where it's just like the sport was made for fantasy
35:22
where everything is, everything is on one day, Sunday.
35:25
You get to watch football the whole day and enjoy your fantasy
35:27
team. But to make it better for a
35:29
wider audience, I think the game has to grow and people need to
35:34
be involved in the personalities as well.
35:37
If people know the players, then I think they're more invested in
35:40
fantasy to be with those players.
35:42
But a lot of people in the Discord actually like it's their
35:44
first time playing fantasy hockey.
35:45
So I think the game is growing. It's just like at the at what
35:48
pace compared to other sports? Yeah, I, I fully agree with
35:52
that. I think it's a lot about growing
35:54
the game of hockey itself. And the NHL is a league.
35:56
I think a lot of the stuff the NHL does is not the best in
36:00
terms of marketing themselves. So I think they make it
36:02
impossible to watch the games by having blackouts and making you
36:05
need different subscription services.
36:07
I think they're afraid of scheduling their games properly
36:10
because they're too scared of the other big league.
36:12
So they'll avoid, you know, Sunday games because that's when
36:15
football is on. And they'll avoid, you know, if
36:16
it's like NBA playoffs, they'll, you know, move around games.
36:19
So I think they're kind of like a little chicken about their
36:22
scheduling and yeah, the marketing, the personalities, I
36:24
think they're getting better at that.
36:25
I'm seeing more and more like interviews with the players were
36:28
showing some more personality and like different like
36:30
commercials where the players get to be a little funny and
36:33
stuff. So I think it's growing.
36:34
It's just it's about growing hockey and NHL and then that'll
36:38
trickle down to fantasy. And I think I think it's it
36:42
sucks because I think bangers categories leagues are the best
36:46
and most fun leagues to play in when you actually know are
36:49
familiar with the sport. But I think the barrier to entry
36:52
is difficult for these like that because it's not intuitive
36:55
compared to other fantasy sports where it's just like, you know,
36:57
your guys score points and that's it.
36:59
So I think the default points league that's revolves around
37:02
the main offensive categories is very fun.
37:04
And I think having that be popularized as good to get
37:07
people into the sport of fantasy hockey.
37:10
But then when you you're up to like the bangers category
37:13
leagues, I think that's where the most fun is had so.
37:16
Yeah, and Yahoo should get rid of plus minus from their default
37:19
leagues. That would help too.
37:21
Yeah. OK, Joshua, if you're on Discord
37:24
asked what would be the biggest mindset shift if you've only
37:27
ever played points leagues but want to play in a Bangor
37:29
management hosted Cats league next year.
37:32
So the biggest mindset shift from a points league to a Cats
37:34
league. OK, so it's funny because for
37:39
me, I went straight into the cats leagues.
37:41
I went, I got thrown in, thrown into the ocean to the wolves and
37:44
had to survive. And the first, the first year
37:46
was rough. If you don't do any research,
37:48
like my first year doing fantasy hockey, I didn't do any
37:50
research. I didn't really.
37:51
I just kind of went with the flow.
37:53
I was focusing on fantasy football and then near the end
37:55
of it kind of got the hang of it and being like, oh, this is
37:57
actually really fun. I want to put more time into
37:58
this. And then that was my favorite
38:00
thing in the whole world. So the biggest mindset shift I
38:03
think is to view, especially in Cats leagues, to view players.
38:10
It's kind of like a Moneyball approach on like the averages
38:13
and the aggregate is so important that I think it really
38:18
helps visualize players in terms of like their, you know,
38:21
wide-ranging value. Because a guy that like touches
38:25
multiple categories could be more valuable than it got us
38:28
really good at one single category type of thing.
38:30
And I like having guys that are really well balanced and will
38:34
help me across the board. Yeah, so I would say one of the
38:38
things I really like about a Catholic versus points league is
38:40
I think there's a lot more strategy involved in a points
38:42
league. It's just get the guy who's
38:44
gonna get you the most points. But all the everything has a
38:46
point value and kind of gets jumbled together, right.
38:48
So it's not like, you know, it doesn't matter where your points
38:50
are coming from. You just need the most points.
38:52
A cat's league, you need the different categories.
38:55
So I like that adds a lot of strategy.
38:56
I actually my first year was I did a points league and then I
38:59
joined this league with J and Kevin.
39:01
So I did come from a point lead to a cats league.
39:04
And since I knew that I was kind of new to it, my view as a
39:06
rookie in this type of thing was I'm just still just going to
39:10
target guys who are the best goal scorers, assist guys like
39:13
points guys, especially because I saw that in our league of like
39:15
record, we have goals, assists, points powerfully points and
39:19
shots on goal. So the way I saw it was if I
39:21
target guys who get a lot of power play goals, that every
39:24
time someone wears a power play goal, that's forecast, right?
39:27
That's a goal, a point to PowerPoint and a shot.
39:29
So I'm like, I'm going to target guys who are really good at that
39:31
thing because it covers the most categories.
39:33
And then I'll kind of adjust from there.
39:35
So that's how I went into the draft and then it's really easy,
39:39
not really easy, but it's much easier to pick up guys who are
39:41
good at like hits and blocks on the waiver wire, then pick up a
39:43
guy who's going to be a point for game or get you power play
39:45
points. So that's kind of one way to
39:47
look at it. As you get more experience than
39:48
you can start making more of those judgment calls like oh,
39:50
this guys gonna get like .1 fewer points, but he's gonna get
39:53
an extra two hits. Like it's a no brainer to go
39:54
with the hits guy, you know. So like that's a that comes with
39:57
more experience And then on a week to week basis, it's about
40:00
for your streamer. It's not just about picking up
40:02
the guy's score the most points. If you're projected to get like
40:04
10 more goals and assists than your opponent, but you're like
40:06
down by like 5 face off wins, you know?
40:09
It's better to pick up a random third line centre who's gonna
40:11
get you some face off wins than a guy who's on line one power
40:13
play 1 and can get you like 2 assists that week.
40:15
So that's kind of stuff that I would look at.
40:17
But that's that's kind of how my shift was from from points to.
40:21
Cash. I will also say like get
40:22
obsessed with replacement value. I think if you're in the
40:25
discord, which I know you are, you always see us ask about
40:29
what's the replacement value Like OK, if you do this trade,
40:31
like who's the best you can pick up off waivers?
40:33
Because if you're selling, let's say 2 guys that are a point per
40:36
game each, for a guy that has 1.5 points per game, you're
40:40
like, OK, like I'm taking a loss at points.
40:42
But when you think about it, you're losing .5 points and
40:45
you're opening up a roster spot. So who's the guy you're gonna
40:48
pick up that's gonna make up that gap?
40:49
Is it like a William Ecklin who's gonna average like 0.75
40:52
points, points per game? And that way you're making up
40:55
the difference and then some. And you probably consolidate it
40:57
into a guy that is way more valuable, only holds one spot,
41:01
And it gives you the luxury of, on a weekly basis, streaming for
41:04
hits or blocks or points or shots depending on what you
41:07
need. The extra flexibility is huge.
41:10
So I think that's a really good mindset to have as well.
41:11
We're playing in category leagues.
41:13
Yeah exactly. OK bordering on discord asked
41:17
who is your least favorite player to go against in fantasy
41:20
hockey? He owns 1 stud, 1 mid guy and
41:23
one nobody. Are we allowed to?
41:25
Think yeah, I think we have a lot of the same answers.
41:28
So I think our stud is Mark Stone.
41:31
Yeah, I'm trying to pick up this guy.
41:32
Better than that, that I hate going against.
41:34
I'm not sure make David or McKinnon.
41:37
Yeah. No, that's just like, obviously.
41:38
But I know Jake's answer would be Brady could Chuck.
41:40
Jade always complains about when he plays Brady Chuck because
41:43
like we just saw this so you can get ten shots in the game so.
41:45
Yeah. Now that's that's very fair.
41:47
But I think I think Mark Stone is is my answer.
41:49
And Mark Stone is the answer because he always ends up
41:51
getting multiple power play points against us and we play in
41:54
a league with shorthanded points.
41:55
And that's like a very volatile category because 100 on the
41:59
weekend when you the whole category, which is just as
42:01
valuable as points, hits goals, whatever.
42:04
So Mark Stone, he will rule the day.
42:07
Yeah, no. And also, like, he's always
42:10
injured, but he always magically becomes healthy right when I
42:12
play him. And then he'll get injured
42:13
again, like, over the week, actors will come back.
42:15
He'll have the most insane week of his life, and then he'll just
42:17
dip. And I'll be like, well, you
42:19
know, I hate you. Yeah.
42:20
So that's our stud who's a mid guy.
42:25
I could think of two nobodies already that I know.
42:27
We both hate playing games. Yeah.
42:28
That's Adam Lowry. And I'm gonna add Matthew
42:30
Olivier to that list. That himself on the I hate.
42:35
Yeah, he put up 0 points for like 2 months plays Kevin, puts
42:39
up a four point game, goes 0 points for another like month
42:41
and a half plays me puts up a three-point game.
42:43
It's. Just it's unheard of guys.
42:45
It's like the fantasy gods hate us for some reason.
42:48
Yeah. OK.
42:49
So I think that covers our no get.
42:50
It was a mid guy. Mid Guy.
42:52
Like kind of like middle of the pack.
42:53
And also, Adam Lowry for shorthanded points always seems
42:56
to get, yes, he's like, not restorable, but somehow the guy
42:58
against us has him, and then he gets a Shorty against us.
43:00
It's just really, really unfortunate.
43:03
Yeah, but amid? Guy here's mid guy I I feel like
43:07
there's a lot of these defensemen who are like a power
43:09
play 2 defensemen that have no business being rostered.
43:12
They don't like produce back cats.
43:13
And then I'll go up against them and have the week of their life.
43:15
Like this past week I went up against Aaron Ekblad.
43:17
He should not be rostered in our league and a lot of lease he
43:20
should not be rostered. But then he puts up like he gets
43:23
a short handed point. He gets up like like 4 points on
43:25
the week, you know, and I'm just like, this guy sucks.
43:27
He shouldn't be doing this. So that that kind of vibe is
43:30
like the what I'm I think I'm. This week I played against
43:33
Michael Bachman who got like 5 points in two games and he
43:36
should not be rostered. I played against Andrew Kopp who
43:38
got like 4 points in two games and then I suppose the week was
43:41
over the manager cut him just like yeah add add the salt in
43:44
the. Wound.
43:45
So these are more nobodies. Yeah, fair enough.
43:48
No, it's hard. It's hard to think of that.
43:49
Guy maybe like Brad Marchand, feel like he's not a stud, but I
43:53
feel like every time I play against him he goes off.
43:55
This year he's a stud, but that's fair.
43:57
Like, I think that's a good one. OK, boom, goes the dynamite on
44:01
Discord asked what's your favorite holiday tradition?
44:04
Ooh, my favorite holiday tradition is watching Jake and
44:07
Josh trade over Christmas because they both ruined each
44:10
other's Christmas and holiday period by just like being on
44:14
their phones the whole time and being actual GM and trying to
44:17
work out a trade that usually ends with the phones being like
44:20
a lateral move or somebody gets hurt or something.
44:22
Like it's always like that. That's my favorite holiday
44:25
tradition. Yeah, Yeah, Well, I mean, that
44:29
was my. That's definitely my favorite
44:31
fantasy hockey holiday tradition of giving a more actual answer.
44:35
I guess. I celebrate Hanukkah and one of
44:39
the traditions is supposed to be a lot of fried food.
44:41
So we have doughnuts, we have Lukas, which are just these like
44:44
fried potato patties, everything fried.
44:47
And it's great. As if I needed an.
44:49
Excuse, I wanted fried. Food.
44:51
Yeah, exactly. So.
44:53
So I love that tradition. I also love binge watching
44:56
holiday movies. The same movies.
44:58
Oh my God, Home alone, Home alone 2 back-to-back and I just
45:01
watched the Santa Claus 1-2 and three with Tim Allen.
45:04
I love that. Trilogy like 300 times over the
45:07
past three years. That's my wife's family.
45:08
They put it on on repeat every year.
45:10
I can quote like every line and the most obscure lines.
45:13
But anyways, it's great. And I will say, like decorating
45:16
the Christmas tree while, you know, drinking hot chocolate and
45:19
having movie playing in the background is just always a
45:21
vibe. And like Christmas means a lot
45:22
to my mom more than it does to me.
45:24
But I'm huge Christmas fan is just she's obsessed.
45:28
It's like November 1st, the Michael Bublé's album is
45:31
playing. On I Love that OK Easy Peasy on
45:36
Discord asked how do I choose between wanting to introduce
45:39
this podcast to all my friends and league mates versus wanting
45:42
to keep all the juicy advice to myself for the best chance at
45:44
winning is a great question. All right, so listen, I care
45:47
about you more than your friends.
45:48
So I'm going to say keep, keep us a secret.
45:51
This might not be the popular answer, but keep us to yourself
45:54
when your championship and then in the off season be like, I won
45:58
the championship because I'm listening to Bangor management.
46:00
And then you have to join the community.
46:02
That way you're going into the year, you know, on a clean
46:04
slate, everybody's even and at least at least you got your
46:08
championship under your belt first of.
46:10
All OK, fine. I was wondering where you going
46:12
with that being like, don't tell anyone about us.
46:14
Like straight no, that's good. Yeah, secure the ship or you can
46:18
be like, use it as a trade piece.
46:19
Being like, I have this amazing fantasy hockey resource, you
46:22
make a trade with me and I'll throw that in as like a
46:24
sweetener, you know, or listen and then they could have them
46:28
join, the guy said. We'll prioritize your questions
46:30
over theirs. We'll tell them bad information
46:34
if you tell it not no, but obviously we want to keep
46:39
growing. I get it though.
46:40
Anytime I come, I find a new fantasy hockey resource.
46:42
I'm like, I can't tell anyone about this.
46:44
It's like my precious you. Know whatever gives you the most
46:46
fun do if it's sharing with your friends honestly would you
46:49
really appreciate that and you wanna win the chip 1st and then
46:52
share it with them I'm OK with. That yeah, exactly.
46:56
All right. Last question, Shepard Commander
46:58
on Discord asked, what is your draft strategy in Cats leaks?
47:01
Are you looking for players who do multiple things or
47:03
specialists who do one thing well, How do you feel about
47:05
punting Cats? So I kind of touched on this the
47:08
in the previous how I moved from points to cats.
47:10
It obviously it very much depends on the categories, but
47:14
what I like to do is I like to look at categories that
47:16
correlate with each other a lot and I put more value to those.
47:19
So like, let's say like ours has goals, looses points probably
47:21
when shots, like I said, then you know, doing like all those
47:25
categories kind of like tie in together.
47:26
So getting a lot of guys who do that.
47:27
That's five of your 15 categories right off the bat
47:30
when you look at categories. That don't mean categories
47:32
mostly don't have 15, but league of record.
47:34
Our league record does have 15 and I think is the most fun and
47:37
all the beggar management leagues we're gonna be running
47:39
next season will be the league of record settings, so you guys
47:41
will be able to play the same kind of leagues.
47:43
Yeah. And then on the other note, you
47:44
look at categories that don't correlate to anything else.
47:46
For example, in our league, faceoff wins that pretty much
47:49
every year I end up punting face off wins.
47:50
This year I decided to try and go for it because my first picks
47:53
were JT and Crosby who are just deleted them.
47:56
But in general, I like to punt that one because it doesn't
47:58
actually correlate to anything else.
48:00
And you just, you're drafting centres, you're gonna end up
48:02
with guys who won face offs. If you can trade those guys to
48:05
other players and be like here, I'll give you face off ones, you
48:07
give me some of these other categories in return, then you
48:10
know, you just, I think it's a huge advantage.
48:12
Also, a lot of the top teams in our standings always go for
48:15
faceoff wins. So if you're just not even in
48:16
that conversation and you can improve elsewhere, then that's
48:19
kind of how I look at it. And then obviously 0G is the way
48:22
to go. Yeah, we're definitely team zero
48:24
out here, especially in categories league where you can
48:26
get so much value in the middle rounds.
48:28
Like I don't want to draft a goalie in the 7th, 8th, 9th
48:30
round if I can get a guy that's like, I didn't have any goalies
48:33
this year. And yeah, my goalie room is not
48:36
the best, but I think I put it together pretty well.
48:38
If I didn't, I dropped. I picked up Scott Wedgewood
48:40
after the draft and he was sick and I cut him when with
48:44
Blackwood was coming back. I needed to make a decision for
48:46
my current match. By the time I do regret cutting
48:48
him, obviously I was just got Wedgwood Whisperer.
48:50
Still feel like I have my touch, but either way, yeah, 0 goalie
48:55
definitely. And I think you want to
48:56
prioritize guys that have a high floor, especially early on too,
49:00
like we talked about floor versus upside.
49:02
But in the beginning of your draft, you never wanna like make
49:04
too much of A risky pig because when you're leaving the job, we
49:07
can definitely lose it if you mess up your first round pick or
49:09
second round pick. So yeah, what we're going to do
49:11
draft strategy like detailed video in the off season for sure
49:16
and leading into the playoffs. But then.
49:18
Also, if you want to go into the archives, we do have a top ten
49:21
draft strategy episode that we released this past off season,
49:24
so you might have to scroll a bit, but it's there.
49:27
Yeah, it is there and but this is great content.
49:29
We can spend the whole episode talking about this.
49:31
We literally have in the past so.
49:33
I love talking draft. It's probably my favorite time
49:36
of the entire fantasy season. It's the best, especially when
49:38
you have like your strategy locked and loaded and how you
49:40
want to prioritize and how you want to build your team.
49:41
Like it's just a lot of fun and we're looking forward to sharing
49:44
that with you guys more in detail in the future.
49:46
Yeah, All right, that wraps up our Hot Topics and Mailbag
49:51
episode. Yes, if you guys made it this
49:53
far, we really appreciate it. This is this episode is probably
49:57
coming out around Christmas. So happy holidays to everybody,
50:01
whatever, whatever you celebrating, celebrating with
50:04
friends, family and your loved ones and make sure that we are
50:07
also included in your loved ones.
50:09
So drop us a follow on Spotify, Apple, follow the podcast, rate
50:13
us five stars on YouTube, subscribe, like, comment on
50:17
social media, follow us everywhere, Tik Toks, Twitter.
50:20
If you're in a giving mood this holiday season, come shoot us
50:24
likes and five stars and rate us wherever, wherever you can.
50:27
And listen, if you're still listening, I know most people
50:29
tune out like at the very end of the party.
50:31
Drew still listening comment. Who was your favorite draft pick
50:34
for your fantasy team this season?
50:35
I would love to know. Nice.
50:36
We might get 0 answers. Everybody's already checked out,
50:38
but if you're still. Here yeah, comma 2 is your.
50:40
Favorite draft pick? I would love to hear that.
50:42
I like that. That's like the equivalent of
50:44
like a post credit scene, yeah. Exactly.
50:45
You made it this far. Show your real your real one
50:47
real G. Yeah, exactly.
50:49
But all right, on that note, take it away, Renae.
50:53
But I bound bound banger management fantasy hockey
50:56
podcast. Woo woo.
50:59
And Japanese woo. Yeah, Japanese for 3rd host.
51:01
That is real real. We'll be back in a week.
51:06
Crazy cheeky that. Is his name.
51:08
Don't know, forget him.