Year in Review (2008): Part 2

• Tweet

• Tweet

For the second installment of FHC’s Year in Review, I’m going to look at the players that flew under the radar on draft day. At least one of these bargains are most likely what helped you win your championship, or kept someone right on your heels this year.

Draft Day Bargains – Most valuable players that were taken based on average draft day positions (ADP). This is based on Yahoo! Sports website of players that were drafted (a requirement of at least 30% draft rate is needed).

C –Ryan Getzlaf (8th Round – 92nd Pick) was simply unbelievable this season. After registering 58 points in his second season, many hand him topping out at 70 points in the 07-08 campaign. Logically, without Selanne and with MacDonald as the first line center, he still needed a year to season into a franchise forward. While power forwards usually take awhile to blossom, Getzlaf clearly took exception to this trend. Ryan ended up 5th in PPP (as a center), 6th in assists, 2nd in +/-, and 2nd in PIM. Dominating 4/6 scoring categories as an eighth round pick solidifies his status as a bargain pick on draft day.

Honorable Mention: Eric Staal (6th Round – 67th Pick)

LW – Brenden Morrow (10th Round – 118th Pick) was drafted primarily as a source of PIM in 07-08. His highest point total before the season was only 65 points two years ago. Although his talent and leadership have never been questioned, his ability to stay healthy and productive given his in-you-face style of play has always been lacking. Before this season, Morrow has only once played a full 82 game season. This season, he managed to disprove all doubters by being 6th in assists, 9th in goals, 4th in +/-, 7th in PPP, and 4th in PIM for left wingers who recorded more than 30 points. He had no weaknesses to his fantasy game and easily takes the cakes as a bargain pick.

Honorable Mention: Cory Stillman (14th round – 164th Pick)

RW – Shane Doan (10th Round – 117th Pick) barely edged out Jason Pominville for this spot. While Pominville did slightly outperform Doan in assists and +/-, he was also drafted 17 picks earlier. Doan finished 12th in goals, 5th in assists, 10th in PPP, and 10th in SoG, while contributing a healthy amount of PIM (59). This season’s 78 point performance came as a definite surprise as Doan’s previous career high topped off at 68. Other things to note? He turned 31 this season. He plays on the rebuilding Coyotes, who before the start of the season, had only Vrbata to help Doan on offense. He averaged 46.1 points over 10 seasons in his career (avoiding an injury riddled 33 game season in 1997-98). Needless to say, this performance had fantasy owners scratching their heads. A standing ovation is definitely deserved to anybody who called this one from the start.

Honorable Mention: Jason Pominville (8th round – 100th pick)

D1 – Andrei Markov (11th round – 128th Pick) was the surprising winner this season. Not because he overachieved, but rather because I was astounded at his ADP. 32 other defensemen were selected before he was. A huge contract extension mixed with the departure of Sheldon Souray ended up plummeting Markov’s value. With the emergence of Plekanec, Streit (who I will discuss in another edition), the Kostitsyn brothers, and a revitalized Kovalev, Montreal took their left-for-dead PP and transformed it into a league best efficiency of 24.1%. Markov ended up with 58 points which was good for 7th in the league. Also finishing 5th in goals, 9th in assists, 6th in PPP, and pitching in a healthy 63 PIM, the Blue and Red’s #55 was simply spectacular for fantasy owners aplenty. So, Sheldon who?

Honorable Mention: None

D2 – Brian Campbell (9th Round – 109th Pick) was another player that was projected to fail after his team was hit by the free agency flu. With Drury and Briere gone, many questioned the effectiveness of Buffalo`s offense. Although Buffalo could not lead the league in scoring like they did in 2006-07 (298 Goals), they did end up 4th in the league this year (251 Goals). While breakouts from Roy and Pominville helped, the maturity in Campbell’s game was painfully obvious. His biggest improvement came on the PP where he was largely underutilized last year. It took Campbell only 21 games this season to eclipse his PPP totals from last year. The late season trade also gave many owners a pleasant year end surprise. In a Sharks uniform, he managed to register 19 points in 20 games, with 12 of those occurring on the PP. Campbell finished the year 2nd in assists, 4th in points, and 5th in PPP. With his FA status jeopardizing his fantasy impact, dynasty owners can only hope that Campbell resigns.

Honorable Mentions: Ed Jovanovski (10th round – 118th Pick), Michal Rozsival (12th Round – 143rd Pick)

G – Vesa Toskala (9th Round – 113th Pick) arrived in Toronto last offseason, simply burdened with question marks. After the failed Andrew Raycroft experiment, all eyes were on Vesa. The goalie position is usually the most predictable one when it comes to fantasy hockey, so nothing extraordinary happened in this department. While Toskala wasn’t astounding either performance-wise or statistically, he was the best bang-for-your-pick posting up 33 wins, a 2.74 GAA, a .904 save percentage, and 3 shutouts. While Cam Ward was slightly better than him, he was also taken 9 picks earlier. Hindsight is always 20/20, but here were some of the goalies taken before him: Chris Mason, Nikolai Khabibulin, and Ray Emery.

Honorable Mention: Cam Ward (8th Round – 94th Pick)

Rate this article: (7 votes, average: 3.57 out of 5)  Loading ... Questions or comments for Tony? Post them in the Cafe Forums! Want to write for the Cafe? Check out the Cafe's Pencil & Paper section!