November Awards

This is the second of a series of monthly awards recognizing some of the high points in the month gone by. If you missed October's, check out the link to "All Monthly Awards" on the left side of this post. 

Offensive Player of the Month The criteria for this is not simply the player with the most points, but rather the player who has most significantly impacted their GM's roster by playing above expectations, being incredibly hot, etc.  

This award isn't always going to go to the player who scores more points than anyone else in a given month, but this month it simply has to go to the G-Phil's Flyers Evgeni Malkin.  He scored 25 points in 14 games - a run that coincides with the return of James Neal.

HMs: James Neal, who has 16 points in 12 games and providing a much-needed boost to the Milan Micahlek's forward ranks. Also Johan Franzen, who has returned from injury and been an impact player for the Mackhawks with 12 points this month. I also have to mention Chris Kreider - remember when we made fun of the Winter Claassics for picking him last year, and kept him this year? Yeah, that no-talent hack had 13 points this month and its impossible to hear a Calder conversation without his name coming up.    


Defensive Player of the Month As above, the criteria is not merely the most points, but the player with the biggest impact relative to expectations.

Duncan Keith. With 16 points this month, he is not only the most productive defenceman, but one of the most productive players period. While Keith does have a 69 point season under his belt, his second-highest scoring season was 45. In a way its a shame he having what may be a personal-best season while on the 15th place WBS-Parkers - who need a 1st overall pick more than they need a 2nd or 3rd. 
 

HMs: Torey Krug. The Patrik Stefans were pretty high on this kid and for good reason. His 9 points keep him 2nd in rookie scoring - as a defenceman. Also, the Joshfrey Krupuls continue to get excellent production for Ryan McDonagh, who had10 points in 15 games. Not bad for a kid whose best year to date was 25 points.

Goaltender of the Month

Ben Bishop takes this award for the Teeyotes. With 20 more points this month, this trade continues to pay dividends and could be the difference between a playoff team and a lottery team - heck, with continued production from Bishop, a money spot is not out of the question for the Teeyotes. 

HMs: Undrafted Marek Mazanec would have provided 16 points for a team in the KL, had he been picked up. Also Semyon Varlamov put up very respectable numbers for the Los Amjawors Kings Quebec Rordiques, considering he's an alleged felon. 

GM of the Month This is a subjective award based not so much on activity, but on a general sense of how the moves (or in some cases, the lack of moves) made during the month benefits the team both now and in the future. 
 
Congratulations to the Powder Rangers. In a vacuum, Hagelin for Stamkos is the worst trade in the history of fantasy hockey. However, the Powder Rangers managed to keep Stamkos (and I know the sharks smelled the blood in the water) and are somehow maintaining 3rd place.   

HMs: The G-Phil's Flyers, who shored up a serious goaltending problem by grabbing Jaroslav Halak. Also the Fylanders, who probably got an upgrade from Timonen in Boyle, and then managed to put Monahan into his non-scoring roster while he heals up. 

(Belated) 2013 Keeper League Awards Ceremony!

I know, its a bit late and the new season is upon us, but in fairness, last season was a shit-show. It is also kind of fun to look at how some of these award-winners are faring thus far into our new season. 

Thanks to the other members of the Awards Committee (Past-Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner) for your assistance in putting your thoughts together on this like, months ago.

So without further ado, here are the award winners for the 2013 season!

Calder: 

The best fantasy player drafted for the first time in the Keeper League.

This year's trophy goes to Braden Holtby and the team that drafted him, the Powder Rangers. Holtby put up 60 points as a goaltender, which was good for 2nd in the league (behind only Antti Niemi's 61). 

HM: The Mackhawks' Justin Schultz, with 27 pts - not only was that good for 12th in the league in defensive scoring, but put him within 4 points of the rookie scoring lead (as a defenceman).

Doug Wilson:  

Awarded to the most active GM.

In perhaps the least surprising result in this entire ceremony, Fy Virani wins this one by a landslide, with 15 discrete transactions entered. 

I have to share an email I got that describes, perfectly and hilariously, the stages Fy's trading partners go through (I'll leave it anonymous but if the author wants to take credit, step forward):

1. Denial ("No, I won't even consider it."); 
2. Anger ("How can he insult me with an offer like that?"); 
3. Bargaining ("He's right, swapping my 9th for his 8th does make this fair."); 
4. Depression ("OMG everyone is laughing at me. I suck at GMing"); 
5. Acceptance ("Write it off. Fy got me this time, but next year will be different!")

HM: The Columbus Blue Jaworskis (before their relocation to sunnier climes) were very busy as well, with 9 entered transactions. 

Ken Holland:  

Best draft pick.

This one is was very hard as there were a LOT of candidates and the Awards Committee struggled mightily. At the end of the day:

The Teeyotes with Evgeni Nabokov (drafted in the 10th round, 159th overall). Nabokov earned 59 points for the Teeyotes, good for the 3rd best goalie in this format.

HMs: Many, but of note, the G-Phil's Flyers got 211 points out of players drafted between 149th and 195th overall. The Mackhawks snagged Brendan Gallagher 194th overall and got 28 points out of him. Relatedly, the Powder Rangers drafted Lars Eller in 189th, earning 30 points. The Powder Rangers actually ended up dropping Eller, but it doesn't change the fact that the selection itself was inspired.

Rick DiPietro: 

Worst draft pick.

No competition - Chris Krieder, chosen 6th overall by the Winter Claassics. Krieder earned three points in his 2013 campaign. Hilariously chosen AGAIN by the Claassics at the most recent draft, it is worth pointing out that he has 10 points in 11 games so far.   

HMs: None.

George McPhee:  

Best Free Agent signing.

Jiri Tlusty may be the most added/dropped player in the league, but in 2012, the Patrik Stefans dumped Craig Smith for him, earning 18 points in the process. 

HMs:  Milan Micahleks' Jonathan Blum for Paul Martin (a difference of 13 points).

Glen Sather:  

Worst free agent signing.

There was no one even close - the Vanrooser Canicks used their first FA add/drop to dump Toffoli for Kovalev. Then they used their last FA add/drop to dump Kovalev and add Toffoli. 

HM: Hard not to mention the Powder Rangers, who picked up Damien Brunner (26 points) and dropped Lars Eller (30 points). As noted by the Powder Rangers GM, if he had have dropped Latendresse instead of Eller, he would have won last year. Oops.

Mike Milbury:  

Biggest fleecing.

On February 6, 2013, the Fylanders sent Nikita Nikitin and a 6th round draft pick to the Columbus Blue Jaworskis for Dion Phaneuf and a 9th round pick. Phaneuf, a one-time 60 point defenceman, coming off a 44 point season and scoring at a similar pace at the time, in exchange for Nikita "healthy scratch" Nikitin. The return - a 3 round bump at the draft - is statistically negligible.Welcome to the big leagues, rookie. 

GM of the Year

 

The G-Phil's Flyers. As noted above, Bobrovsky, Boyes, Conacher, Eakin, Brouwer were all late-round steals that produced all season-long. There was no panic moves after a season-ending injury to Karlsson and slow starts with Malkin and Ovechkin, thought the vultures were indeed circling. Though this team probably had the best protected roster to start the season, a combination of very good drafting and patience won the Flyers their first championship. 

HMs: The Powder Rangers exceeded expectations and continued to improve (8th-5th-2nd). Keepers coming into this season included five forwards that we probably all considered borderline keepers (of those guys, Kunitz has proven himself a fantasy powerhouse and Fleischmann and Ryder also made the top six). His Holtby gamble paid off. Wrote an impassioned concession speech.

The Moilers - Showed steady improvement - 10th to 6th to 3rd. Actually made one trade this year, Luongo for Crawford, but otherwise steadfastly sticks by her men. 

The Fylanders continue to get excellent value in trades, and are consistently a threat. The Fylanders GM takes the opposite approach to the league than the Moilers, in that their team rarely looks anything like the team that starts the season.

STAMKOS MOVES

... to the bottom of the Powder Rangers roster. 

Two separate but related deals today:

The Powder Rangers trade their 2014 2nd round pick to the Joshfrey Krupuls for their two remaining FA add/drops + 2014 5th round pick.

Then: 

The Powder Rangers drop Stamkos and add Carl Hagelin.
The Powder Rangers drop Stalberg and add Stamkos.

Winners: Well, the Krusells got a 3 round bump at the draft for free, since the FA list is pretty slim at this time of the year. The Powder Rangers have replaced Stamkos with Carl Hagelin, so it is difficult to call that a "win" in the conventional sense, but they will probably stay in the hunt for at least a playoff spot. Hagelin has 8 points in 8 games and may well stay on the top line on Nash's return so there is some hope there. Also, with one of the deepest forward corps in the league, the Powder Rangers still have some potential trading juice to take a run for the top if they can find any sellers.

Losers: KL Headquarters is all about reaction gifs right now, so everyone out there who had been salivating at the prospect of trading for Stamkos:

  

Transaction

11/6/2013 The Powder Rangers add Josh Harding and drop "Sugar" Ray Emery.

A noted pacifist, the Powder Rangers GM has no patience for the antics of amateur pugilist and occasional goaltender Ray Emery. 

Also, Harding has proven to be a pretty good goaltender, having seized the starting job in Minnesota, with 8 wins, 2 shutouts, a 1.09 GAA and a .951 Sv%.

Transactions (first trade of the season!)

Two transactions to report.

Add/Drop
10/19/2013 Powder Rangers drop Kyle Palmieri and add Jiri Tlusty

Hilariously, the day the Patrik Stefans dropped Jiri Tlusty, he found his scoring touch, potting 2 while playing on the top line with Semin and Staal. The Powder Rangers almost immediately picked him up. Get your side bets going on Tlusty vs. Arcobello! (hint: Tlusty will score more points than Arcobello this year). 

Trade

10/22/2013 
The Dicklas Lidstroms send:

• Drew Stafford
• Michael Del Zotto 

to the Quebec Rordiques for:

• Dustin Brown
• Brendan Smith 
• Rordiques 6th rounder in 2014

A good old fashioned hockey trade.

The Rordiques have lost Boyle for at least a while and are generally weak at that position. Del Zotto should fill a need now and in the future as he may make the Rordique's keeper list, assuming he (and the Rangers) bump their atrocious start. In exchange he traded from a position of strength - his fairly deep set of forwards. Dustin Brown was expendable for the Rordiques. Stafford may or may not be an impact player for the Rordiques this year - if not, he will be a mere filler to make the trade happen.

On the flipside, the Dicklas Lidstroms have defence depth to spare, and in the words of the Lidstrom's GM, "drafting Enstrom made [Del Zotto] expendable." Brown should flesh out the scoring roster a bit and at least provide some stability in one of those final two scoring roster slots.

Add/Drop
10/22/2013 Dicklas Lidstroms drop Brendan Smith and add Sami Salo

Related to the above trade, the Lidstroms couldn't resist Sami Salo's 5 points in 7 games. The guy finally - finally - had something close to a full season last year. Injury threat aside, Salo should give the Lidstroms some much-needed veteran depth on a team featuring Jared Spurgeon, Patrick Wierciock and Ryan Murphy as top 4 scoring roster d-men.  Not a bad set of young defencemen, no doubt, but they have 230 NHL games combined (Spurgeon is the most experienced with a career high of 23 points).