Anyone Feel A Draft?

Before things really kick into gear with the NHL season I thought I would take a moment to reflect on my two fantasy hockey drafts. I am in one of Sean's Going Five Hole head-to-head leagues as well as my own sponsored TOFTT roto league. Two very different leagues and two very different draft experiences as you will see. Picks are listed by round with overall selection place in parenthesis.

Team: Black n' Blue Line (GFH league)
Picks:

1. (3) Jarome Iginla
2. (22) Sergei Gonchar
3. (27) Chris Osgood
4. (46) Brenden Morrow
5. (51) Johan Franzen
6. (70) Miroslav Satan
7. (75) Cam Ward
8. (94) Ilya Bryzgalov
9. (99) Teemu Selanne
10. (118) Jordan Staal
11. (123) Duncan Keith
12. (142) Braydon Coburn
13. (147) Ryan Whitney
14. (166) Michael Ryder
15. (171) Joe Sakic
16. (190) Robert Lang

Notes:

• Taking Iginla at #3 was pretty much a no-brainer for me. No offense Geno.
• This draft was the night after Gonchar got hurt, which explains why I took him in the 2nd round.
• My plan was to take either MAF or Henrik Lundqvist in the 2nd round, but they were both gone. MAF was the 6th player off the board.
• Osgood, Franzen, Morrow, Satan, Staal, and Coburn should all be steady producers.
• Teemu at 99 should be a steal. Why won't he score at least 40 goals this season?
• I'm not looking forward to another season of Cam Ward, but I didn't have a lot of other options at that point.
• If Ryder can regain his form under Claude Julien he is a great value pick, as is Sakic at 171.
• I've already dropped Robert Lang to pick up Andy McDonald.

Team: TOFTT Again! (TOFTT league)
Picks:

1. (5) Dany Heatley
2. (18) Dion Phaneuf
3. (27) J.S. Giguere
4. (40) Carey Price
5. (49) Jason Pominville
6. (62) Derek Roy
7. (71) Mike Ribeiro
8. (84) Brent Burns
9. (93) Petr Sykora
10. (106) Pascal Leclaire
11. (115) Jordan Staal
12. (128) Daniel Carcillo
13. (137) Marek Zidlicky
14. (150) Tomas Plekanec
15. (159) Teemu Selanne
16. (172) Sean Avery
17. (181) Patrice Bergeron
18. (194) Alex Goligoski

Notes:

• Heatley could be a beast this year. I could end up regretting not taking him in my other draft.
• I could not be happier that "The Dion" fell to me at 18.
• I am set between the pipes with Giguere and Price. Leclaire isn't a bad third option to have either.
• If Buffalo makes the playoffs Roy and Pominville push me to an easy title here.
• I will own the PIM column with Avery and Carcillo. And they can both provide some offense too.
• Selanne at 159?!?! Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming.
• If Patrice Bergeron is back to 100% he could be a nice asset to trade down the road. Plekanec could fall into that category too.

So there are my teams. Initially I was pretty down on my GFH league team, but I am feeling more upbeat about it now. I could not be happier about my TOFTT team. I felt better at the end of that draft then I had at a draft in a long time. Probably since my fantasy football heyday. I would seriously be shocked if I don't win that league. Knock on wood...