Time to share rounds 4 – 7 of our scouts' all-prospect draft in this Sunday's Ramblings…

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Last week I wrote about the DobberProspects Fantasy Hockey League, and shared rounds 1 – 3 of the ultimate prospect draft, with rosters managed by our expert team scouts. There weren't too many shockers in the early rounds, but lots of players slid up and down the draft list based on differences in our writers' valuations. This week, I'm excited to share with you rounds 4 through 7 of this draft, where teams have really started showing their scouting prowress, with lots of unpredictable picks, both with steals and…interesting choices. We love discussing our teams and opinions, so dont hesitate to use the comments box to let us know who you think were the best and worst selections so far! 

 

Round 4

73: Nashville – Nikita Zaitsev	85: Vancouver – Alex DeBrincat
74: Minnesota – Evgeni Svechnikov	86: Edmonton – Zach Senyshyn
75: Carolina – Pavel Buchnevich	87: Pittsburgh – Vladislav Kamenev
76: St. Louis – Alex Tuch	88: Dallas – Jake Walman
77: Toronto – Slater Koekkoek	89: Tampa Bay – Andrew Mangiapane
78: Winnipeg (via COL) – Ville Pokka	90: San Jose – Kieffer Bellows
79: Ottawa – Tyler Motte	91: Calgary (via WSH) – Michael McCarron
80: Washington (via CGY) – Brayden Point	92: Florida – Mason McDonald
81: Columbus – Justin Bailey	93: LA – Ilya Sorokin
82: Chicago – Charlie McAvoy	94: Colorado (via WPG) – Connor Brown
83: Arizona – Jordan Subban	95: Montreal – Nic Petan
84: Buffalo – Ty Rattie	96: New Jersey – Kevin Labanc

 

Lots of solid picks still on the board for our scouts in Round 4. Rattie, Motte, Pokka, McCarron, and Point will all be very good deals at their respective positions, with Point having the biggest upside to be a real steal (or, of course, the opposite). My selection of Connor Brown was my first gamble on high scoring upside, as my picks in previous rounds were all picks I felt as safe bets to become strong contributors, but not necessarily the highest risk/reward available.

 

Round 5 

97: New Jersey – Brady Skjei	109: Columbus (via BUF) – Riley Tufte
98: Montreal – Dante Fabbro	110: Arizona – Henrik Borgstrom
99: Winnipeg – Ryan Hartman	111: Chicago – Julien Gauthier
100: LA – Kasperi Kapanen	112: Columbus – Nikolai Goldubin
101: Florida – Jayce Hawryluk	113: Calgary – Christian Fischer
102: Washingston – Jakub Zboril	114: Ottawa – Nikita Tryamkin
103: San Jose – Tage Thompson	115: Colorado – Nikita Soshnikov
104: Tampa Bay – Alex Nedeljkovic	116: Toronto – Scott Wedgewood
105: Dallas – Jason Dickinson	117: St. Louis – Ivan Barbashev
106: Pittsburgh – Anthony Beauvillier	118: Carolina – JT Compher
107: Edmonton – Luke Kunin	119: Minnesota – Ville Husso
108: Vancouver – Jack Roslovic	120: Nashville – German Rubstov

 

Round 5 may be remembered as the first round where real steals started appearing, specifically near the end of the round. I dont feel that any picks came off as being too much of a reach, but Barbashev and Compher could look like diamonds in the very near future (both should get NHL looks this year). Given how slowly goalies have been drafted, and that most good prospects in this position were already taken, getting Husso at the end of the round was great pick.

 

Round 6

121: Nashville – Charles Hudon	133: Vancouver – Valentin Zykov
122: Minnesota – Eric Comrie	134: Edmonton – Jacob Larsson
123: Carolina – Anthony Stolarz	135: Pittsburgh – Steve Santini
124: St. Louis – Devin Shore	136: Dallas – Linus Ullmark
125: Toronto – Cristoval Nieves	137: Tampa – Brett Howden
126: Colorado – Chris Bigras	138: San Jose – Rasmus Andersson
127: Ottawa – Tyler Bertuzzi	139: Washington – Denis Gurianov
128: Calgary – MacKenzie Blackwood	140: Florida – Samuel Morin
129: Buffalo via Columbus – Martin Reway	141: LA – Mike Amadio
130: Chicago – Jordan Schmaltz	142: Winnipeg – Anton Rodin
131: Arizona – Jeremy Roy	143: Montreal – Samuel Girard
132: Buffalo – Nick Paul	144: New Jersey – Brendan Lemieux

 

I anticipated a significant talent drop-off somewhere between rounds 6-8, and it seems to have begun here in the sixth. till lots of notable prospects being taken off the baord, but not many with the high upside or imminent impact that will really shake up our fantasy season. Some talented goaltenders still years from an NHL impact were taken in Comrie, Stolarz, Blackwood, and Ullmark – it appears that this was the round where our scouts started realizing that drafting a goalie costs alot less than trying to trade for one once they have developed.

 

Round 7

145: New Jersey – Mark Jankowski	157: Buffalo – Francis Perron
146: Montreal – Nicolas Aube-Kubel	158: Arizona – Brendan Leipsic
147: Winnipeg – Brendan Perlini	159 Chicago – John Queenville
148: LA – Joshua Ho-Sang	160: Columbus – Rasmus Asplund
149: Florida – Nick Merkley	161: Washington (via CGY) – Nikita Scherbak
150: Washington – Laurent Brossoit	162: Ottawa – Adam Mascherin
151: San Jose – Artturi Lehkonen	163 Calgary (via COL) – Philippe Myers
152 Tampa: – Ville Saarijarvi	164: Toronto – Josh Anderson
153: Dallas – Hudson Fasching	165: St. Louis – Vince Dunn
154: Pittsburgh – Xavier Ouellet	166: Carolina – Nicolas Roy
155: Edmonton – Ethan Bear	7.167 Minnesota – [Timed out]
156: Vancouver – Carter Hart	7.168 Nashville – Andreas Johnson

 

Things got fun in Round 7, and I tried desperately to trade back into the round after losing my pick in a previous trade. I did this in an attempt to snag high-upside fallers Perlini, Ho-Sang, or Merkley; once these excellent picks were off the board I stopped harassing my comrades and waited patiently for the next round. Unfortunately for Minnesota – fantasy hockey is a cruel and unforgiving past-time…if you don't want to sacrifice a pick you gotta make it on time!

 

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So, what do you think of our scouts' decisions so far? Discussing draft strategy and results is the reason all of us are working hard here at DobberProspects, and we are always excited to talk on the message boards here or on twitter! The writers have been using the twitter hashtag #DPFHL to track our progress, so feel free to jump into these conversations or just follow along.

 

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As always, thank you for reading and best of luck in your upcoming drafts! Only a few more weeks until the start of the greatest sporting season on Earth!

Hayden Soboleski

@soboleskih