Fantasy World: Reloading Through Rookie Draft

Draft and develop. It’s a simple concept that, if done right, will result in long-term success.

At the pro level, and in your fantasy hockey keeper league.

The only difference is that fantasy general managers rarely see that process through. They prefer to live in the present and pursue quick fixes that help their team today rather than build slowly but surely for the future. They want that return on investment sooner than later, and aren’t willing to wait three or four years for their prospects to become impact players.

Patience is a virtue that often goes out the window in fantasy. Understandably so, with short-term solutions so readily available — even in salary-cap leagues — and the temptation to reload overnight being almost impossible to resist.

Pump and Dump

Every year we see highly touted first-round picks flipped for established stars. It has become a strategy of sorts, to purge your roster one year while stockpiling rookie draft selections, make those picks and promptly ship them out for win-now guys once the next season starts. And it has worked wonders, for the most part, with a few GMs going from bottom-five to top-five within a calendar year in our 20-team keeper league. This past season saw a team literally go from worst to first by using this method of madness, and others will inevitably attempt to follow suit now. You can’t blame them, they are playing with their hard-earned money and don’t want to watch their peers pocket it year after year. The competitive juices can only be contained for so long, a matter of months not years it would seem.

The catch being, you still need to draft well and make the most of those picks. You need to select prospects that other teams will covet. That should be easy enough with the first-rounders, but getting good value picks, or steals, in the second and third rounds — or even deeper in the draft — is essential to executing that game plan. And absolutely necessary for those who do stay the course with the hope that their prospects will eventually turn their team into a dynasty.

Worth the Wait

I’m also in a 28-team league with a much different keeper system, where at least a couple of teams are beginning to reap the rewards of their long-term vision. One roster on the verge of realizing its potential has Ryan Strome, Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Saad, Mark Scheifele, Jeff Skinner, Sasha Barkov and Leon Draisaitl among its forwards, with Morgan Rielly, Tyson Barrie, Derrick Pouliot and Ivan Provorov on defence, plus Braden Holtby in goal. Another boasts Evgeny Kuznetsov, Alex Galchenyuk, Gustav Nyquist, Jonathan Huberdeau, David Pastrnak, Bo Horvat, Seven Baertschi and Dylan Strome up front, Ryan Ellis, Ryan Murphy, Simon Despres, Brandon Gormley and Darnell Nurse on the blue line, and John Gibson between the pipes. Of course, some of those players were trade acquisitions, but they’ve done a good job of developing an impressive core around the same age.

With 18 year-round keepers on each team, the talent is spread out similar to the NHL, so you can see how those two franchises are turning into forces to be reckoned with after a few seasons as bottom-feeders. Kudos to those who can afford to suffer through lean years, although that league’s annual entry fee is only $40 in comparison to $100 for the other, so it’s easier to stomach those losses in order to cash in down the road.

I’m relatively new to that dynasty league — joined last spring — so I’m still getting a feel for things in terms of how impactful the rookie draft is, or how imperative it is to future success. It appears to be every bit as important of an element as my other keeper, where there is a direct correlation between drafting well and succeeding, both from one year to the next and in sustaining long-term competitiveness.

Trending Younger

In the dynasty league, I took over an aging team with little in the way of prospects. I foolishly traded away Filip Forsberg, who was by far the best of the bunch. I have since shipped out Erik Haula, Niklas Svedberg, Frank Corrado, Austin Watson, Kirill Kabanov, J.T. Wyman and Stu Bickel. Yes, Bickel was somehow a prospect on this team, meaning he was somehow picked in a prior rookie draft.

The only holdover still on my roster is Alexander Khokhlachev of the Boston Bruins, a forward with top-six upside who could make the jump in the next year or two. I’ve made a conscientious effort to get younger in general, acquiring the following 25-and-under players: Craig Smith, Mika Zibanejad, Jesper Fast, Tomas Jurco, Anton Lander, Hampus Lindholm, Calvin de Haan, Chris Tanev and Nikita Nesterov. Those nine newcomers replaced Jarome Iginla, Mike Fisher, Brad Boyes, Brian Gionta, Ryane Clowe, Marek Zidlicky, Dennis Seidenberg, Stephane Robidas and the now retired Martin Brodeur. All within a calendar year.

My prospect pool now consists of forwards Khokhlachev, Artemi Panarin, Sven Andrighetto, Ty Rattie, Hudson Fasching, Anton Slepyshev and Danny Kristo, plus defencemen Kristian Nakyva, Gustav Forsling and Vili Saarijarvi. I’m obviously biased, but I much prefer those 10 to the eight that I inherited, even if I’m likely to never live down that Forsberg deal. The future should be bright for that franchise.

Experiment Time

With the keeper that I helped start five years ago, the sample size has reached a point where we can draw some conclusions based on drafting history. Here are those results — by draft order, by team selections and by overall depth chart — with the 20 team names replaced by the letters A to T. This is one of those long reads, perfect for a rainy day or when you’re hanging in the hammock. I found the depth charts to be most enlightening, so if you’re pressed for time, scroll down to that section and work your way back up as time permits.

Draft Order

2011

First Round

1) Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Team A

2) Ryan Murphy – Team C

3) Gabriel Landeskog – Team S

4) Ryan Strome – Team B

5) Mikael Granlund – Team C

6) Jonathan Huberdeau – Team B

7) Sean Couturier – Team S

8) Adam Larsson – Team B

9) David Rundblad – Team R

10) Vladimir Tarasenko – Team E

11) Jacob Markstrom – Team C

12) Dougie Hamilton – Team T

13) Brendan Smith – Team B

14) Stefan Elliott – Team S

15) Luke Adam – Team Q

16) Evgeny Kuznetsov – Team B

17) Marc Scheifele – Team E

18) Robin Lehner – Team C

19) Braden Holtby – Team E

20) Mika Zibanejad – Team A

Second Round

21) Brett Connolly – Team D

22) Tyson Barrie – Team A

23) Brandon Gormley – Team D

24) Jaden Schwartz – Team C

25) Jonathan Blum – Team B

26) Calvin de Haan – Team N

27) Dmitri Orlov – Team A

28) Tomas Tatar – Team F

29) John Moore – Team E

30) Linden Vey – Team R

31) Justin Schultz – Team E

32) Tyler Biggs – Team T

33) Zac Dalpe – Team N

34) Joe Morrow – Team A

35) Marc-Andre Gragnani – Team K

36) Jack Campbell – Team C

37) Martin Marincin – Team G

38) Sven Baertschi – Team B

39) Kirill Kabanov – Team F

40) Teemu Pulkkinen – Team B

Third Round

41) Jon Merrill – Team B

42) Adam Clendening – Team G

43) Joey Hishon – Team B

44) Magnus Hellberg – Team T

45) Zack Kassian – Team D

46) Ryan Sproul – Team G

47) Joe Colborne – Team I

48) Tyler Toffoli – Team F

49) Chris Kreider – Team J

50) Mark Dekanich – Team G

51) Jared Cowen – Team J

52) Brett MacLean – Team F

53) Jake Allen – Team F

54) Alexander Khokhlachev – Team B

55) Jake Gardiner – Team Q

56) Oscar Klefbom – Team S

57) Keith Kinkaid – Team G

58) Blake Geoffrion – Team N

59) Charlie Coyle – Team E

60) Dustin Tokarski – Team G

Fourth Round

61) Jeremy Morin – Team I

62) Nicklas Jensen – Team L

63) Kyle Beach – Team A

64) Simon Despres – Team R

65) Emerson Etem – Team H

66) Mark McNeill – Team O

67) Anton Khudobin – Team S

68) Louis Leblanc – Team F

69) Paul Postma – Team J

70) Taylor Beck – Team E

71) Andy Miele – Team M

72) Cody Eakin – Team T

73) Kevin Connauton – Team N

74) Duncan Siemens – Team D

75) Dylan Olsen – Team Q

76) Lance Bouma – Team P

77) Nikita Kucherov – Team G

78) Alexander Salak – Team K

79) Rocco Grimaldi – Team B

80) Slava Voynov – Team C

Fifth Round

81) Maxim Goncharov – Team I

82) Scott Harrington – Team L

83) Ty Rattie – Team A

84) Anton Lander – Team R

85) Tim Erixon – Team H

86) Scott Glennie – Team O

87) Tyler Pitlick – Team S

88) Andrei Loktionov – Team F

89) Brandon Kozun – Team J

90) David Savard – Team E

91) Darcy Kuemper – Team M

92) Curtis Hamilton – Team T

93) Jordan Schroeder – Team N

94) Stefan Noesen – Team D

95) Matt Taormina – Team Q

96) Quinton Howden – Team P

97) Tomas Jurco – Team G

98) Zack Phillips – Team K

99) Joel Armia – Team B

100) Justin Faulk – Team C

Sixth Round

101) Kirill Petrov – Team I

102) Jonas Brodin – Team L

103) Shane McColgan – Team A

104) Drew Shore – Team R

105) Matt Puempel – Team H

106) Mark Pysyk – Team O

107) Adam Henrique – Team S

108) Beau Bennett – Team F

109) Sami Vatanen – Team J

110) Brayden McNabb – Team E

111) Steffen Soberg – Team M

112) Nathan Beaulieu – Team T

113) Evgeny Grachev – Team N

114) Jared Knight – Team D

115) Ben Smith – Team Q

116) Markus Granlund – Team P

117) Richard Panik – Team G

118) Peter Holland – Team K

119) Eddie Lack – Team B

120) Gustav Nyquist – Team C

2012

First Round

1) Team O – Nail Yakupov

2) Team G – Alex Galchenyuk

3) Team P – Ryan Murray

4) Team S – Morgan Rielly

5) Team H – Mathew Dumba

6) Team J – Griffin Reinhart

7) Team G – Cody Ceci

8) Team C – Mikhail Grigorenko

9) Team E – Filip Forsberg

10) Team C – Derrick Pouliot

11) Team K – Radek Faksa

12) Team B – Slater Koekkoek

13) Team T – Hampus Lindholm

14) Team R – Zemgus Girgensons

15) Team A – Brandon Saad

16) Team G – Mark Barberio

17) Team I – Teuvo Teravainen

18) Team B – Nick Bjugstad

19) Team A – Vladislav Namestnikov

20) Team J – Jacob Trouba

Second Round

21) Team P – Brendan Gaunce

22) Team G – Cory Conacher

23) Team O – Ben Bishop

24) Team B – Jakob Silfverberg

25) Team H – Roman Cervanka

26) Team J – Olli Maatta

27) Team L – Ben Scrivens

28) Team C – Sebastian Collberg

29) Team E – Malcolm Subban

30) Team G – Martin Frk

31) Team S – Henrik Samuelsson

32) Team J – Nicolas Kerdiles

33) Team B – Mark Stone

34) Team G – Marek Tvrdon

35) Team O – Patrick McNally

36) Team F – Johan Larsson

37) Team S – Tom Wilson

38) Team C – Calle Jarnkrok

39) Team A – Andrei Vasilevskiy

40) Team A – Oscar Dansk

Third Round

41) Team E – Jarome Gauthier-Leduc

42) Team G – Martin Gernat

43) Team A – Jordan Schmaltz

44) Team B – Tomas Hertl

45) Team H – Scott Wedgewood

46) Team J – Tanner Pearson

47) Team G – Matt Finn

48) Team H – Ryan Spooner

49) Team B – Matt Donovan

50) Team G – Tyler Bunz

51) Team G – Petr Mrazek

52) Team J – Ludvig Bystrom

53) Team T – Scott Laughton

54) Team H – Brendan Gallagher

55) Team S – Marcus Foligno

56) TEAM G – Anders Nilsson

57) Team O – Brian Dumoulin

58) Team B – Xavier Ouellet

59) Team B – Ivan Telegin

60) Team T – Phillip Di Guiseppe

Fourth Round

61) Team P – Mark Jankowski

62) Team G – Tim Bozon

63) Team O – Mike Reilly

64) Team S – Greg McKegg

65) Team H – Alex Chiasson

66) Team J – Scott Kosmachuk

67) Team L – Alex Petrovic

68) Team I – Mark Visentin

69) Team E – Connor Murphy

70) Team F – Reilly Smith

71) Team D – Colton Sissons

72) Team Q – Daniil Zharkov

73) Team T – Mike Matheson

74) Team R – Matt Hackett

75) Team N – Joe Cannata

76) Team M – Pontus Aberg

77) Team K – Damon Severson

78) Team C – Brock Nelson

79) Team A – Joey LaLeggia

80) Team B – Dalton Thrower

Compensation Round

81) Team L – Brandon Pirri

82) Team I – Jason Zucker

83) Team I – Max Reinhart

84) Team L – J.T. Miller

85) Team I – Stanislav Galiev

2013

First Round

1) Team J – Jonathan Drouin

2) Team L – Nathan MacKinnon

3) Team I – Seth Jones

4) Team T – Sasha Barkov

5) Team S – Elias Lindholm

6) Team R – Valeri Nichushkin

7) Team R – Sean Monahan

8) Team N – Hunter Shinkaruk

9) Team G – Kerby Rychel

10) Team O – Ryan Pulock

11) Team R – Max Domi

12) Team J – Anthony Mantha

13) Team Q – Rasmus Ristolainen

14) Team T – Darnell Nurse

15) Team G – Alexander Wennberg

16) Team L – Bo Horvat

17) Team C – John Gibson

18) Team B – Josh Morrissey

19) Team J – Shea Theodore

20) Team B – Nick Petan

Second Round

21) Team A – Curtis Lazar

22) Team B – Torey Krug

23) Team I – Boone Jenner

24) Team E – Vince Trocheck

25) Team S – Andre Burakovsky

26) Team O – Nate Schmidt

27) Team R – Samuel Morin

28) Team J – Zachary Fucale

29) Team G – Dmitrij Jaskin

30) Team N – Chris Bigras

31) Team R – Marco Mueller

32) Team B – Nikita Zadorov

33) Team E – Ian McCoshen

34) Team T – Morgan Klimchuk

35) Team N – Frank Corrado

36) Team A – Brett Ritchie

37) Team C – Johnny Gaudreau

38) Team R – Ryan Hartman

39) Team G – Tristan Jarry

40) Team A – Valentin Zykov

Third Round

41) Team L – Tyler Johnson

42) Team B – Frederick Gauthier

43) Team E – Adam Lowry

44) Team T – Dylan Heatherington

45) Team S – Jujhar Khaira

46) Team L – Emile Poirier

47) Team R – Danny DeKeyser

48) Team O – Dmitry Sinitsyn

49) Team G – Sami Aittokallio

50) Team N – Myles Bell

51) Team R – Danny Kristo

52) Team D – Adam Erne

53) Team Q – Anton Slepyshev

54) Team A – Madison Bowey

55) Team H – Joacim Eriksson

56) Team D – Eric Comrie

57) Team C – William Carrier

58) Team S – William Karlsson

59) Team O – Reto Berra

60) Team B – Niklas Svedberg

Fourth Round

61) Team L – J-G Pageau

62) Team J – Carl Soderberg

63) Team I – Jason Akeson

64) Team T – J.T. Compher

65) Team S – Pavel Buchnevich

66) Team P – Michael Sgarbossa

67) Team R – Martin Jones

68) Team G – Alex Stalock

69) Team K – Justin Bailey

70) Team D – Jordan Subban

71) Team Q – Bogdan Yakimov

72) Team A – Reid Boucher

73) Team F – Brendan Leipsic

74) Team M – Robert Hagg

75) Team C – Rickard Rickell

76) Team E – Matej Stransky

77) Team H – Matt Nieto

78) Team B – Jason Dickinson

Compensation Round

79) Team L – Anthony Duclair

80) Team J – Mattias Ekholm

81) Team P – Danny Biega

82) Team K – Tommy Vanelli

83) Team L – Jon Gillies

84) Team J – Frederik Andersen

85) Team P – Antti Raanta

86) Team K – Jacob De La Rose

2014

First Round

1) Team I – Aaron Ekblad

2) Team C – Sam Reinhart

3) Team M – Sam Bennett

4) Team P – Leon Draisaitl

5) Team K – Michael Dal Colle

6) Team T – Nikolaj Ehlers

7) Team C – William Nylander

8) Team L – Anders Lee

9) Team N – Jake Virtanen

10) Team C – Julius Honka

11) Team G – Anthony DeAngelo

12) Team J – Nick Ritchie

13) Team C – Kevin Fiala

14) Team D – Jared McCann

15) Team N – Haydn Fleury

16) Team E – Brendan Perlini

17) Team R – Kasperi Kapanen

18) Team T – Josh Ho-Sang

19) Team E – Robby Fabbri

20) Team D – Thatcher Demko

Second Round

21) Team C – Jakub Vrana

22) Team H – Shayne Gostisbehere

23) Team A – Nikolay Goldobin

24) Team A – Nikita Scherbak

25) Team A – Marko Dano

26) Team N – Adam Almquist

27) Team F – David Pastrnak

28) Team L – Kristers Gudlevskis

29) Team L – Travis Sanheim

30) Team S – Sonny Milano

31) Team G – Vaclav Karabacek

32) Team J – Trevor Carrick

33) Team L – Nick Schmaltz

34) Team N – Alex Tuch

35) Team O – Dylan Larkin

36) Team L – Kevin Hayes

37) Team S – Ivan Barbashev

38) Team H – Jori Lehtera

39) Team E – Connor Brown

40) Team O – Conner Bleackley

Third Round

41) Team B – Ville Pokka

42) Team C – Roland McKeown

43) Team J – Oliver Bjorkstrand

44) Team B – Vladislav Kamenev

45) Team C – Michael Hutchinson

46) Team T – Brendan Lemieux

47) Team C – Artturi Lehkonen

48) Team N – Adrian Kempe

49) Team D – Ryan MacInnis

50) Team A – Marcus Pettersson

51) Team G – Jake McCabe

52) Team J – Joni Ortio

53) Team C – Hudson Fasching

54) Team C – Brandon Montour

55) Team D – Eric Cornel

56) Team P – John Quenneville

57) Team J – Jonathan-Ismael Diaby

58) Team L – Brenden Kichton

59) Team N – Petri Kontiola

60) Team H – Chris Tierney

Fourth Round     

61) Team C – Jiri Sekac

62) Team I – Tobias Rieder

63) Team Q – Alex Nedeljkovic

64) Team M – Mason McDonald

65) Team K – Maxim Letunov

66) Team T – Joshua Jacobs

67) Team F – Sergey Tolchinsky

68) Team L – Brayden Point

69) Team N – Miikka Salomaki

70) Team S – Gregory Chase

71) Team G – Sven Andrighetto

72) Team J – Juuse Saros

73) Team P – John Klingberg

74) Team D – Anton Karlsson

75) Team O – Victor Rask

76) Team A – Greg Carey

77) Team R – Brett Pollock

78) Team H – Riley Barber

79) Team E – Dane Fox

80) Team B – Nick Baptiste

Compensation Round

80) Team P – Philipp Grubauer

81) Team O – Magnus Nygren

82) Team P – Andreas Athanasiou

83) Team P – Cole Cassels

2015

First Round

1) Connor McDavid – Team P

2) Jack Eichel – Team S

3) Mitch Marner – Team N

4) Dylan Strome – Team D

5) Ivan Provorov – Team G

6) Noah Hanafin – Team N

7) Matthew Barzal – Team H

8) Zach Werenski – Team J

9) Mikko Rantanen – Team K

10) Pavel Zacha – Team S

11) Lawson Crouse – Team O

12) Timo Meier – Team H

13) Kyle Connor – Team H

14) Evgeni Svechnikov – Team D

15) Jake Debrusk – Team D

16) Denis Gurianov – Team G

17) Travis Konecny – Team T

18) Ilya Samsonov – Team T

19) Anthony Beauvillier – Team O

20) Nick Merkley – Team O

Second Round

21) Brock Boeser – Team D

22) Jakub Zboril – Team P

23) Daniel Sprong – Team D

24) Thomas Chabot – Team M

25) Christian Dvorak – Team G

26) Zach Senyshyn – Team C

27) Connor Hellebuyck – Team H

28) Jeremy Roy – Team J

29) Artemi Panarin – Team N

30) Andrew Hammond – Team N

31) Joel Eriksson Ek – Team D

32) Jimmy Vesey – Team H

33) Jeremy Bracco – Team B

34) Jack Roslovic – Team P

35) Oliver Kylington – Team H

36) Noah Juulsen – Team C

37) Vince Dunn – Team S

38) Tomas Nosek – Team G

39) Colin Miller – Team L

40) Calvin Pickard – Team L

Third Round

41) Joe Hicketts – Team L

42) Mackenzie Blackwood – Team P

43) Nick Paul – Team H

44) Travis Dermott – Team S

45) Matej Tomek – Team G

46) Zach Hyman – Team N

47) Mitchell Stephens – Team S

48) Tyler Bertuzzi – Team J

49) Colin White – Team B

50) Ville Husso – Team F

51) Mitch Vande Sompel – Team G

52) Conor Garland – Team L

53) Rasmus Andersson – Team C

54) Matt Murray – Team O

55) Steve Moses – Team N

56) Brandon Hickey – Team O

Fourth Round

57) Roope Hintz – Team S

58) Nicolas Meloche – Team P

59) Jacob Larsson – Team D

60) Jordan Weal – Team H

61) Joonas Donskoi – Team G

62) Chris Wideman – Team N

63) Christian Fischer – Team M

64) Oscar Lindberg – Team J

65) Ryan Pilon – Team K

66) Dennis Yan – Team T

67) Martin Reway – Team O

68) Felix Sandstrom – Team Q

69) Michael Mersch – Team A

70) Scott Darling – Team R

71) Jansen Harkins – Team E

72) Matt O’Connor – Team F

73) Paul Bittner – Team L

74) Filip Chlapik – Team I

75) Sergei Plotnikov – Team B

76) Viktor Arvidsson – Team C

Fifth Round

77) Brandon Halverson – Team S

78) Esa Lindell – Team P

79) Dmytro Timashov – Team D

80) Mattias Backman – Team H

81) Axel Holmstrom – Team G

82) Nikita Soshnikov – Team N

83) Jordan Greenway – Team M

84) Gustav Forsling – Team J

85) Ryan Gropp – Team K

86) Graham Knott – Team T

87) Shane Prince – Team O

88) Nicolas Roy – Team Q

89) Laurent Brossoit – Team A

90) Mackenzie Skapski – Team R

91) Guillame Brisebois – Team E

92) Kevin Labanc – Team F

93) Kevin Roy – Team L

94) Kyle Capobianco – Team I

95) Zane McIntyre – Team B

96) Antoine Bibeau – Team C

Compensation Round

97) Andrey Makarov – Team T

98) Vili Saarijarvi – Team T

Team Selections

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Team A (24)

2011 (7)

1) Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

20) Mika Zibanejad

22) Tyson Barrie

27) Dmitri Orlov

63) Kyle Beach

83) Ty Rattie

103) Shane McColgan

2012 (6)

15) Brandon Saad

19) Vladislav Namestnikov

39) Andrei Vasilevskiy

40) Oscar Dansk

43) Jordan Schmaltz

79) Joey Laleggia

2013 (5)

21) Curtis Lazar

36) Brett Ritchie

40) Valentin Zykov

54) Madison Bowey

72) Reid Boucher

2014 (4)

23) Nikolay Goldobin

24) Nikita Scherbak

25) Marko Dano

50) Marcus Pettersson

76) Greg Carey

2015 (2)

69) Michael Mersch

89) Laurent Brossoit

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Team B (37)

2011 (14)

4) Ryan Strome

6) Jonathan Huberdeau

8) Adam Larsson

13) Brendan Smith

16) Evgeny Kuznetsov

25) Jonathan Blum

38) Sven Baertschi

40) Teemu Pulkkinen

41) Jon Merrill

43) Joey Hishon

54) Alexander Khokhlachev

79) Rocco Grimaldi

99) Joel Armia

119) Eddie Lack

2012 (9)

12) Slater Koekkoek

18) Nick Bjugstad

24) Jakob Silfverberg

33) Mark Stone

44) Tomas Hertl

49) Matt Donovan

58) Xavier Ouellet

59) Ivan Telegin

80) Dalton Thrower

2013 (7)

18) Josh Morrissey

20) Nick Petan

22) Torey Krug

32) Nikita Zadorov

42) Frederick Gauthier

60) Niklas Svedberg

78) Jason Dickinson

2014 (3)

41) Ville Pokka

44) Vladislav Kamenev

80) Nick Baptiste

2015 (4)

33) Jeremy Bracco

49) Colin White

75) Sergei Plotnikov

95) Zane McIntyre

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Team C (34)

2011 (9)

2) Ryan Murphy

5) Mikael Granlund

11) Jacob Markstrom

18) Robin Lehner

24) Jaden Schwartz

36) Jack Campbell

80) Slava Voynov

100) Justin Faulk

120) Gustav Nyquist

2012 (5)

8) Mikhail Grigorenko

10) Derrick Pouliot

28) Sebastian Collberg

38) Calle Jarnkrok

78) Brock Nelson

2013 (4)

17) John Gibson

37) John Gaudreau

57) William Carrier

75) Rickard Rakell

2014 (11)

2) Sam Reinhart

7) William Nylander

10) Julius Honka

13) Kevin Fiala

21) Jakub Vrana

42) Roland McKeown

45) Michael Hutchinson

47) Artturi Lehkonen

53) Hudson Fasching

54) Brandon Montour

61) Jiri Sekac

2015 (5)

26) Zach Senyshyn

36) Noah Juulsen

53) Rasmus Andersson

76) Viktor Arvidsson

96) Antoine Bibeau

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Team D (23)

2011 (6)

21) Brett Connolly

23) Brandon Gormley

45) Zack Kassian

74) Duncan Siemens

94) Stefan Noesen

114) Jared Knight

2012 (1)  

71) Colton Sissons

2013 (3)

52) Adam Erne

56) Eric Comrie

70) Jordan Subban

2014 (5)

14) Jared McCann

20) Thatcher Demko

49) Ryan MacInnis

55) Eric Cornel

74) Anton Karlsson

2015 (8)

4) Dylan Strome

14) Evgeni Svechnikov

15) Jake Debrusk

21) Brock Boeser

23) Daniel Sprong

31) Joel Eriksson Ek

59) Jacob Larsson

79) Dmytro Timashov

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Team E (23)

2011 (9)

10) Vladimir Tarasenko

17) Marc Scheifele

19) Braden Holtby

29) John Moore

31) Justin Schultz

59) Charlie Coyle

70) Taylor Beck

90) David Savard

110) Brayden McNabb

2012 (4)

9) Filip Forsberg

29) Malcolm Subban

41) Jarome Gauthier-Leduc

69) Connor Murphy

2013 (4)

24) Vince Trocheck

33) Ian McCoshen

43) Adam Lowry

76) Matej Stransky

2014 (4)

16) Brendan Perlini

19) Robby Fabbri

39) Connor Brown

79) Dane Fox

2015 (2)

71) Jansen Harkins

91) Guillame Brisebois

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Team F (16)

2011 (8)

28) Tomas Tatar

39) Kirill Kabanov

48) Tyler Toffoli

52) Brett MacLean

53) Jake Allen

68) Louis Leblanc

88) Andrei Loktionov

108) Beau Bennett

2012 (2)

36) Johan Larsson

70) Reilly Smith

2013 (1)

73) Brendan Leipsic

2014 (2)

27) David Pastrnak

67) Sergey Tolchinsky

2015 (3)

50) Ville Husso

72) Matt O’Connor

92) Kevin Labanc

---

Team G (39)

2011 (9)

37) Martin Marincin

42) Adam Clendening

46) Ryan Sproul

50) Mark Dekanich

57) Keith Kinkaid

60) Dustin Tokarski

77) Nikita Kucherov

97) Tomas Jurco

117) Richard Panik

2012 (12)

2) Alex Galchenyuk

7) Cody Ceci

16) Mark Barberio

22) Cory Conacher

30) Martin Frk

34) Marek Tvrdon

42) Martin Gernat

47) Matt Finn

50) Tyler Bunz

51) Petr Mrazek

56) Anders Nilsson

62) Tim Bozon

2013 (6)

9) Kerby Rychel

15) Alexander Wennberg

29) Dmitrij Jaskin

39) Tristan Jarry

49) Sami Aittokallio

68) Alex Stalock

2014 (4)

11) Anthony DeAngelo

31) Vaclav Karabacek

51) Jake McCabe

71) Sven Andrighetto

2015 (8)

5) Ivan Provorov

16) Denis Gurianov

25) Christian Dvorak

38) Tomas Nosek

45) Matej Tomek

51) Mitch Vande Sompel

61) Joonas Donskoi

81) Axel Holmstrom

---

Team H (24)

2011 (3)

65) Emerson Etem

85) Tim Erixon

105) Matt Puempel

2012 (6)

5) Mathew Dumba

25) Roman Cervanka

45) Scott Wedgewood

48) Ryan Spooner

54) Brendan Gallagher

65) Alex Chiasson

2013 (2)

55) Joacim Eriksson

77) Matt Nieto

2014 (4)

22) Shayne Gostisbehere

38) Jori Lehtera

60) Chris Tierney

78) Riley Barber

2015 (9)

7) Matthew Barzal

12) Timo Meier

13) Kyle Connor

27) Connor Hellebuyck

32) Jimmy Vesey

35) Oliver Kylington

43) Nick Paul

60) Jordan Weal

80) Mattias Backman

---

Team I (16)

2011 (4)

47) Joe Colborne

61) Jeremy Morin

81) Maxim Goncharov

101) Kirill Petrov

2012 (5)

17) Teuvo Teravainen

68) Mark Visentin

82) Jason Zucker

83) Max Reinhart

85) Stanislav Galiev

2013 (3)

3) Seth Jones

23) Boone Jenner

63) Jason Akeson

2014 (2)

1) Aaron Ekblad

62) Tobias Rieder

2015 (2)

74) Filip Chlapik

94) Kyle Capobianco

---

Team J (30)

2011 (5)

49) Chris Kreider

51) Jared Cowen

69) Paul Postma

89) Brandon Kozun

109) Sami Vatanen

2012 (7)

6) Griffin Reinhart

20) Jacob Trouba

26) Olli Maatta

32) Nicolas Kerdiles

46) Tanner Pearson

52) Ludvig Bystrom

66) Scott Kosmachuk

2013 (7)

1) Jonathan Drouin

12) Anthony Mantha

19) Shea Theodore

28) Zachary Fucale

62) Carl Soderberg

80) Mattias Ekholm

84) Frederik Andersen

2014 (6)

12) Nick Ritchie

32) Trevor Carrick

43) Oliver Bjorkstrand

52) Joni Ortio

57) Jonathan-Ismael Diaby

72) Juuse Saros

2015 (5)

8) Zach Werenski

28) Jeremy Roy

48) Tyler Bertuzzi

64) Oscar Lindberg

84) Gustav Forsling

---

Team K (14)

2011 (4)

35) Marc-Andre Gragnani

78) Alexander Salak

98) Zack Phillips

118) Peter Holland

2012 (2)

11) Radek Faksa

77) Damon Severson

2013 (3)

69) Justin Bailey

82) Tommy Vanelli

86) Jacob De La Rose

2014 (2)

5) Michael Dal Colle

65) Maxim Letunov

2015 (3)

9) Mikko Rantanen

65) Ryan Pilon

85) Ryan Gropp

---

Team L (27)

2011 (3)

62) Nicklas Jensen

82) Scott Harrington

102) Jonas Brodin

2012 (4)

27) Ben Scrivens

67) Alex Petrovic

81) Brandon Pirri

84) J.T. Miller

2013 (7)

2) Nathan MacKinnon

16) Bo Horvat

41) Tyler Johnson

46) Emile Poirier

61) J-G Pageau

79) Anthony Duclair

83) Jon Gillies

2014 (7)

8) Anders Lee

28) Kristers Gudlevskis

29) Travis Sanheim

33) Nick Schmaltz

36) Kevin Hayes

58) Brenden Kichton

68) Brayden Point

2015 (6)

39) Colin Miller

40) Calvin Pickard

41) Joe Hicketts

52) Conor Garland

73) Paul Bittner

93) Kevin Roy

---

Team M (10)

2011 (3)

71) Andy Miele

91) Darcy Kuemper

111) Steffen Soberg

2012 (1)

76) Pontus Aberg

2013 (1)

74) Robert Hagg

2014 (2)

3) Sam Bennett

64) Mason McDonald

2015 (3)

24) Thomas Chabot

63) Christian Fischer

83) Jordan Greenway

---

Team N (26)

2011 (6)

26) Calvin de Haan

33) Zac Dalpe

58) Blake Geoffrion

73) Kevin Connauton

93) Jordan Schroeder

113) Evgeny Grachev

2012 (1)

75) Joe Cannata

2013 (4)

8) Hunter Shinkaruk

30) Chris Bigras

35) Frank Corrado

50) Myles Bell

2014 (7)

9) Jake Virtanen

15) Haydn Fleury

26) Adam Almquist

34) Alex Tuch

48) Adrian Kempe

59) Petri Kontiola

69) Miikka Salomaki

2015 (8)

3) Mitch Marner

6) Noah Hanafin

29) Artem Panarin

30) Andrew Hammond

46) Zach Hyman

55) Steve Moses

62) Chris Wideman

82) Nikita Soshnikov

---

Team O (23)

2011 (3)

66) Mark McNeill

86) Scott Glennie

106) Mark Pysyk

2012 (5)

1) Nail Yakupov

23) Ben Bishop

35) Patrick McNally

57) Brian Dumoulin

63) Mike Reilly

2013 (4)

10) Ryan Pulock

26) Nate Schmidt

48) Dmitry Sinitsyn

59) Reto Berra

2014 (4)

35) Dylan Larkin

40) Conner Bleackley

75) Victor Rask

81) Magnus Nygren

2015 (7)

11) Lawson Crouse

19) Anthony Beauvillier

20) Nick Merkley

54) Matt Murray

56) Brandon Hickey

67) Martin Reway

87) Shane Prince

---

Team P (21)

2011 (3)

76) Lance Bouma

96) Quinton Howden

116) Markus Granlund

2012 (3)

3) Ryan Murray

21) Brendan Gaunce

61) Mark Jankowski

2013 (3)

66) Michael Sgarbossa

81) Danny Biega

85) Antti Raanta

2014 (6)

4) Leon Draisaitl

56) John Quenneville

73) John Klingberg

80) Philipp Grubauer

82) Andreas Athanasiou

83) Cole Cassels

2015 (6)

1) Connor McDavid

22) Jakub Zboril

34) Jack Roslovic

42) Mackenzie Blackwood

58) Nicolas Meloche

78) Esa Lindell

---

Team Q (12)

2011 (5)

15) Luke Adam

55) Jake Gardiner

75) Dylan Olsen

95) Matt Taormina

115) Ben Smith

2012 (1)

72) Daniil Zharkov

2013 (3)

13) Rasmus Ristolainen

53) Anton Slepyshev

71) Bogdan Yakimov

2014 (1)

63) Alex Nedeljkovic

2015 (2)

68) Felix Sandstrom

88) Nicolas Roy

---

Team R (20)

2011 (5)

9) David Rundblad

30) Linden Vey

64) Simon Despres

84) Anton Lander

104) Drew Shore

2012 (2)

14) Zemgus Girgensons

74) Matt Hackett

2013 (9)

6) Valeri Nichushkin

7) Sean Monahan

11) Max Domi

27) Samuel Morin

31) Marco Mueller

38) Ryan Hartman

47) Danny DeKeyser

51) Danny Kristo

67) Martin Jones

2014 (2)

17) Kasperi Kapanen

77) Brett Pollock

2015 (2)

70) Scott Darling

90) Mackenzie Skapski

---

Team S (28)

2011 (8)

3) Gabriel Landeskog

7) Sean Couturier

14) Stefan Elliott

34) Joe Morrow

56) Oscar Klefbom

67) Anton Khudobin

87) Tyler Pitlick

107) Adam Henrique

2012 (5)

4) Morgan Rielly

31) Henrik Samuelsson

37) Tom Wilson

55) Marcus Foligno

64) Greg McKegg

2013 (5)

5) Elias Lindholm

25) Andre Burakovsky

45) Jujhar Khaira

58) William Karlsson

65) Pavel Buchnevich

2014 (3)

30) Sonny Milano

37) Ivan Barbashev

70) Gregory Chase

2015 (7)

2) Jack Eichel

10) Pavel Zacha

37) Vince Dunn

44) Travis Dermott

47) Mitchell Stephens

57) Roope Hintz

77) Brandon Halverson

---

Team T (25)

2011 (6)

12) Dougie Hamilton

32) Tyler Biggs

44) Magnus Hellberg

72) Cody Eakin

92) Curtis Hamilton

112) Nathan Beaulieu

2012 (4)

13) Hampus Lindholm

53) Scott Laughton

60) Phillip Di Guiseppe

73) Mike Matheson

2013 (5)

4) Sasha Barkov

14) Darnell Nurse

34) Morgan Klimchuk

44) Dylan Heatherington

64) J.T. Compher

2014 (4)

6) Nikolaj Ehlers

18) Josh Ho-Sang

46) Brendan Lemieux

66) Joshua Jacobs

2015 (6)

17) Travis Konecny

18) Ilya Samsonov

66) Dennis Yan

86) Graham Knott

97) Andrey Makarov

98) Vili Saarijarvi

Overall Depth Chart

---

Team A

Forwards

Marko Dano-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Brandon Saad

Curtis Lazar-Mika Zibanejad-Brett Ritchie

Nikolay Goldobin-Vladislav Namestnikov-Nikita Scherbak

Michael Mersch-Reid Boucher-Ty Rattie

Valentin Zykov-Shane McColgan-Kyle Beach

Greg Carey

Defencemen

Tyson Barrie-Madison Bowey

Dmitri Orlov-Jordan Schmaltz

Marcus Pettersson-Joey Laleggia

Goaltenders

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Laurent Brossoit

Oscar Dansk

---

Team B

Forwards

Mark Stone-Ryan Strome-Jonathan Huberdeau

Jakob Silfverberg-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tomas Hertl

Teemu Pulkkinen-Nick Bjugstad-Sven Baertschi

Joel Armia-Nick Petan-Sergei Plotnikov

Alexander Khokhlachev-Joey Hishon-Rocco Grimaldi

Nick Baptiste-Colin White-Jeremy Bracco

Jason Dickinson-Frederick Gauthier-Vladislav Kamenev

Ivan Telegin

Defencemen

Adam Larsson-Torey Krug

Nikita Zadorov-Josh Morrissey

Brendan Smith-Jon Merrill

Slater Koekkoek-Ville Pokka

Xavier Ouellet-Matt Donovan

Jonathan Blum-Dalton Thrower

Goaltenders

Eddie Lack

Zane McIntyre

Niklas Svedberg

---

Team C

Forwards

Gustav Nyquist-Mikael Granlund-Jaden Schwartz

Brock Nelson-Sam Reinhart-Johnny Gaudreau

Jakub Vrana-William Nylander-Kevin Fiala

Zach Senyshyn-Mikhail Grigorenko-Viktor Arvidsson

Jiri Sekac-Rickard Rakell-Calle Jarnkrok

Hudson Fasching-Sebastian Collberg-Artturi Lehkonen

William Carrier

Defencemen

Justin Faulk-Slava Voynov

Derrick Pouliot-Ryan Murphy

Julius Honka-Brandon Montour

Noah Juulsen-Rasmus Andersson

Roland McKeown

Goaltenders

Robin Lehner

John Gibson

Michael Hutchinson

Jacob Markstrom

Jack Campbell

Antoine Bibeau

---

Team D

Forwards

Brett Connolly-Dylan Strome-Zack Kassian

Adam Erne-Jared McCann-Brock Boeser

Evgeni Svechnikov-Joel Eriksson Ek-Jake Debrusk

Daniel Sprong-Ryan MacInnis-Anton Karlsson

Stefan Noesen-Colton Sissons-Jared Knight

Eric Cornel-Dmytro Timashov

Defencemen

Brandon Gormley-Jacob Larsson

Duncan Siemens-Jordan Subban

Goaltenders

Eric Comrie

Thatcher Demko

---

Team E

Forwards

Vladimir Tarasenko-Filip Forsberg-Robby Fabbri

Charlie Coyle-Marc Scheifele-Adam Lowry

Taylor Beck-Vincent Trocheck-Brendan Perlini

Jansen Harkins-Connor Brown-Dane Fox

Matej Stransky

Defencemen

Justin Schultz-David Savard

Brayden McNabb-John Moore

Connor Murphy-Ian McCoshen

Guillame Brisebois-Jarome Gauthier-Leduc

Goaltenders

Braden Holtby

Malcolm Subban

---

Team F

Forwards

Tomas Tatar-Reilly Smith-Tyler Toffoli

David Pastrnak-Beau Bennett-Johan Larsson

Brendan Leipsic-Andrei Loktionov-Sergey Tolchinsky

Kevin Labanc-Louis Leblanc- Brett MacLean

Kirill Kabanov

Defencemen

None

Goaltenders

Jake Allen

Ville Husso

Matt O’Connor

---

Team G

Forwards

Nikita Kucherov-Alex Galchenyuk-Tomas Jurco

Kerby Rychel-Alexander Wennberg-Dmitrij Jaskin

Sven Andrighetto-Denis Gurianov-Christian Dvorak

Joonas Donskoi-Cory Conacher-Richard Panik

Tomas Nosek-Vaclav Karabacek-Axel Holmstrom

Martin Frk-Tim Bozon-Marek Tvrdon

Defencemen

Anthony DeAngelo-Ivan Provorov

Cody Ceci-Martin Marincin

Adam Clendening-Ryan Sproul

Jake McCabe-Mark Barberio

Matt Finn-Mitch Vande Sompel

Martin Gernat

Goaltenders

Petr Mrazek

Keith Kinkaid

Dustin Tokarski

Alex Stalock

Anders Nilsson

Tristan Jarry

Matej Tomek

Sami Aittokallio

Mark Dekanich

Tyler Bunz

---

Team H

Forwards

Brendan Gallagher-Ryan Spooner-Matt Nieto

Alex Chiasson-Jori Lehtera-Emerson Etem

Matt Puempel-Chris Tierney-Riley Barber

Timo Meier-Matthew Barzal-Kyle Connor

Nick Paul-Jordan Weal-Jimmy Vesey

Roman Cervanka

Defencemen

Mathew Dumba-Tim Erixon

Shayne Gostisbehere-Oliver Kylington

Mattias Backman

Goaltenders

Connor Hellebuyck

Scott Wedgewood

Joacim Eriksson

---

Team I

Forwards

Jason Zucker-Teuvo Teravainen-Boone Jenner

Tobias Rieder-Joe Colborne-Filip Chlapik

Jeremy Morin-Max Reinhart-Jason Akeson

Stanislav Galiev-Kirill Petrov

Defencemen

Aaron Ekblad-Seth Jones

Kyle Capobianco-Maxim Goncharov

Goaltenders

Mark Visentin

---

Team J

Forwards

Chris Kreider-Carl Soderberg-Tanner Pearson

Anthony Mantha-Jonathan Drouin-Nick Ritchie

Oliver Bjorkstrand-Oscar Lindberg-Tyler Bertuzzi

Brandon Kozun-Nicolas Kerdiles-Scott Kosmachuk

Defencemen

Sami Vatanen-Jacob Trouba

Olli Maatta-Jared Cowen

Mattias Ekholm-Paul Postma

Griffin Reinhart-Shea Theodore

Zach Werenski-Jeremy Roy

Ludvig Bystrom-Gustav Forsling

Trevor Carrick-Jonathan-Ismael Diaby

Goaltenders

Frederik Andersen

Joni Ortio

Zachary Fucale

Juuse Saros

---

Team K

Forwards

Michael Dal Colle-Jacob De La Rose-Mikko Rantanen

Justin Bailey-Peter Holland-Radek Faksa

Maxim Letunov-Zack Phillips-Ryan Gropp

Defencemen

Damon Severson-Tommy Vanelli

Ryan Pilon-Marc-Andre Gragnani

Goaltenders

Alexander Salak

---

Team L

Forwards

Nathan MacKinnon-Tyler Johnson-Anders Lee

J.T. Miller-Kevin Hayes-Brandon Pirri

Anthony Duclair-Bo Horvat-Nicklas Jensen

Brayden Point-Nick Schmaltz-Emile Poirier

Kevin Roy-J-G Pageau-Paul Bittner

Conor Garland

Defencemen

Jonas Brodin-Alex Petrovic

Colin Miller-Travis Sanheim

Scott Harrington-Joe Hicketts

Brenden Kichton

Goaltenders

Ben Scrivens

Calvin Pickard

Jon Gillies

Kristers Gudlevskis

---

Team M

Forwards

Christian Fischer-Sam Bennett-Jordan Greenway

Andy Miele-Pontus Aberg

Defencemen

Thomas Chabot-Robert Hagg

Goaltenders

Darcy Kuemper

Mason McDonald

Steffen Soberg

---

Team N

Forwards

Hunter Shinkaruk-Mitch Marner-Jake Virtanen

Artemi Panarin-Steve Moses-Nikita Soshnikov

Alex Tuch-Adrian Kempe-Zach Hyman

Jordan Schroeder-Zac Dalpe-Miikka Salomaki

Evgeny Grachev-Petri Kontiola-Blake Geoffrion

Myles Bell

Defencemen

Noah Hanafin-Calvin de Haan

Kevin Connauton-Frank Corrado

Haydn Fleury-Chris Bigras

Chris Wideman-Adam Almquist

Goaltenders

Andrew Hammond

Joe Cannata

---

Team O

Forwards

Nail Yakupov-Dylan Larkin-Lawson Crouse

Nick Merkley-Victor Rask-Anthony Beauvillier

Conner Bleackley-Mark McNeill-Scott Glennie

Shane Prince-Martin Reway

Defencemen

Ryan Pulock-Mike Reilly

Mark Pysyk-Brian Dumoulin

Nate Schmidt-Magnus Nygren

Patrick McNally-Brandon Hickey

Dmitry Sinitsyn

Goaltenders

Ben Bishop

Matt Murray

Reto Berra

---

Team P

Forwards

Jack Roslovic-Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl

Lance Bouma-Mark Jankowski-Markus Granlund

John Quenneville-Cole Cassels-Andreas Athanasiou

Quinton Howden-Brendan Gaunce-Michael Sgarbossa

Defencemen

Ryan Murray-John Klingberg

Jakub Zboril-Esa Lindell

Nicolas Meloche-Danny Biega

Goaltenders

Antti Raanta

Philipp Grubauer

Mackenzie Blackwood

---

Team Q

Forwards

Luke Adam-Ben Smith-Nicolas Roy

Anton Slepyshev-Bogdan Yakimov-Daniil Zharkov

Defencemen

Rasmus Ristolainen-Jake Gardiner

Dylan Olsen-Matt Taormina

Goaltenders

Alex Nedeljkovic

Felix Sandstrom

---

Team R

Forwards

Valeri Nichushkin-Sean Monahan-Max Domi

Kasperi Kapanen-Zemgus Girgensons-Ryan Hartman

Linden Vey-Anton Lander-Drew Shore

Danny Kristo-Brett Pollock

Defencemen

Danny DeKeyser-Simon Despres

David Rundblad-Marco Mueller

Samuel Morin

Goaltenders

Martin Jones

Scott Darling

Mackenzie Skapski

Matt Hackett

---

Team S

Forwards

Gabriel Landeskog-Elias Lindholm-Jack Eichel

Marcus Foligno-Sean Couturier-Adam Henrique

Andre Burakovsky-Sonny Milano-Tom Wilson

Pavel Buchnevich-Pavel Zacha-Ivan Barbashev

Tyler Pitlick- William Karlsson-Henrik Samuelsson

Greg McKegg-Jujhar Khaira-Gregory Chase

Mitchell Stephens-Roope Hintz

Defencemen

Morgan Rielly-Oscar Klefbom

Joe Morrow-Stefan Elliott

Travis Dermott-Vince Dunn

Goaltenders

Anton Khudobin

Brandon Halverson

---

Team T

Forwards

Scott Laughton-Sasha Barkov-Nikolaj Ehlers

Brendan Lemieux-Cody Eakin-Travis Konecny

Morgan Klimchuk-Josh Ho-Sang-J.T. Compher

Phillip Di Guiseppe-Dennis Yan-Graham Knott

Tyler Biggs-Curtis Hamilton

Defencemen

Dougie Hamilton-Hampus Lindholm

Darnell Nurse-Nathan Beaulieu

Mike Matheson-Vili Saarijarvi

Joshua Jacobs-Dylan Heatherington

Goaltenders

Ilya Samsonov

Magnus Hellberg

Andrey Makarov

---

Prize Money Winners

2011

Regular Season

1) Team C – $350

2) Team B – $200

3) Team K – $150

4) Team G – $50

Playoffs

1) Team B – $150

2) Team P – $100

3) Team C – $50

---

2012

Regular Season

1) Team B – $600

2) Team A – $400

3) Team C – $300

4) Team K – $100

Playoffs

1) Team N – $250

2) Team K – $150

3) Team A – $50

---

2013

Regular Season

1) Team B – $600

2) Team H – $360

3) Team E – $260

4) Team C – $100

5) Team M – $50

6) Team F – $40

Playoffs

1) Team B – $250

2) Team E – $150

3) Team H – $60

C) Team C – $50

---

2014

Regular Season

1) Team B – $600

2) Team E – $360

3) Team H – $260

4) Team R – $100

5) Team A – $50

Playoffs

1) Team H – $250

2) Team R – $150

3) Team E – $60

C) Team T – $50

---

2015

Regular Season

1) Team C – $600

2) Team B – $360

3) Team I – $260

4) Team L – $100

5) Team F – $50

Playoffs

1) Team B – $250

2) Team C – $150

3) Team A – $60

C) Team O – $50

---

Total Winnings

Team A – $560

Team B – $3,010

Team C – $1,600

Team D – None

Team E – $830

Team F – $90

Team G – $50

Team H – $930

Team I – $260

Team J – None

Team K – $400

Team L – $100

Team M – $50

Team N – $250

Team O – $50

Team P – $100

Team Q – None

Team R – $250

Team S – None

Team T – $50

---

Making Sense Of It All

As you can see, Team B has been a dominant force in nearly doubling the next-closest competitor in prize money. Team C ranks second, followed by Team H, Team E and Team A.

It’s no coincidence that those five teams also boast some of the best rookie draft rosters. They have ruled the draft both in quantity and quality, especially Teams B and C. They have picked more steals than busts over the years, and a lot of that has to do with selecting the best player available and not drafting based on current roster needs or rolling the dice on long-shot prospects. That rule of thumb applies to all levels of hockey, and Dennis Schallenberg did a good job covering the reasons to “Draft for Talent, Trade for Need” in real life. The same goes for fantasy.

There does seem to be power in numbers based on this experiment. The more picks you make, the more prospects you can pawn off for immediate improvements. In other words, the more chips you have in play when the ensuing season starts.

Worth noting, Teams A to G represent the seven original GMs remaining in this 20-team league. Teams H to T have experienced ownership changes to varying degrees. Only four of the 20 teams have yet to win any prize money through five seasons, which means 16 teams have earned some return on their investment. That speaks to the parity of this league, even if Team B has been in a league of its own to date.

Everybody else is playing catch-up, and Team B had another solid showing in this year’s rookie draft, which should help in prolonging its competitiveness. But that championship run has to come to an end sooner or later, and this could be the year. Some of the teams that have drafted extremely well in recent years, including a few that have yet to collect a payout, are primed to climb the standings and poised to take home a payday — possibly at the expense of Team B. Stay tuned to see how the upcoming season plays out in Fantasy World.

Larry Fisher is a sports reporter for The Daily Courier in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Follow him on Twitter: @LarryFisher_KDC.