Tuesday, January 31, 2012

How to use the NHL Standing to your Advantage

My fantasy flock, let us play . . .

Any fantasy hockey GM is inundated with trade offers every month. Some are just terrible. It is obvious the other GM is simply looking to "win" a trade, a term the modern media has so unfortunately coined. We will cover this in future columns and I promise it will be a commandment at some point.

However, today we will discuss the other trades. The close ones. With most leagues' only weeks away from their respective trade deadlines it is important to have an idea of what your needs are down the line. It is also important to understand what you are comfortable in giving up to get what you need. As we all know, "you have to give to get."


With this in mind, the next time you are poring over a trade that really has you on the fence consider this point. Games played. Like most stats you can use this in your argument to buy or sell a trade. Right now players for the Senators have a little less value in a trade. Since the Senators have played on average five more games than their competition their players have five less games to get you points. You may scoff. You may say such a small drop in the bucket isn't worth my consideration.

However, think about this. You are offered a trade for two of your Rangers for two of another Team's Rangers. To avoid tainting your opinion with preconceived notions of actual players we will say it is for OTT Fwd 1 and Ott D2 in exchange for NYR Fwd 2 and NYR D1. In the course of the year a forward who scores 200 points over the course of the season nets 11.5 points per game. A defenseman nets 8.9. For argument's sake lets say 11 and 9 points combine for 20 points. If you make the trade and it is a fair trade that works for both sides you may still be happy with the move, but your have essentially given up 40 points in the standings. The 20 you lost from giving up the Rangers players who haven't played those five games yet and the 20 points you can't get because the Senators players have already played them for your competition.

Depending on your league's scoring it may or may not be a big deal. If you have limits to games played by specific players, if you have had injuries at those positions and are looking to make them up or it your league trades already obtained points between teams. Regardless of all of this it is still vital to fully understand what you are giving and getting by knowing the number of games your assets have left to play. If you are on the fence about making a deal, especially in seasonal leagues, this could be the tipping point either way. On the other side if your trade partner is waffling be sure you point this out to them if the games played is something that benefits them in any given deal.

For those of you who are advanced in your worship of stats, you can peruse any given team's schedule to see the competition that they have from any point of the season on. Some teams face backloaded schedules heavy with stingy playoff teams or generous clubs rebuilding and content to let the kids learn as they go.

Players on teams to target as of the All Star Break include:

New York, San Jose, Anaheim and Boston.

Players to avoid include ones playing for:

Ottawa, Colorado, Carolina and Nashville.

With this in mind why not share the other key stats do you look at while making a deal?

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