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Ultimate Fantasy Pool Guide 2017-18

Ultimate Fantasy Pool Guide 2017-18

The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

DEPARTMENTS

DON’T GET COMPLACENT

THE LAST WORD WITH MATT LARKIN @THNMATTLARKIN I WON IT ALL. Then I got cocky. Then I lost it all. I’d cracked the code in 2015. I was a fantasy hockey visionary, or so I thought. My primary league included most standard scoring categories, with hits and blocks replacing penalty minutes to better approximate grit. Early in the draft, my rivals let their real-life biases creep in. So what if Drew Doughty had fallen short of 40 points for three straight years, they thought. He’s amazing. He got snapped up in the first few rounds, as did the likes of Shea Weber. Meanwhile, I waited on defensemen, knowing a 35-point scorer in the 14th round was better value than a “brand name” 37-point guy in the fourth. I loaded up on scoring forwards…

FEATURES

THAT SEVENTIES LEAGUE

IN APRIL 1976, at Canadian Superior Oil’s downtown Calgary office, Marc Lee’s eyes were opened to the world of playoff pools. Lee had been brought down to the office by his father to act as a ringer, the elder Lee enlisting the then-18-year-old’s vast hockey knowledge to gain an upper hand. As Lee watched businessmen become NHL front-office gurus, assembling all-star casts of playoff-bound players, he knew he had to find a way to build a pool of his own. “I was sold on it,” Lee recalls. “I had never seen anything like that before. I came back and told my friends about it and we found ourselves in Lang Ellison’s basement doing our draft a few days later.” Now, 41 years after the inaugural draft, from which four of the league’s…

DEPARTMENTS

ULTIMATE GUIDE SKATERS

THE HOCKEY NEWS provides projections and characteristics for 265 top-scoring NHL skaters in 2017-18. The bios include every forward forecasted for 36 or more points and every defenseman expected to notch 30-plus points. Pool players in really deep leagues can also check out the projection charts on team pages, which go as low as five points, and the player forecast checklist section starting on page 132. PHILADELPHIA POS: RW AGE: 29 HT: 6-2 WT: 185 BORN: 08/26/88 SALARY Cap hit for 2017-18. Actual pay may vary. SKINNY The inside word on a player’s outlook for 2017-18 season. DURABILITY Games missed due to injury/illness or healthy scratch. TEAM LOGO NHL logo denotes player is an unrestricted free agent as of mid-July. VITAL STATS Position, height, weight and age as of Oct. 1, 2017. PAST STATS Three-season totals in games, scoring, time on ice, PIM, points…

FEATURES

GET YOUR HOT SHOTS NOW

WITH EVERY PASSING season, the kids are making an impact quicker than ever. Auston Matthews hung 40 goals on the league in his initial excursion, and even Matthew Tkachuk – a player we thought might need another year to get his speed up – was excellent in Calgary, straight from the draft floor. Who else is coming down the pipeline? Here’s a look at some of the players you should nab for your keeper pool and their anticipated arrive-in-the-NHL dates. Your call on when you want to pick them up. (Ages are as of the projected-debut season.) 2017-18 CLAYTON KELLER C, 19 We got a taste at the end of last season, now we want the full experience. Keller may be the closest thing to Patrick Kane since ‘Kaner’ himself. BROCK BOESER RW, 20 On…